Acura Straightline Archives

Inside Line tests hundreds of vehicles a year, but not every vehicle gets a full write-up. The numbers still tell a story, though, so we present "IL Track Tested." It's a quick rundown of all the data we collected at the track, along with comments direct from the test drivers. Enjoy.

Are you aware that the Acura RDX got a refresh for 2010? Maybe that front-end design was a tip off, or maybe you didn't notice anything at all. Don't feel bad, the changes are minimal both inside and out. Most of them are mere technology updates to keep the RDX in line with the rest of the lineup.

The only real mechanical change is the option of going with front-wheel drive only. Seems like a smart move as a substantial chunk of Acura owners probably don't really need all-wheel drive anyway. Plus, by ditching the extra hardware the RDX shaves nearly 200 pounds which improves mileage and reduces the base price by a couple grand. 

So is the reduced weight worth the loss of traction? With its 240-horsepower, turbocharged four-cylinder, the RDX has always been fast out of the hole. Our test drivers took it to the track to see how it fared with its front wheels doing all the work.

Continue reading IL Track Tested: 2010 Acura RDX.

Categories: Acura,Crossovers,IL Track Tested,SUVs

Does Japan's Super GT series have the coolest racecars in the world? Maybe.

Continue reading Videos: Honda HSV-10 and Nissan GT-R On the Track.

Categories: Acura,Honda,Motorsports,Nissan

Just in case all you NSX lovers out there didn't have enough salt in your wounds already, Honda released a new batch of photos of the HSV-010 GT, You may recall that this is the race version of the next-generation NSX that was abruptly canceled at the last moment.

According to the specifications released by Honda, the HSV-010 GT is powered by a 3.4-liter V8 that produces at least 500 horsepower and roughly 300 pound-feet of torque. Doesn't sound like much, but the car weighs in at about 2,425 pounds so it should be plenty fast. Doesn't look half bad either.

Categories: Acura,Honda,Motorsports

One point what went largely unnoticed yesterday in Honda CEO Takanobu Ito's introductory speech for the CR-Z in Detroit was his mention of hybrids. "We will be adding hybrids to the Acura brand," he offered.

Acura is coming off a disastrous 2009 sales year. Sales dropped almost 27 percent from 144,504 to 105,723. Some kind of shake-up is needed, and maybe hybrids will stir up some enthusiasm -- as Toyota hopes they will for Scion.

Acura Twitter, Autoblog Green

Categories: Acura,Detroit Auto Show,Hybrids,Luxury Cars

Can't get enough of the Super GT-ified second-generation Acura NSX? Here's a nearly 11-minute video of the test session at Suzuka.

Straightline: 2010 Acura NSX Lives... But Only in Super GT

Categories: Acura,Honda,Motorsports,Sports Cars

This semi-regular column is written (in his own blood) by an automotive sage and noted malcontent, known as The Mechanic. Mercilessly beaten as a child with rolled-up back issues of old car magazines, our free-spoken hero developed a unique "for your own good" take on cars and the auto industry, along with an unfortunate habit of setting himself ablaze. Later, after a distinguished career as an automotive journalist and magazine editor, he cast off the reins of his musty oppressors, carved out his superego with a plastic spork and became The Mechanic.

As 2009 hits the Great Dumpster of Memory, I've decided to binge on the wife's hard egg nog, reflect on what I've learned over the last 12 months and tell you what it all means for our future. Your future. Now self-reflection doesn't come easily to me, so when I do reflect I don't get nostalgic or weepy. I usually just get pissed off all over again.

Not that 2010 isn't going to be a great year. It is. But it ain't all going to be beers on the beach either. In fact, the auto industry has a critical 365 days ahead of it. It's sink or swim time for everybody.

Anyway, here's what I see clogging our automotive sewer line over the next 12 months. Happy New Year.  

Continue reading The Mechanic's Fearless Forecast for 2010.

Categories: Acura,Auto Industry,BMW,Chevrolet,Chrysler,Coupes,Crossovers,Ford,Future Vehicles,General Motors,Hatchbacks,Honda,Hybrids,Hyundai,Lincoln,Luxury Cars,Mercury,SUVs,Sedans,Sports Cars,Subaru,The Mechanic,Trends

In preparation for its debut at the first round of the Super GT series in March, a couple of Honda's HSV-10 GTs made a few test laps of the Suzuka circuit in Japan last week. Looks pretty cool and sounds even better. Videos after the break.

Motors Blog via Autoblog

Continue reading Two Honda HSV-10 GTs Caught Testing at Suzuka.

Categories: Acura,Honda,Motorsports

A couple weeks ago we reported that the cancelled, second-generation Acura NSX production car would live on in Japan's Super GT race series. Last night Autoblog drew everyone's attention to the first official photo of the Super GT car, the Honda HSV-10 GT, posted in the motorsport section of Honda's Japanese website.

Honda says this car will make its racing debut on March 20 and 21, 2010 at Suzuka, the very first race on the 2010 Super GT schedule.

Autoblog, Honda

Categories: Acura,Honda,Motorsports,Sports Cars

Here's a Honda S2000 that should have been built before Honda killed its open-top sportscar: Instead of a maniacally revving 2.2-liter, this S2000CR, recently modified by Honda Performance Development (HPD), has the 3.7-liter V6 from the Acura TL SH-AWD.

We expect the S2000 chassis is plenty robust enough to handle the bigger engine, since it's already proven able to cope with a V10. A cut-and-shut Honda S2000 chassis was used as a mule during development of the second-generation Acura NSX.

We'll keep you updated on this project.

Categories: Acura,Convertibles,Honda,Sports Cars,Tuners and Modifications

Former Honda President and CEO Takeo Fukui introduced the successor for the Acura NSX way back at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show as the Acura Advanced Sports Car Concept. When he announced its cancellation a year ago just as it was ready to start production, everyone assumed the NSX was dead.

Now the car might make it to the road after all, only in the form of a racing car. The Super GT Series is the most popular racing series in Japan, featuring highly modified GT cars at races held throughout Asia. Most Japanese manufacturers are involved, notably Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Toyota and lately Subaru. This year, the midengine #8 Autobacs Acura, driven by Ralph Firman and Takuya Izawa, won the GT500 class championship at the final race when the favored Nissan GT-R got a flat tire.

For next season, the new-generation, front-engine NSX will be entered for the Super GT Series. It will be equipped with a 3.4-liter V8, not the 5.0-liter V10 that had been rumored for the production car.

Honda has managed to side-step the Super GT rules that require the use of a car based on a production vehicle by presenting the drawings and specs of the car to JAF (Japan Automobile Federation), which sanctions the GT Series. The rules permit cars that are production ready, though not necessarily in production, which is why the NSX and Toyota Supra are still a part of the championship.

JAF has given the okay, so the NSX will take its place on the starting grid in Japan next year. Not that this is any consolation for NSX fans in the U.S., but you could always book a trip to Japan to go watch a race. -- Mak Tokuyama, reporting from Japan

Continue reading 2010 Acura NSX Lives... But Only in Super GT.

Categories: Acura,Motorsports,Sports Cars

It's a low-key operation in an LA bedroom community, but Honda Performance Development in Santa Clarita, CA, is where Honda has done the development work on its IndyCar engines and the Acura American Le Mans Series cars.

In this video, the 4.0-liter V8 used in the Acura ARX 02a has been placed on a dynamometer. But it's not just going to redline a few times. It's being put through a simulated lap of Sebring.

Honda Performance Development

Categories: Acura,Honda,Motorsports

We finally have an on-sale date (December 15) and a base price ($46,305) for Acura's MDX-based, five-seat, hatchback-shaped crossover called the ZDX. A 300-horsepower version of the company's 3.7-liter V6 is under the hood of every 2010 Acura ZDX, and a six-speed automatic transmission drives all four wheels through the vehicle's Super-Handling AWD (that's SH-AWD to you) system. And every ZDX has a 16 mpg city, 23 mpg highway, 19 mpg combined EPA fuel economy rating.

If add the Technlogy package, which includes navigation (with real-time traffic and weather), a rearview camera, keyless start and what's sure to be a very fine Panasonic ELS surround-sound system, you'll move up to $50,805.

Above that, there's the Advance package, which further adds adaptive cruise control, adaptive suspension damping, a blind-spot warning system, collision mitigation braking support (that keeps that left pedal down when your nerves fail), upgraded Milano leather upholstery, and heated/ventilated seats. All together, that will cost you $56,855.

And in fact, the 2010 ZDX with Advance Package is the most expensive Acura you can buy in 2010, eclipsing the RL, which tops out at $55,060.

Categories: Acura,Crossovers,Luxury Cars

Curious whether the new 2010 Honda Accord has an optional neck massager? How about the tow rating on the Ford F-150? And what about those European cars, they're always adding some new totally nonessential technological "feature."

Now there's an easy way to find out. Our 2010 Buyer's Guide lists every model change from every manufacturer. From colors to options to full redesigns, it's all there.

2010 Buyer's Guide 

Categories: Acura,Aston Martin,Audi,BMW,Bentley,Bugatti,Buick,Cadillac,Chevrolet,Chrysler,Dodge,Ferrari,Fiat,Ford,GMC,General Motors,HUMMER,Honda,Hyundai,Infiniti,Jaguar,Jeep,Kia,Lamborghini,Land Rover,Lexus,Lincoln,Lotus,MINI,Maserati,Maybach,Mazda,Mercedes-Benz,Mercury,Mitsubishi,Nissan,Pontiac,Porsche,Rolls-Royce,SMART,Saab,Saturn,Scion,Subaru,Suzuki,Tesla Motors,Toyota,Volkswagen,Volvo

Acura has officially announced that it will add a Sport Wagon version of the TSX sedan to its lineup next fall. Already on sale in other markets as the Accord Touring, the TSX Sport Wagon will likely get all the same specs as the current sedan. Acura says it will provide further details as the on sale date gets closer.

Categories: Acura,Future Vehicles,Honda,Luxury Cars,Wagons

Just after last week's Tokyo Auto Show, IL News Editor Kelly Toepke had a chance to participate in a roundtable discussion with Honda's new president Takanobu Ito.

He laid out several of Honda's goals in the coming years as well as explaining some of the reasons for his actions so far. Here are some of the most memorable quotes from the conversation.

In response to a question on his expected time line for hydrogen-powered cars:

"My wish, within 10 years. Please tell your government to build more hydrogen stations."

"Hydrogen stations are not being built as fast as we had hoped, so we have to prepare ourselves with battery EVs."

Regarding the cancellation of the NSX:

"I'm the one that stopped that program."

"I personally would love to develop another sports car, but if our wish is to come true we need to overcome two challenges:
1.    Bad economy, need more profit to have freedom to build new cars.
2.    Need to develop new green technologies. One we have an abundance of cash, we will develop a green sports car, not like the car Lexus announced yesterday."

And finally his view of the Acura brand:

"There's a certain level of confusion within the Acura line-up, we're in the midst of a big change. Post-Lehman we dropped the larger-than-V6 engine, and have to adjust to new consumer demands."

Categories: Acura,Auto Industry,Future Vehicles,Honda,Hybrids,Tokyo Motor Show,Trends