It's funny that we are discussing the use of wood in these vehicles. It's such a small thing...

I actually love my TSX with ebony interior for not having wood at all - it's more of a modern look and way much more environmentally friendly. Personally, I don't like having wood in my car's interior. It looks so "stuffy". All that "real wood" in Lexus etc. really turns me off. I especially dislike that wood on steering wheels. So yucky!!! Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I remember an automobile journalist descibing the interior of the TSX as "Hotel W on wheels"! I love that.

 

I forgot to mention that my TL has the Quartz interior and thus no wood. I was tired of the wood look in my other two TL and thought the "carbon fiber" look was better and I think it is.

 

I stand corrected.

 

"way much more enviromentally friendly", actually probably not, wood is a renewable resource and likely causes much less environmental impact producing the final product but that would be a complex problem to give an exact figure on but rest assured metal or plastic would not be "way much more" which I would read as a magnitude or more, likely less so in my view.

I am not a fan of wood in any car that portends to have sporty chracteristics which means a Royce yes a Ferrari no and everything in between I suppose is debateable. So I do like wood in some cars but hate "plood" in any car, it plays on the senses like a CZ or a Chinese Rolex ie "I wanted it but my wallet was too thin". It is the fake spoiler of car interior design.

 

no type-R

 

I just bouth brand NEW 2005 ACURA TL. Im looking for some after market mashed grill for font boumper. Does anybody now where i can get it from.I have tried alot a of places but no lock.

 

Um...I think you're in the wrong thread here...but welcome to the forum.

 

Try posting that in the TL forum...

And yes, welcome!

 

HMMM, a broken grille for your font boumper, dunno, I am guessing a computer junk yard since I assume the font boumper is some kinda bling for a word processor.

My apologies if English is not your first language, if it is let me know 'cause I'd like to rag you some more...

And either way welcome and don't mind me, it is just late or early depending on how you view it and I couldn't help but laugh at the mashed grill to go on the font boumper! Maybe I need another drink...

 

Edmunds.com has a quick update on the Marrakesh. Although they include photos
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...ticleId=107459
the final look is expected to be more Toureug-like and the focus will be luxury oriented. Expected price $25-35K with 4 & 6 engine options and 4motion drive.

 

That's cool! If they're really going after the X3, Freelander market, at least it will be nicely otfitted.

I went to see the Passat on Saturday .. .beautiful car, you can totally see that it's geared towards the luxury buyer, unlike the cheap plasticy Jetta.

On the other hand, I've thrown the Audi A3 into the running as our second car ... my wife loves it, and after driving the Mercedes B class 2 weeks ago, we were not entirely wowed by it.

 

I would be careful with Audi & VW until they move up from the bottom on reliability surveys.

 

Yeah, Driving TV last night did a number on the new Jetta ... most notable was their utter dislike of the Corolla-esque styling, and the really poor reliability ratings. Really something to think about as they are so close to Audi, and I've heard of some Audi issues as well (not as much, mind you)

Still, I'm excited to see the RDX ... anyone think it'll be at the Toyko show next week? Waiting on the RAV4 as well ...

Tme is on my side

 

I was thinking the RDX would make a US debut in Detroit in January for two reasons. The concept debuted in US and it will be assembled in the US.

Not to worry, lots to do with holidays between now and January, we wil have more info and much more to discuss before you know it.

 

oh man, i can't wait - and i dont like the new style VW is going for along with the Hitler mustache audi grills...

 

Add another two brands to the list of competitors for the RDX:

Volvo is interested in having another SUV below the XC90 according to a Edmunds article.
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...ticleId=107597


And Porsche has a full scale model of a small SUV, smaller than the Cayenne, possible to be built on the Audi Q5, Volkwagen Marrakesh platform.
http://www.autoweek.com/news.cms?newsId=103405

Like others have said it could be an exciting year as these products are released or concepts are brought out.

It could also be confusing as I think were up over a dozen competitors???

Acura RDX
Honda CRV
Audi Q5
BMW X3
Infiniti FX35
Land Rover Freelander
Ford/Mercury/Lincoln based on Mazda SportCross
Mazda SportCross
Nissan Murano
Porsche Cayenne Jr?
Subaru B9 Tribeca
Toyota RAV4/Lexus version?
Volkswagen Marrakesh?
Volvo XC50?

 

With gas prices the way they are, are we still buying SUV''s?

Crazy as it sounds, my tl-s gets better gas mileage than the non vtec integra I previously owned.

 

For some SUV owners the recent gas prices have convinced them to trade down to economy cars, others still prefer the SUV style and have opted for smaller SUVs. The RDX being smaller and more aerodynamic than the MDX will hopefully have a average mpg higher than the MDX by maybe 4mpg??

 

not really suv - more or less crossover, something with 4wd for better handling in allweather, and a higher ride height and more cargo space - SUV owners pay for that luxury but if you can buy an acura im assuming you can afford the gas to go along with it...

 

....just look at HONDA'S OWN ODYSSEY!!!.....with the magic of "VCM" - variable cylinder management - and some other minor tweaking, the upper models get an EPA rating of 20 CITY/ 28HWY (that is 3mpg and 5 mpg better respectively, than the MDX) ......The Odyssey has the same 3.5 liter V6 as the MDX, and here's the kicker: The NEW Odyssey, with it's ACE (Advanced Compatibility Engineering) body structure, is actually 130lbs heavier than the heaviest MDX (Odyssey:4634lbs vs. MDX:4504lbs!!!! !!!!!)

So, assuming it comes with a 3.0 to 3.2 liter V6 with VCM, and weighs around 3600 to 3800lbs, I dont see why it could not have figures something like 22CITY/30HWY (which is 5 mpg and 7mpg better respectively, than the MDX)

 

While VCM contributes something to the better mileage I would think Aerodynamics has more to do with it. The RDX concept looks to improve a bit on the MDXs aerodynamics, combined with lower weight an improvement is expected but the numbers you have estimated "22CITY/30HWY" are a little unrealistic. That would be better than the CRV with it's 4cyl?? Even the Accord V6 isn't getting 30HWY this year.

 

As already stated, the Odyssey probably has better aerodynamics (ground clearance is a major factor here,) it may be heavier, but it doesn't have to drag an AWD system around either(which will dock atleast a mpg to two when cruising.) Don't get me wrong though, there's no way VCM wouldn't be a great addition to the MDX engine (and the whole V6 Honda/Acura lineup.)

 

Isn't the VTM-4 an "on demand" set up? If so then the drive shaft isn't turning in normal driving in which the MDX or Pilot for that matter are FWD.

 

Yes, its on demand, but the clutch packs that control the power to the rear are in the rear differential housing, so its my understanding that driveshaft running to the rear will always be turning.

Strangly enough, the Pilot 2WD with VCM (available for 2006) gets 18/24mpg, while the Pilot 4WD without VCM gets 17/22mpg. Maybe real world will bear out better mileage in the 2WD model, maybe not, but even with VCM and 189lb weight reduction it only gains 2 mpg on the highway.

 

Perhaps this will add some perspective:

Acura MDX 3.5L weight 4471lbs MPG: 17 city/ 23 hwy

Acura RL 3.5L weight 4012lbs MPG: 18 city/ 26 hwy

Honda CRV 2.4L weight 3500lbs MPG: 22 city /27 hwy


even if the RDX weighs 200lbs less than the the RL it will not be as aerodynamic as the RL so maybe expect:

Acura RDX ??L weight 3850 MPG: 19 city / 25 hwy ????


Just my guesstimate, knowing what engine it will have would sure help??

 

just out of curiosity - are those numbers supposed to be proportional?

 

ok, before everything, it's almost 2 am, im pretty stoned and i really believe that i can function under these circumstances, so here are my calculations. amazingly enough the vehicle which the rdx is based off of (CRV, and based on the boundaries provided by 98accordex's guesstimate) kinda matches up, plus makes the 2.2L engine theory work, but as long as the rdx will have 22mpg (average) it makes sense, check these out, just my calculations, pardon my bad handwriting....







once again - these results are a result of my boredom, the first set of calculations = CRV:RDX make sense, but are not necessarily what acura is going to do - i just think its kinda cool...

 

Like the title says, buy a real car, you losers.

 

Wow PROEwildfire you must have had some night. Great effort, believe me you put a lot more effort into this than I did. I looked up the weights and mpg figures of the RL, MDX, and CRV then speculated on the RDX figures.

At this point were missing every important specification needed for a reasonalbe estimate of the RDX's mpg: weight, engine size, coefficient of drag, # of gears and their ratios, etc. About all we know for sure is SH-AWD and it looks a bit slicker than the CRV or MDX for a lower drag coefficient.

Basically it's anybody's guess, I was just trying to dispel dreams of 30mpg hwy as too high.

 

realistically, in comparisson to the CRV, the ratio is: 2.4:3500:24 = X.X:X,XXX:XX, basically, we are still clueless lol... DAMN! i just played around with the numbers and it was intresting in comparisson to the crv how the number 2.2 for the engine displacement came up when given that the RDX will have 22MPG on average and that it would weigh 3850... there is a formula - and it could be decrypted by gather all the numbers of the current TL, and RL, and generating the ratios of: [engine displacement]:[weight]:[(MPG City+MPG Highway)/2]:[Engine Torque]:[Aerodynamic Factors (not gonna touch those numbers)]:[??Price??] you can get the basic formula, that is if acura follows a formula when designing vehicles, but then again, you would need one definite figure on the RDX side of the equation... im lost...

 

Let's get this thread back on track to talk about competitors.

Anyone know if the new Lincoln Aviator will be a sister ship to the Mazda CrosSport? Edmunds mentioned it will no longer be based onthe Ford Explorer instead it will based on the Ford Edge which uses the Mazda 6 platform.

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...ticleId=107782

 

NEVERMIND, I ansered my own question or rather Edmunds did. I found another article which stated it is or they are. The Mazda CX7 or Crossport, Ford Edge, and Lincoln Aviator are all based on Mazda 6 platform. Mazda will also build a larger 7 passenger CX-9 off the same platform.

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...ticleId=107785

 

yeah they are all gonna ride the same platform, the lincoln is niiiiice

 

Here's another one to add to the list (it could be elsewhere in the thread, but I don't care to look :P )

 

Awesome ... can't go wrong ... I'd chose this over the squished looking VW ...
that VW reminds me of the old Daihatsu Terios

 

vw targets a different market with the marakesh, as it costs will attract younger buyers such as myself, however, im praying that the RDX will be reasonably priced otherwise i will be forced to go with a cheaper vehicle although the RDX is very appealing to me.

 

That Volvo looks nice, wonder what engine it will get and the all important question with Volvo's - what it will cost?

 

I think we can almost take one off the list after it spy photos. IMHO the updated Land Rover Freelander looks too much like a Ford Escape to be considered competition for the RDX.
http://www.thecarconnection.com/Enthusiasts/Spy_Shots/Spy_Shots_07_Land_Rover_Freelander.S178.A9645.html

 

Mazda CrossSport CX-7 to debut at LA Auto Show according to CarConnection. Show starts January 6th. I checked the L.A. Auto Show website and no mention of Acura RDX. Perhaps it will debut in Detriot the week after.

http://www.thecarconnection.com/Auto...173.A9692.html

http://www.laautoshow.com/2006/index.aspx

 

http://www.worldcarfans.com/news.cfm...1/mazda/1.html