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IIHS says these are the safest cars of 2013

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has revealed its annual list of Top Safety Picks, an award that highlights automobiles it says offer "superior crash protection." A new and still more significant award, the Top Safety Pick+ honor, is given to those vehicles that earn good ratings for occupant protection in four out of five areas of measure. And while some 117 vehicles were given the TSP seal of approval for 2013, just 13 passed muster for TSP+.
To be fair, IIHS only evaluated 29 vehicles with its new testing procedures for TSP+ (we'd expect that the number of qualified cars will rise substantially for 2014). Luxury and Near Luxury midsize cars were the first groups evaluated, followed by midsizers in the Moderately Priced Cars category - unsurprisingly, it's only midsize cars that you'll find among the class this year.
Only two luxury sedans made the list of 13 for 2013: the Acura TL and Volvo S60. The other 11 cars on the list included entries from domestic, Japanese and German car makers: Dodge Avenger, Chrysler 200, Ford Fusion, Honda Accord (sedan and coupe), Kia Optima (but not its close kin, the Hyundai Sonata, strangely), Nissan Altima, Subaru Legacy and Outback, Suzuki Kizashi and the Volkswagen Passat all made the grade.

Acura prices hand-built TLX PMC Edition at $50,945

Acura unveiled the 2020 TLX PMC Edition sedan at this year's New York Auto Show along with the MDX PMC Edition Prototype. Both models adopt the same hand-finished build processes employed at Honda's Performance Manufacturing Center to create the Acura NSX. In the case of the sedan, that means a body-in-white pulled off the line at Honda's Marysville plant so that PMC technicians can install the interior, drivetrain, suspension, wiring harnesses, and electronics. After that, the TLX PMC undergoes the same quality control checks conducted on the NSX, including a dyno run and water leak test. The price: $50,945, which includes $1,995 for handling and destination. In addition to the craftsmanship, the sedan combines two options that normally cannot be combined, the A-Spec and Advance Packages. They install the 290-horsepower 3.5-liter V6 and Super Handling All-Wheel Drive, the A-Spec's stiffer dampers and quicker steering ratio, plus sharper exterior components like the restyled bumper, larger exhaust tips, and gloss black roof panel. Comfort features include heated and ventilated front sport seats, leather and Alcantara seating, black leather steering wheel, black headliner, surround-view camera, heated rear seats, and Acura's 10-speaker ELS Studio audio system. Cosmetic go-fast changes are seen in the red instrument cluster and red accent lighting. The whole package gets drenched in Valencia Red Pearl paint formerly exclusive to the NSX but making one special appearance here, the crimson infused with mica, metal flake and "nano pigments" for keener color. Black, 10-spoke, 19-inch wheels anchor the sedan to the road. The U.S. will see just 360 examples of the TLX PMC, each one numbered with a plaque on the dash. Deliveries to dealers begin this month — each sedan transported in a single-car carrier. The entire production run is scheduled to take six months, after which we're told Acura will begin working on the MDX PMC.

2018 Acura RLX refresh packs a new face and NSX DNA

The redesigned 2018 Acura RLX is here, and it's the fastest and most capable sedan the company has ever built. While not all new, there's a host of changes both inside and out, through the two powertrains carry over unchanged. The RLX Sport Hybrid packs a bit of NSX DNA to go along with the new family face. The car will make its full reveal next week at Pebble Beach before it hits showrooms later this year. The first Acura RLX debuted in 2013 as a replacement for the range-topping RL sedan. Sales have been slow, though a slimmed down lineup may help that. Powertrains remain the same, but refreshed styling and the removal of the controversial "beak" grille may help bring in some new blood to Acura dealers. The car comes in two variants, the 310 horsepower RLX with Precision All-Wheel Steer (P-AWS) and the 377 horsepower RLX Sport Hybrid with Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD). That's a lot of acronyms, but there's a lot of tech behind those names. Both models use a 3.5-liter direct-injected V6, though the Sport Hybrid backs that up with three electric motors. It's a similar setup to the Acura MDX Sport Hybrid that we drove in the spring. The RLX P-AWS now sends power to the front wheels through a new 10-speed automatic. Both models get new styling, following on the heels of the updated Acura TLX. The beak is gone, replaced by what Acura dubs the "diamond pentagon" grille. It's handsome and sure to be less divisive than before. In addition to the grille, the RLX gets a new hood, new wheels, and new lighting, with a sea of LEDs lighting up the face. The 2018 model gets three new paint colors to go along with the new bodywork. The RLX Sport Hybrid sits atop the Acura sedan range. As such, standard features include a Krell Audio System, surround view cameras, parking sensors, LED fog lights, remote engine start, ventilated and heated front seats, and heated rear seats and steering wheel. The RLX is available with the AcuraWatch suite of active safety technology. Similar to HondaSense, AcuraWatch comes with automatic emergency braking, lane keeping assist, lane departure warnings, forward collision warnings, adaptive cruise control, and low-speed follow. Unique to AcuraWatch is traffic jam assist. This system works with the adaptive cruise and low speed follow to keep the vehicle moving and following at a set distance in heavy traffic. Look for more photos and pricing later this year.