NSX Successor To Be Hybrid, Built On Reversed Accord Platform?

Honda's HSV was originally supposed to be the NSX's successor.

Some dreams die harder than others. I can’t remember being overly traumatized to learn that Santa Claus wasn’t real, and I don’t remember losing much sleep over the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy, either. I’m happily married, and willing to accept that a three-way with Scarlett Johansson and Halle Berry probably isn’t in my future. Likewise, I’m never going to make millions of dollars racing cars and I’ll never have a Ferrari F40 parked in my garage. I’m fine with all of that, and I’m still OK with Acura canceling the NSX. After all, I can always snap up a clean used example if and when my bank account allows. It was, after all, perhaps the perfect sports coupe, blending enough power with handling that rewarded competent drivers, but terrified the ham-handed.

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Reminder: Ken Block Is Faster Than You’ll Ever Be

The internet is a funny thing, since it allows complete strangers to interact from the comfort, safety and privacy of their mom’s basement. Take a few of the lads in this video, who were obviously talking smack about Ken Block. As they’re about to find out, driving a real car balls-out takes a bit more skill and intestinal fortitude than driving a video game or RC car in the same manner. It’s one of the funnier automotive videos I’ve seen in a while (even though it’s about a year old), since it’s chock full of big, burly men squealing like little schoolgirls. It’s also got little schoolgirls squealing like, well, little schoolgirls.

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Latest Gran Turismo 5 Teaser Almost Makes Me Think It’s Worth The Wait

Here’s the latest teaser vid for Polyphony’s Gran Turismo 5, as presented by Kazunori Yamauchi at yesterday’s Tokyo Game Show panel discussion. If ever there was a video game with high expectations, this is it. If the teaser is accurate, GT 5 will attempt to be all things to all players. Want to race in WRC? It’s in there. Want to race the only Jaguar XJ13 that was ever built? It’s in there, too, along with F1, NASCAR and every conceivable contemporary sports car. You name a famous racetrack, and that’s probably in the game as well. As are a variety of simulated weather conditions.

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2012 Hyundai Genesis Coupe Could Be A Game Changer

2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe. Photo: IFCAR

It wasn’t too long ago that Hyundai was the stuff of water cooler jokes. Everyone knows that Hyundai actually stands for, “Hope You Understand Nothing’s Drivable And Inexpensive”, right?

But then, somewhere along the line, Hyundai started building good cars and backing them with a great warranty. Then they began building great cars, in all shapes, sizes and flavors, and kept the great warranty. The Koreans had learned a valuable lesson from the Japanese: you can lure the first generation of customers on price alone, but you’d damn well better have solid product to capture the repeat buyer.

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An Icon Hits A Milestone: The Nissan Z Turns 40

Datsun 240Z

A 1970 Datsun 240Z

When the first Datsun Z hit these shores in 1969, no one took Japanese cars seriously. Unlike American cars, they lacked power, they lacked interior room and they lacked bulk. How safe could a car be if it didn’t surround you with enough sheet metal to build a locomotive? Besides, the American manufacturers said, we know what our customers want.

What America wanted was exactly what Nissan had built in the 240Z; an inexpensive, fuel-efficient sports car that owners could drive to the track on Sunday, then to work on Monday. The original 2.4 liter cars featured an inline six cylinder motor that made 151 horsepower, which was good enough to get the first Z from zero to sixty in just over 8 seconds. Top speed was a respectable 125 miles per hour, and aftermarket parts vendors soon started selling exhausts, headers, cams, and suspension components to turn the Z cars into giant killers.

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2011 Subaru Impreza WRX And WRX STI Priced

2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI

2011 WRX-STI hatchback. Mmmmm, tasty...

In case you can’t tell by now, we’re big fans of the Subaru Impreza WRX and WRX STI at Majestic Speed. The cars encourage all kinds of anti-social behavior, as clearly demonstrated by their latest ad campaign, called “Get more G’s”. I’m here to tell you that we all need more G’s, especially when they look like the passenger seat occupant in the video after the jump.

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ICONIC Motors AC Roadster Is More Effective Than Viagra. Longer Lasting, Too.

Iconic Motors AC Roadster

Photo: ICONIC Motors

If the above picture doesn’t give you wood, go check your pulse; I’ll wait. For any gear head who knows the sound of a big block Cobra, or who can sketch the car’s iconic lines from memory, the new AC Roadster is the automotive equivalent of a three way with Angelina Jolie and Scarlett Johansson. You know it’ll wreck your life, drain your bank account and lead you to an early grave, but somehow you just don’t give a shit.

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Drive A Vintage BMW? Now You Can Have The Factory Restore It.

BMW Classic Workshop delivers their first restoration. Photo: BMW

Anyone who’s ever driven a vintage BMW knows how good these early cars were. Cars like the 2002 and the 3.0 CSi were decades ahead of their time in terms of handling and road feel, and gave rise to BMW’s marketing claim of the “Ultimate Driving Machine”. Honest cars with adequate power, early BMW coupes and sedans were focused more on handling than on luxury. At a time when Detroit was cranking out bloated barges that handled as well as an ocean liner, BMW was building simple cars that were actually fun to drive.

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