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Good One Bro! Acura NSX Aquaplanes Off the Road Narrowly Missing Bridge

The driver of a modded Acura NSX, sold as a Honda in markets outside of North America, was filmed by a passenger of a Nissan 240SX (we don't know if he was one of his buddies or not) following on from behind when he lost control of the Japanese sports car on a freeway north of the city of San Diego in California.

Given the heavy rain and the fact that the NSX doesn't look like it was going fast, we'll have to assume that the wet conditions forced the mid-engine coupe to aquaplane and slide off the road.

We’ve seen it in the flesh at motor shows; we've seen it in virtual form on GT5; we've seen it with Honda badges; we've seen it in a Super Bowl commercial; we've seen it in a red shade, and we've even seen it as a roadster in a Hollywood blockbuster.

Yes, we're talking about the Acura NSX pre-production concept and if you haven't figured it out already, we're going to be "seeing" a lot more of the Japanese brand's hybrid sports car since it won't be ready for sale before 2014.

What you see here is an official teaser rendering of the 2014 Acura MDX Prototype that will be unwrapped for the first time during the press days of the 2013 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), held in Detroit in mid-January.

As is usually the case, Acura has released very little information regarding the concept study, but if you insist, here's what Honda's luxury arm said:

Oh, the horror…Can you imagine being the owner of an Acura (Honda for the rest of the world) NSX sports car and waking up to see your beloved ride sandwiched between a Toyota Sienna and a Subaru Impreza Outback Sport?

All this and more went down yesterday morning in the town of Maynard in Massachusetts with Reddit forum member Cerberus73 capturing pictures of the bizarre scene from his office located across the road.

Sad but true; the only exterior feature we found worthy of a note on the new 2014 Acura RLX that made its world premiere at this week's Los Angeles Auto Show and which will be sold in Japan as the new Honda Legend, are its so-called "Jewel-Eye" LED headlamps.

The rest of the car in terms of styling might as well be a puffed up $50k Honda Accord or if you prefer, a longer and duller looking version of the Acura ILX, which itself, is a glorified Honda Civic under the sheetmetal.

It's no secret that Acura is having a hard time positioning itself between parent company Honda and pure luxury carmakers, but the Japanese brand is once again trying to gain a foothold in the executive sedan category with the new 2014 RLX that was unwrapped today in Los Angeles.

Acura had previewed the new RLX with a thinly disguised concept model at this year's New York Auto Show. Not much has changed since then, with the production version of the RL's replacement simply gaining different trims for the bumpers and smaller wheels than the concept study.

For the first time, we see the interior of the RLX. Despite the use of the usual upscale leather materials and wood trims, the overall design brings to mind that of the latest Accord, which isn't something you want to see in a model of this category and price.

Among other interior comfort and convenience features that can be found in the new RLX are dual screens (just like the Accord…) including an 8-inch Navigation screen and a 7-inch On-Demand Multi-Use Display touch screen, plus push-button start, power tilt and telescoping steering, power sunroof, tri-zone automatic climate control, and Bluetooth HandsFreeLink.

Honda today introduced a new hybrid powertrain that will eventually replace its Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) hybrid system used on small vehicles such as the Civic sedan, Insight, Fit / Jazz hatchback and CR-Z coupe.

The new system is named Sport Hybrid i-DCD, which is an acronym for 'Intelligent Dual Clutch Drive', and it comprises a newly developed 1.5-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine that runs on the more fuel-efficient Atkinson cycle and an electric motor that also acts as a generator connected to a 7-speed dual clutch transmission (DCT).

There's a brand-new Acura MDX on its way, but if you have been following CarScoop on a regular basis, you probably already know that as we have shared with you spy photos of the three-row crossover.

What you may have not seen yet is the camouflaged prototype of the Acura model on film and on the move.

Making their world premiere today at the 2012 SEMA Show are two new Acura ILX compact sedan builds, one for the street and the other for the racetrack, marking the return of the Japanese brand to the Las Vegas aftermarket show after a six-year hiatus.

The 2013 ILX "Street Build" project car was made to demonstrate the customization possibilities for enthusiasts.

Two years ago, Ford was included in the Top 10 of Consumer Reports’ (CR) annual reliability survey, with more than 90 percent of its range rated average or better.

In the 2012 survey, however, you’ll have to look a long way down to find the Blue Oval: it occupies the next-to-last place as it finished 27th out of 28 brands rated, and its Lincoln luxury division is just one place ahead.

"Ford's bumpy road can be seen in the numbers. Sixty percent of Ford-branded models and half of Lincolns were below average in predicted reliability and none placed above average," said Jake Fisher, director of automotive testing for Consumer Reports.

Earlier today, a set of monochromatic renderings of the Acura / Honda NSX were posted on China's Sohu website and were quickly picked up by other sites such as Carnewschina and Jalopnik, with all claiming more or less that these pictures are of the 2015 production model and that they were leaked "from China’s patent office".

Well, we can assure you that this is not the case - period. To begin with, the pictures were originally released on the European patent agency on February 22, 2012, a little over a month after the concept was displayed at the 2012 North American International Auto Show.

The extensive overhauling of Acura's North American lineup will continue with the next generation of the MDX three-row crossover, which was spied here in prototype form with less intrusive camouflage than before.

Instead of the previous prototype's heavy cladding, this test car was covered in a white skin wrap with some funky black schemes affording us a better view of the new MDX's exterior redesign.

From what we can tell, the body will have softer lines while the styling of the front end of the new MDX appears to be less prominent, but will continue to use Acura's polarizing signature "beak". Overall, it looks like Acura has chosen to evolve rather than revolutionize the current model's design.

Instead of the previous prototype's heavy cladding, this test car was covered in a white skin wrap with some funky black schemes affording us a better view of the new MDX's exterior redesign.

The Acura ZDX is a mid-size, luxury crossover that was launched in 2009 with the goal of rivaling the successful BMW X6. And we all know how that turned out; the ZDX failed miserably in its mission, shifting only 1,564 units in 2011 and a mere 416 in the first half of 2012.

If Acura's head honchos gave it the boot, everyone would understand the reasoning behind such a decision. In much the same way, it would make sense to revamp it in order to generate customer interest and higher sales, as it had previously said.

Doing both at the same time, though, is something rather unusual…

Ah yes, the joys of product placement, which calls for the brazen use of a commercially available product or even just a brand name in a fictional setting for a set fee.

For Acura, the fictional setting was this summer's blockbuster movie, Marvel's The Avengers, which on Tuesday, September 25, was released on Blu-ray 3D and DVD.

Ah yes, the joys of product placement, which calls for the brazen use of a commercially available product or even just a brand name in a fictional setting for a set fee.

For Acura, the fictional setting was this summer's blockbuster movie, Marvel's The Avengers, which on Tuesday, September 25, was released on Blu-ray 3D and DVD.

There's a whole lot of news - but unfortunately, no pictures, coming out today from Honda's headquarters in Japan where the company's CEO Takanobu Ito outlined the product, technology and business developments through 2015.

We are going to start with the new Honda Civic Type R sports hatchback based on the European market model that is currently undergoing development for an introduction in 2015.

Honda said that this model is designed specifically for the European market, though we could see it being exported to Japan at some point. More importantly, the Japanese carmaker's CEO stated that the Type R is being developed "with the goal of becoming the fastest front-wheel-drive vehicle on the Nürburgring race course".

On a more global note, Ito said that Honda will roll out an all-new replacement for the Fit, also known as the Jazz in Europe, in 2013. Within two years after the initial market presentation, the Japanese automaker will launch a small SUV model based on the underpinnings of the new Fit/Jazz as well as a replacement for the related City small sedan.

We are going to start with the new Honda Civic Type R sports hatchback based on the European market model that is currently undergoing development for an introduction in 2015.

These two sketches, allegedly previewing the Russian market 2013 Accord sedan, were said to be released by Honda's local division on the sidelines of the ongoing Moscow International Motor Salon 2012.

There are a couple of things about these renderings that immediately caught our attention, the first being the car shown here is essentially identical to the North American 2013 Honda Accord sedan revealed in the beginning of August and the second that it is wearing German license plates.

Auto Parts

Good One Bro! Acura NSX Aquaplanes Off the Road Narrowly Missing Bridge

New Acura App Lets You Put Some Color to NSX Pre-Production Concept

2014 Acura MDX Prototype gets Teased Before Detroit Motor Show Debut

Acura NSX Wedged Between a Toyota Minivan and a Subaru Impreza Outback Sport

Acura's New RLX Sports 20 Beams of Light on its Headlamps [w/Video]

Acura's New 2014 RLX Flagship Sedan Breaks Cover at LA Auto Show [Updated]

Honda Announces New Lightweight and Compact 1.5-liter Petrol-Electric Hybrid Powertrain

Scoop: 2014 Acura MDX Filmed Leaving Test Facility with Current MDX and BMW X5

Acura's Supercharged ILX Street Build Concept and ILX Endurance Racer

Ford Comes in Second Last in Consumer Reports’ 2012 Auto Reliability Survey [w/Video]

This is NOT the Production Version of the 2015 Acura NSX, this is the Concept…

Scoop: All-New 2014 Acura MDX Drops the Cladding and Shows More Skin

Scoop: All-New 2014 Acura MDX Drops the Cladding and Shows More Skin

Acura Sends Off ZDX with a Facelift for its Final Year, Should we Say Good Riddance?

Acura Sends Off ZDX with a Facelift for its Final Year, Should we Say Good Riddance?

Acura Wants us to Marvel at Deleted RDX Scene from The Avengers Movie

Acura Wants us to Marvel at Deleted RDX Scene from The Avengers Movie

Breaking: Honda Confirms New Civic Type R, Jazz / Fit Based Small SUV and Sports Roadster

Breaking: Honda Confirms New Civic Type R, Jazz / Fit Based Small SUV and Sports Roadster

Honda Previews Russian, and Possibly European Market 2013 Accord Sedan, Confirms Acura Launch

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