TacoBello

I find it hard to take the car owner satisfaction ratings seriously, now that you posted the top ten list.

subaru is way up there, but 99% of people buy a Subaru for one reason. The AWD system. Their interiors are generally brutally Spartan. Their paint quality is abysmal (hey, something has to give if you're offering an AWD car for around the same price of a FWD car). You don't buy a Subaru for a luxurious interior, that's for sure.

but a brand like Lexus is held to a much different standard. If their cars simply came with AWD and were lacking in all other departments, people would rate them right at the bottom.

Also, yes, tesla does have a lot of reliability issues. They're a fly by night, mass market car manufacturer. It's just about near impossible to come into starting a car company unless you have billions kicking around, burning a hole in your pocket. While Tesla is very popular, for obvious reasons as you mentioned, it's not surprising they have a ton of issues. Cars are just so crazy advanced today that it would be impossible to put out a vehicle without huge issues. Hell, look at any new car that comes out these days- these companies have had decades building cars and they still run into issues, time and again. Just imagine how much of a struggle a new company would face.

By the end of the day, I'd say this info is worth noting and understanding, but I wouldn't base my decision on it alone. Far from it. Taking it at face value seems very misleading.

TacoBello

Subaru is doing something right, though. They found their niche in the car market, something Acura heavily struggles with finding these days. Why do people love subarus? They have very sporty variants of normal cars, they offer AWD on every model, which everyone seems to want these days, and they have good utilitarian options also.

They have nothing to do with luxury whatsoever. They don't have crazy electronics and tech gizmos. They're fairly reliable and fairly cheap to keep maintained.

This was sort of why Acura was huge back in the day. Highest hp output per litre of displacement, sporty variants, relatively cheap to maintain and reliable, without tons of gizmos that would eventually fail, and good styling/ergonomics.

these days there are no sporty variants. They don't rule the engine market in terms of power or innovation, they are no longer reliable, they are chock full of shit that fails, they can't keep up with the competition, their styling sucks, etc. They are exactly on that list where they deserve to be.

I know someone will now argue that the Honda engines are gas sippers and therefore ahead in innovation- if that's what Honda and Acura see as important, they should make it their prime selling point. I just asked a handful of people who they think is the most fuel efficient- of four people, not one mentioned Honda or Acura. I got stuff like "well I hear a lot of Chevy commercials and Ford commercials claiming they're the best". I don't think they make nearly the emphasis they should if that's what they want to lead in. There's very little to no advertising regarding this. Once again, a lost company drifting in space. Figure out what you want and make it loud and clear. The only loud thing about Acura these days is their jewel eye headlights.

Subaru goes "we are the AWD company!" What does Acura or Honda do? "We are all over the place with no clear direction!"

pyrodan007

Because it's that kind of thrill!

Yeah, that 9sp gas saving transmission and hidden tailpipes was such an awesome idea and excellent selling point, said no customer ever.

Honestly with the recent leaked unconfirmed information about the 2018 TLX getting no significant changes to mechanical parts, Acura deserves all the bad press it gets. How can people feel happy when your products are not being fixed correctly and don't change compared to market value/demand. Marketing your car as sporty but being filled with cost cuttings and engineering mistakes makes people think twice about why they keep choosing you.

For those of you that say "why didn't you see it before...", do you say the some thing with divorces? It just happens, things comes out and become clear in time.

BEAR-AvHistory

Think its pretty basic regardless of brand or price point. Someone who buys a car for a specific purpose & the car does that well the buyer will love the car. Most modern cars are pretty reliable overall & many of the perceived issues are strictly first world problems. People will overlook those things as long as the car delivers on its intended usage. Over promising or under performing in this area will sour the relationship which will then magnify everything else that might crop up.

Power train or running gear problems will always be killers no matter what.

weather

^^ and unlike most people, I don't buy an Acura to be an appliance, that is why my Hyundai Elantra and Chevy exists. I am a car enthusiast and I want to feel some adrenaline when I get behind my "nice car" and I used to feel that way when I would drive former Acura products - It seems now they are doing cars to just blend in with every other regular brand. That is fine if that is the market you want, but stop trying to claim you have racing in your DNA or use slogan like "It's that kind of thrill" - In fact, Acura's management is more of a THRILLER than a THRILL!

I would serious love to be a fly on the wall on their Monday morning meetings and see what happens in them?!?! Do they talk about the effect of Metamucil had on their weekend activities? How Viagra changed their lives? How they can cure in-grown toe nails? Any online coupons on Depends?

If they were TRULY serious about re-building the buzz and the brand, they would issue an apology, fix vehicles for which owners WANT to have a new transmission (those who are fine with it, fuck'em, but those that aren't happy, fix'em), then for once, allow some stuff to leak out. Would it kill you to talk about when the MMC will be released (car show date)....Or acknowledge you want to bring back the Type-S, bring back a manual, just do something!! Stop being so frikin so secretive - your marketing and secretive is not working - NOT AT ALL! Wake up for God sake!

TacoBello

pyrodan007

I remember Acura's new CEO specifically saying that the brand will refocus on performance from now on. Changing the shell on the MMC and calling it a day is pure BS for performance. If they talk about Viagra, well at least some type of performance is mentioned! If not, well they are certainly fucking over their current customers with their slogan of thrills....

If nothing mechanical changes for MMC, one thing will. The direction of my money in the future! I'm not longer sponsoring laziness and old mentality/stupidity. Will go with the young bloody, being all the other brands lol

weather

^^ Amen my Canadian friend! We are are not just close in the way we think, but in where we live!!

pyrodan007

^My pleasure sir, your comments are always aligned with my thoughts. Where it failed is when I purchased my TLX and you rightfully walked away lol

In Quebec, our motto is "je me souviens" which means "I remember". Acura will learn Quebec's motto soon enough if they don't change their game plan in a majorly fashion!

Momyc

Pyrodan, count another vote for "je me souviens"!

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

Honda was also shxt about 5-8 years ago when the 8g Accord and 9g Civic were launched. There were also the Crosstour, the very slow CR-V, the aging Pilot and Ridgeline, etc. In the past few years, Honda put most of its resource to fixing these cars. I think it's safe to say that most Honda models nowadays are well above average, if not class leading.

And since Honda has been putting most of its effort in the Honda line up, the Acura line suffers big time. This is why earlier this year, the CEO said they will now focus more on Acura. I don't think we can judge where the Acura brand is going just by looking at one MMC. For me, I think the turning point is when the Precision Concept ideas are put into production. That's when we will see where the brand is heading. And that will take a few years. Yup, during this transitional period, I'm sure people will grow impatient since Acura has been shxt for the past 8 years or so and will or have already moved on. Totally understandable.

wow.....lol

My understanding is that the NSX won its class for the Pikes Peak Challenge.

The TLX in the Pirelli World Challenge doesn't have SH-AWD. It was using a X-TRAC motorsport all-wheel drive system originally developed for Dakar Rally vehicles. And they removed AWD because the race series said they cannot have AWD.

Which major US racing series are you referring to? I believe the NSX will enter the Pirelli World Challenge and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2017?

IIRC, the Corvettes & Mustangs also tanked the 488, 911 gt3 rs, r8 v10+, 570S.......

weather

pyrodan & Momyc - I am very familiar with your plates traveling to your beautiful province - I am also French speaking, English is my second language which is why I often make mistakes here (lol).

With respect to your "I will remember", the sad part is that many people who have been burned with the way Acura treated them, especially in Canada, this will leave them with a bad taste in their mouth. It will take a while, but I think the effects of the last few years will follow Acura is the ratings for a longgggggg time.

pyrodan007

For sure. The bad customer service mixed with lackluster changes to the new models have rubbed loyal customers in all the wrong ways. The long running gold standard of reliable and smart engineering will take a very long time to reconstruct, if ever. Just look at FCA, they're now known to be unreliable but they still sale well due to value, looks, and performance (cough, hellcat, cough). Acura unfortunately has none of that (still not sure with the redesign of the 17 MDX).

Even more so with snow, SH-AWD becomes almost mandatory, even in the summer for some fun lol

BEAR-AvHistory

Correct 20th overall 1st in a 6 car class. Electrics do very well at Pikes Peak because they can hold power high up the mountain, good choice of a venue for the car to look good.
Sort of correct. The SHAWD system could not handle the engine developed for the car. They used instead a standard racing 4X4 application so they could claim for the rubes its 4WD "like" the SHAWD system. Back at the time I posted that SHAWD was not in the car the guys following the race series were surprised & not aware of switch.
The stock NSX was tested in Japan & Europe benchmarking it against the better cars in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. It was determined very quickly that it was not competitive as was shown in the C&D LL. Answer was to build the GT3 version. NSX GT3 has plenty in common with its street car counterpart, the two door handles, headlights & the twin turbo engine. The rest of the car - body, interior, suspension, XTrac racing gearbox & RWD are all custom built. Figure $450/500K will put you in one when/if they go public with the car.

All of which also tanked the NSX. You can even throw in a 5 year old 2012 Ferrari 458 Italia to the 16 production cars that finished ahead of #17. That said am very happy to see Corvettes & Mustangs beat any one they can. To have Mustangs & Camaros joining the StingRay near the top of the heap among world class performance cars, many of which cost multiples of their price, is very gratifying.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

Yea, the NSX that won the production time attack 2 class is a regular NSX with safety equipment installed. It's the hybrid version. The full electric version came 2nd in the electric modified class, or 3rd overall.

Since the NSX is turbocharged, it also doesn't lose much, if any power up on the mountains.

Yes, the SH-AWD is designed for production use with 300lbft. The TLX race car has like 500-600lbft? Granted, the TLX GT race car only looks like a regular TLX. The inside and its guts are totally different.

I think going with the GTD class makes more sense than the Prototype class. I mean, looking at the cars in the prototype cars, none of them look like production vehicles....and as you mentioned, even at the GT3 version, extensive modifications are added, just like most other GT3 cars in this class.

Yup, the corvette and gt350r does well against the 488, 911 gt3 rs, nsx, r8 v10+, 570S. Totally understanding that feeling of being the underdog. It's like when I go to a track day with my 98 Civic HB, and running circles against the E92 M3, RX8, S3 sedan, modded FRS, it's an awesome feeling!

BEAR-AvHistory

Once again "sort of". I have seat time, not driving time, in the Porsche GTLM that won the Oak Tree Grand Prix. Car interior is gutted by its still almost all the same car you can buy for the street. It has racing stuff like the doors lift off when fully open but closed they even have the same excellent panel gaps as the street version. The other heavyweight in the series Corvettes StingRay actually has less horsepower than the street car because of "performance leveling" to keep it from running away with the series.



Asked Nick Tandy the winning #911 Porsche driver at a reception what he thought about performance leveling handicapping which also effects their car. His comment was its something you learn to accept because it does make for a better spectator product. The fans like the close racing. Earl Bamber in #912 came in second was also there.

The GTD that the NSX will run in is a spec class that runs 50 less horsepower & 45lbs less weight than the GTLM. Think the LM cars are the pick of the litter outside the pure class P/PC prototypes.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

Yea...GTLM and GTD seems more "street car" like than say the P and PC Class. IMO, it's based on what the manufacturer want to compete in. Each class has different sets of specs.

I wouldn't say the Mazda RX7 was a massively inferior car to the NSX just because the NSX would compete in the GT500 class in Japan, while the RX7 was competing in the GT300 class.