What tha FAWK are they thinking with they're KOKs....and that is suppose to compete with Lexus, Mercedez, and BMW no fawking way.




with the Hchon stainless steel radio knobs

 

Whoa, the new peices in the RL's interior are nice!! Well nicer at least. I like the blackwood too, it actually looks real. Radio controls dont look as cheap either!! In dash CD changer..

better than before, but could be better

 

its not 25 yrs old yet

how bout defunct plates

custom plates:


"outastok"

clsisded

fukacura



what am i gonna get for free if my 3rd tranny blows up?

 

I'm not trying to be mean toward Acura but I don't think they spent enough time "redoing" the RL it looks VERY DATED to me like mid-late 90ish on the outside. the inside is nice but no major improvements it looks like on the outside

 

same:ghey: exterior,

same 225HP engine

same 4 speed auto

and the worst part is they will drag this "refreshed" POS on for the next 3 years!

:shakehd: :thumbsdn:

 

Is that really the redesign? Since when did Acura go from "cutting edge" to "just enough to get by"? The RL is a nice car but it just can't compete with it's intended rivals. It's styling and power are very dated. It seems to be designed for those who care nothing about performance and in this market of luxury performance sedans, that's just not going to cut it. The RL has hurt the upscale Acura image that the Legend so carefully put into place.

(ok, not the obligatory "IMHO" disclaimer)

 

RL is MilkToast.

 

hmmm, they should change their nomenclature on their cars to the LEGEND RL, the VIGOR TL, and the VIGOR TLC (coupe). That way they'll incorporate the original names and still have a somewhat european style.


IMO, wats happening is that all lux makers (and even more and more mainstream car makers) are adopting alphanumeric names. Thus, in a few years, watch some one break from this stupid mold and go back to just regular names. Its a cycle basically.

 

I see the occasional CL and, more frequently, the TL where i am. I've never seen an RL though - not even when i was in Chicago, which seems to have an unbelievable Acura population; i couldn't go 5 minutes without seeing a CL or TL.

 

http://www.acura-cl.com/forums/showt...threadid=94458

You guys gotta start checking out the automotive news fourm, it had this info for a while, and it explains what was changed on the inside, and some of my other various rants...

 

Great...so the improvements to the RL include XM (which I personally would never use), the Navigation system from the $26K Accord, and some subtle styling touches. Yet it still looks like a severely dated and boring sedan. And yet, with all the wonderful and potent engines in the Honda stable, they still go with a large underpowered V6. The thing is outpowered by the Accord for goodness sakes! I mean, come on, if Acura has their heart set on a 3.5L then atleast use the 260hp 3.5 from the MDX. Well, I guess if Acura doesn't see the need to attract new buyers then I don't see the need in buying one of their RLs. There are plenty of cars just as comfortable on the market for the same price that offer far better performance.

 

maybe they just dont see the need to waste money on making the RL better till they are done working on the V8?


kinda like its all or nothing type of deal.

 

Not a bad idea. However, wouldn't Vigor CL make more sense than TLC...besides, they would probably want to avoid "TLC". Anyway, I would by no means be opposed to Legend RL as long as it truely was a Legend. The RL is a nice car but the Legend truely is a Legend!

 

It might be because I work by an Acura dealership that my perception is a little distorted but I see as many RLs as I see CLs.

 

The Legend, light years ahead.

The RL, light years behind.

:shakehd:

I think the Truck division has been given too much emphasis and resources. Their product line is stretching a wee bit too far, and funds for advancing the RL may be wearing thin if the RL is going to have no improvements for '04

Stick to the fundamentals!

'03 is a drought year in terms of product launches for honda.

'04 should be interesting though; let me rephrase that, it HAS to be interesting for them to remain competitive.

 

I think all the top engineers/designers all went to NISSAN, Toyota, and Mazda.

The RL is bland and it's no way appreciated at $45k+ price tag. Who is stupid enough to buy a front wheel drive sedan with a weak engine, 4 speed auto, cheap ass interior for $45k when you can get something nicer. They need to seriously get rid of the RL since it's stupid when i can get the TLS for cheaper and it kicks the shit outta the RL.

At least the RL has telescoping steering column. legit.

 

I agree. I have never been a fan of the RL. In my opinion the RL is Really Lame. Yeah, it has a few nice things that the TL doesn't but the looks are totally bland and there doesn't seem to be that big a market for it if you look at last months sales #s where the CL sold a LOT more than the RL even though neither of them were as hot a seller as the TL or MDX.

Maybe it is just me but I never liked the name Vigor although the car looked alright. The Legend was a VERY nice car with a great name. I had read a rumor somewhere (and maybe it has been mentioned here too) that the "CL" coupe will be brought back in 2005 as the TL coupe (although TLC probably won't be the call letters!). We'll all have to wait and see...

 

Couldn't that mean that the last current model will be built in June. Then preparations begin for re-tooling for a newly designed model? Did the paper say that the last CL will be built in June or current model. Consider this...the last TL could be build in June also, before the re-design. Could you scan the paper for us?

 

This seriously makes me hate acura. It's like they've just packed their bags and went home. This is rediculous, they are doing nothing to counter their rivals. what a bunch of pussies :angry:

 

Let's calm down a bit, shall we?

OK, two things. First of all, Acura is in no way obligated to tell us what their short and long term plans for a vehicle or vehicle line may be. The perception that they're doing nothing is basically based on the fact that we don't really know WHAT they're doing. This is pretty common, of course. Companies don't want their rivals really knowing everything they're working on until they're ready to tell.

Second, regarding the RL, haven't I heard something about a next-generation 400HP RL concept that includes a 300HP gas engine and 100HP of electrical assist in an AWD configuration??? I know it's just a concept and concepts rarely get more than 75% implemented in production. But even if we go with 300HP total, the fact remains that they're working on an updated RL, possibly a significantly changed RL at that. If that is true, why bother putting any more than incremental effort into the current RL?

Yes, it's boring as hell. Yes, it's dated. Yes, it's underpowered and below its comparable rivals by other manufacturers. But every once in a while, Honda/Acura makes a big ol' leap beyond its competitors and they play catch-up for the next few years. Such is the way of things, but it takes time. Does anyone here really realize the length of product development cycles when you're designing an all-new product, or even a significantly updated product like cars and such? They're long. By the time a company even announces they're working on it, it's generally been worked on for some time already.

To make a comparison to another market, the latest and greatest new CPU chips from Intel typically have a 3 year gestation period (or they used to at least). That is to say from the time they start designing the next chip generation (i.e. Pentium 5) until it's released for public consumption, the elapsed time is about 3 years. And, at any given time, they have 2 chip generations in the "pipeline", so that new generations of chips get released about every 18 months. Meanwhile, they continue to manufacture and sell the older stuff.

This illustrates 2 points: 1) product development cycles are long, and 2) little or no advancement is made on the current product while its successor is being created.

And any new, glitzy stuff that goes into the RL will generally trickle down to the rest of the line. So be patient.....


(is it done yet? )

 

Great hearing the comments on the original Acura Coupe, the Legend. I've had 2 and have been watching the CL from day one to see Acura do it again. I strongly support the CLS 6-speed but feel like Acura became way too conservative, like Toyota has been doing. I guess success breeds fear to take a risk and lose mainstream buyers. Offering any coupe tho, is a risk, they do not sell in volume, but even more reason to take some risk with them.
I know it's a very tough coupe market.

Well, I think the new Accord is the first hopeful sign for the next Acura coupe offering. They took some styling risks and made a great car for their mainstream bread and butter market.

Acura was the original innovator in the Japanese near-lux segment but has been offering boring cars for too many years now. We had to endure the first CL, the Vigor, the 2.0 and 3.0 cars or whatever they were. I buy an Acura for style and a little prestige not to just have an upgraded Accord.

I love my Legend and will buy a new Acura when they do it again. Drop the Legend name and become more like MB or BMW? I want an Acura not an overpriced German car, don't they know that? Even the Prelude and the S2000 are more interesting than most of the Acuras now. Thanks to the all the faithful CL owners for keeping Acura on it's toes, they needed that, and still do. This is what will bring an even better coupe from Acura, thanks to you guys.

 

Dude..check out my new "Tender Loving Care" whaddya think??? LOL:shakehd:

 

In case you weren't sarcastic....he was refering to TLC= Total Luxury Care.... (Acura's Roadservice)

 

Back when I got my '98 3.2 TL-P, I was told the reason for the model names by an Acura salesman.

He said that there was very little Acura name recognition. That people had heard of a Legend and an Integra, but that they didn't really connect them with Acura. So, they decided to use the numbers and simple letters to get more recognition for Acura. Well, it worked, I guess. Now people know Acura, but don't know the differences among the various Acuras. If this is old info to y'all...my bad!

 

Will the Comptech SC fit the Accord? Just how similar are the Accord engines anyway? Different block? Same block + stroked?

Just curious...

 

not the new accords... but the other ones, YES.

not my car..

 

because we all know, Jesal would never be caught in an Accord....j/k

 

same block, smaller bore

 

This current RL is ONLY A REFRESH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


The redesign isn't until next year.

 

 

same block,same bore, shorter stroke

 

NO, it's the BORE, unless your thinking of the 3.5L


3.0L in Accord is 3.39in bore and 3.39in stroke

(86mmx86mm, basicly a "square" engine)


3.2L in CL/TL is 3.50in bore and 3.39in stroke
(bigger bore)


3.5L in Odyssey/MDX/Pilot is 3.50in bore and 3.66in stroke