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Poor headlights cause 40 cars to miss IIHS Top Safety Pick rating

Over the past few months, we've noticed a number of cars and SUVs that have come incredibly close to earning one of the IIHS's highest accolades, the Top Safety Pick rating. They have great crash test scores and solid automatic emergency braking and forward collision warning systems. What trips them up is headlights. That got us wondering, how many vehicles are there that are coming up short because they don't have headlights that meet the organization's criteria for an "Acceptable" or "Good" rating. This is a revision made after 2017, a year in which headlights weren't factored in for this specific award. This is also why why some vehicles, such as the Ford F-150, might have had the award last year, but have lost it for this year. We reached out to someone at IIHS to find out. He responded with the following car models. Depending on how you count, a whopping 40 models crash well enough to receive the rating, but don't get it because their headlights are either "Poor" or "Marginal." We say depending on how you count because the IIHS actual counts truck body styles differently, and the Infiniti Q70 is a special case. Apparently the version of the Q70 that has good headlights doesn't have adequate forward collision prevention technology. And the one that has good forward collision tech doesn't have good enough headlights. We've provided the entire list of vehicles below in alphabetical order. Interestingly, it seems the Volkswagen Group is having the most difficulty providing good headlights with its otherwise safe cars. It had the most models on the list at 9 split between Audi and Volkswagen. GM is next in line with 7 models. It is worth noting again that though these vehicles have subpar headlights and don't quite earn Top Safety Pick awards, that doesn't mean they're unsafe. They all score well enough in crash testing and forward collision prevention that they would get the coveted award if the lights were better.

Junkyard Gem: 1987 Acura Legend Sedan

Honda beat Toyota and Nissan in the race to bring a luxury marque to North America, introducing us to the Acura brand for the 1986 model year. Acura shoppers could buy a luxed-up, more powerful Civic (the Integra) that year, while the real high-rollers went for a smooth-looking, V6-powered luxury sedan co-developed by Rover and Honda: the Legend. That was quite a leap for a company that had been selling tiny cars with two-cylinder motorcycle engines just 15 years earlier, but the 1973-1985 period had been spectacularly good times for Honda. The early Legend sold very well in California, and that's where I found this high-mile '87 a couple of months back. While the Legend had the same underlying chassis structure and engine family as the Rover 800 (known as the Sterling in North America), the Honda-grade build quality and non-Lucas electrical components of the Legend meant that it outlasted its Rover cousins by decades and hundreds of thousands of miles. This one didn't quite make it to 300,000 miles, but 281,032 miles blows away the readings I see on most 1980s junkyard cars not made by Mercedes-Benz. It's hard to imagine a prestigious luxury sedan with three pedals these days, but plenty of the early Legends were sold here with the five-speed manual transmission. Starting in the early 1990s, though, nearly all U.S.-market Legends had slushboxes (though the manual could be had all the way through the final Legends of 1995). Every Legend ever made came with a V6 engine. This car has a 2.5-liter DOHC rated at 151 horsepower, while the 1987 Legend coupe got a 2.7 making 161 horses. Other than the worn-out front seats, the interior in this car looked fairly decent when it arrived in its final parking space. Most super-high-mile cars I see in junkyards aren't very trashed-looking, presumably due to owners who took good care of them for decades (I do see the occasional exception to this rule, of course). The body shows no rust, as you'd expect in California, but the paint hasn't fared so well over its 33 years. It's the performance sedan making European automakers uncomfortable. Unlike many of the wild Japanese-market car ads of the 1980s, Honda pitched the JDM Legend in a most dignified manner. Featured Gallery Junked 1987 Acura Legend Sedan View 15 Photos Auto News Acura Automotive History Classics Acura Legend

New TLX A-Spec leads Acura's three-car Pike's Peak attack

Once again, Acura is headed to Pikes Peak for the hillclimb on June 25 with a small group of machines. This year the focus is on the TLX, with two vehicles bearing the sedan's name and shape. The two cars are very different, though, and will compete in two different classes. The first is the TLX A-Spec. This started life as a production TLX, but the 3.5-liter V6 has been reworked with pistons, rods, camshafts, and a valvetrain from Acura's TLX GT race car. The engine also has a turbocharger, which helps the V6 make an impressive 500 horsepower. All those ponies go to the front wheels through a limited-slip differential. In addition to the powertrain upgrades, the interior has been gutted, and a big wing and front splitter fitted. The A-Spec will compete in the Pikes Peak exhibition class. The other TLX is a TLX GT. This is the type of car from which the A-Spec borrows engine components, but not the TLX GT's twin-turbocharger system. TLX GTs have already been competing in motorsports, specifically in the Pirelli World Challenge. Acura did make some changes to this car for Pikes Peak, though. The suspension and engine computer have been tweaked, gear ratios shortened, and additional aerodynamic bits added for more downforce. The TLX GT will compete in the open class. Despite the focus on the TLX, Acura is still bringing an NSX to the hill climb. This car is similar to the one that raced in the Time Attack 1 class last year, but has some changes for the Time Attack 2 class. Most notable of these changes are the massive rear wing and front splitter. According to Acura, these aerodynamic aids were based on those used for the NSX GT3 race car. Acura also reduced weight, changed the tuning on the engine computer, and fitted sticky R-compound tires. Related Video: Featured Gallery Acura Pikes Peak race cars View 9 Photos Image Credit: Acura Motorsports Acura Coupe Racing Vehicles Sedan acura tlx acura tlx gt