LuckyCL

My father said somethign interesting... With the RWD RL right around the corner, could Acura be abandoning the FWD chassis at some point? WIll the new RS-X be F or RWD? TYhink abotu it... if they want to compete with BMW and MB and gain that traditionalist market, they might consider at least offerring a few RWD performance sedans. like the RL. Why not even a RWD CL?

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2001 CL Type S. No mods.
No mods planned. I don't know anything about cars...

GoldTypeS_RENAMED

It's pure speculation at this point. I think it's going to take a major shift in the entire auto industry for Acura to start doing a lot of RWD. I don't think they're really interested in competing with MB and BMW in that way. They compete on price and value.... that's their thing. The new RS-X will be FWD. There's lots of reasons why the new RL will be RWD:
1) It's a flagship
2) It's supposed to be an alternative to the LS430, S500.
3) It costs A LOT of money to engineer a new platform, but when you're already charging $70K for a car it helps to offset the extra cost.

There's a big difference between making your flagship RWD and then doing it with a bread & butter sedan like the TL. Part of the reason why the TL/CL are so affordable is because they're based on the Accord. There's no way in hell Honda is gonna make the Accord RWD, so in order for the TL/CL to become RWD, they'd need to engineer a whole new platform which would raise the price enough to seriously hinder sales. Probably enough so that any extra sales garnered from MB or BMW would not offset the decreased sales from a higher price. So where would they be? They'd have spent more time and more money to come up with 2 cars that sell less. Not gonna happen, is it?!

tankmonkey

while I agree that it isn't very likely that anything but the new rl and nsx are likely to be rwd platforms, I wouldn't dismiss the possibility of other acuras becoming rwd so quickly.

if honda/acura practices "platform" engineering, which we know they do, from the the accord - tl/cl and civic - integra families, then what, exactly, prevents them from utilizing the s2000 platform or the coming rwd rl platform on any number of other vehicles?

indeed, utilizing the new rl platform for the volume-selling midline acura cars makes some sense if honda is actually concerned about making a return on that engineering investment.

on the other paw, I'm not so sure that honda is worried about the economics of this investment as the rwd rl is prolly intended to be a prestige model within the acura line (much like the current nsx and the s2000 is within the honda line).

Wyle E. Coyote

I have a feeling that the only RWD Acuras will be the RL (or its replacement) and maybe another NEW mid-end high-performance model. The Integra/RS-X is a low-end performance model and will likely remain FWD. The NSX should be AWD!

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2001 Acura 3.2CL Type-S
Satin Silver/Ebony
No Navi

Wheel Locks/35% Tint/Splash Guards/PIAA 19169 bulbs/K&N 33-2178 filter/Mobil 1 5W-30 oil & filter

LuckyCL

Counterpoint....
Honda already has a line engineered towards value... the actual Honda line. Acura is supposed to be more prestigious. The S2000 is more of a competitor with the Mazda Miata. Since they already do know how to make a RWD chassis (sp?) that don't need to put that much R&D into it. Could we start seeing RWD and FWD versions of the same model? Maybe... But that would be confusing. What would you call a RWD CL type S? The 3.2 CL Tyle S R? Who knows.

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2001 CL Type S. No mods.
No mods planned. I don't know anything about cars...

gavriil

I agree with GoldTypeS almost completely.

The reason the CL/TL will not be getting RWD any time soon is because the strategy of Acura's right now is to hurt the competition by providing similar products but priced lower (much lower in some cases). RWD is much more expesive to manufacture than FWD plus as others said goind to the drawing board and redesigning is in itself super expensive too and is seen as an added cost.

Most BMW buyers dont care if their car is FWD or RWD. Some see RWD as a disadvantage actually. Most people are NOT auto enthusiasts. Most people do not care if you can fish tail their car with the throttle, they dont like oversteer all together period. They dont care that the Acura is not 50/50 perfectly balanced like some BMWs are. The CL handles plenty well for 99% of the people out there. People buy their BMW and Mercedes for different reasons like for example (and this is one thing that Acura is lacking) the "name", the "image".

When one is car ignorant they know that Mercedes means $$. They do not necessarily know that about Acura as much. Plus, Mercedes means $$ around the globe. Acura is not selling in most countries.

Acura is known well for nothing actually. Now they are trying to come out with a strategy which in my opinion will hurt BMW and others big time. $30K for a car that is larger than a 3 series, more comfortable and packed with options for basicaly $10K less?

An SUV that is $8K less but it is larger than any compatitor and consumes less gas than any of them too (and as always PACKED with options)? So on and so forth.

This is going to sell big time because reliability is there, resale valuse is there and service is not bad.

That is how you become a leader in the market not by making sure you got RWD. Yes, RWD makes sense for the flagship because competition is so far ahead it is not funny. Plust making 2 cars out of it is more economical but still very expensive and that is why I persume that the next RL will be much more expensive than the current one. As for the NSX we all know that it was always overvalued or better yet super expensive. So RWD makes sense there, the manufacturer has room to play with cost there.

Finally, Gold, the CL is not based on the Accord platform. I would state it: the Accord, CL and 7 more vehicles are based on the global mid sized platform.

One thing I cannot translate though. I wonder what will the future of the S2000's platform will be. This is a wild card there. Was the S2000 a brand new platform?

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Gabriel
CL Type S

[This message has been edited by gavriil (edited 01-16-2001).]

gto2050

Everybody has good points here. The RL should be RWD but a great counterpoint would be that the RWD would limit sales in the cold climes.... I for one would not have even considered the CL if it had been RWD. FWD is the MINIMUM I would accept living in the NE. My preferences are... bright sunny weather and performance driving - RWD, rain - FWD, snow - AWD (settled for FWD) off road - 4WD. I may be alone but those are my preferences. I have read with interest opn the IS300.NET how much trouble they are having in the snow. I think it's a great car but not in the bad weather. Just my $1.50 worth.

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01 CL-S NightHawk Black/Ebony Bowling Ball Interior

LuckyCL

Makes sense. I think the IS300 is a good car too... Those dorky taillights was reason number three I didn't get it.
Number one was RWD... Two was the pimp daddy image. I'm not a pimp daddy... I'm a conservative Republican!!
Also, it wasn't Acura... My 87 Legend held up for me every day. never left me stranded. FWD does have limitations... Hence the slights better performance out of the is300.
The S2000 is an enigma... I thought it was more of an Integra/Civic convertible with a better engine? Did they creat it out of the blue? Are they selling well? I haven't seen any here in Eastern PA... But its winter. Also... it has those dorky clear lights like the is3c. If I would get a convertible... I would want one of those hard top things... Like the Mercedes. I don't like the fabric.

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2001 CL Type S. No mods.
No mods planned. I don't know anything about cars...

gto2050

Ha ha... they prolly would have sold more if the name was Enigma2000. I like the looks of it and the Toyota similar model but the dealers in NJ are a bunch of hosers. They are marking them up and whether they actually get the bucks? I don't know, but I won't give my business to a place that even posts that sh*t on the window. I have never seen one on the road.

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01 CL-S NightHawk Black/Ebony Bowling Ball Interior

LuckyCL

Enigma2000... Hmm... Is that a good name for a car? Being an enigma is not a good thing.



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2001 CL Type S. No mods.
No mods planned. I don't know anything about cars...

DtEW

They could have sold all of them even if Honda named it the Fiero2000. The car flew out of dealerships (assuming they weren't marked up to kindom come) as soon as they hit the showroom floor. It is a new design from the ground up, with virtually no parts or "platforms" borrowed from any current Honda/Acura, and built alongside the NSX in Honda's special-production Togichi factory. They are really as amazing as the automotive press makes them out to be, but it seems to me that many people who bought them were unaware of what they were getting themselves into, which is a car that demands a driver of special competence and over-caffination in order to shine.

There's less than 5000 out there, and some of them are in storage as part of collections. (It was conceived as a commemoration of Honda's 50th anniversary.)

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051/LP/SR/LD/HH

[This message has been edited by DtEW (edited 01-22-2001).]

GoldTypeS_RENAMED

You're kidding me??? Never?? Not even one??

Heck.. I've seen at least 10. And now I see one every day it doesn't rain as someone at my company just got a silver one.