laee3

well they had a review of RL. It was about 55000dollar cars. RL came in 2nd place surprisingly, it beat GS and 5 series. 5 series got like 6th place because of acceleration, so i thought that RL would be like 5th or 4th... since RL was about the same... well surprisingly RL did fairly well, but the comments of editor got me interesting. Why wouldn't acura/honda make RL or other cars for that matter rear wheel drive? why does honda must go with front wheel drive... even RL's sh-awd was based on FWD. I think Acura is very good car company and very capable of making them RWD. I'm pretty sure sure knows what they are doing... but i think they should start offering some of their sedans in rear wheel drive... like TL or even TSX for that matter... just two cents... does anybody know why they dont???

Rocket_man

Cost. Savings in commonality of parts across Honda and acura lines allows for lower prices.

polytsx

As someone who lives in the Canada near the BC Rockies and with a great ski hill nearby, front drive was one the main reasons why we bought a TSX and could not consider a Lexus IS, or BMW 3 series or other RWD’s. Second choice was a WRX – tough call. In the end the TSX interior won out.

hans007

you can actually buy an RL for about $41000 though. at least thats what they are going for in southern california. at $41000 it is a ridiculous value.

danslvpt

i thought i saw on the commercial on tv that the RL is a all wheel drive?

GIBSON6594

NSX

GIBSON6594

RL is AWD

Schmed

I'm with you. Even the 'mericun car companies are switching back (slowly) to RWD. In a perfect world, they'd offer Acuras in RWD along with an option for AWD. I think the public needs to be re-trained to understand that RWD is superior as far as handling goes and that traction control and good tires make FWD not entirely necessary. I think this is where Acura can make some real gains on BMW.

ianS

RWD doesn't meant always better than FWD. I doubt a RWD big three or RWD MB can handle better than FWD Honda. But in fact RWD Honda forsure handle better than FWD Honda.

Howard911s

Acura is secure set in the entry level luxury segment, it can not compete with BMW or LExus in the real luxury segment, at least not yet, Honda is being smart by keeping its current line and methods of making cars, which allows for its price to stay in the lower end of the luxury competition.

Acura has a firm seat in its entry level luxury car segment, amazing sale every year, that's where it has established its image and price segment, should I want to buy a real luxury car, acura wont be on my mind, it would be Lexus, BMW or MBZ. Whoever's running Acura, it may not turn out the cars that us honda/acura loyalist really want, but the person running this divion is hella smart in its way of holding on to this market segment

afici0nad0

right on...

1. honda, toyota, nissan

2. acura

3. lexus, infiniti

i can't think of another brand, other than acura, that would fit into this entry level luxury segment (2), given its cost and product line-up. although, a toyota avalon may blur that divide between (1) and (2). but again, i'm just strictly interested in brand.

i think acura is very smart wrt to product placement, price, etc. if i wanted a rwd, i would look at a lexus, etc.

polytsx

I agree that there is no question from a handling and performance persepctive that RWD is king. However I completely disagree when it comes to snow.

I just spent the last two winters with my RWD Infiniti, despite very good traction control and Hakka's I still had to load up 300 lbs of lead into the trunk to make it through a Canadian winter.

hans007

i've driven rwd. and for the average driver i think honda knows what they are doing.

sure on a track or in real handling the rwd will be better most of the time. though i wouldnt say a rwd say c230 (especially the older supercharged 2005 and below models) would necessarily beat a tsx in a race, but lets just say rwd is better than fwd most of the time on a track.


seeing as 99% of people NEVER drive their car on a track, and that rwd adds weight (and worse fuel economy) and costs to the cost of building a car for something 99% of people will not really take advantage of, i would say for most people rwd is just extra money being spent. and it is a significant amount for a car in the mid 20k range like a tsx


i actually think honda's idea of making fwd cars that cost less to make, and putting all the luxury features in them standard is what their niche is.

i think most people will if it comes down to it opt for more luxury features that they will use more often than rwd. thats probably why the TL sells so well. people will notice the difference between power seats, leather, sunroofs, better nav systems, better stereos etc. far more than rwd and companies are out there to sell to "most people" especially in the sub 35k market.

if we are talking 50k sedans and up, then the extra money rwd costs its a much smaller percentage you can probably afford to buy all that other stuff anyway if you can buy a 50k car. so if acura makes a say 7 series competitor it better be rwd or awd. but under 35k i doubt it matters.

with gas prices the way they are, i can see more people driving smaller fwd cars anyway. rwd is purely a higher end luxury thing

excited

Way back 29 years ago when I had my Honda Civic CVCC, when most cars were RWD and FWD and Civics were still a novelty, I can remember many of a snowy day in TO where I would pass by much larger RWD cars slipping and sliding and spinning in the snow.

I want FWD.





Excited

Powered by Honda

Its cheaper to develop a rwd car over developing a fwd.

But with hondas platform sharing its cheaper to just use fwd.

I dont see fwd as a problem when you see cars like the RSX-R which goes where you want it and makes the driver feel like a pro.

hans007

its cheaper to develop a rwd car? since when?

laee3

naah, i'm not argueing that RWD is better than FWD, its just that all the other competitors offer something other than FWD. Acura has been around longer than Lexus. I really toyota is better than honda..... i'm just wondering why acura is behind lexus or.. even infiniti for that matter.....

laee3

what, you gotta be kidding me... i live in central cali... 41000???? that's like well equipped bmw330i... RL is an awesome car... button start... foglights, nav, almost everything is standard on that beast!

AlterZgo

I think it's a good deal at about $9K off its $50K sticker, but I wouldn't say it's that good of a value.

The TL and the RL have essentially the same options. The RL is just slightly bigger than the TL and the only option it really has over the TL is SH-AWD. The TL has pretty much everything else the RL has.

When you consider the fact that the TL's full retail price is about $35K including nav, the RL's $49K sticker price is just outrageous. I just don't see how the RL could be worth $14K more than a TL. The TL is about $5K more than a TSX. I would think the RL should sticker for no more than maybe $5K-$7K more max, not $14K more.

So, the RL at $41K is right where it needs to be.

Of course, when you consider the fact that a super tiny fully loaded IS350 is $45K, the RL seems like a great bargain.

laee3

The TL and the RL have essentially the same options. The RL is just slightly bigger than the TL and the only option it really has over the TL is SH-AWD. The TL has pretty much everything else the RL has.

When you consider the fact that the TL's full retail price is about $35K including nav, the RL's $49K sticker price is just outrageous. I just don't see how the RL could be worth $14K more than a TL. The TL is about $5K more than a TSX. I would think the RL should sticker for no more than maybe $5K-$7K more max, not $14K more.

So, the RL at $41K is right where it needs to be.

Of course, when you consider the fact that a super tiny fully loaded IS350 is $45K, the RL seems like a great bargain.[/QUOTE]

I agree with you 100%, TL is really nice car. I really think TL is more luxurious than any other cars in that class, even g35 sedan. I sometime wish i should have forked up more cash for TL =/ but I really like how the TSX looks compare to TL

Beoshingus

Well, most of the public is more interested in safety than handling. For every young man driving 120mph with his hair on fire, there are four soccer moms / little old ladies who take it easy and never push their vehicles to the limits of what front wheel drive can do.

And why on earth would Honda/Acura change everything to RWD? They're already planning to migrate their lineup to SH-AWD, which is preferable.

hans007

i dont know, i did cars direct on the RL, with my zipcode (90034) and it is like $41,100 there. my dad saw it and he even considered trading in his MDX for one (he didnt because the RL barely gets better gas milage than his mdx, so he said forget it)

MarkPinTx

It's much easier to put the tranny behind the engine, longitudinally mounted, with the axle and differential far away from the engine, connected by a driveshaft than it is to pack all that crap up between the front wheels.

RWD is a much more logical way to design a car. Much cheaper to repair.

sauceman

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