Collage of MDX drifting and sliding in sand.
Breakthrough performance gives you a closer connection to the road.
Approach
Reinvention
Innovations
Testing
2019 Acura Our Story Performance NSX driving front view
Performance happens when driver and machine work together as one. When the car becomes an extension of the driver’s will. When you stop thinking about control and begin to feel it. That’s performance we measure not on a stopwatch, but in our hearts.
Champion White NSX being review in quality control station at PMC.
REINVENTION
If there’s a Problem, Embrace It
Just 18 months before launch, our engineers faced a dilemma: They’d made a supercar, but it wasn’t yet an NSX. They went back to the drawing board and delayed the launch, re-configuring the chassis and developing an all-new engine. You only get one shot at reinventing an icon.
INNOVATIONS
Proof in Practice
Innovation is our obsession. When you look at our cars, you see it. Every refinement across the entire model line results in better performance on the road.
Sport Hybrid Performance
We saw a better way for hybrids and took it, engineering the NSX, RLX and MDX sport hybrids to deliver pressed-back-in-your-seat exhilaration. We built on the principles of our revolutionary Sport Hybrid – All Wheel Drive (SH-AWD® ) system to achieve dynamic handling, immediate acceleration, fuel efficiency and all-wheel drive stability.
Super Handling All-Wheel Drive
Acura engineers set out to build a revolutionary all-wheel drive system that would strategically distribute power among the wheels for a performance gain that would surpass any other drive system out there. The resulting Super Handling All-Wheel Drive™ (SH-AWD®) is available in RLX, TLX, MDX and RDX.
Precision All-Wheel Steer
Because Acura is the innovation playground for Honda, we pushed the limits of the beloved front wheel drive system. The world’s first Precision All-Wheel Steer™ (P-AWS®) system on a production vehicle changed the game, adjusting the rear wheel toe angles independently for increased agility and stability. See it in the TLX and RLX.
Engineering Highlights
Discover some notable milestones in our proud legacy of performance-focused engineering.
Free-standing 3.0 liter V-6 engine with Sport Hybrid motor and transmission.
i-VTEC
Intelligent Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control (i-VTEC®) increases horsepower by advancing valve timing relative to engine RPM.
Variable Cylinder Management
VCM improves V-6 fuel efficiency by running on three cylinders during highway cruising.
Drive-by-Wire
The system varies throttle sensitivity to provide the appropriate response and feel to driving conditions.
Sport Hybrid 3-Motor System
Our exclusive drivetrain system uses electric power to improve efficiency, acceleration and handling.
Dual Clutch Transmission
Our DCTs shift faster, smoother and with greater efficiency than conventional automatic transmissions.
Free-standing view of RLX front suspension.
Precision All-Wheel Steer
P-AWS® adjusts the toe angle of each rear wheel independently for increased agility and stability.
Super Handling All-Wheel Drive
SH-AWD® greatly enhances high-performance dry-road handling with the all-weather advantages of conventional all-wheel drive.
Sport Hybrid SH-AWD
The SH-AWD® effect is enhanced by twin electric motors to distribute torque for on-rails handling.
Amplitude Reactive Dampers
These reactive dampers have a second piston valve to provide improved damping force for a wider range of driving conditions.
Active Damper System
Our Active Damper System adjusts to road and driving conditions every few milliseconds.
Agile Handling Assist
Braking individual wheels helps you smoothly and easily trace a desired line through a curve.
Free-standing NSX body structure.
ACE Body Structure
Our Advance Compatibility Engineering™ body construction is designed to help reduce and disperse force in front crashes with virtually all car sizes.
Multi-Material Space-Frame
The second-generation NSX goes beyond the all-aluminum space-frame of the original, using a break-through combination of materials for structural safety and handling performance.
Ablation Casting
Ablation casting combines the strength of forged aluminum with precise, complex shape-forming capability.
3D Bent-and-Quenched (3DBQ) Fabrication
Three-dimensionally-bent-and-quenched ultra-high-strength steel tubing forms the upper portion of A-pillars and roof rails.
TESTING
The Hard Way
To ensure power and precise handling, we put performance to every ultimate test. From slushing through snow to tearing up sand, our vehicles endure countless hours of the harshest conditions we can throw at them.
Bellanova White MDX drifting in desert sand.
See Its Wake
Close-up of NSX model in wind tunnel with visible stream running over it.
View the Airflow
Bellanova White TLX in shake room.
Look Inside
Curva Red NSX being inspected after road trip.
See the Journey
