Last weekend at the Petite Le Mans, an Patron Acura car was completely trashed during qualifying in a spectacular accident. The driver wasn’t hurt that bad but the car was completely shredded. Not having a spare car, the crew completely built a new racecar from a spare carbon tub. It’s amazing to see it all come together in this time lapse video:

ALMS: Patron Highcroft Petit Le Mans Rebuild from GrandTouringPrototype.com on Vimeo.

Halfway through the life of a specific car model, the manufacturers will perform a mid-cycle refresh. Often called a “facelift” by the press, the basic car including powertrain and engines stay generally the same, but subtle changes are added to freshen up the image of the car, introduce some new features that would draw in new buyers, or keep leasers that have their cars being turned in.

The Acura crossovers have been really popular in my circle – it’s by far the most popular car owned by my friends. If you are in the market for one, try to get a great deal on the existing 2009 model, or wait and benefit from the upgrades in the 2010s.

For 2010, both the Acura RDX and MDX are getting a refresh. For the RDX (pictured above), it’s primarily just a facelift, with the front and rear fascia’s changing, with new vents, new light housings and adopting the “shield” grill that started permeating the line with the Acura TL. There will be an addition of a front-wheel drive model in the USA, but it’s undetermined if it will make it into Canada. If it does, this will be a fuel-friendly car since the car will be lighter and already had a direct-injection turbocharged engine.

The MDX (pictured below) also gets new front and rear fascias. It also gets and updated rear-view camera and navigation system. Also included is a radar-based cruise control system and the addition of a six-speed automatic transmission. It is the same transmission coming on the new ZDX and adds a gear which will improve fuel economy on highway driving. The final major change is the addition of an active damping system for the suspension. Adopting the same magnetic-fluid system found on Corvettes and Ferraris, this system will instantaneously adapt to changing road conditions and allow the user to control how comfortable or sporty the ride will be.

My sister has begun shopping around for a new car. One of the priorities is to get power seats with a memory option so that its easier for her and her husband to share the car. Unfortunately after doing some research into the Japanese brands, none of them offer power seats with memory. Only two offer power seats and one with memory.

acura csx (same car as honda civic) $28,290-29,990
no power seats

honda civic $16,990-23,480 (not including Si model)
no power seats

mazda 3 $16,895-25,745
no power seats

mitsubishi lancer $16,598-22,998
no power seats

nissan sentra $16,798-24,298
no power seats

subaru impreza $20,695-23,195
no power seats

toyota corolla $14,565-23,210
power seats on the LE model

toyota matrix $15,705-26,775
no power seats

volkswagon jetta
power seats with memory on 2.0T model