Maybe this one will make you feel a little better?

 

I think you're mis-reading me.
At no point do I feel bad about it at all. I merely feel sorry for those ignorant enough to think those comments have any grounds in fact.

This one again proves my point.
It's just troll-like stuff jealous people make to mock something.
But let's not have the facts get in the way of a good story.

Mind you, the way you post them up it almost looks like you think they are valid

 

Jonion you are taking the internet way to serious... u mad bro?

 

Since you have gone off topic to V-TEC, why is RL/Legends V-TEC engine reving only to 6.500RPM? is it V6 deal or what? Is there any chip tuning kit like Mugen?
I'm used to V-TEC going to 8k, and if tuned properly than to 10k+..

 

It's the interweb, I've been dealing with it for many years and I don't recall lever being mad on it.
I usually find it's the inability of certain nationalities (massive generalistion) to understand the subtle and dry humour of most Brits.

Either way it's still rather odd to see people seemingly slagging off VTEC on a Honda forum. Assuming everyone here realises that their RLs are just Hondas of course.

 

Assuming you build the bottom end to go to 10k of course, not many will survive it for long without.
And I guess you're talking about B18 engines which are onyl 1800cc, the RL V6 is 3500cc. Bigger engines tend not to rev as high. They utilise the inherent torque instead of the high revs.

 

I'm not ignorantly flogging VTEC without purpose. Honda engines notoriously lack torque in the lower RPM range. The RL is a prime example. The car has almost no response below 3500 RPM. I spent a lot of time defending the car in the past, but I realize that there is a lack of low end power. VTEC is a great technology and is fun as hell to play with, but it is old technology and doesn't make up for the lack of power and throttle response below 5000 RPM. The RL already has bad MPG without having rev your engine up to make decent power.

In response to your last post, NO ONE is jealous of a N/A SOHC V6 J engine. The first meme was a joke (mostly invalid) which seems to fit well for the feel of the RL's response. The second meme is just a sad truth (pretty much valid).

 

Well I guess that's your opinion and you're entitled to it (even if it were to be wrong)

Just curious ... have you looked at many dyno graphs of these cars and their competitors?

I've been around Hondas a very long time and that supposed 'lack of torque' stuff gets tiresome. I suppose compared to some big US domestic tractor engine they may feel low on torque, or compared to a turbot engine. But generally compared like for like they lack nothing, they make use of the gearbox and rev range to more than make up for any perceived lack of torque.
Remove the VTEC and they perform pretty well in their rev range for the size of engine.
Bare in mind that although I prep/race and maintain a lot of VTEC Hondas my own choice actually has no VTEC.
The mrs RL actually got me to like it. 300bhp and a creamy V6 has it's benefits.
I also dd a V6 2.8 30v Quattro and had a 2.5 straight 6 BMW for a while (just so you know I'm not a pure Honda freak).

Try a Toymota VVTi if you want to feel turbot lag in a NA engine lol

 

Do you know if this hill assist feature can be turned off and how? I'd rather not have to push the gas pedal to go downhill... I mean the gas mileage is bad enough on these cars (I get ~17-18 mpg) I see no reason to make it worse

 

I don't spend much time looking at dynos from different cars, but I have seen the RL's. (red=stock, black = supercharged) 190 ft*lb @ wheels before 3500 RPM.


Although the RL is no slouch, the power to the wheels is nothing special and nothing to be jealous about. Even if the power is capable of competing with similar drivetrains, why did Honda choose to run the only SOHC engine in the 2005 mid-size luxury class?

 

I've used both the knob and the paddles, mostly when I first got my RL and I was curious about everything. (I'd never owned paddle shifters before) I was originally looking at TLs with the Aspec package and the paddle shifters were a selling point (although I wanted the manual transmission option but it was too rare to locate)

I once tried to punch the acceleration on an ascending cloverleaf freeway on-ramp while in automatic mode and the car shifted on me while still in the turn. Because the outside wheels spin faster when cornering, I entered the straight away section semi spun-out and well into the on-coming lane I was supposed to be merging with, not invading. I felt lucky to be able to recover (pretty easily) without any adverse incidents occurring. That was my personal introductory lesson into the value of the manual shift mode... to control WHEN the car shifts.

Since then, I have tried using manual mode but am not fond of the paddles, not even driving through turning/winding courses which is what they appear to be designed for. Apparently I am more conditioned, and more comfortable shifting a knob. On the occasional times when I still use manual mode, I feel more connected, and shift more fluidly with the knob.

I feel a bit of shift delay as well but I think some of that can be mitigated in manual mode if you coordinate the acceleration and use a little common sense and anticipation.

...Just my from a rookie

 

Good post.

I'm quite happy with the paddles, doing likewise. Except when they're on the wrong sides of the wheel in a tighter turn...

 

other than using mine to keep the car in 5th gear, I actually used them to downshit and pass over the weekend.

Still a cool feature to have.

 

This leads into the debate about if they should be mounted to the wheel a la RL or to the steering column a la Ferrari. I like them on the wheel but never had the other option to compare.

 

I live in the mountains and use it each time I drive the car. And I'm not shy, either, I love winding the engine up and getting into the nether regions of the tach. 100K on mine, and so far no problems. At least in the mountains, it's invaluable in holding your speed going down or keeping your speed going up. And, of course, blowing off the not-so-infrequent trundler. Give me another 50 or so pounds of low-end torque and it would be perfect.

 

The perceived lack of torque in the J-series is because of the automatic transmission. Honda autos just aren't very good.

Honda ATs were passable back in the 90s because all AT's were bad. But then development marched on and Honda is at a handicap with their design. Honda developed their own AT to skirt around licenses and patents held by Borg Warner and others. The design has not been able to keep pace with advancements in transmission technology so you get less gears and a lot of power loss and slip.

At one point I had a 2nd gen TL Type S (J32). Now I have a 2nd gen CL Type S 6MT, and even though the engines and pretty much the entire cars are identical, the CL-S is in a different category of performance because of its manual.



Oh and to answer the OP,

When I had an RL, I almost never threw it into M mode. But I did use the paddles to do quick lane changes when waiting on the downshift kick would have taken too long.

 

I had a 2001 CL Type-S with the auto before my RL, and it was quite a bit faster off the line. I do miss that engine. It was smooth and powerful from start to redline. The RL behaves almost like an old-school turbo. From a stop, it's nothing, nothing, nothing, then bam! you collect the car in front of you when the tach hits 4K. Kind of like a 1980 Porsche 930 Turbo, only not so much

 

Exactly.