It’s been a big year for Acura. The first 2017 NSX officially rolled off the production line in May, and although the car made its global debut last year, 2016 was the first time the public actually got behind the wheel. That includes us. We liked it.
2016 will also mark the NSX’s North American racing debut, because later this month, two of the hybrid supercars will run the Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Cascade, Colorado. The duo will compete in the Time Attack 1 and Time Attack 2 classes and be piloted by James and Nick Robinson, respectively — brothers from Acura’s North American engineering team. As if the automaker needed another reason to celebrate, this year is also the 100th anniversary of Pikes Peak.
“Pikes Peak is like no other race in the world and offers a unique opportunity to showcase the power and performance of our products,” said Jon Ikeda, General Manager of the Acura Division.”We are excited for this year’s ‘Race to the Clouds’ to test the endurance and engineering of the Acura NSX and our advanced powertrain technologies — as well as an expression of our racing spirit.”
As for modifications, the Time Attack 2 NSX is largely stock — it only adds safety equipment required for competition. In the Time Attack 1, however, the competitor boasts a lightened chassis and a high-flow racing exhaust, and we can’t wait to hear how it sounds.
Read more: Clarion builds a hot rod supercharged Acura NSX
In addition to the NSX models, Acura will show off a 4-Motor EV Concept in the Electric Modified Class. The vehicle’s powertrain is an evolution of the CR-Z-based electric prototype that ran last year, and it features independent torque allocation to all four wheels. Better yet, the Concept puts out three times more power than last year’s entrant and it wears a sleek NSX body.
Pikes Peak kicks off on June 26.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.