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Acura preps ILX for endurance racing challenge

Acura has used the occasion of this year's SEMA show to unveil a 2013 ILX that is remarkably different from the road-going car that we are familiar with. A far distance from the rather mildly performing street car, this ILX Endurance Racer is actually prepped to race at the grueling 25 Hours of Thunderhill in Willows, California.
The ILX racers (Team Honda Research has prepped two of them for the race) have actually each been constructed using two donor ILX sedans: one body-in-white chassis and one full production-spec car that donates powertrain, interior and electronic components. Overall, increasing the performance of the car was done mostly through extensive weight reduction rather than bumps in power. No figures have been given for the output of the ILX's K24Z7 engine, though we are told that a custom intake and exhaust have been fitted, as well as a racing flywheel.
A prominent LED lighting system dominates the front fascia of the ILX, along with a huge front splitter, while a massive wing speaks to the intentions of the car.

Consumer Reports no longer recommends Honda Civic

Consumer Reports annual Car Reliability Survey is out, and yes, there are some big surprises. First and foremost? The venerable publication no longer recommends the Honda Civic. In fact, aside from the walking-dead CR-Z and limited-release Clarity fuel-cell car, the Civic is the only Honda to miss out on CR's prestigious nod. At the opposite end there's a surprise as well – Toyota and Lexus remain the most reliable brands on the market, but Buick cracked the top three. That's up from seventh last year, and the first time for an American brand to stand on the Consumer Reports podium. Mazda's entire lineup earned Recommended checks as well. Consumer Reports dinged the Civic for its "infuriating" touch-screen radio, lack of driver lumbar adjustability, the limited selection of cars on dealer lots fitted with Honda's popular Sensing system, and the company's decision to offer LaneWatch instead of a full-tilt blind-spot monitoring system. Its score? A lowly 58. The Civic isn't the only surprise drop from CR's Recommended ranks. The Audi A3, Ford F-150, Subaru WRX/STI, and Volkswagen Jetta, GTI, and Passat all lost the Consumer Reports' checkmark. On the flipside, a number of popular vehicles graduated to the Recommended ranks, including the BMW X5, Chevrolet Camaro, Corvette, and Cruze, Hyundai Santa Fe, Porsche Macan, and Tesla Model S. Perhaps the biggest surprise is the hilariously recall-prone Ford Escape getting a Recommended check – considering the popularity of Ford's small crossover, this is likely a coup for the brand, as it puts the Escape on a level playing field with the Recommended Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, and Nissan Rogue. While Ford is probably happy to see CR promote the Escape, the list wasn't as kind for every brand. For example, of the entire Fiat Chrysler Automobiles catalog, the ancient Chrysler 300 was the only car to score a check – there wasn't a single Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, or Ram on the list. That hurts. FCA isn't alone at the low end, either. GMC, Jaguar Land Rover, Mini, and Mitsubishi don't have a vehicle on CR's list between them, while brands like Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Nissan, Lincoln, Infiniti, and Cadillac only have a few models each. You can check out Consumer Reports entire reliability roundup, even without a subscription, here.

Acura slaps $20,000 discount on 2019 NSX in an effort to sell more supercars

The new Acura NSX has struggled to move off dealer lots as of late, and Acura isn't being coy about adding incentives to its supercar. Motor Trend spotted an under-the-radar $20,000 discount, which is a substantial price slash on a car that starts at $159,300. This incentive isn't actually listed or advertised anywhere on Acura's website, but Motor Trend's Intellichoice affiliate (ownership cost and value analysis site) managed to uncover the discount. If you bought a completely base NSX, the price could be as low as $139,300 now. That's before you do any other negotiations with your dealer to lower the price further. The discount only applies to 2019 model year cars, which is actually a great thing. Acura made a bunch of small, important changes to the refreshed NSX for 2019 you can read about here. It's a better car than before, and now it's significantly cheaper than last year's model, as well. That makes the supercar a veritable steal. Acura has reportedly had this discount in effect since mid-March, and sales throughout this year have been improved versus last year — 72 NSXs had moved off lots at this time in 2018, whereas 102 have found new owners this year. That may not seem like a whole lot, but even a small uptick in supercar sales is meaningful when you're selling in such low quantities. The 2018 calendar year was the worst year in new NSX sales to date, with only 170 in total finding new homes. In 2017 Acura moved a grand total of 581 NSXs, the car's best year. If you want to actually take advantage of the discount (we envy you) then know it's scheduled to last through March 31, 2020. That's a long time to decide if you want the Japanese supercar. A 992 911 Carrera 4S ($121,660) with a few pricey options will easily be bumping into a base NSX, so your expensive sports car decision just got a little tougher. Related Video: