2003540isport

One word sums up my experience. WOW!!! What a fantastic car. I had the oppurunity to take out a Lakeshore silver with ebony interior RL this evening. I have done alot of reading on this vehicle as well as surfed this and other web boards. After reading all the good press, and the fact that my lease is almost up, I needed to drive it. The power delivery was very smooth, the sh-awd reminded me of my old A6 4.2 audi. The MMI was very easy to use, not as complicated as BMW's I-Driive and the sound quality with the DVD audio was great. I have always owned/leased german cars, but tell me how do you go worng with this? I will be switching over to the RL as soon as my lease is over! Great job Acura, on building this fantastic automobile.

Rob L

Uh oh...better not let other german (specifically BMW) owners see your opinion as well as auto mags who continually slurp BMW penis all the while ignoring the shortcomings they have.

BTW I do like BMW cars but I just roll my eyes at how some treat all BMW models like they are God in auotomotive form...

NJRonbo

Holy Sh*t!

This from a BMW owner?!

Makes me feel very proud to be an RL owner.

vp911

Glad you like it!

stokdgs

Have owned an '01 325i, '02 M Coupe, wife's '01 X5 3.0. All great vehicles in their own way. There nothing that will ever compare to driving most BMW's in the way that they connect the driver with the road. They are great handling cars and while they have alot going for them, I have sold them all and purchased an '04 MDX for my wife, had an '04 TL for about 10 months and just traded it in on the new '05 RL. Its a different feel from the nearly perfect 50/50 balance of say the '01 325i, but the trade-off for all the things that come with the RL vs the BMW's today, and the reliability I have had myself with a few Acura's in the early 90's had convinced me I could do nothing but better, to go with this new Acura line. I look forward to getting some seat time with this new beautiful, Opulent Blue Pearl Rocket ! No regrets, not a one. DanF

stokdgs

Have owned an '01 325i, '02 M Coupe, wife's '01 X5 3.0. All great vehicles in their own way. There is nothing that will ever compare to driving most BMW's in the way that they connect the driver with the road. They are great handling cars and while they have alot going for them, I have sold them all and purchased an '04 MDX for my wife, had an '04 TL for about 10 months and just traded it in on the new '05 RL. Its a different feel from the nearly perfect 50/50 balance of say the '01 325i, but the trade-off for all the things that come with the RL vs the BMW's today, and the reliability I have had myself with a few Acura's in the early 90's had convinced me I could do nothing but better, to go with this new Acura line. I look forward to getting some seat time with this new beautiful, Opulent Blue Pearl Rocket ! No regrets, not a one. DanF

NJRonbo

I don't want to turn the tide of this thread, because I honestly
feel the RL is the best car I have ever driven....

...but I do have an interesting story.

I was in the dealership a week ago to have accessories
installed on my RL. I was sitting in the waiting area next
to this very nice woman who was a bit on the chatty side.

She started talking about how much she disliked driving her
RL vs. her husband's Lexus.

She felt the RL was noisier, was not as smooth a ride (she could
feel all the bumps in the road), did not have as much acceleration
at traffic lights and far less wheel turn ability as the Lexus.

Though I never test drove a Lexus, I might do so when my
lease is up in 3 years just to compare the two models.

hondamore

The LS definitely has a smoother, quieter ride which has been described as "limousine-like". The trade off is that the handling is also very soft and the price is a quantum leap higher than the RL. The RL, when equipped with the proper tires, has a very smooth quiet ride (very close to the LS), BUT adds wonderful handling capabilities. From a technology standpoint, the RL is actually very close to the LS in electronic goodies and even surpasses it in some (Nav system for example and some would even argue that the RL has the superior sound system).

AcuraRLBlue

[QUOTE=NJRonbo]
She felt the RL was noisier, was not as smooth a ride (she could
feel all the bumps in the road), did not have as much acceleration
at traffic lights and far less wheel turn ability as the Lexus.QUOTE]

I actually agree with her. My wife has the SC430, and my wife and I have the same complaints about the RL except the smooth ride. The SC430 has run flat tires that are rough. But on smooth highway speed the SC430 has a smooth ride just as the RL, and if not for the run flats it would beat the RL.

hondamore

Without sounding like a broken record, the stock tires on the RL are a big part of the difference. Since adding the OEM 18's with the PZeroNero M&S tires, I have noticed a HUGE difference in ride quality and reduction of road noise in my RL (especially once the Pirelli's have warmed up a bit) and I think that from a noise and ride quality standpoint, my RL is very close to my friends LS430.
Also, please remember that both the LS430 and SC 430 are substantially more expensive than the RL which makes any comparison between those models and the RL represents nothing more than a huge compliment to Acura's flagship. My friend paid $40,000 (Canadian) more for his LS430 than I paid for my RL, and I know for a fact that I can drive circles around him on the track. I would gladly give up one or two decibels of increased cabin noise for the sheer enjoyment I get from driving my RL.

NJRonbo

Just out of sheer curiosity....

How much would it cost to replace all 4 tires as indicated
above?

The possibility of lowering cabin noise and improving ride
quality intrigues me -- but I am sure the price won't.

vp911

The wheels are roughly 1400 for the a-spec wheels (on ebay from an Acura dealer). The tires are probably 600-800 - check tirerack.com for the tires.

hondamore

vp911's numbers are accurate. For me the upgrade was a no-brainer since I wanted to mount snow tires on the OEM 17's anyway. That said, I am amazed that the Pirelli 18's are so much smoother and quieter than the stock 17's. I had just assumed that I would be giving up some comfort by going to 18's. Other posters have had similar results with other brands of 18's suggesting that the OEM tires are very easy to improve upon. That said, I chose the PZeroNero M&S because of several glowing recommendations from the knowledgable folks on this site and I can say that they were 100% correct to be raving about these wonderful tires.

gbriank

I second Hondamore's statement. I've been riding on 18" wheels (E-bay from Acura of Las Vegas) and Pzero Nero M/S (from Tire Rack) for little over a month now. I truly believe that any tire is better than the standard MXM's being used. That said, I am impressed by how well the tires corner and how low the noise levels are at highway speed. They (Pzero's) do tramline a little but aren't as bad as other HPT i've used.

If you lived close to Dallas, i'd let you drive my car to see the difference....

Total cost was around $2400 (rims, tires, delivery, mount, balance). Don't forget to take the TPMS sensors off the old rims....

hemants

As an Audi owner I can also say that the RL is the "best of the sixes" from my test drives.

Of course, the M45 takes the cake but that is not a fair comparison.