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Acura NSX EV puts winner Tetsuya Yamano back on Pikes Peak

With Pikes Peak right around the corner, Acura is showing off more details about its NSX-inspired all-electric racer. The four-motor EV will be driven in the Electric Modified Class by Tetsuya Yamano, who has been testing the car at the Hill Climb for the past few weeks. Acura is also running two NSX hybrids up the hill in the challenge next weekend. So, what's different inside this NSX-like EV? Like the all-electric Honda CR-Z that Yamano drove up Pikes Peak last year – winning the Challenge Exhibition class with a time of 10:23.829 – the NSX-inspired EV uses two Twin Motor Units (TMU) from the company's Sport Hybrid SH-AWD powertrain. Each axle has a TMU and that means that the car, "has achieved independent torque distribution to all four corners – true four-wheel torque vectoring," according to Acura. That sounds nice, but the real test will be out in Colorado in just a few days. Related Video: Acura NSX-Inspired EV Concept Ready to 'Charge Up' Pikes Peak Vehicle Features World's First All-Electric, 4-Motor SH-AWD® Powertrain Jun 20, 2016 TORRANCE, Calif. – Acura will campaign an all-electric, NSX-inspired EV Concept in the Electric Modified Class at the 2016 Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. The Acura EV Concept features a further evolution of the experimental, all-electric, 4-motor Super Handling All-Wheel Drive™ (SH-AWD®) powertrain that won last year's Pikes Peak Challenge Exhibition class. The supercar-inspired Acura EV Concept will be driven by Tetsuya Yamano, who campaigned last year's CR-Z-based electric prototype. The Acura EV Concept is the ultimate embodiment of the all-wheel-drive Electric SH-AWD powertrain featuring a world's first technology that enables four-wheel independent torque allocation. The Acura EV Concept's Electric SH-AWD powertrain produces three times the total system output of last year's electric prototype and is mated to the NSX body. "We've been tuning the car for several weeks at Pikes and have advanced its performance significantly," said Tetsuya Yamano. "We're honored to be running at Pikes in this historical, anniversary year – an event respected by racing fans all over the world." 4-Motor Development Honda R&D has been developing "super handling" technology for more than 20 years in the pursuit of ideal vehicle handling.

Acura spotlights NSX pace car at Pikes Peak

You can't just have any old street car setting the pace at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, can you? Of course not. For that task, you'd need a supercar with exceptionally high performance capabilities. Something like the new Acura NSX, for example. Fortunately that's just what the organizers of the annual Race to the Clouds selected to serve as official pace car this year. Honda's new hybrid supercar, set to be built in Ohio, donned a unique livery, a senior PR rep behind the wheel, and a smattering of GoPro cameras to speed up the 14,110-foot mountain. Naturally the twin-turbo V6 engine, nine-speed, dual-clutch transmission, and three-motor Sport Hybrid Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD) system formed an integral part of the package as well, even if its output hasn't been officially released more specifically than the "over 550 horsepower" we've been told to expect. The Japanese automaker also placed another couple dozen cameras along the 12.4-mile route and its 156 turns. Which is a good thing, considering that most of us weren't there in Colorado to see it make its run up the mountain, and nobody was there at each corner as it passed – except, of course, for the driver, Sage Marie. The rest of us will want to check out the minute-long clip Acura has released to see the NSX gun for the sky.

2016 Acura MDX gets 9-speed transmission, added refinement

It's a car we barely think about until Acura announces it's done something to it, but the MDX is rather popular with those questing for a crossover. For 2016 the third-generation, luxury three-row people-carrier gets a slightly higher MSRP, but better standard equipment and options to go with it. The big change is that the nine-speed automatic transmission with tighter ratios and faster gear shifts, as well as its push-button gear selector, has finally migrated from the top-dog RL sedan. So too the upgraded twin-clutch Super Handling All-Wheel Drive, paired here with the unchanged 290-horsepower, 3.5-liter six-cylinder. We thought adding three more cogs was supposed to make for better fuel economy, but in some cases the EPA ratings on the 2016 MDX have gone down by one mile per gallon. The base 2015 MDX is rated at 20 city, 28 highway, 23 combined; the 2016 is rated 19 city, 27 highway, 22 combined. Add SH-AWD on the 2015 and you're looking at 18 city, 27 highway, 21 combined; on the 2016 that's 18 city, 26 highway, 21 combined. If you add idle-stop to those models you restore the city and combined ratings, but still lose that extra mile on the highway. On the options list is a group of safety and driver assistance features grouped under the AcuraWatch rubric. You can add the whole kit for $1,500 to the base model, but some of its features like Lane Keep Assist and Forward Collision Warning, which you can also option on the 2015 model, are added with the Technology Package. The full suite, which includes model-firsts like Road Departure Mitigation and Rear Cross Traffic Monitor, is standard once you step up to the Advance Package. Other tech treats get baked into all trims, like the easy entry/exit driver's seat slides back 1.4 inches when you're getting in and out, the TPMS fill assist that sounds a beep when you've inflated the tires to the correct pressure, Siri Eyes Free voice recognition and a frameless rearview mirror. The price to get in on all this is $42,865, a a $1,100 bump over the 2015 model, but that's not a blanket increase across the lineup: the MDX with the Technology Package, for instance, has only gone up $250. The upper limit comes with the MDX SH-AWD with idle stop and the Advance, Entertainment & AcuraWatch Plus Packages for $57,080, a $100 increase over the top-of-the-line 2015 trim. The press release below has plenty of details.