2022 Acura Mdx Advance on 2040-cars

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2023 Acura Integra officially getting a manual transmission

When the 2023 Acura Integra was announced, we at Autoblog put together a wish list of sorts for the new entry-level sport sedan (er, hatchback). One of those wishes has been granted as Acura has announced that a manual transmission will be available. That's really the extent of the announcement. Acura released a YouTube video (above) and an image of the shifter (top) and said it's coming. It's also a six-speed manual, but that's pretty much the standard for manual transmissions nowadays unless you're shopping some seriously budget automobiles. We did notice that the shifter and its surroundings look pretty similar to that of the Civic. And that would jibe with the model's history, and with spy shots we've seen of the car. These definitely aren't complaints either, especially if they're what let us have a manual Integra. We're curious what engine is paired with this transmission. Honda has offered manuals with the naturally aspirated 2.0-liter and turbocharged 1.5-liter engines from the Civic, and even briefly offered it with the turbocharged 2.0-liter from the Accord, and of course still offers it with the even hotter version in the Civic Type R. We'll just have to wait for more details to come. Related Video:

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.

Acura NSX is industry's first supercar with a female design lead

Michelle Christensen. Unless you've been casting about the web for some behind-the-scenes takes on recent exotic car launches or were unusually curious during the early days of the sport crossover trend, her name probably means nothing to you. She grew up in Northern California, where her family drag-raced. Venerables like the 1932 Ford, Plymouth GTX, and Dodge Super Bee rolled through her family garage. And Christensen grew up designing prom dresses for friends and dreaming of working in a pit crew. In fact, she didn't even realize car design was a real profession until junior high, when her father pointed out Chip Foose at a car show. After that, she was hooked, so she went to Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, where she reimagined the Plymouth Barracuda as her senior project. Today, Christensen can add the title of lead exterior designer on the 2016 Acura NSX to her resume. The first woman to lead the shape of a supercar, Christensen actually opened up her "First!" account with Acura in 2005 when the company swooped her up the night of graduation and she became its first female exterior car designer. Her first sketch on the job was a concept for the ZDX, and the bigwigs chose her design for production. She joined the NSX team after the mid-engined concept was introduced at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show, replacing the front-engined V10 concept (we encourage you to go back and look at what was versus what is). Christensen thereafter led a crew of eight through a rework of the sheetmetal, with the focus being to keep the "emotional, 3-D kind of feeling." Reminiscing about her family's utterly unadorned '32 Ford hot rod, she said the NSX team was committed to keeping the design simple and light. Wind tunnel work led to larger bumper, hood and side intakes for better airflow on the production model. That, along with a switch in engine position, gave them a chance to go aggressive and to not only "punch more holes in it and make it more exotic," but also "take it to the gym and beef it up." In line with its decidedly un-retro rebirth, the third brake light that runs across the decklid is about the only nod to its predecessor. At age 34, we're certain we haven't seen the last of Christensen or her designs. Related Video: