Hard To Find Acura Tl Type-s With Leather, Moonroof on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2014 Acura RLX

Earlier in the year, I reviewed a powder-blue Volkswagen Beetle Convertible, and I witnessed a group of high-school-aged girls ogling the car as it sat in my driveway. In my head, I found it to be a funny-yet-fitting scene that I didn't think of again until a 2014 Acura RLX showed up in my driveway. This time around, an elderly neighborhood couple stopped to give the big Acura sedan a closer look. The RLX is trying to shed past stereotypes of its predecessor, the Acura RL, just like the Beetle. Hoping to avoid becoming the de facto "grandpa car," Acura has completely reworked - and renamed - its flagship sedan.
As the bookend to the new entry-level ILX, the addition of the 2014 RLX might give Acura its strongest sedan lineup ever as the automaker looks to break the cycle of being a middle-of-the-road luxury brand. Stepping up to the big-boy table isn't going to be easy, though, as the competition keeps getting tougher. Forget cars like the Mercedes E-Class and BMW 5 Series, the Acura RLX is going to have its hands full with the likes of the Cadillac XTS, Lexus GS and Hyundai Genesis, not to mention a strong consortium of lower-priced, mid-luxury sedans like the Hyundai Azera, Toyota Avalon and Chevy Impala. The one thing all of these cars have in common is a reputation for being an old man cruiser.
I spent a week with the new RLX to see if it could shake the stigma of its outdated predecessor or if it would just leave me searching for the nearest early bird specials.

Acura Performance Electric Vision concept sure looks like the next NSX

Production of the second-generation Acura NSX ended in 2022, but the nameplate might not be consigned to the automotive attic for very long. The firm published sketches of an electric concept named Performance Electric Vision that can easily pass as a third-generation NSX. Acura's dimly-lit images hide many of the design study's finer details, but we can tell that the Performance Electric Vision concept features a futuristic design — it almost looks like it was beamed from the 22nd century. Its low front end has either hidden headlights or no headlights at all, and it receives neon green accents as well as a backlit Acura emblem. Pronounced wheel arches and a massive wrap-around windshield define the concept's silhouette, while the back end gets neon green accents as well as an air diffuser that looks like it belongs on a race car. Interior photos haven't been released yet, and Acura didn't have much to say about what powers the coupe. All we know is that it's electric. Officially, the Precision Electric Vision concept illustrates one of the directions Acura's design language can take in the coming years. Could there be more to it than that? While this is pure speculation, we don't think the NSX's spot in the Japanese brand's lineup will remain empty forever, and we've heard vague rumors detailing an electric third-generation model before. Rewind to September 2022: Jon Ikeda, the company's vice president, tellingly answered "I would bet on it" when asked whether the NSX nameplate will return for another generation. He added an important detail: "It's going to be electric." Cast in this light, the Performance Electric Vision concept sure looks like a preview of the next-generation NSX, but bringing it to the market is easier said than done. It takes more than an executive making a proverbial bet to bring a car to production, and Ikeda's team will notably need to convince Acura parent company Honda to spend money on a new NSX. Related video:

Ford tumbles to second worst in Consumer Reports reliability survey, list dominated by Japanese [w/video]

It's no secret that MyFord Touch has had its share of problems since being introduced, but the most recent reliability survey from Consumer Reports shows just how much this infotainment system has affected Ford. Just two years ago, the automaker was in the top 10 for the institute's reliability rankings, but since then, it has tumbled to the second-lowest rung just above dead-last Jaguar. In addition to MyFord Touch, CR also attributes a handful of new products that have had issues right out of the gate.
Compiled from 1.2 million subscriber surveys, this year's auto reliability survey heavily favors Japanese automakers, with eight of the 10 spots hailing from Japan. Toyota brands grabbed the top three spots (Scion, Toyota and Lexus - in that order) with Mazda, Subaru, Honda and Acura filling the next four spots. The only non-Asian automaker cracking the top 10 was Audi at number eight.
Audi climbed a total of 18 spots from last year, and Cadillac and GMC round out this year's top gainers breaking into the top 15. Helping Cadillac's upward movement, the CTS Coupe was named the most reliable domestic car. Lincoln, Volvo and Chrysler join Ford on this year's biggest loser list.