FiveLiterCheater

Man that RLX interior is UGLY. It already looks outdated/cheap and its going against cars that are already out! Terrible. Not to mention the exterior of this thing is about as bland as can be. The rear reminds me of the Chevy Cruze.

Edward'TLS

The RLX is no performace car. If Acura really needs that spare tire room, the next logical choice will be Run Flat Tires.

Michelin is one of Honda/Acura's favorite tire suppliers, and carries Run Flat in almost all performance categories :

Max Performance Summer : Pilot Sport PS2 ZP, Y-speed rated (up to 186mph)
Ultra Hi-Performance A/S : Pilot Sport A/S Plus ZP
Grand Touring All/Season : Pilot MXM4 ZP

It is also normal practice for tire manufacturers to develop the specific tire size for a particular vehicle, if no existing size is suitable.

KillerG

At this point, Honda has already dug their own grave and HAS to produce the NSX, if it sells like hot hotcakes that are very hot and proves that there is a market for honda sports cars,


we may very well see a honda s3000 within the next 45 years

F23A4

What's really ironic is that I've been stating (and posting here) for years that the RL should have carried a more developed version of the powertrain from the 05 AV6h in lieu of a V8.....finally, it's coming to fruition.

phile

there's already a stain on the carpet

http://www.vtec.net/articles/article...rlx_tov-27.jpg

Edward'TLS

Unfortunately, even though most luxury auto buyers can't even tell you what wheels power their vehicles, but they can tell you it isn't worth spending $50K for the AWD RL, let alone a 2WD RL.

The riches are no fools either. They can sure tell the differences between an AWD and a 2WD vehicles whenever they step hard on the gas pedal in the wet and/or in the snow.

Ken1997TL

A) You need your eyes checked IMO

B) Are you in the RLX's potential demographic?

Just curious

SSFTSX

BMW has this active hybrid. but it does not AWD and it is already so heavy that there is no performance advantage over standard 535.
The car looks thin and long in front from side profile.




r these fog light strip in the bumpers. design is very streamlined. side mirrors dont stickout that much from front. Lexus GS is more SUV type.

Treblig

Nothing that a nice set of wheels can't fix...

Allen-

After the initial shock has worn off, I think some nicer wheels would add some dimension to the side profile.

Anyone wanna photochop some 4G TL HPT wheels on the RLX?

KillerG

No, but I did feel like putting Honda HFP wheels on it.

Legend2TL

But that also holds true for the GS350/350 and M35/45 as well. Both only sell a small fraction of E class or 5 series.

Legend2TL

It does look better in the video, only seen the limited specs they've released but I'm guessing the AWD will be priced in the mid-high 60K range since Acura will equip it fairly well with 1 or 2 trim groups.

Those mileage numbers are pretty impressive considering the size and weight. Far higher than the LS600 which only uses a single electric motor (integrated in the CVT), although it has 438HP for combined power.

Edward'TLS

Keep in mind that the RL is being sold as an even smaller fraction of the GS or the Infi-M.

If the same holds true for the GS/M, but the GS/M are not doing so poorly as the RL; there must be something that Lexus and Infiniti have done right, but Acura hasn't.

Umm ..... What have the GS/M/E/5 all in common up to MY 2012 ? ding...ding...ding... V8 option .... RWD .....

VTEC Racer

This video does a good job of showing some of the exterior details up close, minus the 30 seconds of ending credits.

phile

the more i look at this, the more beautiful I think it is. I really hope the LED headlights make it to production, it's a long shot, but if Acura comes through, that would be really awesome. the front will definitely be changed to house real foglights, but if they need to maintain it as close to this as possible.

for example, the ILX concept had a different front lower bumper design from the production model, and it made a difference in how the car looks.

Legend2TL

Incorrect, when it came out, the RL sold similar numbers to the GS350/450 and M35/45, that being in the 1500-1700/month.

A Audi A6 is Turbo 4/FWD or V6/AWD yet outsells both the GS and M. So your RWD/V8 again makes less sense. Prestige and the fact that the 5 series and E class are great cars is really what matters.

VTEC Racer

People act as if the RL was a sales dud from day one. The second gen sold in decent numbers for the first few years and the first gen did okay through most of its life.

SSFTSX

Acura RL was pretty successful for first 3 year untill end of 2006 despite having very poor fuel economy from 5speed auto and AWD setup.

http://www.hondanews.com/channels/co...-sales-in-2006

GS450 will come with 17inch standard, CVT. starting price $58K. 29/34/31 Fuel economy. No AWD option. There is no V8.

http://www.lexus.com/models/GS/specs/hybrid.html#p

VTEC Racer

Autombile Mag is claiming that the Jewel Eye headlights have been confirmed for production. I've never seen Acura trademark a feature from a concept car so I would say there is a decent chance Automobile is correct.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

^

I hope they power on just as the NSX does (your avatar).

VTEC Racer

I was hoping for the same thing also but on the concept car they power on in a traditional manner. But you never know... The interior of the car is still incomplete and is basically just a mock-up that was built to give the executives a real-life feel for the roominess. In fact, it's basically just a base model on the inside because it doesn't have any of the high tech features that are supposed to debut on this car. That being said, it's possible that the headlights were rushed and incomplete as well.

I think the whole car may have been rushed. Not design and development wise, but hand building the thing to have it ready for the show. Typically, Acura makes some of their biggest debuts at the Chicago Auto Show. With 2012 being such a big year for Acura, it was a bit surprising for me that they ignored Chicago so blatantly this year.

Legend2TL

I was curious so I checked, the GS/300/430 outsold the RL by ~2X in 2005 so I was wrong on the GS. What was inteersting is the almost 5 GS300 (V6) were sold for every GS430 (V8).

http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2...04/205039.html

RLclass

Dont really know if I like. Hoping for some major flashy redesighn.

VTEC Racer

I never realized just how awful the GS looks.

Edward'TLS

Since day 1, all luxury auto brands are well aware of the fact that V8 trims only sell at a small percentage as the same vehicle in V6 trims. But they continue to offer V8 engine options for their luxury RWD vehicles.

Because the sole purpose of V8 engine options is to boost the brand and model images. It is not to compete sales with the same vehicle in V6 trims. Available V8 engine option is a very effective marketing tool to bring up the perception of luxury, performance, and prestige to an auto brand and to an vehicle model. Ironically, it actually promotes more sales to the V6 vehicle models which become more desirable because of it.

Even though most luxury auto buyers opt for the base V6 vehicles, but they also feel particularly good because they also aware of what their vehicles, in top form (V8, S/RS trim, M trim, AMG trim), are capable of. This is what drives more sales.

Brand and model images are extremely important factors to make an auto brand and an vehicle model desirable, and Audi, BMW, and MB are particularly good at achieving just that.

But no such luck for Acura for the lack of this effective image boosting marketing tool - V8/RWD.

Don't discount the RL, it's also a great car. But without the V8 option, it is stripped of that prestige privilege and buyers' desire that the GS/M/5/E all have.

phile

I don't think the current RL is a great car. It's a good car, good engine, fabulous interior (altho I think this new one blows it away in that dept). But all that was anchored to a heavy AWD system that burdened an acceptable but aging V6 that delivered un-Honda like gas mileage (remember when Honda's V6 were strong and delivered good mileage?), a 5-spd auto that, while good, was falling behind as a technological feature as competitors started sporting 1 or more gears, coupled with an exterior design that was acceptable at best when it debuted and quickly became a stale looking Acura with a grafted on front and an even more afterthought of a rear. It was an 8/10 attempt straight out of the gate, and quickly spiraled downward on the scale as the competition got better.

jose3031

still don't know what Acura was thinking w/ that huge beak.
jeez

Legend2TL

Not really, when Acura introduced their brand in 1986 BMW only had staight six cylinders. BMW later in the 80's introduced a V12 that was very mediocre at best and only available in the 2G 7 series. BMW introduced a V8 in the early-mid 90's. So no it's not been from day 1, BMW V8 from the 50's were never imported into the US in any significant numbers.

Audi has also forgone the RWD with their FWD/AWD approach which has worked fairly well for them. So not having RWD has worked out pretty well for them that even BMW and MB offer AWD options for their sedans.

Add in the fact that BMW is now offering a turbo 4 cylinder for their 528 model in the states and that shows further how much more important prestige and technology are over drivetrain at times.

If a V8 and RWD were the only requirements for the luxury market then Jaguar would have had significant market share with their V12 and RWD on many of their sedans from the 70's. Poor product and reliability was their demise.

The recent rise of the Germans against the better cars from the Japanese/Koreans have shown that the overall product is ultimately what's most important. Esspecially the Koreans, since although the Equus is a great car it has been pale in comparison tests with the Germans. And trhe Equus is a great sedan, it just goes to show what's needed to compete with the top tier these days even if you have V8 and RWD.

http://www.roadandtrack.com/tests/co...gnature_page_2

I see some potential flaws in the Acura approach with the electric SH-AWD since the amount of power will be limited to the rear wheels but fortunately with electric motors the torque are low RPM is tremendous which is important for rapid acceleration from a stop. It will be interesting to see how the market reacts to it since it is alone with it's technical drivetrain approach in it's marketspace.

Black TL

Just saw the new line of Acura's at the NY auto show. Below are some quick thoughts.

ILX : Nice car, but seemed definitely seems overpriced considering it's performance/EPA numbers. The TSX is still a much better buy IMO.

NSX : Wow, just pure WOW! Best car at the show in my view.

TL : This was actually the first time I sat in the 4th gen TL, and the one they had at the show had a sticker price of 46k. The floor model allowed us to play the radio, and while it has decent base, the mid and high level sound gets blurred out by the bass. My fiance's 335 has the Logic 7 sound system, and man is that thing super clear and loud while at the same time delivering crisp solid bass. Besides the audio, the number of buttons on the center stack seemed frustrating. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to adjust the sound levels. I guess it takes getting used to, but after driving the 335 around, you realize that so many buttons are not necessary (however, to be fair using the joystick everytime you want to do something on the 335 can be annoying at first too). Other than that, like any other Acura, the leather on the demo was showing tons of cracks on it (not fully cracked, but you could see many wrinkles in the leather). I know that these cars get a lot of traffic, but I didnt see the same on the Lexus, BMW, Merc or Infiniti models I sat in. Even the Kia Optima didnt show any sign of wear.

RLX : It's def a nice improvement over the old model and has some good technology/engineering behind it. However, looks wise, it doesnt compare to the Bimmer/Infiniti/Lexus. It just seems like a fancy Accord. Also, while the beak is toned down on this model compared to the old one, I still can't understand why Acura can't learn from their past and just create a new design for the grill. I must have heard 3-4 different people comment about how they were disappointed to see that grill on the car. Why do they insist on keeping that design??

Ok that's all from me.

Tosh1

Its getting better.......I wonder how much room there is in the back seats now? It use to seem just about the same as the TL's. I was hoping they were going to extend the length as well as the wheelbase. I guess this is the step in the right direction for Acura on the RL. Those rims though got to go!!!! Who would was in charge of that...FIRED!!!

Edward'TLS

Agree on most of your points.

The AWD system is heavy, power-robbing, and expensive (higher price tag). On the other hand, the RWD chassis is lighter, simpler, cheap in cost, and can handle >300hp with superb handling.

The Honda J-series V6 family has been falling behind it's top competitors for years, especially in the output horsepower department.

Costco

in before someone mentions how other competitors use just-as-old engine families

F23A4

with you regarding the ILX. It is actually a bit nicer than in pictures but, I also would just pay the extra pocket change and get the TSX.

As for the RL, it seems like Honda is sort of going back to square one which is apparently the KB1: full of tech wrapped in a very conservative trim. They really needed to go back to the essence of the 2G Legend. That said, the RLX isn't that bad.

Legend2TL

Those wheels are hideous.

I haven't seen any RLX specs yet but I'm guessing from the photo's and video that the wheelbase is ~120" so the backseat should be much larger than the current RL. The 2G RL is about the same as the 4G TL and not much bigger than a 3G TL in the interior volume.

krio

In these photos the interior looks very well finished...

phile

I think anybody who calls this interior "cheap looking" seriously needs an eye check. there is leather wrapping a significant portion of the dash, and it's not the easy way of doing it either. a lot of the other mfrs wrap the dash around the top edges and then the vents or any other items that would require significant tailoring are sort of maneuvered around it to avoid them altogether. Here items like the vents are plugged into the leather wrapping the dash, the center stack also has the same technique for that layout.

I'll be very surprised to see this level of tailoring in the production model, but if they do, bravo Acura.

KillerG

When are we seeing the production version of this thing? Any date?

And when will we get first impressions of the e-ShAwd?!

ttribe

Actually, I believe there have already been some published impressions of e-ShAwd from drives in an Accord mule.

Ken1997TL

Jeff Palmer and others got to drive it late last year in Japan.

Here is the article from Autoblog.

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/12/07/w...sh-awd-system/