1992 Acura Legend L Coupe 2-door 3.2l One Owner 47k on 2040-cars

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A car writer's year in new vehicles [w/video]

Christmas is only a week away. The New Year is just around the corner. As 2014 draws to a close, I'm not the only one taking stock of the year that's we're almost shut of. Depending on who you are or what you do, the end of the year can bring to mind tax bills, school semesters or scheduling dental appointments. For me, for the last eight or nine years, at least a small part of this transitory time is occupied with recalling the cars I've driven over the preceding 12 months. Since I started writing about and reviewing cars in 2006, I've done an uneven job of tracking every vehicle I've been in, each year. Last year I made a resolution to be better about it, and the result is a spreadsheet with model names, dates, notes and some basic facts and figures. Armed with this basic data and a yen for year-end stories, I figured it would be interesting to parse the figures and quantify my year in cars in a way I'd never done before. The results are, well, they're a little bizarre, honestly. And I think they'll affect how I approach this gig in 2015. {C} My tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015 it'll be as high as 73. Let me give you a tiny bit of background about how automotive journalists typically get cars to test. There are basically two pools of vehicles I drive on a regular basis: media fleet vehicles and those available on "first drive" programs. The latter group is pretty self-explanatory. Journalists are gathered in one location (sometimes local, sometimes far-flung) with a new model(s), there's usually a day of driving, then we report back to you with our impressions. Media fleet vehicles are different. These are distributed to publications and individual journalists far and wide, and the test period goes from a few days to a week or more. Whereas first drives almost always result in a piece of review content, fleet loans only sometimes do. Other times they serve to give context about brands, segments, technology and the like, to editors and writers. So, adding up the loans I've had out of the press fleet and things I've driven at events, my tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015, it'll be as high as 73. At one of the buff books like Car and Driver or Motor Trend, reviewers might rotate through five cars a week, or more. I know that number sounds high, but as best I can tell, it's pretty average for the full-time professionals in this business.

2024 Acura TLX with fewer trims and more equipment starts at $46,195

We'll start with the pricing for the revised 2024 Acura TLX, then recap the new math and what shoppers could get for the money. MSRPs for the sports sedan including the $1,195 destination charge, and the changes from 2023 launch pricing, are: TLX with Technology Package: $46,195 ($1,450) TLX A-Spec: $51,195 ($1,500) Type S: $58,195 ($1,750) There were eight trims on offer in 2023, a bit much for shoppers to parse and digest. Now there are three. The former TLX 2.0T entry-level trim is one of those biting the dust, resulting in an automatic $5,450 increase for a 2024 TLX compared to 2023 pricing at launch. A $500 price increase during 2023 means the real difference right now between a 2023 and a 2024 is $950. That TLX with Technology Package price pays for more standard equipment, Acura making its 12.3-inch all-digital display gauges factory fit across the board. The cluster presents two appearance choices here, a "Crafted" design that looks like two standard dials, and an "Advance" design that puts the tach and speedo on the periphery, filling the center with a speedo and various graphics for ADAS and infotainment. This trim also comes in front-wheel drive only, while the two trims above come standard with Acura's Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD). The brand's Precision Cockpit touchpad infotainment controller carries over with a touchpad and a larger screen, 12.3 inches versus 10.3, and the processor running it is faster. Wireless CarPlay and Android Auto are now included, while the ambient lighting control is now accessed directly from the main menu rather than being buried in submenus. Today's difference between a 2023 and 2024 A-Spec is $1,000. Taken like-for-like, though, this trim is actually $880 less expensive. The 2023 TLX sat on 18-inch wheels as standard, Acura charging $1,880 for an optional set of 19-inch wheels in Glint Black. For 2024, the 19-inchers are standard, wearing Shark Gray instead of Glint Black. On top of all this, the A-Spec gets gloss black on its new, reshaped rear spoiler, and gloss black diffuser encasing new round tailpipes in place of the old square covers. Subtract that $500 bump from last year, the 2024 TLX Type S is $1,250 than a dealer inventory 2023 TLX Type S. The top trim adds a third gauge cluster design in Sport+ mode that features a big horizontal bar graph for the tach, which sounds similar to what’s in the Integra Type S.

Vehicles awarded IIHS Top Safety Pick awards skyrockets for 2015 [w/video]

By practically every measure, passenger vehicles in the US are continuing to get safer. With the year rapidly coming to an end, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is releasing its annual list tallying of the scores for the latest vehicles to see how they compare to last year. Judging by the agency's evaluations, the numbers look quite positive. According to the institute, 71 vehicles earned either the Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick+ rating so far in its testing for 2015. Among the latest winners, there have been 33 TSP+ awards and 38 TSP medalists. That's a healthy increase over the 22 TSP+ and 17 TSP grades in 2014. The figures appear even more impressive when you consider that it keeps getting harder to earn the + designation. In the latest round of testing, a vehicle must offer some form of front crash prevention automatic braking to get the mark. Previously, just a warning to drivers was necessary. This list also illustrates the ways that automakers adapt to new testing procedures. In 2013 there were 117 TSP ratings and 13 TSP+ awards. Then, the IIHS mandated that to be a safety pick, a model had to score Good in the institute's four crash tests, plus a Good or Acceptable in the small overlap front test. That brought a plunge in 2014 to just 17 TSP grades. With the numbers climbing again, companies apparently have deciphered how to perform better. Some brands especially stood out on this year's list. The IIHS praised Volvo, Mercedes-Benz and Acura for offering standard front crash prevention systems on some models. Subaru received at least one of the awards for all seven of its models. Toyota also had seven, and the Honda brand did too – though the institute counts the two- and four-door versions of the Civic and Accord separately. Check out the full announcement below and a video about this year's winners. The full list can be viewed, here. Safety gains ground: More vehicles earn top honors from IIHS The number of vehicles earning either of the Institute's two awards has jumped to 71 from 39 this time last year, giving consumers more choices for optimum protection in crashes. The number of winners in the top tier - TOP SAFETY PICK+ - has increased by 11 for 2015, despite a tougher standard for front crash prevention. "This is the third year in a row that we are giving automakers a tougher challenge to meet," says IIHS President Adrian Lund.