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Acura NSX GT3 data 'will inform future iterations' of the street car

Motorsports programs exist to drive innovation in road vehicles, and that's precisely what's happening at Honda. Acura NSX development boss Nick Robinson told Autocar that the company's work on the GT3 racing variant is directly informing future development on the road car. "In North America, we've just unveiled the GT3 version of the car, and the development team of the street car has had some involvement in its development," Robinson said. "What works well on the track will inform future iterations and updates of the street car and vice versa." But Honda is a big company that does more than build cars. Robinson paid tribute to the impact his employer's well-known motorcycle program had on the NSX. Apparently, building stuff like the CBR helped Honda with the NSX's complicated packaging. "For many years our motorcycle development teams have strived to ensure the optimum centralization of mass, ensuring the lowest possible center of gravity," Robinson told Autocar. "This leads to the best possible yaw response." Is this all a sign that a long-rumored lighter, faster NSX, potentially wearing the vaunted Type R badge, will be especially track-focused? Maybe. Robinson's comments indicate that the company is doing something with the mountains of data it collects running a GT3 program. While a pure road-focused NSX-R successor seems like it'd be a waste of that data, an NSX-based rival to the Porsche 911 GT3 RS might make a lot more sense. Related Video: News Source: AutocarImage Credit: Brendan McDermid / Reuters Motorsports Rumormill Acura Honda Coupe Racing Vehicles Performance gt3

2021 Acura TLX vs. luxury sedans: How they compare on paper

The 2021 Acura TLX has been revealed, and it looks superb. We also have a handful of hard numbers, so you know that we've got to take a look at how they compare to the competition. As we only have numbers for the base turbocharged four-cylinder model, we're only looking at similarly equipped competitors. And with the small to midsize luxury sedan segment burgeoning these days, we've selected a mix of rear-drive, front-drive and all-wheel-drive options to compare to this front-drive-based sedan. You can see the raw numbers below, and a summary of them under that. Engine and transmission The Acura's base engine is a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder, just like the vast majority of cars in its segment. It's an especially powerful base engine, though, with 272 horses. That tops every base engine in this group, and is only topped by Volvo's mid-range turbocharged and supercharged four-cylinder that makes 316 horsepower. Its torque rating is strong, too, falling short of the aforementioned Volvo engine and the BMW four-cylinder. You'll note that we've included two four-cylinder engines for the Audi and the Volvo. With the Audi, the entry-level engine is seriously underpowered versus the competition, whereas the higher-output version is more comparable, so we felt it should be included. As for the Volvo, since the turbo and supercharged engine isn't quite comparable to each of these model's six-cylinder alternatives, we felt it should be mentioned, here. Many of these cars have substantially more powerful alternatives available, including the Acura. The Acura will have a twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6, but we have no specifications for it. It will face off with the 382-horsepower BMW M340i, 400-horsepower Volvo S60 T8 hybrid, 365-horsepower Genesis G70 3.3T and 349-horsepower Audi S4, among others. The Acura is available with either front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, and every version gets a 10-speed automatic, giving it claim to the most gears. All the other cars here make do with an eight-speed automatic. The Genesis G70 is the sole offering with a manual transmission, something that's offered on the Sport trim with upgraded brakes and a limited-slip differential. The Audi is unique in making all-wheel drive standard. On the Volvo, all-wheel-drive is only available if you upgrade to the higher-output engine, another reason why we wanted to include it. Size On the outside, the Acura is the largest, or more specifically, the longest.

2021 Acura TLX Review | Back to the future

The best-selling luxury car used to be an Acura. The brand's combination of reliability, quality, design and driving dynamics clearly resonated with buyers. In the past decade-plus, however, those last two elements stopped resonating, while the Acura brand subsequently lost its luxury luster. Simply put, the 2021 Acura TLX is intended to turn things around. Its look is bold and athletic in a way not seen since the best-selling TL of the 2000s, while its long-hood/short-deck proportions are like no Acura that's come before. Although they're usually indicative of a rear-wheel-drive luxury sedan, the TLX remains based on a front-wheel-drive architecture with Acura's brilliant Super Handling All-Wheel Drive system. A return to a double-wishbone front suspension ensures truly charismatic handling. That architecture is also unique to Acura as opposed to being related to the Honda Accord. All of the above adds up to a new TLX that's a far more compelling and competitive luxury sedan. If you're considering a BMW 3 Series, Audi A4 or Mercedes-Benz C-Class, it's definitely worth expanding beyond the German borders and giving Acura a try. It's different to be sure, but different can be good, especially for driving enthusiasts who've seen some zest ooze out of the 3 Series in recent generations. Even its interior is suitably luxurious in quality and distinctive in appearance – it looks like nothing else out there and, importantly, doesn't give off the vibe of an Accord in dress pants. While we're not ready to declare it any sort of class leader, it's worthy of playing with the big boys. What's new for 2021? The TLX was completely redesigned for 2021. What's the TLX interior and in-car technology like? The TLX cabin has a modern, high-tech look that won't be confused with something in a European luxury sedan. Materials quality is excellent, while padded simulated leather on the dash and doors provides an undeniable air of luxury. There are style differences between trim levels as well, most notably the open pore wood trim and ambient lighting in the Advance (above left) and the A-Spec's sport gauges, unique aluminum trim and available red leather (above right). There's still some switchgear shared with Honda – particularly the annoying push-button shifter – but at least Honda makes some nice switchgear.  There are notable, Acura-only exceptions to that. First is the large silver knob prominently placed on the center stack that controls the car's driving modes.