Acura Mdx Technology on 2040-cars

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2024 Acura RDX is another model dropping front-wheel drive

After Acura made small changes to the RDX for the 2022 and 2023 model years, Honda's premium arm is carrying the 2023 version nearly unchanged into 2024. There's a familiar drivetrain tweak that we've covered across the automaker spectrum, though, with Acura dropping the front-wheel-drive option that had been available on the base, Technology, and A-Spec trims. For now, every RDX comes fitted with Acura's Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD). The effect is also familiar: Compared to 2023 RDX pricing at launch, the minimum price for the entry-level base and the Technology trims is up $2,300, the A-Spec price climbs $2,000. MSRPs for the RDX lineup including the $1,195 destination charge, and their changes from 2023 launch pricing, are: RDX Base: $45,245 ($2,300) Technology: $47,895 ($2,300) A-Spec: $50,895 ($2,000) Advance: $53,045 ($500) A-Spec Advance: $55,045 ($500) Now for the small print. We specified launch pricing because the 2023 RDX has already gone up in price by all but $100 of the increases noted above. Meaning, if you wanted to configure a 2023 RDX on Acura's website instead of a 2024, you'd only save $100. Also, the automaker didn't put out a press release for the coming model year, but it did publish a fact sheet. The first footnote of the fact sheet explains, "Destination & Handling charge for sedans (excluding PMC Edition) and SUVs (excluding PMC Edition) is $1,400." At the time of writing this post, destination charges are still shown as $1,195 on the 2024 Acura RDX Build & Price page. Take this as warning that the brand's cars could get at least $205 more expensive soon. Every RDX is powered by a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder making 272 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque, shifting through a 10-speed automatic and sending power to both axles. We've had nothing bad to say about the RDX, praising its gutsy engine, responsive chassis, quality interior, sharp styling, spacious interior and plentiful standard features. And even with the price bumps, the RDX remains either much less expensive or notably more powerful than the luxury competitors Acura wants to challenge with the RDX. 

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.

Watch an Acura NSX prototype lap the track at Mid-Ohio

As promised, Acura trotted its NSX prototype out to the mass of waiting fans ahead of today's Honda Indy 200 IndyCar race at Mid-Ohio. The hybrid supercar took to the track for a fast lap, and Acura was kind enough to attach a score of cameras to the car in order to share the event with the rest of the world.
The blue-wrapped NSX looks pretty darn good on a race track, if we do say so ourselves, and its V6 engine, coupled with its three electric motors and lithium-ion battery pack, sounds awfully sweet at full song. The automaker is promising to release its new NSX in 2015, which is still quite a ways away, so we don't expect this exhibition lap to be the last time we see a prototype in action ahead of a production debut.
Want to see the video? Of course you do. Scroll down to see the NSX take to the track like a fish takes to water.