Acura Integra Type S Wins 2024 Road & Track Performance Car of the Year Award

The high-performance Acura Integra Type S has been named Performance Car of the Year by the editors of Road & Track for its incredible power and dynamic performance paired with premium features and refinement. The flexible 5-door liftback took the top spot in the Under $100k category over significantly higher priced and more powerful, rear-wheel drive coupes.

The 2024 Road & Track Performance Car of the Year award adds to the next-gen Integra's impressive list of prestigious industry and media honors, which includes the distinguished 2023 North American Car of the YearTM and the Type S variant's 2024 Car and Driver 10Best Cars award. This is the second time Acura has been honored with a Road & Track Performance Car of the Year award, with the Acura NSX taking Performance Car of the Year honors in 2017.

• Integra claims automotive "Triple Crown" winning 2023 North American Car of the Year™, 2024 Car and Driver 10 Best Cars award and 2024 Road & Track Performance Car of the Year
• Acura Integra Type S recognized for its incredible dynamic performance and refinement at an attainable price point
• Win marks Acura's second Road & Track Performance Car of the Year trophy in the award's 10-year history

 

Airbag Technology Earns Honda Engineer the Highest Safety Engineering Excellence Award from U.S. Government

Honda safety engineer Eric Heitkamp today received the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. Department of Transportation for his work in leading the creation of a groundbreaking front passenger airbag design.  Heitkamp accepted the U.S. Government Award for Safety Engineering Excellence at the 2023 Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV) conference in Yokohama, Japan. Designed to decrease the chance of serious brain injury, the new passenger front airbag technology is now standard equipment in the Acura MDX, Acura TLX and Honda Pilot.

The U.S. Government Awards for Safety Engineering Excellence recognize individuals who have made exceptional scientific contributions in the field of motor vehicle safety engineering and for distinguished service to the motoring public. This is the 2nd consecutive excellence award won by a U.S.-based Honda engineer, with Sue Bai recognized at the 2019 ESV conference, the last time these awards were presented, for industry-leading efforts in connected vehicle technology.

2023 Acura Integra Named as North American Car of the Year

The 2023 Acura Integra fulfilled its high expectations by earning the prestigious 2023 North American Car of the Year award, recognized for its sporty design, engaging driving experience, versatile package and premium features. The new performance gateway of the Acura brand, the next-gen Integra completes Acura's return to Precision Crafted Performance with 200 horsepower and the only available manual transmission in its class. It has quickly become the best-selling model in the premium sport compact segment and has the highest percentage of buyers under 35-years old in the class.

This is the second time Acura has been honored with a North American Car or Truck of the Year award. The 2001 Acura MDX also took North American Truck of the Year honors.

Acura Wins Luxury Brand Residual Value Award

Automotive Lease Guide (ALG) has announced its 10^th annual Residual Value Awards, honoring the vehicles in each segment that are predicted to retain the highest percentage of their original price after a conventional three-year lease term. The awards are based on 2009 model year vehicles.

For the sixth consecutive year, American Honda Motor Company, Inc. has won the Industry Brand Residual Value Award. Honda also received individual segment awards for the Accord in the Midsize Car category, and the Honda Fit in the Compact Car category.

In addition, Acura, Honda’s luxury division, has won the overall Luxury Brand Residual Value Award for the first time. Although Acura does not have any segment winners, all of its vehicles’ residual values are relatively strong, with the new TL and TSX ranking among the highest in their segments.

Luxury Brand Residual Value Rankings:
1 ACURA
2 LEXUS
3 AUDI
4 INFINITI
5 LAND ROVER
6 BMW
7 PORSCHE
8 MERCEDES BENZ

Only brands above the luxury average were ranked. Below luxury average were the following brands (listed in alphabetical order): Cadillac, Jaguar, Lincoln, Saab and Volvo.

Full details: https://www.alg.com/Newsroom?pid=92

Acura's RDX wins 2006 Tech Award from CNET.com

Acura's RDX snagged one of CNET.com's Tech Awards for the "Best Navigation System." The award was given based on 1) intuitive interface, 2) clear layout for maps, 3) turn-by-turn directions should be accurate and timely, 4) quick to recalculate, & 5) comprehensive points-of-interest database.



Top 5 RDX tech features noted by CNET.com include:

1. GPS navigation with real-time traffic reporting
2. Bluetooth cell phone interface
3. Voice commands for car functions
4. ELS surround-sound audio system (was runner up for "Best Stereo System" category)
5. Super-handling all-wheel drive

*Don't forget about Acura's first turbo!



The RDX was also nominated as 2006 Tech Car of the Year by CNET.com.

Clink here for a full review of the Acura RDX from CNET.com.

Acura Integra - most wanted by thieves

A few months ago, USAToday.com reported a list of most stolen cars. The Acura Integra lands 6 of the top 10 spots, 7 of 11 if you count number eleven. The CCC compiles its list with data on vehicles that are stolen but not recovered, or are stripped to the point of being a total lost. An analysis from CCC states that the Integra is popular due to its "powerful engine that easily can be swapped into a lighter Honda Civic, making it a quick street racer."

TOP 25 MOST-STOLEN VEHICLES

The list is based on a comparison of loss claims to the total number of registered vehicles. 1. 2001 BMW M-Series Roadster 2. 1998 Acura Integra 3. 2004 Mercury Marauder 4. 1999 Acura Integra 5. 1995 Acura Integra 6. 2002 Audi S4 7. 1996 Acura Integra 8. 1997 Acura Integra 9. 2001 Acura Integra 10. 2000 Jaguar XJR 11. 1994 Acura Integra 12. 2005 Suzuki Aerio 13. 2004 Suzuki Aerio 14. 1998 Land Rover Range Rover 15. 1998 Jaguar XJR 16. 2003 Mercury Marauder 17. 2000 Acura Integra 18. 2002 Cadillac Escalade 19. 2000 Audi A8 20. 2000 Audi S4 21. 1993 Mercedes-Benz 600 22. 1995 Land Rover Range Rover 23. 2005 Cadillac Escalade 24. 2000 Honda Civic 25. 2001 Audi S4 Source: CCC Information Services

"The Integra was on Car and Driver magazine's annual Ten Best list six times, in 1987, 1988, and 1994 through 1997. The GS-R model was called out specifically in 1994 and 1995." - Wikipedia.com

Most Affordable Luxury Cars...

BusinessWeek.com composed a list of "most affordable luxury cars," two of which were Acura vehicles. The RDX and MDX made it into the list of "luxury vehicles available in the U.S. that carry base prices between $35,000 and $45,000" generated by BusinessWeek.com.

RDX - Most Affordable Luxury Small SUV:




Model: Acura RDX
Price: $32,995
2006 Total Cost of Ownership: $55,680
Fuel Economy: 19/23 mpg
Engine: 2.3-liter turbo inline-4
Horsepower: 240
BusinessWeek Rating: 4/5 stars
Other Awards: Insurance Institute for Auto Safety Top Safety Pick


MDX - Most Affordable Luxury Midsize SUV




Model: Acura MDX
Price: $39,995
2006 Total Cost of Ownership: $55,620
Fuel Economy: 17/22 mpg
Engine: 3.7-liter V6
Horsepower: 300
BusinessWeek Rating: NA
Other Awards: Consumer Reports Good Bet

Something I noticed while flipping through the images, was there wasn't a single Mercedes on the list.

Super Handling All Wheel Drive Explained...

Described as:

"A world’s first, the SH-AWD system combines front-rear torque distribution control with independently regulated torque distribution to the left and right rear wheels to freely distribute the optimum amount of torque to all four wheels in accordance with driving conditions."

The following link has to be the best explanation of Super Handling All Wheel Drive (SH-AWD) found in the 2005 RL, 2007 RDX, and 2007 MDX.

Click the link below to watch the video directly from Honda.

[Video link] http://world.honda.com/HDTV/news/2004-4040401a/

It was first introduced in the 2005 RL and was named "Best of What's New in the Automotive Technology category of Popular Science Magazine's 2004 Best of What's New list."

"The Acura SH-AWD system is the first and only all-wheel-drive platform to distribute the optimum amount of torque not only between the front and rear wheels but also between the left and right rear wheels. The result is uncanny cornering performance that provides extremely neutral steering and outstanding vehicle stability."

http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2004/11/10/277071.html

2007 RDX earns TOP SAFETY PICK Award

Acura's RDX is only one of three luxury SUV's from a total of 13 to win a TOP SAFETY PICK Award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). This award "recognizes vehicles that perform best in protecting passengers in front, rear and side crashes based on their ratings in the Institute's tests."

"Like the entire Acura lineup, it features the application of front side airbags with passenger-side Occupant Position Detection System (OPDS), side curtain airbags for front and rear outboard seats and Vehicle Stability Assist(TM) (VSA(R)) as standard equipment. In addition, RDX utilizes Advanced Compatibility Engineering(TM) (ACE(TM)) body structure which helps to disperse collision forces over a larger frontal area."

More here...

The RDX is unique to the other Acura's because it is the first vehicle to be equipped with Acura's first turbocharger and intercooled engine. The RDX is also the first SUV to use Acura's Super-Handling All Wheel Drive system (SH-AWD), which made a market debut on the 2005 Acura RL.