Hi there. I'm in the process of buying either an 05 or 06 Acura RL.

I love the cars i've test driven so far but I'll admit that I like the look of the 09's better. Has anyone tried swapping the fenders/bumper/headlights/hood from the 09 body and putting them on the older 05-08 body?

as far as I know the frame is the same and not much has changed outside of those few body panels. It would look strange with the 05 tails I'm sure.

I'm curious because chances are we'll settle on the older years because of the price, but we want a more modern styling, and because this is a luxury car, body kits are scarce/out of the question.

Thanks in Advance!

 

First, and welcome.

Second, someone has, but it wasn't here, it wasn't clear whether they chopped the frame or made parts fit, and unfortunately, no one saved pics.

Third, get your hot pads ready because you are about to get flamed.

 

Thanks. At least I know it can be done. I feel better about buying the older style now.

As far as the flaming goes...I figured. I couldn't care less though. xP It's my car/money and I can do whatever I want to with it.... however if someone wants to buy my acura for me, I'd gladly leave it how they want it....

 

I guess I should really nip this in the bud though. The chassis are different as designated by the KB1/KB2 chassis codes. The headlights, grill, fenders, bumper, and likely a lot of internals are completely different. By the time you spend the money and time on a conversion, you should have just saved for a KB2 and not ended up with a chopped up car.


Anything is possible with $$$. That doesn't mean it makes sense. Also, when you say, "we," do you mean to include your wife? If so, just buy an '09 because that shit is never gonna happen.

 

Sweet, thanks for the info!

Nah not my wife lol. not yet anyway. I may end up saving for an 09. Thing is I'm buying this as a daily and quite possibly a show car in the future. I notice at car shows there are tons of BMW, Mercedes, and Audis...There are even lexus there....and I say screw them all, Acura is the best luxury brand in my book. (and they're sporty too.) They should be the Star of these particular car shows. I understand that most luxury cars are for the "older" crowd but hey, we're in our 20's. Screw the status quo. I hate owning a car, house, or computer/laptop that looks like anyone elses. So customization is a must for me. Plus my fiance is an artist, so it goes hand in hand. Our goal is to make the RL look more modern and aggressive, then add our own personal touches to it to make it more artistic and stand out a bit...then after a couple of months we'll add things such as a cooler, curtains, and other high scale luxury items that you may find in modified BMW's or Mercedes. The only thing that I hate about the 05-08s are the front end : /

thats probably a lot more than you asked for haha :3 you've been very nice. thanks.

 

Buy and restore an 93-96 Legend coupe and roll into a car show. You'd bring the house down! To each their own, but it really would make sense to save for the 09. Chopping/Swapping is for the lower end cars that you don't care to lose money on. If you're doing something with a luxury sedan such as the RL, do it proper IMO.

 

Curtains?!!

 

As much as i love a good legend, its not practical for what we want (heated seats, nav, etc.) The legend was my favorite car of the 90s haha.

But yeah....no....id never chop the frame. I was just hoping the body panels were interchangeable. Honestly, after looking online, the a-spec aero kit is probably as close as im going to get. I hate the look of add-on body parts because it doesn't look nearly as clean as stock. I kind of wish they would have left it similar to the 1st gen rls but i guess im stuck with the middle child. I'll look into the a-spec addon.

And yes, oo7. Curtains.

http://kyoei-usa.com/blog/2009/12/jd...on-kbreak-etc/

In japan these are for very high end japanese cars and usually come stock. We don't get these in America, not even on Bentleys or rolls Royce. Jdm always gets the good stuff, and since the RL has always been the top of the line, flagship model it's only fitting that its styled and treated as such.....and no, i dont mean gigantic chrome rims....i mean subtle design additions. The wine holder may be a bit much but hey, if it's good enough for Bentley its good enough for the RL....and if its good enough for JDM, its good enough for us too.

 

 

You're looking into VIP scene but the problem is Honda doesn't do VIP. A friend of mine is working on a rhd LS430, doing it VIP style. You will search and find no VIP mods made for the RL. There is a reason. But, again...to each their own. Id like to see if you can pull it off and make it look proper. Dont half ass it though, do it proper.

 

Woot! All the older tech, power train and reliability issues of the 2005 with all the ugliness of the 2009. Sounds like a match made in heaven to me.

Just kidding OP. Seriously though, by the time you pay for all the parts for the conversion you're looking at, you are easily halfway between the cost of your 05 and the cost of a used 09. At least with the 09+ you get updated tech and the 3.7L motor.

 

Coming from someone who has driven a friend's KB1 and owns a KB2, save up for the 2009+. The 3.7L and ECU tuning to make shifts more aggressive in S mode are extremely noticeable. You and I have opposite styling preferences as I love the KB1 front end and would swap to that if it were feasible.

 

yeah... I definitely prefer the KB1 looks better. in a perfect world for me, I would want the 2011 drive train with the KB1 looks.

 

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions. Im actually glad that there are fans of the kb1 here. After reading litterally hundreds of reviews, the common complaint was the front end....personally i think its liveable, especially with the a-spec kit.....just wish the bumper didnt look so darn "happy". I like more aggressive front ends.

As far as vip goes, i would do anything too insane, the wood table is a bit much in my opinion. Small, thin curtains with tassels is something that my girl really wants to do. I want to modify the rear center arm rest to be a bit more accomodating and interesting. Just small, subtle changes so that my rl wont be the same as the last 10000 rls that someone has seen. Tbh it's a forgettable car. Not many people know or care about the rl. Some don't even consider it a luxury vehicle.....it gets about the same attention as it's accord brethren. It would be nice to enter into the LA auto show and completely blow people away with a vip styled rl.....but seriously....that front end needs something....not sure what, but something.

 

No one has seen 10,000 RLs. Only 45,000 have ever been sold.

Obviously my opinion, but it's not a forgettable car; it's a largely unknown car due to poor sales numbers.

As for the front end, look into the Amuse and Mugen Lip kits.

 

oo7, I love you for this. 10 hours on google and I found nothing. This is exactly what I needed. Thanks so much.

 

He is so dreamy.

 

:nohomo:?

 

Man, did it get all :ghey: in here or what?

 

what can I say? It's thursday.

but seriously, Thanks. A lip makes for a NICE clean modification that doesn't lower the classy look like body kits tend to do. This is exactly what I needed.

 

I don't think I've seen an VIP'd out RL before. Keep us updated on the progress if you do end up going that route.

 

Sorry, I should have said kit. They are body kits.

 

Either way, they're the nicest I've seen. I would only touch the front end and leave the sides/rear alone. I don't want this to look like an accord haha

though, it already kind of does

...

but yeah, I will def keep you guys posted on the progress. I've seen some of the best VIP builds in SoCal but half are either way over the top or not nearly functional. Everything that I have ever modified on my cars have been functional.

 

Technically speaking, a body kit replaces the bumpers so they are lips.

 

The only thing functional about the lip is ground effect aerodynamics which will probably only have any effect over about 120MPH. The only other function is to push concrete parking stoppers, high kerbs and low driveway ramps but the lip always loses those battles.

If you prefer the look, then go for it but functionality is not its reason to be on an RL.

 

Though I see your point, I have to argue that front lips (in general) are quite functional...at least on performance cars. Recently I changed my front lip to a "scoop" style and added canards, You can definitely feel the difference, especially in AWD vehicles. It creates a slight FWD bias when cornering with speed.

not to sound like an ass, but I obsess over these things. I'm going semi-pro next year and these are the things that they teach us. It seems black and white on paper. (mostly because the paper is white and the text is black ) but in real-world you feel the difference.


HOWEVER, I agree with you, these particular lips look useless and probably are. The lips we use for our race cars are always functional

 

is the black rl in the pic a muse or mugen front? and do the vent looking slots on the fogs come with the front end?

 

It's the Mugen kit and it comes with the slats over the fog lights. The grey RL above it has the Amuse kit btw.