Zeuser

I was just checking out Honda's website in Japan. take a look at this:

What they call the Accord is what Acura calls the TSX:

http://www.honda.co.jp/auto-lineup/accord/

What they call the Legend is what Acura calls the RL:

http://www.honda.co.jp/auto-lineup/legend/

What they call the Inspire is what Acura... oh wait, no... it's Honda America calls the Accord?

http://www.honda.co.jp/auto-lineup/inspire/

In Japan our American Accord slots itself in between the Accord and the Legend. Exactly where the TL is supposed to be (between the TSX and RL). My understanding is that the "Inspire" is supposed to be the equivalent to our TLs. But when you look at the Inspire, it looks a lot more like what we call the Accord. it has similar headlights, taillights, doors etc. I bet you could swap some JDM Inspire parts on our Accords and they would fit perfectly.

But in all my browsing on Honda's Japan website, I still haven't seen anything that looks like our TL. OK, so the TL is actually based on the Accord chassis. Sure, but there are significant differences, especially in the body, that makes the TL seem unique to the American market.

It's not like you could go out and get a Mugen body kit for th inspire and expect it to fit the TL. Or will it?

J RIDE 81

yeah weird aint it?

cM3go

the 2nd gen TL (non type S) was the Honda Inspire...
the 2nd gen TL (type S) was the Honda Saber...

honda got rid of the Saber, made the US accord the new Inspire
and the 3rd gen TL is the bastard child of Honda/Acura. Good because its unique to North America... bad because we can't benefit from all the japanese aftermarket parts that come out for the japanese hondas...

Teh Jatt

2nd GEN TL was called HONDA INSPIRE and now its changed. Japan's Honda Inspire use american honda accord's body but it has ACURA TSX's interior, and Japan's Honda Accord is Acura TSX but it has AMERICAN HONDA ACCORD'S interior.

Did I confuse ya?

rets

It's just the names difference. Ppl have talked this topic millions of times.


Inspire has the exact same tail as US Accord. http://www.honda.co.jp/auto-lineup/i...e-p/index.html


Legend has been called as RL in outside of North America/Hong Kong, etc.


JDM Accord = US TSX = EU Accord http://www.honda-eu.com/cars.html


As for TL, you could check this... http://www.honda.co.jp/auto-lineup/saber/2003/

PoochaKannInc

Exactly correct.

Now I know what to tell ppl when they ask what kind of car I have. "The bastard child of Honda/Acura, of course!"

Bluenote

Not too strange, really. It's just us North Americans thinking the world revolves around us.


Nissan has many models that are specific to Asia & the Southern Hemisphere. So does Toyota. I saw lots of cars I recognized in Jamaica, but the names were different.

BTW, the NSX in japan has Honda badges. Now THAT is wierd!

cM3go

and the MDX

Zeuser

Bluenote... you missed the point of the original topic. There is NO clear equivalent to our TLs in Japan anymore. Usually our American Hondas/Acuras are just clones of the Japanese models. This seems to be different with our 3rd gen TLs.

Rets, yeah I see how the Saber is like the 2nd gen TL-S. Ever wonder if they'll resurrect the Saber in Japan as a 3rd gen TL? Or is the 3rd gen TL destined to be unique to the American market?

I recently saw a picof the Mugen Legend (RL). Damn sexy! I wonder what Mugen would do to a car like our TL? It already looks great, add Mugen's "special touch" and just let your imagination run wild.

cM3go

THIS is what Mugen did to our beautiful TL... they created a monstrosity.. well except for the grille

Legend2TL

Honda produces essentially two body/chassis for the Accord, the narrow width (Accord in Japan/Europe and TSX in America) and the wide width Accord (Accord in US and Aspire in Japan).

In the mid 90's Honda for the 1993-1997 Accord actually went back to one width approach for the Accord. That US Accord was narrower than the previous gen US Accord, but did not sell as well in North America so the next generation went back to a two body/chassis (narrow/wide) approach.

It cost more in factory tooling but is essential for the US market.

I'm also curious that the US TL does not have a model in Europe or Japan.

I was travelling on business in southern France in the early 90's and saw my wife's Acura Integra model with Honda Integra badging as well as a Honda NSX.

PoochaKannInc

Hell, if we want to talk about weird, try Canada. The Acura EL? It's a rebadged Civic! I was flabbergasted that people would buy one.

Zeuser

Ewwww... nevermind what I said. That's horrible. What the hell were they thinking with that gawdaful wing?

Someone slap them aroun and tel tem to make the A-Spec prototype instead. At least that one looked good.

cM3go

what you can't see is there are actually 2 SPOILERS... can you believe that? the lip spoiler and that Mugen one... pretty dumb if you ask me.. the exhaust is hideous, worse than Comptechs.. just do a search for Mugen in the 3rd gen forum, you'll see bigger pics...

Zeuser

No kidding. They didn't even go through any effort to really make it different than the Civic you can buy from the Honda dealer down the road.

It's a marketing thing though. It's meant to bring younger buyers to the Acura brand. And it seems to be working too. But unless you get one with the optional leather seats, I see no point at all. A fully loaded Civic sedan is essentially an Acura EL without the leather option.

rets

No one knows their timetable yet. But I guess our prestigious 3G TL PWs have answered all your questions....

lokman

In the previous generation the EL had a more powerful engine, so there was some incentive to get it over a Civic. Also, the previous generation had more body differentiation and looked better overall - there's not so much differentiation in the current generation. But as Zeuser said, the marketing works. It's not easy in Canada to afford a $25K+ car (right where the EL sits).

Bluenote

Zeuser, you're right. I missed the point completely.

PoochaKann, I've worked on an EL before. The first time I saw I just sat there, stunned

rets

.

Ken1997TL

EL:

Keep in mind that in Canada, the best selling Honda is the Civic, not the Accord. The EL makes sense there.

TL in Japan:

The Inspire is a VERY souped-up Accord that has features not found on any US Acura or Honda, even the '05 RL.

While I haven't driven it (havent been to Japan for a while) I will say that the Inspire is marketed more for luxury than as a sport/luxury sedan. Think Lexus ES330.

Monte TLS,MAX

That would be the 94-97 Accord 94 was the first year of that wedgy looking Accord which was narrower and shorter than the 90-93 Accord.

AcuraVic

But for once, our model looks better than any japanese Honda to date !!!!

avs007

I was just in Japan a while ago. Seeing the Inspire that looks like an Accord isn't the trippy part. Taking a closer look at it, is the trippy part. The hood is actually different if I remember. It has creased channels in it similar to the 2nd gen TL, but not as defined. But this doesn't exist on the USDM Accord if I remember. The Inspire also has projector headlights if I remember correctly. The housing looks similar to USDM Accords, but it is actually quite different. I didn't get to take that close of a look at it, as it was just parked on the street, when I was walking from the subway station... I saw a bunch of Lexus RX330's with Toyota badging as well. I'm not sure when they started marketing lexus in Japan. But when I was in Korea just the week before, I saw many Lexus with Lexus badging.

My cousin even has a Daewoo Arcadia, which is just a rebadged Acura Legend. I did get the pleasure of seeing a couple R34 Nissan Skyline GTRs though.... That was cool...

ayethetiense

uhm, cant believe no1 has said it yet... but

REPOST!

rets

Man, let me tell you something, more than 90% of topics here are ... it's NORMAL... someone will ask this topic again next month.



Btw, I really wish to see more JDM Honda features imported into US in the future.

Sherlock

I think it's also humorous that our TL is exported to the rest of the world as the HOnda Inspire/Sabre in the last model. And then the TSX comes over here as one of the last imports.

I saw an EL down here in Atlanta, kinda gave it only a quick glance as I thought it was an accord, then realized it's smaller. It has mini versions of the last gen Accord Sedan taillights.. and yes.. the 1.8L engine when our civic was 1.6 I think. And probably had block heaters and other canadian stuffs.

I still think it was one of the worlds biggest errors in going to numbers and letters.. The whole world knew what a Honda/Acura Legend was, but an RL ?? 99% of the people go "oh really ??" when I say that the RL was just the next Legend. And obviously it has a following as they kept the name in Japan. But noooo.. we have to have the Acura/Dyslexus/BMW/MB designations of letters and numbers that don't inspire any emotion. The Legend was a "legend" in it's time. The Vigor.. drove with Vigor as our TL's do.. why name the vigor into TL ??

Think of all the honda names minus just a few (s2000) and they all have meaning/emotion to them.. Civic.. high mileage, Accord , everything in harmony and in it's place, prelude, for things to come (fun and speed), Pilot, obvious as well, on a mission. Odyssey, kinda obvious, Del Sol "of the sun" for a t-top, Legend, which it became, Vigor, kinda obvious too for fun and sport, Integra, planted, surefooted, sporty "whole".

mmmm TL, TSX, EL, RL, CL, MDX, ML, ES, IS, GS, SC, LS, C, S, E, M, CTS, XLR, x-type, s-type, ....
does any of that inspire you ?? *blah*

Legend2TL

I read awhile ago that Acura did a marketing survey in the mid 90's and discovered that more people knew the name Integra and Legend over Acura. Honda in response decided to make the company name more prominent over the vehicle names hence they went for the letter designation. Lexus and Infiniti did it from the start, sorta mimicking what Peuguet, BMW, MB, and Porsche also did from their starts.

reigai

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=98979

1995hoo

I saw this reported in several places, usually with the additional note that owners tended to brag about having a Legend rather than an Acura.

I guess I can half-understand that, since back in the mid-1990s when someone asked me what I drove I usually said "an '86 Legend."

xlilbluux

very confused

hooked2TL

I think as long as we have the "EL", peeps will continue to see Acura as not in the same league as Lexus here in Canada. I mean, most peeps can't tell it from the Civic...luxury?? Can u imagine Toyata putting leather into a corolla and moving it to the Lexus line? That's basically wht the EL is., and i think hurts Acura's overall image.

dsc888

Exactly! I was visiting Toronto 3 years back and was dumbfounded after spotting a Civic with an Acura emblem. I thought it was a joke until I took a closer look.

dsc888

dsc888

I agree with you. I honestly think that Acura is after the "Bang for Buck" luxury market. Just look at the MSRP of the RSX and TSX as opposed to the entry level Lexus IS300. Even the TL is an excellent value. I suppose Acura feels that they are tapping a very specific market with their high value sporty products. I am sure many of us Acura owner's here chose our TLs for that reason.

dsc888

matelot

is JDM Inspire IMPORTED to Jpn FROM US ?

Sherlock

The JDM market cars that look like our current Accord or TL, yes.. are all made in USA and exported to JDM. Aint that quaint. The TSX, RL, NSX, S2000, and Civic Si are the only imports coming this way.