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Acura claims MDX is best-selling luxury 3-row ever

Business for Acura has been in a weird place, recently, and the company's latest car launches have been especially rocky. For example, the ILX Hybrid was recently discontinued after just two model years with only about 2,660 sold in that time. The company also delayed the launch of its new TLX by a few months until later this summer. However, despite its issues with sedans, the automaker's utility-vehicle business in absolutely booming. In fact, it now claims that the MDX is the best-selling three-row, luxury SUV, ever.
The MDX is already leading its class this year with 30,664 units sold through June 2014, up 68.4 percent compared 2013. Also, in five of the last six months of reported sales, Acura has posted gains. It appears that the company's utility lineup is really pushing it along.
To take the bestseller ever crown, Acura claims that through its three generations, the MDX has sold a cumulative 692,710 units. The premium model has also been at the top of the annual sales rankings for three-row luxury crossovers every year since 2002. The company believes that its nearest competitor is the Lincoln Navigator with an estimated 420,000 lifetime sales, and even arguably more comparable vehicles like the BMW X5 and Mercedes-Benz M-Class only have 350,000 or fewer sales under their belts. Of course, it probably doesn't hurt that the MDX has one of the lower starting prices in its class.

Acura NSX coming to Detroit, the wait is almost over [w/video]

Finally. After spending years rounding three bases in the development of the second coming of the Acura NSX, we can espy home base just beyond the turn of the year. Here is your first teaser image for the profoundly anticipated coupe that will show itself in production form at the 2015 Detroit Auto Show. (We've even brightened it up for you, but feel free to see it in high-res, original form, along with a few other teaser shots, here.) What we can see of it looks like the last camouflaged prototype we saw at the 'Ring, save for switching out the prorotype's traditional headlights for Acura's jeweled units. After years of foreplay, well... let's just say we're ready. The coupe, its zirconium e-coat and its twin-turbocharged Sport Hybrid power unit – aimed at Ferrari 458 Italia performance for Audi R8 money – will be uncovered on January 12, 2015 at 11:50 AM Eastern time, and you can watch it as it happens at www.youtube.com/acura. There's a teaser video, below, to whet your appetites. Next month's NSX debut kicks off what John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda, calls "The Year of Honda." Speaking to members of the media at an event in Detroit Tuesday, Mendel said that following the NSX, Honda will debut a new version of the Pilot SUV in 2015, as well as a redesigned Ridgeline pickup. Mendel also confirmed that Honda will launch small-displacement, turbocharged engines for use in production vehicles. As for Acura, the company's luxury division will offer the new ILX this year, and Mendel hinted that the RDX and MDX crossovers will get a few updates to make them more competitive within their respective segments. It sounds like a busy year, for sure. And we're ready and waiting (we've been waiting...) for the NSX to kick it all off. Head below to read the official confirmation statement, and to see a teaser video. Acura NSX Production Model to Make World Debut at 2015 North American International Auto Show TORRANCE, Calif., December 17, 2014 – The production version of the highly anticipated Acura NSX supercar, successor to the legendary original NSX, will make its world debut at the 2015 North American International Auto Show on January 12, 2015. The model will reflect the production design and specifications of the mid-engine Acura supercar that is slated to launch in 2015.

100th Pikes Peak Hill Climb brings bad weather, heartbreak

Hill climb? Please. While Europeans spent the weekend driving up a nobleman's driveway at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, we in 'Murica got down and dirty with the 100th running up Pikes Peak. In a reversal of stereotypes, it is we who have understated. The "hill" climb ascends one of the tallest peaks in the Rockies, to a finish line that's 14,115 feet above sea level. To get there, it takes 156 turns over 12.42 miles, some of which just look like paved sky, because they have have no guardrails between the asphalt's edge and sheer dropoffs. In reality, the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is even older than 100 years. The first event took place in 1916, but in 1917-19 and 1942-45, the so-called Race to the Clouds was put on hiatus due to a couple of world wars. This year's event was marked by damp weather that dashed the hopes of several teams' efforts to break new records. David Donner's Porsche 911 Turbo S Lightweight Package, for example, was widely expected to reclaim the production car record this year. Donner is a three-time PPIHC champ, and set the 2014 production car record in a 991-generation Turbo S.  A Bentley Continental GT piloted by Rhys Millen beat it in 2019, so Porsche was keen on taking it back. Donner broke the production qualifying time earlier in the week, but even the seasoned pro couldn't put his skills to tarmac due to moisture-laden surfaces and low-visibility from thick fog on race day. The result was 10:34.053, over 15 seconds slower than Millen's 10:18.488, still good enough to land the class's top spot and second overall. Acura arrived in Colorado to conduct its much-touted motorsports debut of the 2023 Integra. While the entry-level sports sedan, equipped with a stock engine but modified with a slew of HPD goodies, came in ninth in the production class, Acura didn't go home emptyhanded. A 2022 NSX Type S driven by Nick Robinson took the category's third spot. Taking second was Daijiro Yoshihara with a Tesla Model S. In recent years, electric cars have become a force to be reckoned with, especially since they are immune to high altitudes that negatively impact internal combustion cars. Poor conditions sent newcomer Levi Shirley's Ultra 4 buggy off course. Fortunately, it was near the lower sections, where there's still a significant amount of runoff past the pavement's end. Amazingly, Shirley landed wheels down in the video above, and simply continued driving through the pea soup haze.