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2016 Acura NSX aimed at Ferrari 458 for the price of Audi R8

Acura has done a good job of keeping the next-generation NSX under the wraps for the past few months, especially after a fiery little incident during testing at the Nürburgring earlier this year. But UK's What Car? recently got a chance to speak with development boss Ted Klaus, and he unleashed a few new details about the much-anticipated supercar to make it even harder for us to wait.
Among the info was a strong estimate of the NSX's performance potential. "We have to achieve the type of acceleration that the customer is achieving with the Ferrari," said Klaus to What Car?. "More importantly we have to achieve this every day and also at the Nürburgring." Assuming Acura's supercar is as actually quick as a 458 Italia, then it could hit 60 miles per hour in around 3.5 seconds.
Klaus also claims that the wickedly fast performance could come at a relative bargain for the class. The price is reportedly being benchmarked against the Audi R8, which would put the NSX around $130,000 in the US. While hardly cheap, it would still be a healthy discount off a 458.

2014 Acura MDX shows up exactly as expected

Acura (and parent company Honda, for that matter) doesn't always leave a lot to be left to the imagination when they unveil prototypes at auto shows. Case in point: Take a gander at the Acura MDX Prototype that debuted at the Detroit Auto Show this past January, and then look at the production-spec 2014 MDX pictured above. See what we mean?
Design-wise, there frankly isn't a whole lot to get excited about with this MDX. Sure, a lot of the chiseled, sharp lines from the previous-generation model have been smoothed out in favor of something that will likely have more mass-market appeal, but to our eyes, the MDX has simply lost a lot of its visual flair in the process. To quote Autoblog senior editor Seyth Miersma, this new one just looks like the old one after melting by 10 percent. The end result is something that more closely resembles the company's smaller RDX crossover than anything else, with other subtle design elements mimicking what we've seen on the ILX and RLX sedans. It's all fine, but again, not exciting. The good news, however, is that thanks to the use of new lightweight materials, the 2014 MDX is 275 pounds lighter than the outgoing model.
Updates to what's underneath the MDX's new skin are hardly surprising, but still welcome. Power comes from a direct-injected 3.5-liter V6 making 290 horsepower and 267 pound-feet of torque, mated to a six-speed automatic transmission with both front-wheel drive and Acura's Super-Handling All-Wheel Drive on offer. Acura estimates that front-drive models will achieve 20/28/23 miles per gallon (city/highway/combined), and says that adding the SH-AWD drops those numbers to 18/27/21. Acura will offer a new Integrated Dynamic System that allows the driver to choose between normal, sport and comfort settings, and the new MDX will ride on a choice of either 18- or 19-inch alloy wheels.

2014 Honda Ridgeline keeps on truckin' with new special edition model

Like many smaller trucks, the Honda Ridgeline has been left to stagnate on the market for far too many years. With production of the current model reportedly winding down later next year before production of the next-gen model picks up in 2016, Honda is sending the 2014 Ridgeline out with some style courtesy of a new Special Edition trim level.
The new Ridgeline SE essentially adds cues from the Ridgeline Sport to the luxurious RTL trim level. The means features like black-trimmed 18-inch alloys and matching interior trim arrives as a no-cost option. This new model carries the same starting price as the RTL at $37,505 (*not including $830 for destination), and all other trim level pricing is carried over unchanged from the 2013 model year. The new SE model won't be available until November, and it is not pictured in the image galleries (all of which seem to be identical to previous model years).
Speaking of carryover products, Honda has also released pricing for the unchanged 2014 Pilot and 2014 Acura TL, which will continue to be priced from $29,670 and $36,030, respectively (Acura's destination charge is $890). Scroll down for press releases on the 2014 Ridgeline, Pilot and TL.