2021 Honda Pilot Special Edition on 2040-cars

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Acura ILX Type S could get 300-hp turbo four

There's good news and bad news when it comes to the new Honda Civic Type R. The good news is that after more than a year of prototypes and concepts, the Japanese automaker's new hot hatch is about to make its production debut next month. The bad news is that it's not coming here, but there is a silver lining in even that dark rain cloud – namely, that Honda plans on slotting its 2.0-liter VTEC turbo four into something that it will actually offer Stateside. Earlier rumors suggested the US donor vehicle would also be a Civic, but the latest intel indicates it could be something different, albeit related. According to Car and Driver, which spoke recently with Acura product planning manager Gary Robinson, Honda's luxury division could be gearing up to shoehorn the engine into the recently updated ILX – which itself is based on the Civic. "Acura is always going to get the best engines Honda makes," said Robinson. "Obviously a 2.0-liter turbo is more of a must-have in the luxury world than it is in the mainstream" market, suggesting that an ILX Type S could be in the works with upwards of 300 horsepower. Getting it to fit, though, could prove a rather large challenge – and could mean the engine swap would have to wait until the next-generation model comes around. Considering that the ILX was just updated for 2016, C/D doesn't expect the full redesign to come until 2018 at the earliest. Here's hoping that if it takes that long, Honda will slot the engine into something else for US showrooms in the meantime. The revival of the Type S badge in and of itself, however, makes for an enticing prospect. The last time we saw it used was on the larger TL sedan, which upgraded the 3.2-liter V6 from the 225 horsepower to 260. Before that, the RSX jumped from 160 horsepower in the base model to 200 in the first Type S, 210 in the second and 217 in the ultimate Type R. As it stands, the new ILX (after dropping the hybrid and base 2.0 models, is powered exclusively by a 2.4-liter inline four with 201 hp on tap.

Honda, Hyundai and Kia get best word-of-mouth recommendations in US

Forget advertising, incentives and, yes, even our excellently crafted vehicle reviews, sometimes the best way for automakers to sell cars is still good ol' fashioned word of mouth. In an attempt to measure this "word of mouth" power, The Boston Consulting Group, a management consulting firm, has created a new study called the Brand Advocacy Index (BAI). The index takes a look at how various industries perform from person to person. Those industries include automotive, smartphones, grocery, mobile telecommunications and banking.
The study polled more than 32,000 individuals across Europe and in the US to come up with the top 55 brands in these various industries. On the automotive side of things, the top brands in the US were Honda, Hyundai and Kia, all tied at 63 percent. On a global scale, Volkswagen and Toyota scored the highest with a 65-percent BAI rating (both in France). The average BAI for auto industry players tallied 50 percent.
As for companies in other industries, Apple's iPhone was the index's top-rated smartphone, Trader Joe's was the highest recommended grocery store, Virgin was sat atop the mobile telecom industry and USAA was the top retail bank. Scroll down for the full press release on the new study.

eBay Find of the Day: Ayrton Senna's 1993 Honda NSX

It's not often that things owned by the late Ayrton Senna come up for sale, but the seller of this black-on-black 1993 Honda NSX (aka, Acura NSX) eBay find claims it was once owned by the Formula One legend, and that he left a footprint on the factory carpet that can still be seen today. (Footprint, or vacuum lines?...)
NSX no. T000999 was given to Senna as a gift from his mentor and sponsor, Antonio de Almeida Braga, the seller claims, and it was stored at a palace near the Estoril F1 circuit in Portugal. He also was known to drive two other NSXs, a black one and a red one - the latter in which he was seen often.
The seller claims to have owned T000999, which is still in Portugal, for 17 years, and the 31,000-mile odometer indicates it was driven about 1,500 miles per year on average. Thankfully the car has been kept stock, so whoever buys it can enjoy driving it just as Senna did - that is, if the car actually is what it's claimed to be. If the story checks out, then this is one valuable NSX, which is reflected in the high minimum starting bid of 47,500 pounds ($73,620). There have been no bids at time of writing, but with nine days left in the auction, we'll be keeping our eyes on this one.