To everyone here on the AcuraZine board, I would like to send out a big “thank you”. Years worth of support dealing with technical glitches (on both my TL and RL), recommendations on upgrades, XM discounts and other general discussions have made owning Acura products seamless. What will I miss about my RL, you ask? V6, SH-AWD, euro tuned suspension, navigation system, comfortable seats and the construction quality (this thing is built like a tank). What won’t I miss? Fuel economy...

Best of luck to everyone here. For those of you whom have bought the RL as their first luxury car, you’ve made an excellent choice! For everyone else, you can be the judge on that....

Later...
Glenn
Dallas, TX

P.S. A big shout out to Neuronbob and Ron A for all the effort they put into keep the board up. It has been most appreciated!!!

 

So what did you buy? Details, man, details!

 

There is no admiration in deficiting from the RL! Please hand in your badge of honor & your SH-AWD precision certification at the door and follow the exit way to automotive mediocrity on your walk of shame.

Do I sound a bit bitter? Redemption for not selling me those RL A-spec wheels!

Good luck Glenn with the Mazda, no need to leave AZ just because you don’t own an Acura, there has been rumor of a non Acura member running the dog & pony show as a moderator in this neck of the woods.

 

hah^^

best of luck on your next vehicle.

 

I got a 2010 Mazda3 Grand Touring Hatchback with Technology and Moonroof packages.

 

Bigfoot
Lock Ness Monster
Are 51
Burmuda Triangle
Crop Circles

...just rumors.

LL

 

BTW, gbriank, there's a whole bunch of Mazda owners in the Car Talk section of the site.

 

Well said. I don't know how I'll ever leave my RL, prob won't, prob just hold onto it and buy another car, but I can't turn my back on this beautiful bitch. I just can't.

 

Short list of sedans that “might” make me a defector!

BMW M5
Lexus LS 460
BENZ S600/ AMG S55
Cadillac CTS V

Otherwise, the RL will still be my “peace and serenity” on 4 wheels.

 

A little much Total Drama Action, no?

And rhlieu, people have indeed left the RL for each of those sedans in the last two years. That tells me that with a high-po variant *cough*MugenLegend*cough*, some would stay...

 

there's no more S55, unless you're referring to the last gen

 

I recall posting that reply a day after I detailed the RL (5+ hours of labor of love), so I might have been a “tad bit” melodramatic with my enthusiast response. Oh hell, I admit it! I am an Acura RL fanboy!

You stand correct Fredren, I meant to type S65 AMG! But either would work for me.

 

So he will miss the fuel consumption. I'm not a big city driver and most of my mileage is on the interstate. I average 25-26 mpg overall.

In fact, on a recent bus. trip on I-95 for an entire tank of gas (non-stop) the computer tallied 30.1 mpg. When I filled back up I calculated 29.9 mpg. I was very satisfied considering the AWD and the horsepower we have. It is fair to mention the section of I-95 I was on was pretty flat the whole way, I use premium gas, and the cruise was set to 70 miles per hour.

I am assuming that in big city driving (stop, wait, and go) the mileage is poor. This is not the first time I have seen this comment.

 

speaking of fuel economy, do you think the i-Vtec system on the current Accord V6 would work on our RL? the one that got the variable cylinder management system.... gosh, if that's the case RL would have better gas mileage than most of the 4 cylinder cars

 

I remember reading somewhere that Honda has not refined the VCM to fully integrate with SHAWD programming logic. Although we think VCM is primarily for highway cruising when SHAWD is not needed, both systems are active and reactive. Apparently there are some conflicts in the logic management of both systems.

There are also refinement concerns. Luxury vehicles and at least the level of refinement / smoothness the RL intends to exhibit can be undermined by VCM 'stumbling'. Cadillac abandoned VCM for the Northstar engines because owners complained of engine roughness which was an attribute of VCM. The VCM was maintained for 'limp home' capability when engines suffered problems.

Otherwise, I too would have expected VCM to have been offered on the RL.

 

I also recalled Honda offer a "hybrid" version of the V6 Honda Accord a few years ago (05-06?), that compared very well vs it's "pure" V6 counterpart. Was this the same engine configuration as the VCM you guys are disscussing (and is intergraded in the new Honda Pilots)?

 

The Accord V6 Hybrid (discontinued) was not VCM (Variable Cylinder Management).

They are different systems with different intentions.

The Accord V6 Hybrid was a V6 Accord with an additional electric motor to supplement the V6 for power, and allow the V6 to shut down when idling. The concept was to offer V8 power with the efficiency of a V6. Without offering eye raising economy, the V8 power was not something the Accord public were drawn to, and the model was discontinued.

VCM, on the other hand is a V6 (Honda's VCMs) that can shut down cylinders when power was not needed from those cylinders. An example is during highway cruising, only four cylinders would fire. This concept offers V6 power with 4 cylinder efficiency.

 

^^^ 1 vote for electric motor in the RL. V8 power ...V6 efficiency!

 

I kinda feel we are there already. 290-300HP is fine with me. 18-29pmg is acceptable also for a heavy AWD sedan.

BUT an electric motor would add additional off the line torque, which I think the RL could use more V8 like torque.

 

Battery packs would just make a smallish trunk even smaller.

 

my gf got the new Accord V6 that shut down a bank of cylinders when take the foot off the gas paddle, run on 4 cylinders on constant speed cruise (or something of that nature), activate all 6 barrels on off the line, pickup, or when you need power, etc. (you can tell when the system kick in, an 'econ' green light will light up when you take foot off the gas or cruising, no light during take off, pickup etc.) and the transition felt seamless and smooth... best of all it sip gas like civic with big ass engine like our RL... I wish it's a simple engine management computer box swap and we have the best of both world... if that's the case, I'll get that accord box and swap it out... However with conflict in the SH-AWD logic and VCM logic conflict like Tampa said, better not try it plus Accord drink lower grade gas than RL..... if caddy can't do it, I'm sure Honda can do it to iron out the kinks... they just don't wanna try i guess

 

Honda was finalizing a V10 for the NSX and a variant of the engine with VCM rumored for the RL (along with the V8). There was hope to make it compatible with SHAWD, or at least refined enough for the expectations of a luxo-sport-sedan.

But alas, as we all have heard the NSX V10 was shelved.

 

With the current economy, I bet the V8 is shelled to. I see Honda using a higher displacement V6 (maybe 4.0) or maybe some turbocharging.

 

Yes,,,,it was announced in December that the plans for an Acura V8 offering and RWD platform were shelved. These were anticipated as part of the next gen RL.

This was right after announcing the V10 NSX was halted.

Santa was not so generous at Acura this last Christmas.

 

^Should've gotten the Speed 3!

 

Wow. Here I come Audi S5.... in another year or so..

Maybe by like 2015 Acura will get its shit together and offer a bad ass RL... maybe..... But I'm an optimist.

 

Well, the V8/RWD was on-again, off-again, but the new CEO's final word today was "we don't need V8/RWD to compete", as we saw in the pertinent thread today.

 

Shelved meaning postponed, back burner and potentially cancelled.

Frankly the 'on again' reports were more damage control from Acura execs who were promoting the ridiculous Tier 1 Bentley approach. I would also like to point out that 4 of the senior execs who flaunted Acura to compete with Tier one are no longer there, mostly unmissed being Tricky Dick "ACK-er-UH" Colliver. The pompous ass ration has finally declined at AHC.

So now it is official. Canned. The consumer market will of the last 10 months will have no problem swallowing that pill, nor really care.