Is Acura Missing the Alternate Fuels Boat?

While parent company Honda continues to bestow all of its hybrid technology on its Honda division vehicles, Acura is doing without any alternate engine sources to power their cars and SUVs. Instead, the division is relying on newer gasoline engines to promote fuel efficiency as well as to lower greenhouse gas emissions. Is Acura doing enough or is Honda抯 luxury division missing the boat? Big changes are headed Acura抯 way, changes that could enormously overhaul the brand and bring to the market vehicles powered by a variety of alternate fuel sources. Let抯 examine exactly what might be Acura抯 alternate powerplant offerings at the beginning of the next decade.

Diesel, Biodiesel ?Honda got into the diesel market late, but the company抯 first offerings are considered to be exceptionally good. Four cylinder powered diesel engines are being developed that will initially appear in select Honda model cars within the next two years. These new engines meet current EPA guidelines and raise the typical fuel mileage of each car by about 30%. Importantly, each engine will be able to run on biodiesel a renewable resource made of ingredients such as soybeans. Acura may get its own diesel aspirated engine soon after the launch of the first diesel powered Honda hits the market.

Ethanol ?Unlike American based automakers, Honda has no plans to offer vehicles that can run on E85 technology. E85, consisting of 85% ethanol [usually corn] and 15% straight gasoline has been getting a lot of press attention lately. However, the extreme lack of service stations offering the fuel has kept demand low. Honda has decided to concentrate on next generation hybrid technology instead of branching out to E85.

Hydrogen ?Claiming that the first hydrogen powered car will be ready for production within the next 3 or 4 years, some are doubting that Honda will be prepared to make such a move until well after then. Look for Acura to only get a hydrogen powered car several years after the first Honda hydrogen vehicle has been successfully tested in Japan.

Pluggable Hybrid ?To extend hybrid fuel economy even further, pluggable hybrid powered vehicles are currently being developed. Acura抯 first hybrid may include this technology once Honda readies it for the market. Toyota is readying a similar model and Ford is doing likewise. 100 mpg may be a realistic figure once these vehicles are rolled out.

Natural Gas ?A natural gas powered Acura isn抰 likely to be produced, simply because Honda is investing in hybrid, diesel, and hydrogen technology above all else. Still, natural gas could be used in future fuel cell vehicles to make hydrogen. Thus, in an indirect way natural gas could power an Acura vehicle of the not-too-distant future.

So, although it would appear that Acura isn抰 getting the same alternate fuel technology as the Honda division is at the moment, it would appear that all of that will change in the very near future. This is good news for people who enjoy the Acura brand, but want to see it expand to include options that are environmentally friendly and promote fuel efficiency.

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Review Sharpness of the Acura TL

Superseding the Acura Vigor in 1996, the Acura TL is a midsize entry-level luxury car. It is manufactured and sold under the Acura brand, which is under the automobile manufacturer, Honda. It has become quite popular in its own way and received a name for itself as the best selling luxury sedan, after selling more than 79,000 units in 2004.

In 1998, Honda introduced the Acura TL-X concept car. It featured a preview of the second generation of TLs that would make its public entrance after a year. This second generation TL is now called as the 3.2 TL. It has a newly-designed 3.2 liter 225 HP SOHC VTEC J32 V6 along with a four-speed electronic automatic transmission with SportShift. The only option given to this vehicle was a hard drive based navigation system. Changes continued to roll in for the Acura TL as the years went on. This vehicle sported changes like a five speed automatic transmission with SportShift, that gave way for a slightly better fuel economy and acceleration. Other changes included the addition of side impact airbags for the front passengers and a change of format in its navigation system. Also done in were a DVD based navigation system where a driver could theoretically drive from one coast to another with this new navigation system installed. The system had stored the maps in zones and there were five different zones for the United States. The vehicle also sported a new fa鏰de with its redesigned tail lights, a great-looking and beveled front, and a wide, yet powerful stance. The gutter at the beltline of the vehicle sported a tough, extruded shape that could make one recall the blade of a hunting knife. Also added were an in-dash CD changer, firmer seats and suspension for the year 2002.

Come the 3rd generation Acura TL, it became the first car in the U.S. market to have a six disc DVD-Audio system which had an output through an 8-speaker system. This system was engineered by Panasonic, and it also plays back normal audio CDs along with DTS audio discs, CD-audio, CD-Rs, and CD-RWs. It also has a Bluetooth HandsFree Link, or HFL, system that is integrated with the audio system itself and this HFL system allows drivers to use their cellular phones hands-free. By simply voice-dialing the number that they need to contact, drivers can have the entire conversation over the Acura TL抯 built-in audio system.

The Acura TL makes drivers feel great when they are behind the wheel for Honda has certainly kept in mind to consider ergonomics. With the Acura TL, the driving position feels perfectly natural. The controls carry the feel as if they belong in a performance car. It also has notably short-stroke brake pedals that lets drivers modulate the new four-piston Brembo front brakes with a precision that could be considered as complete.

If Acura TL owners want to maintain the superior performance of their Acuras, Auto Parts Discount would be perfect for them since it is the leading supplier of Acura discount-priced Acura car parts that are made from the finest quality materials. For Acura parts demands, Auto Parts Discount offers electrical parts, fenders, floor mats, hoods, headlamps, door kits, and more.

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The Safest Cars On The Roads

Safety should be the topmost priority especially in choosing vehicles. This is why every car shopper should know the safest cars that he can grab. So which cars are safe?
Luxury cars are among the safest vehicles on the road, and the Acura RL, Audi A4 and Saab 9-3 get the highest safety marks of all, wrote Dan Lienert of Forbes. Sounds good for the manufacturer of the Acura air filter and other automakers that made it to the prestigious list. So if you are hit by a vehicle, silently wish it is an Acura RL.

Joining Acura RL at the top is the Audi A4 and Saab 9-3. All three vehicles get the highest marks for safety from three of the four most respected sources of such data. Sources include Consumer Reports, the Department of Transportation, and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI).
Additionally, all three vehicles carry Consumer Reports' highest-possible rating for accident-avoidance capabilities. The Acura RL also has perfect crash-test scores from both the Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and from the IIHS. According to HLDI, the A4 and 9-3 have perfect IIHS crash-test scores, as well as substantially better-than-average (in this case, lower-than-average) frequencies of insurance injury-claim filings.

In order for a vehicle to garner the highest-possible rating, it has to have at least two of the following: first, Consumer Reports' highest-possible rating for accident-avoidance capabilities. Second, perfect NHTSA crash-test scores across the board. Third, perfect IIHS crash-test scores across the board. Finally, a substantially better-than-average (i.e. lower-than-average) frequency of insurance injury-claim filings, according to the HLDI.
According to Forbes, the company only looked at cars that the NHTSA and the IIHS have tested in all of their available categories: for NHTSA, two frontal-impact tests, two side-impact tests and a rollover-resistance test; for the IIHS, front, side and rear tests.
The organizations we used as sources do not test every car on the market, nor do the crash-testing agencies put each car through every test they have, the company added. The sources we consulted try to assess a broad range of vehicles, but they lack the data or the resources to do all of them.
What is the significance of determining good from bad crash-test rating? Forbes made it apparent: “A five-star NHTSA frontal-crash rating means a chance of serious injury of ten percent or less in a head-on collision in which each vehicle is going 35 mph. A one-star rating means a chance of 46 percent or higher. NHTSA defines a ‘serious injury’ as one that requires immediate hospitalization and may be life-threatening.”
Lienert continued: “The IIHS conducts a frontal-offset crash test in which the vehicle strikes a deformable barrier at 40 miles per hour. The organization obtains injury measurements from a crash test dummy, representing an average-sized man, in the driver seat. In the side-impact test a 3,300-pound barrier, which represents the front end of a pickup or SUV, strikes the side of the tested vehicle at 31 mph. The IIHS obtains injury measurements from two crash test dummies, representing a small woman in the driver seat and a small woman or adolescent in the rear seat behind the driver.”
The ratings of Consumer Reports' for accident-avoidance capabilities in cars are based on objective tests the organization conducts. The company believes the most important factors are braking and emergency handling.