SpicyMikey

I know we've all mentioned, at one time or another, how stupid the SHAWD name is, and, how mismarketed it is. There's another thread going right now discussing it a bit.

Acura sometimes read these boards so I decided to start a new thread with the title to get their attention. Well, if you guys are reading this, we want to suggest you consider new marketing for SHAWD. Start by changing the name. "Super Handling AWD". It sounds like a 3rd grader named it. Might as well called it the Super Duper Handling All Wheel Drive. Maybe it sounds better in Japanesse and just didn't translate well.

I suggest Smart Drive or, if you want to keep the acronym, at least call it Smart Handling All Wheel Drive. Then combine a name change with some marketing to emphasis it's attributes to better sell it as a "luxury handling" feature rather then a "stuck in the mud" feature.

Hope you guys are listening cause I love my Super Duper AWD but hate the name

Rob144

Good idea.

I can think of several names:

Advance Drive (ties in with the Acura Advance campaign).

Or just call it what it is: Torque Vectoring AWD. Torque brings positive associations with muscle cars, and sounds better than "Super". TV-AWD

Super Handling All Wheel Drive is a mouthful along the lines of the late, unlamented Merkur XR4Ti. Or Mazda Mazdaspeed Mazda 3.

Rob144

neuronbob

Hey, maybe Acura can take a page from Chevy and have us Acura-heads make an ad for the RL.

Maybe a contest would be useful--the best ad would be presented on TV. As long as that doesn't end up like Chevy's attempt at the same (ewwwww, naked guys on TV around a Chevy....make me REALLY want to buy one ) this could garner good PR.

kirbyflorida

Acura and Honda have the spirited drivers in mind. I like SHAWD, just promote it more to the targeted buyer.
I recently saw Acura's ads on TV during the F1 race, how many Lexus owners watch that, or how many women watch F1.
Point is, don't try to change Honda and get more RL sales. Their advertising is aimed at the educated driver who likes to feel the road with their car rather than how super quiet it is and if it can park its self. Honda marketr share is growing each year.
My belief is Honda does not want to be Lexus, they want Green, handling, and reliability as their cornerstones. Not necessarily all in each car.
PS, I am a share holder of Honda AND Toyota.

TampaRLX-SH

And there you have it. The advertising can do better educating. And then how many educated drivers are there?

gavine

The first RL ad on TV I saw (about 2 years ago) showed the car going around turns from a bird's eye view and it high-lighted the outside rear wheel in the turns. This got my attention because handling has always been my most important attribute in a car. I would give-up power and torque for good handling any day.

I may be one-in-a-million, but that little blurb on the TV caught my attention and made me investigate the car further. The rest is history and I am now a proud owner of an RL. Thanks for running that ad or I would have probably never known about the torque vectoring and just though it was a standard AWD that Acura tried to make sound better with it's name.

gavine

How about "Cross-Axle Torque Vectoring"? or "Intelligent Torque Distribution System". Does anyone know what BMW is going to call theirs?

SpicyMikey

I saw that commercial too. Doing that stuff is critical. You must explain a technology at a level that a non-engineer can understand. Visual depictions like that are best.

Words are still the most powerful tool though. They definitely need to change the name if the feature is going to be taken seriously. I'd even get rid of the AWD designation because it just brings forth a utility image; stuck in the mud in Alabama, caught in a snow bank in Buffalo. They need to call it something like "Smart Wheel Drive" (or some of the other suggestions) so it causes people to say; Hey, what's that mean? Then when you have their interest you explain it in advertising. Again, Super Handling All Wheel Drive sounds childish. I actually am embarassed to refer to it by that name. Someone comes up to you and asks; Hey what does SH mean on the back of your car? Don't you feel rediculous saying; Well, it's SUPER handling

kirbyflorida

I do not mind the SH and telling people. I then go into how it is the only car that will accelerate the outside wheel, nothing like AWD I tell them. Most people could care less except real drivers.
I just copied this off a M45 update, how is this for a name on the SHAWD.

New M45x AWD model with intelligent ATTESA E-TS all-wheel drive

Rob144

ARGH -- you beat me to it. The Infiniti AWD system is "ATTESA E-TS". Imagine telling that to your friends.

They are probably redesigning the back of the M in order to find a place to put a badge that long.....

Rob144

visuelz

They really cannot change the name of SH-AWD because they've been using that for a while. If they want to change it, they would need to make something better with the AWD system they have out there. We might even be seeing Advanced VTEC for the next generation models.

kirbyflorida

My guess is they will only tweek it, this system REALLY works guys, it handles so well.
As I said long ago, the RL gets almost the same number on the skid pad as the NSX, I mean like
.89 compared to .90g and the RL weights 1000 pounds more and has MUCH less sticky tires.
Most people will never get near the limit on this system, your brain will pull back on your foot before you get to the limit, it is just amazing.

SpicyMikey

LOL, I'd never suggest following the German's lead on things like that They're worse in the opposite direction. We Americans are best when it comes to marketing and sales. Too bad we can't manufacture anything worth a sh#@

I recently bought a new cordless phone from Siemens. Took me 20 minutes to figure out how to navigate the menus!!! That's when it dawned on me that this was a German company. What was I thinking? My wife and kids already hate the phone. I expect to find it MIA one day with no one having a clue what happened to it.

TampaRLX-SH

Indeed. We are a culture of image and fashion over substance. And that is key as to why the RL sells poorly.

Just look at poor Britney. She can own and drive a Bentley convertable....she just does not know HOW.

kirbyflorida

Can't believe you bought a German phone, throw it out and save yourself all that grief.
I recently went to BMW showeroom, the guages on the BMW's suck, you will hig your RL when you get back in it, the ergonomics are sooooo much better, which I knew.

SpicyMikey

I didn't realize it when I ordered the phone. It was only after I was struggling with it and saying "Jez, this menu system is so illogical...". That's when it dawned on me why. Then it all seemed clear

RL06tech

Although torque vectoring is correct, SHAWD goes beyond simple torque vectoring. I like the SHAWD moniker. There are other torque vectoring cars out there (like the EVO) however only Honda vehicles have the additional accelerating gear that makes SHAWD unique.

RL06tech

One more thing, If I lived in Germany I would love to cruise the autobahn in an RL (Legend). The stability, totally nonplussed demeanor and high speed acceleration of the car at triple digits are remarkable, plus, top speed is 156mph. It would give german left lane flashers the shits.

SPUDMTN

I've always been partial to the name "4SEASONS" for an AWD system. I doodle cars on occasion (boring classes, meetings, etc...) and have used the 4SEASONS moniker for some of my own brands

cp3117

Yeah, who would want to follow something like Audi and their "Quattro" name which is know worldwide as the leader of AWD systems because of their marketing and racing heritage.

SpicyMikey

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Old cliche but I couldn't resist.

scottj

OK, lets work with the current acronym, so why not stay simple with something like Sport Handling AWD? Keeps the SH-AWD and explains what the focus is.

Or has this already been used by another brand? Seems too easy...

Rob144

Sport Handling sounds good.

Brainstorm:

Secure Handling AWD
Sure Handling AWD
Safe Handling AWD
Sophisticated Handling AWD
Swift Handling AWD
Smooth Handling AWD

After reading that list, Super Handling AWD doesn't sound so bad. If Acura would market it better, people would know what it is and they could call it anything they want.

As mentioned, that first RL TV ad was pretty good at describing it. I don't see too much Acura advertising anyway. What little there is looks pretty lame.

Rob144

TampaRLX-SH

Obviously you all have forgotten Bob's coined term. May I be as so bold to acurrately redefine SHAWD to be known, more appropriately as............................. "SHIZZLE DRIVE!!!

neuronbob

No, no, that would be "The Shiznit Drive". Cause it and A-Spec together make this car a handling monster...it's definitely the shiznit. For shizzle!

Actually, I like SH-AWD because that tells what the AWD is meant for. Acura needs to describe it like its original ads (e.g. as noted earlier in this thread).

Translations for those not exposed to mid-90's hip-hop and the humor-impaired:

"the shiznit"="the sh*t" scrambled for radio transmission of certain songs, means "awesome"

"fo' shizzle"=for sure, means "definitely"

TampaRLX-SH

DOH!