stagefoursurvivor

For the RL Gurus:

I understand the RL is strictly built in Japan with reasonably high quality materials but, what REALLY is involved in producing a high-quality luxury sedan integrating everything so well resulting in a seamless product? Is it the materials? Is it the mechanical tolerances mandated by the engineers and designers? Why is the RL so much superior to the TL, ILX, etc?
I have no mechanical or engineering background but in thinking back, the RL is on par with the E350W4 we had for about $15K more, comparably equipped.
My sole criticism, as with most cars, is MPG. With the technology available today, ALL cars should be much more fuel efficient, IMO

Megatron

MPG has always been the one weakness of the RL. Accelerating a 4000+lb car with AWD takes a lot of energy, and the laws of physics dictate that the energy has to come from somewhere. You will find that if you aren't actively accelerating so much (like highway cruising), the MPG goes up quite a bit. But in city driving, where you stop and start all the time, the MPG suffers. I think standard naturally aspirated engines without all the tidbits they are throwing in today (like turbos, superchargers, hybrid, cylinder deactivation, direct injection, diesel, 9 gears, etc) is close to its limits for efficiency with the Honda 3.5L and 3.7L engines in the RL.

Honestly, I gladly pay the extra fuel costs to get the RL's quality and performance without all of the wacky gizmos stated above with their own downsides and issues while not giving too much extra MPG.

As for quality of the RL, it is BOTH engineering/design AND manufacturing. Engineering and design dictates what materials are used, how things should be put together, and their tolerances. Manufacturing skill dictates if it actually hits those marks when the product comes out of the assembly line. With the RL, there is less skimping and compromising for cost reasons when it is designed because it is intended to be a more expensive car.

As for Honda manufacturing, there is a DEFINITE value-add for 100% Made in Japan. I have owned Civics and Accords that are the same model and year but one is made in Japan and one is made in USA, and you can see the differences. Most Japanese workers take pride in their work and take their time to do things right over all else. American workers don't care as much.. they want to know when lunch break is and when they can clock out. I know this is stereotyping a bit.... I'm sure not every American is like this and not every Japanese worker is perfect, but I'm just saying in general this is true. If I have the choice, I will always always pick a car built 100% in Japan. While cars can be designed the same, the actual product can be quite different depending on where/how it was built. Also, I think American factories let things "slide" more so than Japanese ones. If that seam line doesn't look perfectly parallel, it doesn't get released in Japan... over here, it's like "close enough." :-p

Just my $0.02.

thomask

I thought RL was build in the USA...I agree with Megatron on quality points. Although I do think Honda's ATs have always been of lower quality then the best ones. It's obviously due to in-house design... you can't be good in everything imho. I hate when I stomp on it, it drops out of VTEC range on 3rd gear, unacceptable, imho. Also these dips in revs while on full throttle, weird. It happens for a reason for sure.

thomask

oh, regarding audio. I have no idea how that works (Do Bose engineers come in and do all the work for the audio ?) but it's definitely not high quality. It may be Bose's fault, not Honda's but it's not playing as it should be!

stagefoursurvivor

The interior silence is quite noticeable, confessional quiet. I would be hard pressed to recall any car this quiet, especially with 50+K miles.
It speaks of old-world craftsmanship
I'm no judge of the radio since I'm almost deaf in one ear and mainly listen to snippets of the news & sports, I'm of an age where I'm completely content with my own thoughts as entertainment.
I certainly hope they've maintained this quality with the RLXh

oo7spy

The MPG are on par for 50k, V6, mid size luxury sedans from '05-'10.

I agree with Megatron about the workers. In general, it's more than just putting food on the table to a Japanese factory worker.

thomask, the 5ATs that ended up in the Odyssey, Accord, CL and TL were all from the same design and manufacturing plant. It is just about the only one to blemish Honda's record. Unfortunately, it ended up in A LOT of their cars.

The headunit isn't even Bose. It's made by Alpine. Bose is known for taking the absolute cheapest products and squeezing the best possible sound out of them. They aren't afraid to use cardboard. If I had to guess, I would say they designed the amp only and use their own speakers. It's very doubtful they ever actually tuned it in the RL versus just getting the system to work and tweaking it in factory. I don't think it is anywhere near what Krell did in the RLX.

TonyCD

I'll confirm the well-known fact that Bose is widely regarded among serious audiophiles as overpriced badge-whore crap. They have a saying for it: "No highs, no lows, must be a Bose."

That said, though, the RL's audio system was widely praised when the car came out as one of the best-sounding OEM stereos ever to grace a car. That's partly a testament to how far car stereos have come since then, but personally I think it still sounds great. Don't dismiss the value of going down into the menus and tweaking the tone controls for yourself -- you'd be surprised what you can coax out of even an ordinary stereo (which this one isn't) by tailoring the bass and treble to your taste.

schen72

RLs were definitely built in Japan, as evidenced by the VIN.

As for quality, I think the RL is indeed very high quality. Not necessarily as high "grade" as some German luxury cars, but grade and quality are two different things that often get perceived as the same. A lowly Civic could possibly have higher quality in the form of reliability, engineering tolerances, etc. Obviously a luxury German car would be higher grade, with high end leather, plush carpeting, etc.

tofusensei

This is spot on. After driving from CA to ID about 680 miles I averaged 29MPG. In town is a whole different story...

~t.s.

TBC787

The fit and finish of my 2016 RLX is absolutely outstanding. This from a guy who has owned more high end BMW and MB than I can recall. In short I don't think Acura (Japan) has to take a back seat to either of these marks and I'm sure that the reliability is not much different.