neuronbob

Acura brought the Sport Hybrid to the Cleveland auto show. I was there for the first day of the show yesterday.

Acura made no announcements about the car and you could easily miss it as it was hidden among the other, more plebeian Acuras. I had to ask the Acura personnel on hand whether it was even there. They had the TLX on a special, lit display at the rear of their display.

A few pics:

RLX Sport Hybrid. This is a different color from the one I saw at Detroit.





RLX HUD--faint in the picture and it was HARD to get the camera to focus on it. I later learned that I could adjust the brightness of the HUD. Despite its paleness in the picture, it was VERY easy to see, and still in your primary field of vision. When I adjusted the radio volume and station, that also appeared on the HUD! When adjusting vehicle settings, THOSE appear on the HUD too. AWESOME!


RLX HUD can be adjusted vertically or in brightness. I wish I'd seen this before I rushed out the car--imagine that, several people were interested in the car. Anyway, the HUD button is left of the steering wheel. There is an up and down arrow on either side of the HUD button and these move the HUD up or down as you desire. Holding down the HUD button allows you to adjust the brightness of the HUD.


More RLX Sport Hybrid



How to bring up power distribution screen on the RLX Sport Hybrid. Press "info" on the center console and you bring up this screen:


...and then this. The nav screen was on because I'd pressed the nav button before playing with the info button.


RLX Sport Hybrid blind spot monitor

wstr75

Bob, thanks for the pictures! By chance, did you open the trunk and see how much usable volume is available?

ostrich

Neuronbob, thanks for the pics! Is there anything with the exterior that looks different than the P-AWS version please? Maybe the rims are different? Do the rims look better in real life than they do in the photos???

I just wished that Acura would give the RLX better rims....

neuronbob

I did not do that yesterday. I did do it when I was at the Detroit auto show. Here's a (belated) picture of the trunk. The images are via my Google Glass and iPhone 5, so IQ may not be as good as the images above from my DSLR. Maybe two sets of golf clubs? No pass through. I'd be able to use it for groceries, at least.

My Google Glass photo:


Here's a brighter image done with my iPhone 5 and flash, again from the Detroit car:


The front is minimally different, there's a "hybrid" badge on the front quarter panels, and "SH-AWD" on the back, out that's about it. I, too, wish for at least different wheels.

A few pics of the white RLX Sport hybrid I took in Detroit:

Fuller interior shot (iPhone 5):


Hybrid badge on white (iPhone 5):


Rear shot of the Detroit car (iPhone 5):


For the life of me, I can't find the front shot of the Detroit car. I just couldn't find much difference between that and the FWD RLX.

neuronbob

PS:

ACURA MARKETING SUCKS!

C'mon, at least have an announcer/cute chick/expert/SOMEONE on a stage talking up the new electric SH-AWD and hawking it as the same drivetrain coming in the new NSX.

SIGH. Do we have to do ALL the marketing for Acura?

At least they brought the Sport Hybrid to Cleveland, so I am happy with that. It will sell (relatively) like hotcakes here, just like the RL did, simply because of the AWD.

JM2010 SH-AWD

Geez, at least in STL they had the SH-AWD up on a special platform beneath a structure with chairs, tables and couches. Of course, then again, we didn't get the TLX.

neuronbob

That's too bad.

I forgot to mention, the sole Acura rep in the area said that the Sport Hybrid would be on sale April 15th. Take that for what it's worth.

weather

Ask and you shall receive.... Love French ladies.....

getakey

slacks?

weather

^^ yep, and although the picture doesn't do it justice, she was amazingly attractive, and so friendly.....

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

she's a working professional, not a skimpy sex object in a skirt that is too short with boobs and no brain.

weather

^^^ Exactly....Smart, attractive and very nice. I spent quite some time chatting with her and couldn't get over how friendly she was....

Now don't get me wrong, there was a few of what you described TLtrigirl.....not at the Acura booth though

wstr75

Bob, thanks for the trunk pictures. Glad to see the space taken by the hybrid components is the least used space in my 2006 trunk.

Nari

Thats a lot more space that I would have expected. BTW thanks for uploading all these pics NB .

neuronbob

I was surprised by the trunk space even losing some for the battery.

037

Bob,

Did you by any chance stop by the Genesis exhibit to compare the two cars?

I will be in Cleveland on Sat and was going to go check both out as I haven't seen either in person.

Colin

That is odd. At our last two local shows (how big can Honolulu be?) we had a pretty girl on hand to talk about the product. She didn't work for Acura but rather the people who run the car shows for Acura.

neuronbob

I thought it was odd, as well. I would think that the Cleveland market has been good for lots of SH-AWD sales, and there are TLs (3G and 4G) and ILXs EVERYWHERE here. I guess Acura doesn't see the Cleveland market as worth its while? It used to be that there were a person or two from the Ohio factories visiting the shows, but it's been a few years since that was the case.

Sorry I missed this. I wish I knew when you were going so I could meet up with you. I was planning to go back today for some test drives after work.

I saw the new Genesis when I was in Detroit. It looks pretty good, but honestly I prefer its corporate stablemate, the Kia K900. I swear, that car has one of the best back seats I've ever experienced. Truly luxurious. Kia did a great job on that car!

Colin

We're preparing for our local "International" Auto Show next weekend. Acura is/was trying to get us a Hybrid in time for the "move in date" and it's touch and go. The latest I heard is that the car will straight from the dock to the show the same day. For those that don't know, car show move in schedules are highly choreographed events. We'll see if they can get it there at the right time. Kudos to Acura for the effort.

On the flip side, we were supposed to have our in-dealership training on this car on March 3rd. But because we don't have the car yet, it was cancelled. I get what is going on with car since I'm such a car nerd, but I'm guessing that few of the other guys are going to be able to speak knowledgeably on this car at the show.

037

Bob, I was actually at the auto show around the time you posted this.

I went out to mainly check the RLX, TLX and the new Genesis and was sorely dissappointed not to be able to see or touch the enterior of the last two.

As far as the RLX, checked out the trunk based on your photos and it does seem fairly large if not very deep. It has some space under the top layer too, took some photos of that.

I was pleasantly surprised with the stereo in the RLX, I believe it was AWD Tech, as I found no mention of "Krell" anywhere.

The same SXM that I listen to in my car sounds much more clear, and my wife said it first.

It wasn't hugely deafening but I did have it at 100% briefly for the enjoyment of Cleveland (at least I didn't have a NY license plate on my face).

So yeah...RLX is still in the running as far as I'm concerned, just need to see the performance numbers for the above 3 mentioned vehicles before I go spending money.

Too bad we didn't get to hang, maybe next time. Would love to see that CTS-V. How is it in the snow?

Rocket_man

One more trunk pic from the car at the Houston show... Pretty spacious for a hybrid trunk. Of course they could have made it more flexible if the rear seat went down like the Fusion Hybrid... but I digress!

I'm not entirely sure what the utility of that net is for. It is kind of hard to reach that far in the trunk.

neuronbob

Next time. But did you sit in the K900? Hyundai gave itself some competition with that car. Blizzaks + V wagon=handling Cleveland snowstorms with ease.

Thanks for more opinions on the trunk, guys. The space is definitely useful. That net probably can hold a few small items down. A net closer to the trunk opening would be more useful for weekly grocery runs, however.

037

Bob...I don't know which Cleveland you were in but the K900 was a spinner and nobody was anywhere near touching it. Only car I was able to get into was the RLX.

I was briefly thinking of stopping all the crazy car selection and just get the Chevy SS...at least it's purpose built for great handling.