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Hands-on with Acura's novel touchpad infotainment interface

After Acura's Precision Cockpit was unveiled here in LA, I sat in the, uh, driver's seat of the wheel-less interior mockup to get a feel for how this new touchscreen-free touch interface works. There are a lot of good ideas inside. Here are 11 things you should know. It's less like a trackpad and more like a remote-control tablet. So instead of letting you move a cursor relative to its last location like the trackpad on a laptop, each point on Acura's trackpad is mapped to a corresponding point on the center display. If you want what's in the upper right corner of the display, you touch and click in the upper right corner of the trackpad. Simple. I figured it out in two minutes. Maybe less. The whole thing is surprisingly intuitive. The ease of use is helped by the fact that the targets on the screen are pretty big – no tiny "buttons" to fiddle with. The clicks are real. The trackpad actually moves when you press down, so no need for simulated haptic feedback. In their research, Acura engineers found that accidental touches and presses are a real issue. We could have told them that – hit a bump while using a finicky remote interface like Lexus's all-but-abandoned joystick thing, and you select an item half-way across the screen from the one you intended. The placement of the trackpad in this concept interior also helps avoid unintentional inputs – it's not in the middle of the center console where it might get brushed or bumped, but instead in its own little cave at the base of the center-stack waterfall. (Acura's low-profile button-based transmission selector suddenly makes a whole lot of sense.) View 13 Photos Lots of cues cut down on distraction. You hover over the option you want before positively confirming the selection with a hard press. There's no cursor to find and reposition like in the Lexus trackpad system The red highlight gives the necessary visual cue that you put your finger in the right place. The pad is slightly dished to give you a tactile cue of where the center and edges are. It allows you to build up muscle memory, sort of like how you know generally where the "keys" are on your smartphone or tablet's virtual keyboard by now. Or at least I do on mine. You look at the screen, not what you're touching. The problem with touch screens is that they have to be low down in the car so you can reach them. That means you have to look down from the road to stab at what you want.

2023 Acura Integra production specs and photos revealed

We have waited five months since the Integra Prototype was revealed, and now what we’ve been long awaiting is finally here. This is the 2023 Acura Integra in final production form. Today not only gives us photos of the Integra in its final guise, but Acura also dropped all the information and details weÂ’ve been anticipating. LetÂ’s dig in. Per usual with Acura Prototype models, the production version mirrors the prototype closely. The obvious prototype elements are gone, like the big “Integra” side graphic and color exhaust inserts, but most of what we saw last year remains on this hatchback. One notable omission is the lack of photos with the yellow exterior paint Acura launched the Prototype in. A leak of the available paint colors suggested that yellow wasnÂ’t on the table for initial launch, but that doesnÂ’t mean Acura wonÂ’t introduce it as an option down the road. Just as was teased in the Proto, the only available engine will be a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder, and itÂ’ll be officially rated at 200 horsepower and 192 pound-feet of torque (same output as the new Civic Si). A six-speed manual transmission with auto rev-matching will be available on the A-Spec model, but a continuously variable transmission (CVT) will be standard across the line. The CVT features “Step Shift” programming to simulate shifts, and also allows you to move the engine speed around with paddle shifters. We wouldÂ’ve loved to see Acura figure out a way to use its 10-speed automatic in the Civic platform, but alas, the CivicÂ’s CVT will be the only automatic option here. If you choose the six-speed manual — which we strongly suggest you do — the Integra gains a helical limited-slip differential that is not equipped to automatic cars. Delving further into the performance realm, the Integra gets an optional adaptive damper system. If you recall, Honda dropped the adaptive dampers from this generation of Civic Si, making it a reason to upgrade to an Integra. The adaptive dampers have three settings: Comfort, Normal and Sport. Similar to other Acura models, the Integra features various drive modes to adjust throttle response, automatic transmission mapping, steering feel and gauge coloration. If you get the “A-Spec with Technology Package” model, an Individual mode is added that allows you to independently change all the modes separate from one another. It also adds an option to change the in-cabin sound.

Acura built just 91 examples of the ILX last month, here's why

The short life of the Acura ILX has been vexed by one glaringly odd standard equipment choice, mediocre reviews, getting outsold by its competition as it posted slower-than-projected sales and a pledge by Honda to upgrade its supposedly upgraded offering. Therefore, when Automotive News reports that just 91 of the Civic-based Acura sedans were manufactured last month - after a string of production months in double-digits - it would be easy to press the button for the alarm bells.
But that would be hasty, because it is actually the 2013 Honda Civic that is crimping the production pipeline of the ILX. The vastly higher sales numbers of the Honda meant that all three North American plants that produce it needed to crank up output to satisfy dealer inventory needs, including the Greenburg, Indiana plant that makes both the Civic and the ILX. As the classic guns-vs-butter Economy 101 lesson taught us - in which making more of one necessarily means making less of the other - well, the Civic is the gun.
Honda prepared for this eventuality by cranking out the Acuras while it got ready for Civic production. The ILX has held steady at about 500 units shy of company projections every month, and the current inventory represents about 90 days worth of sales. That makes Greenburg's ostensibly low numbers in line with the realities of the ILX, and the situation probably won't change much as Acura gets ready for the improved 2014 ILX.