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Acura reveals Ludacris' restored Legend, Galpin ILX at SEMA

Acura gave us a hint couple of weeks ago at what it had in store for the SEMA show this year. The Japanese luxury marque has detailed the full extent of its presence at this year's tuner expo, but the main act under the Acura tent (oddly enough) isn't a new vehicle. The star of the show is a 1993 luxury sedan with celebrity provenance. The Legend belongs to rapper-turned-actor Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, of hip-hop and Fast & Furious fame. The automaker has thoroughly restored and modernized the vehicle that featured on the cover of his ninth studio album Ludaversal. At the end of a two-month project, the sedan has been refinished in a custom shade of Warm Cashmere with Ice Pearl. It now rides on 18-inch Rays alloys with Bridgestone Potenza rubber, fitted to a suspension lowered by two inches with H&R springs and Eibach camber kit. It has upgraded brakes with six-piston calipers up front and four-pots at back, and a Pioneer audio system with Alpine subwoofers and Apple CarPlay integration. To complement the Legend, Galpin worked up a 2016 Acura ILX. It has an aero kit, fog lights, custom exhaust, coilover suspension, Borla exhaust, and 19-inch wheels with Pirelli P Zero rubber. The body's been repainted in Sunburst Yellow with gray accents, and sports an interior with perforated leather and gold trim. There'll be another ILX on display with Acura Genuine Accessory parts as well. But the Japanese automaker won't miss the chance to display its new NSX. The supercar's being showcased in a new shade called Nouvelle Blue Pearl. Watch this space for live photos from the show floor, and scope out the details in the press release below in the meantime. Related Video: Acura Showcases Passion for Performance at 2015 SEMA Show Highlights include restored 1993 "Ludacris Legend", a sport-modified 2016 Acura ILX Sports Sedan, next-generation Acura NSX supercar and 2016 ILX with Acura Genuine Accessory package LAS VEGAS, NV. (Nov. 3, 2015) – Acura today thrilled the 2015 SEMA Show with multiple innovative expressions of the brand's performance-crafted DNA – past, present and future – including the debut of the meticulously restored 1993 "Ludacris Legend" sedan, a sport-modified 2016 Acura ILX by Galpin Auto Sports, and the next-generation Acura NSX supercar, slated for its U.S. launch next spring. The Acura exhibit also features a 2016 Acura ILX with the Acura Genuine Accessory Package in Slate Silver Metallic.

2014 Acura MDX shows up exactly as expected

Acura (and parent company Honda, for that matter) doesn't always leave a lot to be left to the imagination when they unveil prototypes at auto shows. Case in point: Take a gander at the Acura MDX Prototype that debuted at the Detroit Auto Show this past January, and then look at the production-spec 2014 MDX pictured above. See what we mean?
Design-wise, there frankly isn't a whole lot to get excited about with this MDX. Sure, a lot of the chiseled, sharp lines from the previous-generation model have been smoothed out in favor of something that will likely have more mass-market appeal, but to our eyes, the MDX has simply lost a lot of its visual flair in the process. To quote Autoblog senior editor Seyth Miersma, this new one just looks like the old one after melting by 10 percent. The end result is something that more closely resembles the company's smaller RDX crossover than anything else, with other subtle design elements mimicking what we've seen on the ILX and RLX sedans. It's all fine, but again, not exciting. The good news, however, is that thanks to the use of new lightweight materials, the 2014 MDX is 275 pounds lighter than the outgoing model.
Updates to what's underneath the MDX's new skin are hardly surprising, but still welcome. Power comes from a direct-injected 3.5-liter V6 making 290 horsepower and 267 pound-feet of torque, mated to a six-speed automatic transmission with both front-wheel drive and Acura's Super-Handling All-Wheel Drive on offer. Acura estimates that front-drive models will achieve 20/28/23 miles per gallon (city/highway/combined), and says that adding the SH-AWD drops those numbers to 18/27/21. Acura will offer a new Integrated Dynamic System that allows the driver to choose between normal, sport and comfort settings, and the new MDX will ride on a choice of either 18- or 19-inch alloy wheels.

IIHS says these are the safest cars of 2013

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has revealed its annual list of Top Safety Picks, an award that highlights automobiles it says offer "superior crash protection." A new and still more significant award, the Top Safety Pick+ honor, is given to those vehicles that earn good ratings for occupant protection in four out of five areas of measure. And while some 117 vehicles were given the TSP seal of approval for 2013, just 13 passed muster for TSP+.
To be fair, IIHS only evaluated 29 vehicles with its new testing procedures for TSP+ (we'd expect that the number of qualified cars will rise substantially for 2014). Luxury and Near Luxury midsize cars were the first groups evaluated, followed by midsizers in the Moderately Priced Cars category - unsurprisingly, it's only midsize cars that you'll find among the class this year.
Only two luxury sedans made the list of 13 for 2013: the Acura TL and Volvo S60. The other 11 cars on the list included entries from domestic, Japanese and German car makers: Dodge Avenger, Chrysler 200, Ford Fusion, Honda Accord (sedan and coupe), Kia Optima (but not its close kin, the Hyundai Sonata, strangely), Nissan Altima, Subaru Legacy and Outback, Suzuki Kizashi and the Volkswagen Passat all made the grade.