Car Moon

Less than a month after Sony’s Playstation Network was compromised by hackers seeking personal information, a similar mishap has struck the Canadian arm of Honda / Acura. In a notice to its customers, the Japanese automaker revealed:

“The incident involved the unauthorized access of information as held in our records in 2009, specifically name, address, Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), and in a small number of cases, Honda Financial Services account numbers.”

It is believed that as many as 283,321 have been affected by the security breach. Honda Canada Executive VP Jerry Chenkin released a statement saying: “The information was limited and is not typically used for the purposes of identity theft or fraud. We would like to sincerely apologize to our Canadian customers for this incident. Honda and Acura are working diligently to protect our customers' personal information and improve our data security procedures on an ongoing basis.”

The Shanghai Auto Show brought some exciting news for Honda fans as the Japanese automaker revealed plans for the development of a new sports car that will be the spiritual successor to the iconic Honda NSX (Acura NSX in North America).

Speaking on the sidelines of the show, Honda Motor Company president, Takanobu Ito, said the new car won't feature the V10 engine that had been planned for the next NSX, as the company scrapped this project back in 2008, during the global financial crisis. Ito told reporters that the future NSX would be exhilarating to drive but also environmentally friendly. “That's the kind of sports car we want to make. We are working very hard on it,” Ito was quoted as saying by Autonews.

In an attempt to win back buyers that were turned off by the fourth generation TL's controversial looks, Acura revealed a mid-cycle refresh for the 2012 model year version of the car at the Chicago Auto Show. We've already brought you the key details in our previous post (see here), but now we have a fresh batch of photos and a walkaround video of the 2012 TL straight from Acura's stand at the McCormick Place Convention Center. You can check both out right after the jump.

The facelifted Acura TL made its world premiere today at the Chicago Auto Show. The 2012 model year brings a fresh look for the front and rear ends of the mid-size sedan along with a new Sequential SportShift 6-speed automatic transmission and equipment upgrades.

The first thing you'll notice on the 2012 Acura TL is of course the revamped front end. While Acura did not totally eliminate the shield-grille, it did soften down the design making it look less gaudy. The updated headlamps and a revised front bumper with new fog light designs that led to a shorter front overhang round off the changes up front.

In less than 24 hours from now, Acura will debut the facelifted 2012 TL at the Chicago Auto Show, but just to keep us on our toes, the Japanese automaker partially lifted the covers off the mid-size sedan's rear end. We're pretty sure that most readers are interested in what's happening on the other end of the car, but for now, it'll have to do.

From this end, we see that the model pictured here is the TL SH-AWD. Compared to the 2011 version of the car pictured below, the facelifted model gains a new bumper with a less fussy design while it also loses the quad exhaust pipes in favor of twin trapezoid-shape outlets. And well, that's about all we can see. Aside from the cosmetic changes, expect to see some minor refinements to the TL's hardware.

Earlier this month, Honda unveiled the Civic Si Concept coupe and Civic Concept sedan at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show, signaling that the ninth generation 2012 Civic will follow soon, to be precise, this spring. However, the official press bits weren’t exactly what you’d call detailed, leaving lots of aspects, including the engine lineup, to our imagination.

Today, the Honda-obsessed team at the Temple of VTEC forums claim to have solved part of this mystery thanks some inside sources that told them a 2.4-liter gasoline engine, very similar to the Acura TSX’s powerplant, will make its way into the new Civic Si.

*Current 2011MY Acura Shown in Pictures

The next Chicago Auto Show, to be held for the public from February 11 to 20, will host the debut of the updated for the updated Acura TL. Honda's luxury division simply stated that the TL will be "newly refined" for the 2012 model year, without releasing any more details. The current, fourth generation TL was released onto the market in late 2008 and is offered with a 280HP 3.5-liter V6 and front wheel drive, or with a 305HP 3.7-liter V6 and the firm's all-wheel drive system. We'll post any updates on Acura's mid-size sedan as soon as they become available.

Following on from the U.S. launch of the mildly refreshed 2011 TSX Sedan, Acura has released pricing for the new Sport Wagon model that goes on sale December 21. The North American version of the European Honda Accord Tourer will be available exclusively with the TSX's 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine matched to a five-speed automatic transmission and a base price of $30,960.

Making its world premiere at the Los Angeles Auto show tomorrow is the barely botoxed 2011 Acura TSX sedan. Our previous guesstimates about Acura bringing the TSX sedan in line with the new Sport Wagon model, which is based on the corresponding European Honda Accord model, proved to be more or less true.

On the outside, the 2011 TSX gets an extremely discreet facelift that includes, a new front fascia, revised chin spoiler, new fog light garnish assembly and an updated grill. At the back, the sedan model features revised taillights and an updated license plate garnish. The fresh alloy wheel designs and new underbody panels that improve aerodynamics sum up the exterior changes.

Among the world premieres listed on the Los Angeles Auto Show's official website, is the 2011 Acura TSX sedan (known as the Honda Accord in Europe and Japan). Even though Honda has already confirmed its own debuts that include an all-new electric vehicle concept and a new plug-in hybrid platform, we've yet to receive official word on Acura's plans.

Do you own a car that's likely to be stolen? Maybe, maybe not. Here is the list that the NICB (National Insurance Crime Bureau) has compiled concerning the most stolen vehicles in America. Honda's 1994 Accord and 1995 Civic along with Toyota's 1991 Camry occupy the first three places ahead of Ford's 1997 F-150 pickup truck and Dodge's 2004 Ram pickup.

If your car is on the list (scroll down), you should make sure to keep that chunk of metal locked down. As in, put a ring on it and don't let anyone near it.

Most Stolen Vehicles in the US in 2009:

Honda Motors' Acura division is recalling 167,255 of its 2004 - 2008 MY TSX sedans with the 2.4-liter inline-four in the U.S. because the power steering hose can potentially deteriorate prematurely and leak fluids causing a fire hazard.

"Oil leaking onto a hot exhaust pipe will generate smoke and a burning smell, and could potentially result in an under hood fire," Honda said in a notice on the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website.

Found on ebay Motors is this...work of art: a Lambo'd-out Acura NSX. Located in Branson, Missouri, this orange Frankenstein can be yours for the low-low price of $49,000. The title is labeled as clear, it's got 94,000 miles on it, and (not surprisingly) there's no warranty. Not exactly our cup of tea, but we've seen much, much worse. Photo gallery after the jump.

[Updated with new Photos] Here is Honda's answer to the critics of the Accord CrossTour: the North American market version of Europe's Honda Accord Tourer that will be sold here in the States as the 2011 Acura TSX Sport Wagon.

"The TSX Sport Wagon represents a smart choice for those seeking a vehicle with utility," said John Mendel, Acura's executive vice president of sales. "It's practical, fun to drive, luxurious and technically advanced, all while achieving an outstanding estimated highway fuel economy rating of 30 miles per gallon."

Along with an increased rear cargo space over the saloon, the TSX Sport Wagon also features a removable side panel to accommodate wider items such as golf clubs and integrated under-floor bins for hidden storage.

Back in October of 2009, Acura told us about its plans to expand its TSX lineup with a more practical station wagon variant in the fall of 2010. Today, the Japanese automaker announced that we'll get our first look at what is essentially the North American market version of the European Honda Accord Tourer (pictured here) at the New York International Auto Show on March 31.

A defective airbag that has been linked to one death and 11 injuries in the United States over the past few years is still haunting Honda as the company today announced that it is adding 437,763 cars to its existing global safety recall over the airbag inflation problem.

The expanded recall is concentrated mainly in the United States, where nearly 378,758 vehicles are affected, but the latest announcement also covers Japan, Mexico, Taiwan and Australia.

The models added to the list concern certain 2001 and 2002 Honda Accord, Civic, Odyssey, CR-V, 2002 Pilot, 2002 Acura CL and selected 2002 Acura TL vehicles.

Even though Honda has not released anything new on the HSV-010 since we first reported about the Japanese firm's Super GT competitor last week, we couldn't pass the opportunity to share with you a new high-res photo album as well as two videos of the V8-powered racer testing at Suzuka. As a reminder, the front-engined HSV-010 GT is loosely based on the axed successor of the Acura / Honda NSX. Videos and photos after the break.

Earlier this week, Honda released the first official details and a photo of its new HSV-010 GT, which stands for Honda Sports Velocity, and has been developed to replace the racing variant of the NSX in the GT500 class of the 2010 Super GT Series. Now we have the first videos of the blacked out racer that's the closest we'll get to the next generation NSX supercar.

The refreshed 2010 Acura MDX SUV goes on sale at Acura's U.S. dealerships today with prices starting at $42,230, plus a destination and handling (D&H) charge of $810 which comes to a total of $43,040. For 2010, the MDX receives some styling and equipment updates along with a new 6-speed automatic transmission and a tweaked 3.7-liter V6 that generates 300HP and 270 lb-ft of torque, returning an improved EPA estimated 16mpg city and 21mpg highway.