I was at the dealer this morning getting my '04 MDX inspected and they had a Black TL on the showroom floor with a black grill ($595 dealer installed option). I'm not sure if I liked it or not but at least it's a option. Perhaps it will be available for the entire line or in other colors at some point...

Standard


Black


And since this is the 2G RL section...


LL

 

I like it.

I wonder if it is (will be) available for the RL.

Thanks for the picture of this.

 

What does that say for the makeover when dealers feel compelled to paint the grille to mask a hideous design?

Maybe there is hope

 

Although I would agree with the TL looking better having the shnoz painted to hide the hideous styling application (at least it looks better in black), I am afraid for me, the details of the design are still a train wreck on both the TL and the RL. The seams of the body panels, light assemblies , exaggerated proportions and number of angles, forced intersections, etc. are very disturbing to me.

Aside from the proportions of the grille it is how it is integrated to the rest of the car that cries foul to me. I know this because I do not find the TSX, or the MDX foul, even if a bit odd or overstated for my tastes.

It just is bad styling and worse execution whether or not the power plenum is an OK concept (personally I do not think it is). A suit may have a good style intentions, but if it fits poorly and is tailored sloppy, it is simply a trainwreck of style, execution and point of view.

Acura can hide behind this debocle all it wants, but especially with the RL you take a car where every angle, seam, proprotion, texture and reflection was thought out, again and again then slap on a bunch of styling cliches because they might work somewhere else or integrate on another popular automobile. That is not style, that is an immature attempt to create an identity.

 

I've never seen an RL in this color in person, but I absolutely love it.

 

Redondo Red Pearl. I loved it on my TL. I considered it with the ebony interior, but decided not to get the same color car as my TL and I fell in love wth the taupe interior when I saw it.

I agree RRP RLs are rare birds indeed.

 

IMO that is simply the best mod the new TL can undergo; completely transformed the car from the hideous front end to one of belonging amongst it's peers.

Someone Photoshop the RL front end for me, thinking of painting my grill to match the body color. Picked up a new spray gun and am itching to find something to paint.

 

"...thinking of painting my grill to match the body color."

Or...you could cover your entire car with brushe aluminum to match the grill!

LL

 

I actually don't see what the big deal is about the new grill. Looks ok in my opinion. I'm not particularly fond of the painted versions.

 

That's why styling is a matter of opinion. My opinion? The '09 front-ends are hideous. The painted beak makes them better. I'll have to think about how much.

Glad you like the new versions though. Maybe enough people will buy the new TL & RL so that Acura will still exist long enough for better styling to emerge so I can again buy an RL.

 

I agree that with black the painted grille is an improvement but with any other painted color the end result will be a grille looking like a '70's happy face. Thank God there's no yellow RL's.

 

The 09 front ends are grotesque but epecially after seeing the TV advertisements there is no doubt that Acura is seeking younger buyers. The styling reflects that, I think.

 

Even younger buyers don't like the look, though, that's the problem.

I think the new TL will sell like hotcakes, no matter what we think it looks like. It is simply the biggest bang for the buck in its segment. Now the RL on the other hand....people already weren't buying it, other than us who saw the value in owning one. Let's bring on the 3G already...

 

On the other hand I'm sort of hoping for terrible sales of the RL and TL due at least in some significant part to styling complaints and that Acura gets its act together before the 3rd Gen comes along. Given the current Acura aesthetic line up, we can only hope Acura responds to its feedback right much the way Subaru did when the Tribeca B9 first came out. That front end was terrible in an RL 2.5 Gen sort of way and Subaru restyled just that portion of the car (SUV or whatever).

 

Yea but I thought the replacement TriBeCa grill was boring. Better than the lemon sucker but not by much.