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Is the Acura Legend coming back?

Great news for fans of the Acura Legend: Honda has applied for a trademark in Europe for the word "Legend," pertaining to "Vehicles; Apparatus for locomotion by land; Apparatus for locomotion by air; Apparatus for locomotion by water; Parts and fittings for land vehicles; Parts and fittings for air and space vehicles; Parts and fittings for water vehicles." This trademark was first spotted by AutoGuide.com, and gives more credence to our speculation from a couple months ago about the possibility of the Legend nameplate returning to the Acura lineup in the States. If you were reading closely before, you'll notice that it was actually Honda that applied for the trademark, not Acura. The Legend was sold with a Honda badge on it in Europe back in the day, so this trademark filing in Europe makes perfect sense. In our previous report, we put forth the idea that Acura could bring the Legend name back with a successor to the RLX flagship sedan. Specifically, we were thinking that Acura would use the four-door coupe form previewed by the Acura Precision concept. That story also suggested a new Legend flagship could debut during Monterey Car Week. The 1986 Legend sedan was one of Acura's first two vehicles when the brand launched (the other being the Integra). It had a smooth 2.5-liter V6 that made all of 151 horsepower at the time. A sweet-looking coupe soon followed the sedan. The name Legend would be applied to a second-generation, which is arguably the one best-remembered. The coupe in particular has lived up to its name. Much of that legendary status, though, is the result of what followed: the Legend name and coupe body style dying for 1996 in favor of the RL, a four-door sedan as bland as its name. Acura's flagship has never recovered. We'll be quite pleased if Acura ultimately decides to reveal a totally new Legend to blow us away in Monterey. The return to actual names for the lineup would also be lovely. It's certainly working for Lincoln. Now if they'd only trademark "Integra" ...

Acura ILX headed for Civic-like early upgrades

The not-yet-ready-for-primetime 2012 Honda Civic saw it quickly returned to sender for refurbishment, now the Acura ILX is headed in the same direction in its very first year. Automotive News reports that the small, Civic-based sedan from Honda's luxury brand isn't meeting sales expectations, with an annualized rate of 22,000 to 24,000 sales instead of the 30,000 the company is after. More telling is that the ILX "is being outsold by the Buick Verano, Volkswagen CC and Audi A4," and, except for two months since it launched, it has also been outdone by the Acura TSX it is meant to replace.
Part of the cause has been the 2.0-liter, four-cylinder engine: its 150 horsepower to motivate a sedan that can weigh up to 2,970 pounds doesn't offer the kind of performance or value experience that buyers in the segment respond to. Another big issue is that the top-level 2.4-liter engine is only offered with a six-speed manual even though most buyers of the highest trim don't really want to shift their own gears. Lastly, the ILX might not put enough space between it and its frugal underpinnings - our first drive review pegged it as "the world's nicest Honda Civic."
An automatic transmission is on the way for the 2.4-liter, but it isn't clear when. And while Honda admits that the 2.0-liter is underpowered and Automotive News says it's on the way out, the company hasn't yet said how that situation will be corrected.

Go inside the Acura NSX's stunning Ohio factory

If you're going to build a world-class supercar, you need to build a world-class factory. And that's what Honda did with the Performance Manufacturing Center in Marysville, Ohio. We took a tour of the PMC recently for an up-close look at how the new NSX comes to life and documented it in the video above. The PMC was designed for the sole purpose of building the new supercar. Located just up the road from the R&D center where Honda developed the NSX, the factory sits at the heart of Honda's Ohio campus. Walking the factory floor, you can tell the Acura NSX is the pride of the entire Honda Motor Company, and as we saw on our first drive, it's a car worthy of serious lust. So it's no small thing that the Japanese company builds the entire car in America. The factory won't be open to the public, but if you're one of the people with an NSX on order, you'll be able to take a tour yourself later this year. We hope you enjoy the video tour. Related Video: Green Acura Coupe Hybrid Videos Original Video