Acura

If you could get into the possession of a ’90s Japanese sports car without paying a dime, what would it be? For some, the poison would be the Acura Integra Type R because 1) the car’s an icon and a blast to drive and 2) used Integra Type Rs cost an arm and a leg these days.

Acura hit the market hard when it introduced the Integra, Legend, and first-generation NSX. The late 1980s and the 1990s represented a time when Acura was about little more than producing performance cars that looked good and felt comfortable. By the time the 2000s hit, however, the company fell into a funk that, at one time, could have pushed the company to the brink of destruction. Now, at just 34 years old, the Acura brand is looking to its roots for guidance as it looks forward. We’re here to tell you that it’s a very good thing, and the company is already several steps into its new master plan.

Acura got us all excited with the new TLX sedan,, which is now available in a high-performance Type S trim fitted with a twin-turbo V-6 engine that should generate well in excess of 300 horsepower. But there’s more good news coming from a leaked dealership video that talks about a Type S version of the new MDX crossover. Acura is also set to launch a "new compact sedan" in Type S spec by 2022. This could also mean that the Integra could also make a comeback soon.

Introduced in 2014 as a replacement for both the TL and the TSX, the TLX is Acura’s answer to the highly popular BMW 3 Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, and Audi A4. But even though it was well-received in the U.S., it never managed to outsell its competitors. Acura is now looking to improve on that with the second-generation TLX, and based on its looks, technology, and power, Honda’s premium division should finally give BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi a run for their money. Let’s find out more about that below.

Owing to the success of its Less Talk, More Drive commercial, Acura has released a new mobile racing game called Beat That. The game is free-to-play on desktop and mobile devices, and it allows gamers to race in six unique race tracks using one of the six Acura vehicles that were featured in the television commercial.

In addition to being available on desktop and mobile devices, Beat That can also be accessed on the Facebook Instant Games platform. It may not be as comprehensive of a racing game as Gran Turismo Sport or Forza Horizon 4, but Beat That offers its own thrills, including the chance to play it on-the-go.

Supercars are fascinating for a handful of reasons. Their body kits must be both appealing and highly-functional to fulfill tasks that relate to aerodynamics and cooling, while their engines must deliver the best available levels of performance. These aspects, joined by the use of fancy materials and whatnot, make a supercar’s price skyrocket.

However, it’s also the attention to detail that matters in a supercar. Take the Acura NSX’s V-6, for example. Like the powerplants found inside most of its peers, it’s hand-built. The whole process takes place inside a specialized facility spanning over 4,000 square feet, part of the Anna Engine Plant in Ohio.

Acura has introduced the Type S Concept, a model that not only serves as the official reintroduction of Acura’s Type S performance division, but it also serves as a preview to what the next-generation TLX will look like. According to Acura, two high-performance Type S models will make their debut by 2021, one of which is the TLX, but there’s a big elephant in the room – the Type S name, while revered by Honda and Acura Fanboys, only lasted eight years the last time it was a part of Acura’s lineup.

So, that raises a few questions: Is Acura’s reintroduction of the Type S name a strategic move in a time where some automakers are dropping cars from their lineup altogether or is it pure coincidence? Does the Type S Concept represent that Acura is ready to step back into the performance car battlefield yet again? Will the Type S name have a bright but short existence this time around or with it thrive? I intend to answer these questions, and we’ll start by exploring the new concept.

The 2019 Acura NSX Pikes Peak Pace Car is a unique version of the Acura NSX that serves as the official pace car for the 97th running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Essentially a production model fitted with pace-specific features, the 2019 NSX is the fifth consecutive Acura to pace the "Race to the Clouds." The second-gen NSX first served as the pace car for this event in 2015.

The Japanese pace car will be driven to the Pikes Peak summit by David Donner. A six-time Pikes Peak champion, Donner is also the current holder of the Time Attack 2 Production class record. The pace car will be joined by five other race entries, including two NSX cars. James Robinson will drive one in the Time Attack 1 class, while Nick Robinson will drive the second in the same category. Acura also fields the TLX GT in the Open class, the RDX A-Spec in the Exhibition class, and the MDX Sport Hybrid in the Exhibition class.

For the eighth consecutive year, Acura is returning to the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb with a lineup of would-be conquerors, determined to build off the automaker’s dominant run in last year’s event when it set numerous records in multiple classes and categories. This year, Acura’s Pikes Peak lineup includes four home-grown models that will be driven by the automaker’s very own research and development engineers. A fifth car, the Acura TLX GT, will be driven by driver Peter Cunningham, who’s as motivated as anybody to eclipse the record-setting time of 9:27.352 that he set last year with that year’s version of the TLX GT. As five models aren’t enough, a separate Acura NSX will serve as the event’s resident pace car for the fifth consecutive year, having first taken that role in 2015. As other automakers have come to identify specific races as their own, it’s hard to argue against Acura staking claim to the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Not only has it established numerous records in the annual race, but it has also set itself up as the dominant force in the race over the last few years. If past performances hold firm, this year’s Pikes Peak International Hill Climb could once again turn into Acura’s very one showcase.

Known as the ’Race to the Clouds,’ the annual Pikes Peak International Hillclimb event is arguably the best well-known of its kind and one of the hardest to master. That’s why Acura is deploying a five-car time at Pikes Peak this year although we’ll be focusing on just one of them: a modified MDX Sport Hybrid three-row SUV that’s said to put out 400 horsepower without the exterior appearance (minus the Acura livery, of course) suggesting it means business.

The 12.42-mile-long strip of road that climbs all the way up to 14,115 feet and forms the course of the Pikes Peak Hillclimb was once covered in dirt from one end to the other. Then, as time went by, asphalt started replacing dirt and, now, there’s tarmac everywhere. But this hasn’t stopped all sorts of people showing in all sorts of cars which, on the face of it, seem very unfit for the (potentially deadly) challenge that is the race in Colorado. An SUV might now be the first thing that you’d bring to climb the mountain, but with there being such a big mountain for these high-riding vehicles, it’s become quite appealing for some manufacturers to show up and try to beat the SUV record. The Pikes Peak isn’t the "new" Nurburgring with everybody bragging about how fast they can go around there, but it may become soon enough.

The Acura TLX PMC Edition is a special-edition version of the premium company’s compact sedan. Unveiled at the 2019 New York Auto Show, not long before the first-generation TLX is set to go out of production, the PMC Edition is more than just a limited-edition car with a few extra features. Unlike previous special-editions from Acura, the TLX PMC Edition is handcrafted in the Performance Manufacturing Center, where the NSX supercar is produced.

Combining the premium interior features of the Advance Package and the sporty exterior elements of the A-Spec line, the TLX PMC Edition stands out among its siblings and climbs at the top of the TLX lineup. The first vehicle to be part of the PMC Edition line, the TLX will soon be followed by an MDX crossover with similar features. Let’s find out what makes the PMC Edition stand out.

There comes a point in life when everything changes. For Acura, that happened three years back when it showcased the Precision concept - a model that showcased the company’s new design philosophy. Up to this point, only the 2019 RDX follows the design language. However, the company is all set to reveal a production-ready concept at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance that showcases Acura’s flagship product that will be inspired by the Precision Concept. It gets better - Acura could also revive the "Legend" moniker for this new flagship sedan.

Acura revamped theRDX last year and gave it a more aggressive face coupled with a sporty profile. All that is great, but the new car is lacking when it comes to mid-range torque. That’s where Hondata jumps in with its Flashpro system that gives you the ability to extract 45 more pound-feet of torque at the peak of the curve over the 280 you get from Acura.

Mid-range torque is a very important aspect, especially when we’re talking about SUVs. The RDX is Acura’s compact crossover offering and, while it does offer 28 pound-feet of torque more than the previous RDX with its 3.5-liter V-6, there’s still room for improvement. Hondata has already released ECU kits for the Civic and Accord, and now it’s the RDX’s time to shine with extra torque and, also, more power across the band.

The second-generation Acura NSX may be a modern marvel of technology, but it hasn’t made any headlines in recent months. Thankfully, the original NSX showed up at the Chicago Auto Show to celebrate 30 years since its official introduction.

On February 9th, 1989, Acura unveiled what would become the first generation of the NSX, the V-6 mid-engined supercar for people who loved the idea of Ferrari-like performance inside a car that kept all the core user-friendly values of any Honda. Acura was only three years old when the world first saw the clean, elegant, and sporty silhouette of the red prototype uncovered under the lights of the Drake Hotel in Chicago. The prototype was shorter and narrower than the final production version, but the media was alight right away, and praise came almost immediately. Honda kept the NSX in production until 2005 when the NA2 version that still retained many of the original styling cues was retired. Nowadays, we’re enjoying a radically different sports car from Honda that bears the name NSX so it’s interesting to go back and look at the car that started the myth.

The Acura RSX was the U.S. version of the Honda Integra DC5. It’s a car revered to this day by car fans who look for cheap thrills. However, there are some who want to see those thrills multiplied by a thousand. One such guy is Ryan Standke who made a mission out of installing two LS4 V-8s in an RSX for an output of over 1,500 horsepower.

Yes, before you rush to the calendars to see if you’ve somehow traveled through a wormhole all the way to April 1st, it’s still the middle of December, and yes, this is a real story. Of course, there’s still a long way until the RSX will descend upon one of the country’s drag strips but if all goes well - and we hope it does - that day will be one for the ages.