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2017 North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year entries announced

Over 40 vehicles will compete for the 2017 North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year awards. If that name looks a little strange, it's because the competition added a third category. In years past, pickup trucks, crossovers, SUVs, commercial vans, and minivans competed for the same award. That's why there were occasionally weird comparisons, like last year's competition between the Volvo XC90 and Nissan Titan XD. The new format separates pickups and commercial vans into the truck contest and CUVs, SUVs, and minivans into the utility competition. A complete list of eligible vehicles is below, but here are a few highlights. For one, the entire list of entries has a luxurious lean. Of the 43 vehicles, nearly half of them are from premium brands. There are two eligible Bentleys – the Bentayga and Mulsanne – the Rolls-Royce Dawn, Jaguar F-Pace, Audi Q7, and the Mercedes-Benz GLS-, E-, and S-Class Maybach. The performance ranks are lofty, too, with the Audi R8, Acura NSX, Alfa Romeo Giulia, Mercedes SL- and SLC-Class, Porsche 718, and F-150 Raptor. The mainstream entries are just as comprehensive. From the Chrysler Pacifica to the Chevrolet Cruze to the Fiat 124 Spider to the Mitsubishi Mirage, NACTOY has covered an enormous price range with this year's contestants. Of course, these are only the eligible vehicles. They'll need to run through three rounds of judging, starting in September at NACTOY's traditional Hell, MI, test drive. The Canadian and American journalists involved in the judging will announce this year's nine finalists – three in each category – on December 6. Cars Acura NSX Alfa Romeo Giulia Audi A4 Audi R8 Bentley Mulsanne Buick Cascada Buick LaCrosse Cadillac CT6 Chevrolet Bolt Chevrolet Cruze Fiat 124 Genesis G90 Hyundai Elantra Infiniti Q60 Jaguar XE Kia Cadenza Lincoln Continental Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan Mercedes-Benz S550 Maybach Mercedes-Benz SL-Class Mercedes-Benz SLC-Class Mini Clubman Mitsubishi Mirage/G4 Porsche 718 Boxster and Cayman Rolls-Royce Dawn Toyota Prius Prime Volvo S90 SUVs Audi Q7 Bentley Bentayga Buick Envision Cadillac XT5 Chrysler Pacifica GMC Acadia Infiniti QX30 Kia Sportage Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class Jaguar F-Pace Mazda CX-9 Nissan Armada Trucks Ford F-Series Super Duty pickups Ford F-150 Raptor Honda Ridgeline Nissan Titan half-ton Related Video: Featured Gallery Bentley Bentayga View 23 Photos News Source: Automotive News - sub.

2021 Acura TLX A-Spec Long-Term Update | Infotainment system hits a pothole

The first few thousand miles of motoring in our 2021 Acura TLX A-Spec long-term test car were problem-free, but that changed after we took it on a spirited drive through the winding hills of southern Indiana. You can read about how it handled a full day of thrashing here, but this story will focus on the dead infotainment system previewed in the headline. About halfway through the twisty route, every sizable pothole or big bump in the road would cause the infotainment system to black out. A message would appear declaring “MOST NET LOSS,” and it would quickly dip to black after that. The next big pothole would cause it to flicker back on, but it never remained on for any long periods of time after this. In addition to the screen loss, the speakers would make some rather disturbing crackling noises. This continued throughout the day and for several days beyond that. If the roads I was driving on were flat or devoid of major problems, the infotainment system would generally be fine. It took a major jostling of the carÂ’s bones to cause it to act up, but Michigan provided enough of those to make the problem exceedingly annoying in a hurry. So, to the dealership it went. 2021 Acura TLX A-Spec View 51 Photos After the local dealer looked it over, they said there was a TSB out for this issue, and that theyÂ’ve seen it pop up on other RDXs and TLXs already. Turns out, there are a number of wire connectors between the infotainment system and wiring harness that are causing the problems and coming loose. The fix? Newly designed connectors from Acura, plus the wiring harness is ever so slightly freed up to allow for a bit of movement from violent impacts. Doing this (plus using the stronger new connectors) should ensure that the stress on these connectors is never so great as to cause issues again.  The job was completed under warranty and took a full day from diagnosis to the return of the car. WeÂ’ve put several hundred miles on the car since the fix, and theyÂ’ve been completely trouble-free — it sure was nice to listen to AcuraÂ’s excellent ELS audio system again. That said, this issue is one weÂ’ll follow closely to see if AcuraÂ’s fix truly is a long-term solution. WeÂ’ll have a deeper dive on how AcuraÂ’s TouchPad infotainment system works (now that itÂ’s actually working again) soon, so watch out for that update in the near future. You will be able to find all other posts on our Long-Term 2021 Acura TLX page.  Related:

Top 10 small cars with the longest total driving range

Editor's Note: Since this article was originally posted in the spring of 2015, much has changed in the automotive landscape, especially among those shopping for small car economy. With thanks to Volkswagen for their blatant cheating – and subsequent cover-up – on diesel emissions, the largest player in the diesel passenger car segment isn't playing – they're paying; billions are going for both car buybacks and federally-imposed penalties. And for a few VW execs there exists the very real possibility of jail. With the absence of a big player and the abrupt entrance – via Chevy's new Bolt – of an affordable EV with 200+ miles of range, we've limited the diesel listings to Jaguar's new XE. And for those wanting an updated look at efficiency and range, Autoblog has it – or the EPA has it. Long before electric vehicles were part of the mainstream conversation, car lovers and skinflints alike would boast about the total range of their vehicles. There's something about getting farther down the road on one tank of gas that inflames the competitive spirit, almost as much as horsepower output or top speed. Of course, the vehicles with the very best range on today's market are almost all big trucks and SUVs; virtually all have the ability to carry massive reserves of fuel. Top up a standard Chevy Suburban and you can expect to travel almost 700 miles (you'll need to stop before the Suburban stops...), while a diesel-fed Jeep Grand Cherokee manages almost as many. But what about vehicles that are smaller? The EPA has, essentially, three classifications for 'small' vehicles: Minicompact, Subcompact and Compact. All three are measured based on interior volume, meaning that some cars with rather large exterior dimensions and engines slot in next to traditional small cars. But even though impressive GT coupes from Porsche, Bentley and Mercedes-Benz may have much larger gas tanks to feed their powerful engines, that capacity is offset by higher rates of consumption... in most cases. We used the EPA's Fuel Economy Guide for model year 2017 cars as a start, calculating the official highway miles per gallon rating with each vehicle's tank capacity. The resulting numbers aren't necessarily real world, but they do offer a spectrum for total theoretical range. The eventual top ten surprised me on a few occasions, and comprised quite a varied list of vehicles. 10.