Integrating

Saw this Car+Driver story today about the new Acura Integra:

We'd call it a Honda.

I like it.  It looks quite snazzy.

And it's not a cross-over SUV!

I wonder what Vauxhall/Opel make of it though?

Look at their Insignia:

Are the differences insignificant?

Genesis Line-Up

I'm more of the Phil Collins time than the Peter Gabriel.

I always think of Collins as a Tory sell-out.  He said he'd leave the country if Labour got in.

Rock and Roll, Phil.

But of course, this is a car blog so I am talking about Genesis the car brand.  They have entered the UK market and their line-up is here.  The G80 is featured in this month's Top Gear magazine - it gets 7 out of 10.

Genesis is the upmarket Hyundai brand.

Like Acura is Honda's, Lexus is Toyota's and Infiniti is Nissan's.

Acura never came to the UK, Lexus is very successful while Infiniti tried but gave up last year.  If they had hung on a bit longer, they could have revelled in Ash Sutton's astonishing success in the BTCC in one of their cars - and maybe sold a few more.

Car+Driver have a story about the new all-electric Genesis GV60 coming to America:

It has a fancy gear-knob described as, "an illuminated 'crystal sphere'"

Being a Korean company selling to America, they won't realise that that choice of car colour makes it look like a Citroen Cactus:

That's All.

Here’s What the Future of Acura Sedans Will Look Like.

What?  A Mazda parked somewhere dark?

I hate these teaser pictures.  Unhelpful and designed to get people talking about products they don't normally bother about.

Like I am now.

This is the Autoguide story I took the Post Title from.

This is better from Car+Driver.

The car is a Concept for the Detroit Auto-Show next month and it is called "The Precision Concept".  Since Acura is the Honda for posh-people, I'm getting a whiff of pretension here.

“The Acura Precision Concept will signal the stronger and sharper focus of Acura styling on our core DNA we call ‘precision crafted performance’,” said Dave Marek, global creative director for the Acura brand. “It is our intention to more strongly express performance through design and the Acura Precision Concept will serve as the inspiration for the styling and proportion of the next-generation of Acura vehicles, especially for our sedans.”

I'd call it  "The Acura Pretension Concept".

Precisely.

The Pirelli World Challenge

Autoguide today are recommending that I watch the Pirelli World Challenge racing series.

It has to be said, it looks very tempting.

Their Website is here.

It also looks a bit confusing with lots of different classes of car competing - a bit like the BTCC used to be.

And what's with this "world" business - it's only in America.  I know the World Series has an excuse because it was sponsored by The World newspaper but this seems to be sponsored by Cadillac - the coverage at least.

The lineup seems very impressive, especially the GT3 class:

They have Ferraris... 

...and McLarens... 

...and Lambos and Audis and non-European stuff too like Acuras and Caddies.

 

And, like the BTCC, and unlike F1, the coverage is free to watch.

 

So I decided to give it a go...

Bugger.

 

Never mind, BTCC starts this weekend too and it looks like another brilliant season with SEVEN champions competing.