2009 Acura Tl Sh-awd Sedan 4-door 3.7l on 2040-cars

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2020 Acura NSX Suspension Deep Dive

The Acura NSX has been a special car as long as I’ve been in the business. The first one came out in 1990, the same year I started my career in automotive engineering. I vividly remember driving one briefly back then when we brought one in for benchmarking. I'd drive it again 22 years later when my previous employer bought a used 1991 example for a long-term test. Reader interest was sky-high and the car was still gorgeous, but the march of time and automotive engineering had clearly left it behind. Then, in 2016, a second-generation NSX emerged, and it was packed with bleeding-edge thinking. It has a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6, but this new NSX is a hybrid with an electric motor-generator sandwiched between the engine and its nine-speed DCT transmission. Two more electric motors – one for each wheel – power the front axle. There they can add traction, regenerate electricity under braking and dole out hyper-accurate levels of torque vectoring. The carÂ’s tire package was changed from Continental SportContact 5 to SportContact 6 tires in 2019, and numerous suspension re-tuning tweaks came along with them. The result is a lively and well-balanced car that is relentless when driven hard and a pussycat around town. LetÂ’s see what theyÂ’ve got going on under there.   At first glance the 2020 Acura NSX appears to have dual wishbone front suspension. But we canÂ’t tell for sure because that big two-piece brake rotor is in the way. The coil-over shock looks obvious, but a few odd details are apparent even from here.   This view also seems to indicate double wishbone suspension. But the pivot axis (green arrow) between the upper and lower ball joints looks wrong – itÂ’s far too vertical. WeÂ’re missing something. But I would be remiss if I failed to point out a few other things before we moved on. For one, the front drive axle confirms this to be an all-wheel-drive machine. Second, the forged aluminum damper mounting fork (yellow) that envelops the axle is mounted to the lower arm about 75% out from the armÂ’s inner pivot. The spring and damper motion ratio would be 0.75-to-1 relative to wheel movement, with a tiny reduction due to its lean angle. Lastly, just look at the huge cast aluminum upright (white). Beautiful. Normally these are called hub carriers or steering knuckles, and I use the terms interchangeably. But the motorsports-derived term upright is normally applied when the piece is tall and, well, upright like this one.   This explains everything.

2019 Acura RDX named a Top Safety Pick+ by IIHS

To the accolades being heaped on the all-new 2019 Acura RDX, the automaker can now add another: a Top Safety Pick+ designation from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the organization's coveted top rating. IIHS cites the SUV's good crashworthiness ratings, standard front crash prevention technology and even the availability of "good"-rated headlights, which has become perhaps the group's most daunting hurdle. To qualify for IIHS's top award, a vehicle must earn "good" ratings in the driver-side small overlap front crash test, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests and an "acceptable" or "good" rating in passenger-side small overlap test. The RDX earns "good" ratings across the board. IIHS also rated the standard AcuraWatch safety technology as "superior," saying it avoided collisions at 12 and 25 mph, and it rated the base LED headlights as "good" and the curve-adapted headlights on the top-of-the-line Advance trim as "acceptable." Autoblog recently learned that 40 vehicle models earned good enough crash ratings to qualify for IIHS' Top Safety Pick rating but fall short because they don't meet the organization's criteria for good headlights. Acura says the 2019 RDX features the newest generation of its Advanced Compatibility Engineering body structure, plus new high-strength steel door stiffener rings and eight airbags. The AcuraWatch suite of safety technologies includes collision mitigation braking, adaptive cruise control and road departure mitigation, all standard. The RDX is powered by a 2.0-liter turbo-four engine that makes 272 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque and comes with a 10-speed automatic. The compact luxury crossover went on sale June 1 and set monthly sales records in both June and July. You can find Autoblog's driving review of the 2019 RDX here. Related Video:

2022 Acura MDX Type S First Drive Review | Spicy-enough family hauler

NAPA, Calif. — First things first: The 2022 Acura MDX Type S is not the Honda premium brandÂ’s attempt to create a BMW X5M. Then again, at $67,745, it comes in 30 grand under the storming German SUV. So while the Type S carries the imprimatur of high performance, it is priced more in line with the entry-level BMW X5 xDrive40i, plus the Audi Q7 55 TFSI and Mercedes GLE 450 4Matic that have upgrade engines but fall well short of being considered high-performance models. Acura makes a more convincing showing of it with the Type S, but you still get what you pay for – and sometimes paying less is OK. What Acura has created is an upgraded midsized SUV that gives sufficient sportiness to enthusiastic drivers, without clamping down on handling and braking harder than ThanosÂ’ gauntlet. HereÂ’s what to tell your friends at the bar: Acura ripped out the stock 3.5-liter V6 for a 3.0-liter sequential twin-scroll turbo that adds 65 horsepower (to 355) and 87 pound-feet of torque (to 354), and beefed up the 10-speed automatic transmission with a new torque converter, stronger gears and improved clutches to handle the increased power. It was also reprogrammed for improved response, especially in the new, Type S-exclusive Sport+ mode. Brake upgrades include four-piston 14.3-inch Brembos up front. And Acura claims its first-ever air suspension – courtesy of supplier Continental – delivers both improved ride and dynamic performance. What does that mean when youÂ’re actually behind the wheel? On a rainy day in Napa, California, marked with intermittent drizzle that turned the narrow two-lane roads greasy and slithery, the MDX Type S revealed its beefy size on occasion but also comported itself confidently. Most confident on corners marked “35 mph” or above, the Type S felt a bit bogged down in slower corners – especially when getting on the gas too early. Acura claims that its torque-vectoring Super Handling All-Wheel Drive will help round off corners when accelerating out of an apex, but the laws of physics and slippery roads still apply. Hitting the gas earlier in a wet cornerÂ’s apex can result in some bonus wheel slippage and mini-rotations thanks to SH-AWD, which is great fun if you are expecting it from this 4,741-pound beast.