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Poor headlights cause 40 cars to miss IIHS Top Safety Pick rating

Over the past few months, we've noticed a number of cars and SUVs that have come incredibly close to earning one of the IIHS's highest accolades, the Top Safety Pick rating. They have great crash test scores and solid automatic emergency braking and forward collision warning systems. What trips them up is headlights. That got us wondering, how many vehicles are there that are coming up short because they don't have headlights that meet the organization's criteria for an "Acceptable" or "Good" rating. This is a revision made after 2017, a year in which headlights weren't factored in for this specific award. This is also why why some vehicles, such as the Ford F-150, might have had the award last year, but have lost it for this year. We reached out to someone at IIHS to find out. He responded with the following car models. Depending on how you count, a whopping 40 models crash well enough to receive the rating, but don't get it because their headlights are either "Poor" or "Marginal." We say depending on how you count because the IIHS actual counts truck body styles differently, and the Infiniti Q70 is a special case. Apparently the version of the Q70 that has good headlights doesn't have adequate forward collision prevention technology. And the one that has good forward collision tech doesn't have good enough headlights. We've provided the entire list of vehicles below in alphabetical order. Interestingly, it seems the Volkswagen Group is having the most difficulty providing good headlights with its otherwise safe cars. It had the most models on the list at 9 split between Audi and Volkswagen. GM is next in line with 7 models. It is worth noting again that though these vehicles have subpar headlights and don't quite earn Top Safety Pick awards, that doesn't mean they're unsafe. They all score well enough in crash testing and forward collision prevention that they would get the coveted award if the lights were better.

2014 Acura RLX gets trick hybrid all-wheel drive system for LA

Acura has endured a year of mixed reviews and middling sales for its new RLX flagship. Meanwhile, the Japanese automaker has been readying what may be the very best version of the car for its debut. Now the wait is almost over, as Acura will show its 2014 RLX Sport Hybrid SH-AWD at this year's LA Auto Show.
When it comes to dealerships in the spring of 2014, the RLX Hybrid will be the most powerful production car Acura has ever sold. The combination of a 3.5-liter V6 and three electric motors - a 35-kilowatt motor pushing torque to the front wheels and two 27-kW units feeding the rears - creates a total system output of 377 horsepower.
Those rear-end electric motors do more than just add power, they also drive the rear wheels without a traditional rear drive shaft and differential. This newest iteration of the Super Handling-All Wheel Drive calls upon the two rear motors to both drive and brake the rear wheels, vectoring torque in cornering situations for additional grip. All three electric motors make use of regenerative braking to feed electricity back into the system's 260-volt lithium-ion battery pack.

2024 Acura Integra Type S First Drive Review: Have we got news for you!

If you were expecting the 2024 Acura Integra Type S to be a more comfortable, better-equipped and less-aggressive Honda Civic Type R, well, have we got news for you. As it turns out, that’s exactly what it is. You pretty much nailed it on the head. The Integra Type S is exactly the car we all expected after looking at the specs, seeing how closely its enhanced componentry mirrored that of HondaÂ’s halo car, and then extrapolating what a bit of polish, a bunch of equipment and slightly cushier suspension tuning might mean. If the latest Type R has been hailed for growing up in just the right ways, the Type S takes that concept further, sacrificing some go-fast potential for everyday drivability. If you like the Honda, thereÂ’s a chance youÂ’ll like the Acura even more. ThereÂ’s also a chance youÂ’ll like it less. Now, not surprisingly, the folks at Acura would rather shine the spotlight on how the Type S differs from the Integra A-Spec, which was previously the highest rung on the Integra ladder and the only way to get one with a six-speed manual transmission. Very well. Somehow, the visual jump between A-Spec and Type S seems much greater than Civic Si and Type R. When put side-by-side, the A-Spec Integra looks almost naked and a bit pedestrian. The 3.5-inch-wider front track wrapped in muscular fender flares stamped directly into the sheetmetal up front is the biggest difference. The rear track is 1.9 inches wider, and although it too gets widebody fenders, they are a shmish-shmosh of plastic pieces on the door, fender and bumper. But back to the front. The face is more aggressive in appearance, but the changes are as much functional as aesthetic. The shield grille is larger and fully open (versus partially sealed) to allow 170% more air to pass through on its way up a new vent in the aluminum hood that creates downforce. The large intake-looking areas forward of the wheels donÂ’t actually take in anything, but hidden openings on their inboard sides adjacent to the lower airdam channel air through three canards located behind those dud intakes. Air then exits behind those flared fenders, creating air curtains around the wheels. There is also a unique splitter up front, an almost-smooth floor and an enlarged diffuser, plus a lip spoiler that quite obviously wonÂ’t be creating as much downforce as the Type R's wing. That would be performance-oriented demerit No. 1, but also, grown-up point No. 1.