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The all-women Acura NSX team previews a way forward for racing

DAYTONA, Fla. — There is a team at the 24 Hours of Daytona that's just like any other team, with experienced drivers who rightly earned their spot in the top endurance racing series in America. They are prepared to run a full season in a competitive car, and they even set the fastest time in their class at the pre-season Roar Before the 24 test. The only difference between this team and any other is that its drivers happen to be women. We went to Daytona to talk to them about their journey to the race. The No. 57 Heinricher Racing with Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo team features a roster of talented, experienced drivers: Katherine Legge, Simona de Silvestro, Bia Figueiredo and Christina Nielsen. While there have been four other all-women lineups at Daytona before, the No. 57 team is the first to be considered truly competitive. Team founder Jackie Heinricher, a biotech CEO who has raced in Ferrari Challenge, Global Rallycross Lites and Lamborghini Super Trofeo, was coached by Legge. Two years ago, she had the idea to run a car full of women – and not just a token effort, but rather a car full of drivers who could win. "The car does not know your gender, and I feel as if this sort of professional effort legitimizes that in a way that's particularly important and inspirational outside of racing," Heinricher told Autoblog. Heinricher had seen Legge struggle to get the right funding for rides before, so she didn't want to limit this team to whoever could pay. So, she first lined up the funding, thanks largely to support from primary sponsor Caterpillar. It took awhile, though, as many companies simply told her that they were out of racing sponsorships entirely. "I think perseverance might be the most underrated human quality," Heinricher said. "I just didn't give up." After funding was in place, she found a competitive partner in the Meyer Shank Racing crew, whose owner Michael Shank has run a pair of factory-backed Acura NSX GT3s in IMSA's GTD class since 2017. The GT3 shares an engine and turbo with the road-going NSX but ditches the hybrid system, making it about 670 pounds lighter. The No. 57 car is an EVO variant, which Legge helped develop, and it features improved aerodynamics to better suit it to the mix of pro and amateur drivers who take shifts racing in the GTD class. Legge had been on Shank's NSX team for the past two years as well, so Heinricher reached out to her for help assembling women who truly had the ability to win.

2021 Acura TLX Type S Road Test Review | Golden and glorious

After spending an entire month with our long-term 2021 Acura TLX A-Spec, I had high hopes for the new TLX Type S. When you start from a good base, that means things can only get better, right? The chassis underneath the base TLX’s flashy sheetmetal is a thing of brilliance. This four-door is taut and responsive the way you expect a high-performance German sport sedan to be, and the SH-AWD system is one of the best in the business, hugely aiding its agility. But not everything about the TLX A-Spec with its 2.0-turbo four-cylinder is perfect in the fun-to-drive column. The 10-speed transmission is mediocre at best, and while the engine makes a good noise, an Accord with its 2.0-turbo can outrun it in a straight line. ThereÂ’s enough thrust to keep things lively, but itÂ’s not going to raise your pulse. Enter the TLX Type S. It marks AcuraÂ’s mighty return to performance cars (beyond the NSX), and itÂ’s a chance for Acura to address our issues with the standard TLX. LetÂ’s get into it. The Type S boots out the four-cylinder in favor of AcuraÂ’s totally new 3.0-liter turbocharged V6. This engine is exclusive to the Type S for the time being, and itÂ’s a winner. DonÂ’t expect a high-revving classic Honda experience, though. Instead, just like the new turbocharged Civic Type R, this V6 is a torque monster. The peak 354 pound-feet hits low in the rev band at 1,400 rpm then carries on up to 5,000. Its peak 355 horsepower is made at 5,500 rpm, and redline comes shortly thereafter at 6,200. Acura still found a way to make this relatively low-revving V6 sound more frenzied than it actually is. The trip up to redline in Sport and Sport+ (which opens the active exhaust valves) is music to the ears. ItÂ’s not punishingly loud, but the pitch increases with revs to a much higher note than you might suspect. Open the windows, and youÂ’ll also get some turbo-spooling noises for even more drama. The personality and character level of this engine is off the charts compared to the standard 2.0T. Only BMWÂ’s inline-six — in the M340i — offers up a similarly enticing noise. The pull from this engine matches the sound it makes, too. Good luck finding a dead spot or weak point anywhere, because it doesnÂ’t exist. ThereÂ’s no cliff of torque at the end of the meaty rev band, and while the Type S might not win every stoplight drag race — Acura estimates an approximately 5-second trip to 60 mph — itÂ’s plenty quick enough to have a hell of a good time in.

Honda slowing US production due to ports dispute

The labor dispute that idled 29 ports on the West Coast last the weekend, including Los Angeles and Long Beach, CA, is about to make its effects felt on the showroom floor, according to Reuters. Honda, Toyota and Subaru have been trying to work around the labor disagreement, cutting overtime and airlifting parts to factories, but Honda says parts shortages at plants in Indiana, Ohio and Ontario, Canada, are now severe enough to impede production. The lack of transmissions and some electronic components will slow output of the Honda Accord, Civic, and CR-V – as well as unnamed Acuras. The three affected factories will rework their production schedules from Feb. 16-23. The ports have reopened this week, and US Labor Secretary Tom Perez has flown to San Francisco to mediate a new agreement between the 20,000 dockworkers represented by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents the terminals and shipping companies. Talks have been going on for almost nine months and the issues aren't settled; meanwhile, the West Coast ports that handle half the nation's maritime cargo and 70 percent of cargo from Asia are putting all kinds of industries on the ropes, and it's estimated to cost the economy $2 billion a day. Related Video: News Source: ReutersImage Credit: MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images Government/Legal Plants/Manufacturing UAW/Unions Acura Honda Crossover Sedan