2013 Acura Tl Base Sedan 4-door 3.5l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Acura previews Daytona prototype racer

The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will get yet another competitor in the Daytona Prototype class. Acura and Team Penske will enter the series in January at the Rolex 24 at Daytona with its own car called the ARX-05. The name stands for Acura Racing Experimental, which we know means it should be called ARE, but let's be honest, "X" is a way cooler letter. The car's full reveal comes on Aug. 18, but the company released a teaser image, as well as a video, seen below, that talks about the car. The video actually reveals quite a bit of the car. It is covered in camouflage, but just the black-and-white vinyl wrap kind. It's also in bright daylight. Possibly the most distinctive part of the car's design is the wing shape that stretches across the top of the nose. It also has very aggressive-looking canards on the front corners. It doesn't look nearly as beautiful as the Mazda car, but if it's effective, who cares? The video also reveals that the engine in the ARX is based on the V6 from the TLX and MDX. When the car enters the IMSA series in January, it will be competing against Cadillac, Mazda, Nissan, and race car builders such as Oreca and Dallara. Acura will be the second company to use a V6 in the series after Nissan. Mazda uses a turbocharged four-cylinder, and Cadillac and the race car builders use V8s. Related Video: News Source: Acura, IMSA Acura Coupe Racing Vehicles

Honda trademarks 'CDX' nameplate

Less than two weeks ago, we discussed the possibility of an Acura-badged version of the sure-to-be popular Honda HR-V. Now, Acura has gone ahead and registered a new trademark that fits in perfectly with its two other crossovers, the RDX and MDX. Our friends at Auto Guide report the company has reserved the name "CDX" with the US Patent and Trademark Office, with the trademark covering "automobiles and their structural parts." While it's true that these kinds of trademarks are filed regularly, the timing in this case is indicative of something more than simply covering bases. After all, it seems very, very unlikely that we'd have comments from Acura on a premium version of the HR-V on February 5 and a trademark filing for a name that fits the brand's CUV nomenclature less than two weeks later, only for it to not go ahead and build an actual vehicle. Adding to that logic is the simple fact that the compact CUV market, both on the premium and mainstream level, is arguably the hottest in the auto industry right now, and it seems like a virtual guarantee that we'll see an HR-V wearing the Acura CDX name in the not-so-distant future. Should that come to pass, look for the CDX to challenge the near-premium Buick Encore, as well as a potential compact CUV from Infiniti. Featured Gallery 2016 Honda HR-V View 25 Photos News Source: Auto GuideImage Credit: Honda Government/Legal Acura Honda Crossover Economy Cars Luxury trademark honda hr-v

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