2024 Acura Zdx Wa-spec Package on 2040-cars

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2014 Acura RLX

Earlier in the year, I reviewed a powder-blue Volkswagen Beetle Convertible, and I witnessed a group of high-school-aged girls ogling the car as it sat in my driveway. In my head, I found it to be a funny-yet-fitting scene that I didn't think of again until a 2014 Acura RLX showed up in my driveway. This time around, an elderly neighborhood couple stopped to give the big Acura sedan a closer look. The RLX is trying to shed past stereotypes of its predecessor, the Acura RL, just like the Beetle. Hoping to avoid becoming the de facto "grandpa car," Acura has completely reworked - and renamed - its flagship sedan.
As the bookend to the new entry-level ILX, the addition of the 2014 RLX might give Acura its strongest sedan lineup ever as the automaker looks to break the cycle of being a middle-of-the-road luxury brand. Stepping up to the big-boy table isn't going to be easy, though, as the competition keeps getting tougher. Forget cars like the Mercedes E-Class and BMW 5 Series, the Acura RLX is going to have its hands full with the likes of the Cadillac XTS, Lexus GS and Hyundai Genesis, not to mention a strong consortium of lower-priced, mid-luxury sedans like the Hyundai Azera, Toyota Avalon and Chevy Impala. The one thing all of these cars have in common is a reputation for being an old man cruiser.
I spent a week with the new RLX to see if it could shake the stigma of its outdated predecessor or if it would just leave me searching for the nearest early bird specials.

2024 Acura ZDX EV previewed ahead of Monterey unveiling

Announced in August 2022, the Acura ZDX will make its debut a year later during Monterey Car Week. Our spies have spotted the Japanese brand's first series-produced electric car testing with almost no camouflage, but a new preview image gives us a better look at the crossover. The photo confirms that the ZDX will fall in line with Acura's current design language. Its front end is characterized by sharp headlights with LED accents and a trim panel shaped like the grille fitted to gasoline-powered models such as the Integra. One interesting detail is that the lower part of the trim panel is illuminated. Beyond the front end, the aforementioned spy shots confirm that the crossover's silhouette is far more conventional than the original ZDX's, which surfed the crossover-coupe wave with a polarizing design and a fastback-like roof line. If you're experiencing deja-vu, it's likely because the ZDX looks like a heavily toned-down version of 2022's Precision EV concept. It's reasonable to assume that the interior will be made far more realistic as well, though Acura hasn't revealed it yet. All we know at this stage is that the ZDX will be available with a new infotainment system with Google apps integration and a Bang & Olufsen sound system. We'll need to be patient to find out what the ZDX's specifications sheet looks like. Acura simply confirmed it will offer two variants at launch: the standard ZDX, and a performance-oriented model called Type S. The latter will stand out as the quickest and most powerful crossover in the brand's history. Both versions will use the Ultium electric technology developed by General Motors and found under the Cadillac Lyriq and Chevrolet Blazer, among other EVs. General Motors will also build the ZDX through an agreement signed with Honda in April 2022. The 2024 Acura ZDX will break cover on August 17. Sales will start in early 2024. Honda's related Prologue EV shouldn't be far behind. Green Acura Crossover Electric Luxury Pebble Beach

Acura reveals performance EV concept called Performance EV Concept

After teasing a new EV concept for Monterey, Acura made good on its promise Thursday with the unveiling of its rather plainly named Performance EV Concept. Good news: Acura's first in-house EV will be a performance car. Bad news: It's not the one we all hoped it would be. Instead, we're getting another model in the grand tradition of the ZDX — pronounced front end and all. It seems that look is here to stay, so get used to it, because Acura says it plans to build a production model based on this concept starting in late 2025.  That's noteworthy not just because this is Acura's first in-house EV, but because it'll be the first production car to ride on any variant of Honda's new BEV architecture. The mainstream brand is planning to put something based on its 0 Series "Saloon" concept into production in 2026. That's quite the coup (no "e") for Acura, which spent most of the past two years talking about the Ultium-based ZDX project, which by all accounts will be the first and last Acura-badged product of Honda's tie-up with General Motors and its Ultium EV platform.  As you can probably surmise, Acura remains tight-lipped about specifics. Honda (and by extension, Acura) "concept" vehicles have a funny habit of being put into production almost exactly as they sit, so what you see here is likely pretty close to the mystery CUV's final physical form, but battery and motor specs remain nebulous for the time being. We expect a multi-motor setup engineered to mimic the behavior of the SH-AWD system Acura offers in its ICE vehicles. The concept's massive 23-inch wheels encircle a set of four-piston calipers and crossed-drilled rotors — the two most significant hints that we're looking at something meant to move quickly.  If you're in Northern California for Car Week, you can check out Acura's concept at The Quail. The company's presentation is scheduled for 10:36 a.m. local time (What is this, a train schedule?) on Friday.