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NHTSA gives okay for three automakers to skirt tire-related recalls

BMW, Honda, and Mercedes-Benz are all going to avoid small recalls, after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued petitions for "findings of inconsequential noncompliance" to the three manufacturers, according to Tire Business. Basically, the petitions allow the brands to avoid recalls for some very, very minor issues.
BMW had tire placards on 364 X6 M CUVs that stated the car could only handle four passengers, when in reality it had room for three in the back. Actual plausibility of fitting three real humans in the slope-roofed Bimmer aside, the Munich-based manufacturer argued it was inconsequential, as the placards were correct regardless of the number of passengers.
Honda's case focused on 212 2011 and 2012 Acura TSX sedans equipped with 18-inch wheels. The TPMS systems on these cars were set for 17-inch wheels, rather than the larger hoops, but even with the lower settings, the tires maintain adequate load capacity.

Reliving the Acura NSX debut, 25 years later

The Acura NSX might be one of the most important Japanese cars ever created. The Land of the Rising Sun had already established that it could make very competent performance vehicles when the NSX debuted in 1989, but Honda's two-seater was the first one that looked to the world like a true contender against Ferrari and Porsche, thanks to its cutting-edge technology. The Acura had an all-aluminum monocoque chassis, a beautifully low-slung body and a quick-revving V6 with an 8,000-rpm redline. This quintessential Japanese sports coupe celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, and Autoweek recognizes it in a fantastic piece chronicling the model's US launch.
The story begins in February 1989 at the Chicago Motor Show where the car debuted. The day before the show opened, the concept still didn't have a name. The Japanese development team referred to it as New Sports, and the American Acura executives decided to add eXperimental to the end. The moniker NSX just stuck afterwards.
The article paints a fantastic portrait of the car and the company at the time. Honda had something to prove with the NSX. To succeed, the coupe had to be the best, and when the American press finally got a hold of it, they drowned it in accolades. Of course, Acura has a new American-built NSX on the way, and it has colossal legacy to live up to. This piece is definitely worth reading to understand why.

Honda planning sub-NSX S2000 successor

Nine years separated the arrival of the original Acura NSX and the Honda S2000. By that time, the NSX was closer to the end of its fifteen-year production cycle than it was to its beginning. The latest word has it that not only is Honda planning a successor to the S2000, but it's not about to wait that long after the new NSX arrives before it's rolled out.
While the S2000 was a front-mid-engined roadster, its successor will, according to the latest from Auto Express (which we are taking with a grain of salt), be a mid-engined coupe - closer, in other words, to the NSX than the S2000. Power would come from a more potent version of the 2.0-liter turbo four developed for the upcoming new Civic Type R, possibly as part of a hybrid system derived from Honda's upcoming Formula One powertain to develop over 400 horsepower.
Whether the new sports car would revive the S2000 nameplate, and whether it would wear the Honda or Acura badge in the United States, remain to be seen. As does its potential production site: while the previous S2000 was built at the same Takanezawa plant in Tochigi as the original NSX, the new NSX will be built at the new Performance Manufacturing Center in Marysville, Ohio. The new S660 roadster, meanwhile, is set to be assembled at the same Yachiyo plant in Yokkaichi as the original Honda Beat.