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Honda museum opens at company HQ in SoCal, first public day is next month

You don't see too many ordinary cars in automotive museums, and it makes sense. Rare luxury models, iconic muscle cars and obviously collectible vehicles are far more likely to get preserved and find themselves parked upon a climate-controlled pedestal someday. And yet, even if they may not be as collectible, everyday cars typically strike a stronger emotional and nostalgic chord in all of us. They firmly recall a specific time in our lives; what we were doing and where we were. Even if we never owned the car in question, ordinary cars were bound contribute to the overall landscape of your world.  Which is why finding a museum devoted to ordinary cars such a treat. Now, "ordinary" can have negative connotations, so perhaps "ubiquitous" is better to describe what you'll find in the new American Honda Collection Hall at the company's headquarters in Torrance, Calif. As you can see in the gallery above, there are pristine examples of the Hondas we grew up in, learned to drive in, brought us to college ... and those are just my own personal examples. Of course, there are also decidedly less ordinary examples such as the S2000 CR, Civic Type-R Limited Edition and Acura NSX, but apart from perhaps the latter, it would be rare for you to see such "Radwood-era" cars in a museum. You can also see some of the cars we've actually had the chance to review here on Autoblog: the 1999 Honda Prelude, the 1999 Honda Civic Si, the 1985 Honda CRX Si, and a handful of others.  According to Carl Pulley, who is the steward of the collection, the cars on display are just a taste of what is actually available since space was limited within the Collection Hall that's adjacent to HQ's primary lobby. He'll be able to swap different cars in or adopt a theme such as prominent examples from Honda's motorsports endeavors. Indeed, it isn't just Honda and Acura road cars -- we're just focusing on those because, you know, Autoblog. There are race cars, noteworthy motorcycles and even power equipment such as marine engines, generators and weed whackers.  While most car companies have a collection stored someplace, this one will actually be open to the public on a limited but regular basis. There will be scheduled "Cars, Bikes & Coffee" events hosted at the Collection Hall where people are invited to drive or ride their own piece of Honda history (all makes and eras are still welcome) to show off in Honda HQ's vast parking lot and come inside to check out the Collection Hall.

2016 Acura MDX gets 9-speed transmission, added refinement

It's a car we barely think about until Acura announces it's done something to it, but the MDX is rather popular with those questing for a crossover. For 2016 the third-generation, luxury three-row people-carrier gets a slightly higher MSRP, but better standard equipment and options to go with it. The big change is that the nine-speed automatic transmission with tighter ratios and faster gear shifts, as well as its push-button gear selector, has finally migrated from the top-dog RL sedan. So too the upgraded twin-clutch Super Handling All-Wheel Drive, paired here with the unchanged 290-horsepower, 3.5-liter six-cylinder. We thought adding three more cogs was supposed to make for better fuel economy, but in some cases the EPA ratings on the 2016 MDX have gone down by one mile per gallon. The base 2015 MDX is rated at 20 city, 28 highway, 23 combined; the 2016 is rated 19 city, 27 highway, 22 combined. Add SH-AWD on the 2015 and you're looking at 18 city, 27 highway, 21 combined; on the 2016 that's 18 city, 26 highway, 21 combined. If you add idle-stop to those models you restore the city and combined ratings, but still lose that extra mile on the highway. On the options list is a group of safety and driver assistance features grouped under the AcuraWatch rubric. You can add the whole kit for $1,500 to the base model, but some of its features like Lane Keep Assist and Forward Collision Warning, which you can also option on the 2015 model, are added with the Technology Package. The full suite, which includes model-firsts like Road Departure Mitigation and Rear Cross Traffic Monitor, is standard once you step up to the Advance Package. Other tech treats get baked into all trims, like the easy entry/exit driver's seat slides back 1.4 inches when you're getting in and out, the TPMS fill assist that sounds a beep when you've inflated the tires to the correct pressure, Siri Eyes Free voice recognition and a frameless rearview mirror. The price to get in on all this is $42,865, a a $1,100 bump over the 2015 model, but that's not a blanket increase across the lineup: the MDX with the Technology Package, for instance, has only gone up $250. The upper limit comes with the MDX SH-AWD with idle stop and the Advance, Entertainment & AcuraWatch Plus Packages for $57,080, a $100 increase over the top-of-the-line 2015 trim. The press release below has plenty of details.

2021 Acura TLX vs. luxury sedans: How they compare on paper

The 2021 Acura TLX has been revealed, and it looks superb. We also have a handful of hard numbers, so you know that we've got to take a look at how they compare to the competition. As we only have numbers for the base turbocharged four-cylinder model, we're only looking at similarly equipped competitors. And with the small to midsize luxury sedan segment burgeoning these days, we've selected a mix of rear-drive, front-drive and all-wheel-drive options to compare to this front-drive-based sedan. You can see the raw numbers below, and a summary of them under that. Engine and transmission The Acura's base engine is a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder, just like the vast majority of cars in its segment. It's an especially powerful base engine, though, with 272 horses. That tops every base engine in this group, and is only topped by Volvo's mid-range turbocharged and supercharged four-cylinder that makes 316 horsepower. Its torque rating is strong, too, falling short of the aforementioned Volvo engine and the BMW four-cylinder. You'll note that we've included two four-cylinder engines for the Audi and the Volvo. With the Audi, the entry-level engine is seriously underpowered versus the competition, whereas the higher-output version is more comparable, so we felt it should be included. As for the Volvo, since the turbo and supercharged engine isn't quite comparable to each of these model's six-cylinder alternatives, we felt it should be mentioned, here. Many of these cars have substantially more powerful alternatives available, including the Acura. The Acura will have a twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6, but we have no specifications for it. It will face off with the 382-horsepower BMW M340i, 400-horsepower Volvo S60 T8 hybrid, 365-horsepower Genesis G70 3.3T and 349-horsepower Audi S4, among others. The Acura is available with either front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, and every version gets a 10-speed automatic, giving it claim to the most gears. All the other cars here make do with an eight-speed automatic. The Genesis G70 is the sole offering with a manual transmission, something that's offered on the Sport trim with upgraded brakes and a limited-slip differential. The Audi is unique in making all-wheel drive standard. On the Volvo, all-wheel-drive is only available if you upgrade to the higher-output engine, another reason why we wanted to include it. Size On the outside, the Acura is the largest, or more specifically, the longest.