Do the letter names really work for Acura as well as Legend/Integra/Vigor! did?
Acura hated that Legend became more well known than Acura and dropped the model names to promote the brand over any particular model. I guess they had to do it, the Legend was such a success it overshadowed the brand, hell, it was the brand, they only had 2 models in 86.

They also wanted buyers to equate the models more to the luxo German cars.
I think the RL is so techy that RL fits ok, but Legend has more soul. I don't want Acura to try to be like everyone else, G35, S500, SLK, 330i, etc. but they do. I guess it seems more exclusive to say I have a G, Z, 3 series, S class. etc. than a Justy or a Maverick! just rambling.

 

Not sure why they removed the sticker of Legend from North America & HK, but for sure Legend is more loud and clear in some ways.


RL is pretty good, too after these years' promotion.

 

We could always make friends with an 2005 RL owner in a country where the car is still sold as a Legend, convince him to pry off his Legend nameplate, Fedex it to us, pay the shipping and replacement costs for the nameplate and then bolt that sucker on our new RLs. Would sure confuse the locals.

 

I have always believed that Acura should not have traded in the names for the alpha-numeric designations. I think the names Legend, Inspire, Integra, Sabre, etc. sounded great and really defined the characters of the cars.

 

I think they should have gone back to calling it the Legend.

 

The "Legend" name connotes a legend amongst cars, and was well known. But think how much money Acura saves by using a two letter RL badge rather than a 6 letter Legend badge, although I know that is not the primary reason for changing.

If I could afford an RL, and someone asked me what kind of car that is, I would much rather be able to tell them it is a Legend.

 

I would have liked to see the RL named the Legend as well, but I can't really think of any German, Japanese or American cars in the entry or mid-luxury arena that actually have names. Even Cadillac has gone to letters. Lincoln Navigator and Chevy Corvette are the two exceptions that come to mind. The rest (Taurus, Grand Prix, Cavalier, etc.) lean toward the lower end of the market. Nissan has the Maxima, Altima, Murano, etc., but Infiniti's cars are all designated with letters, so luxury or near-luxury brands seem to feel the letters/numbers are important.

 

Maybe it's just the "mid" luxury segment? Certainly at the high end there's plenty of "named" cars - Rolls, Bentley, Aston-Martin to name a few. Heck even MB has the Maybach. Maserati still uses names as does Ferrari.

I know why many new models are just letters and numbers - the process of coming up with a name that isn't already trademarked has gotten pretty difficult. It's a real bear to spend all the time and money on market research to find just the right name and find out it's owned by some company making blenders or whatnot. This doesn't explain why automakers would turn their backs on names they already have, though - except for the "me-too" notion expressed earlier that letters/numbers is what's expected to be considered "cool" and marketable.

I thought it was very bizarre back when Acura adopted the letters convention. I didn't really follow the marque at the time but couldn't comprehend why they would have done it, thinking what the heck does RL (or TL, etc.) mean?

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

but maybe???

RL = "Regal Luxury"
TL = "Touring Luxury"
CL = "Coupe Luxury"

 

I think Italian cars are the only exception. Maserati, Ferrari, Lamborghini all use actual names for their vehicles. They sound great too

 

Close.

RL = Road Luxury according to Honda News

 

The truth is, no one really knows what the letters mean. We do know that Acura wanted to emphasize the Acura brand. However, I'd prefer if the new RL was the Legend. I'm just waiting for the first JDM conversion to Honda Legend on this board....c'mon, where are you?

 

RL stands for "Refined Luxury", that comes straight from the brochure from my 96RL. You can find references to this in multiple magazine reviews since 96 as well.