Sclass88

This is disappointing news. I guess this means that there won't be any 7 series/S-Class fighter in the near future.

To fix the problem, Acura MUST drop a V8 in that car and spruce up its exterior apperance. It's nice but it doesn't give the average person the WOW factor that the Infiniti M does. That car is goregous. The RL is.... nice.

phile

I think a V8 would only be a bucket for a leaking roof. The whole car would have to be on a RWD platform for a V8 to fully benefit the RL, IMO.

Guy Legend

I doubt they make SH-AWD optional. Front wheel drive on the flagship is out of the question.

My guess is that navigation becomes an option, an easy way to knock $2k off the sticker. A general decrease in price wouldn't hurt as well, as the profit margin on the window sticker is quite high.

Also, a better design of wheels would go a long way in freshening the car's look for the next model year.

mrdeeno

And for all those that said Acura is satisfied with RL sales and the RL was selling in numbers it was meant to:


That's just his way of saying they're "pissed off" with sales in public relations terms.

Moog-Type-S

Acura/Honda for years has been fighting the V8 RWD. The more they fight it, the more it will bite them in the ass again, and again.

Acura, put a V8 in it, make it RWD, and don't make it look like a "bigger" Accord.
Put some good designers on the exterior....the interior is great, the exterior is

stopsign

If you remove AWD, what reason would you have to justify the 10k price difference between that and the TL if they both have the same power and drivetrain, and the TL has a comparable interior and more space.

phile

Aside from the bare plastic center console, the RL's interior is probably the most plush in its class. RL uses real wood, TL fake wood. RL has a lot more subtle advantages over the TL that warrants the price. I'm not sure it's worth the extra 15K, but it should definitely cost more than the TL based on its level of content outside of SH-AWD. And not by 2 or 3K either.

TSX69

I had recommended taking options out to lower the price like the RX400h.

As for a FWD flagship -- the last RL was a FWD so they have done it before.


Oddly enuf, the Acura salesman called me today to ask about my TSX & if I wanted to trade for an 06; I told him if I bothered w/ another Acura it would probably have to be the RL. He asked what did he need to do to make it happen so I said sell me an 06 @ invoice & he said that was not likely. So I brought up how slow it has been selling & he actually tried to deny it ... I expect to hear back from him @ some point bc I know they are gonna wanna move some RLs.

goldmemberer

What baffles me is how much Honda misjudges the American public. We are very shallow. Make a good looking car and we will flock to the dealerships regardless of the brand. Case in point: the Mazda3, the entire Mercedes-Benz lineup, the new Sonata. They spent months raking their brain about SH-AWD but forgot to differentiate the car from the rest of the Honda family. If they'd followed the TL's lead, they would've hit a homerun despite FWD (I shit you not). AWD coulda been an option later in the model cycle, as needed.

1killercls

I have concluded one thing from this thread...Acura has it's head up it's collective ass for not offering a v8 flagship..

95gt

Now this I disagree with. Mazda yes, great design, Sonata = meh and the MB lineup in general is pretty damn ho hum. The 100k cars look great but the normal E class C class = clk =

Have been seeing a couple RL's on the road and I am pretty impressed with the looks. Think they look 10x better than the E class (not the AMG done up version but the ones you see driving around all the time). And just drove around in one the last weekend and the interior is pretty damn pimp.

Not sure what Acura can do to help their RL sell better. End of the day I think it is an image thing, don't think they have the image yet to sell 50k cars.

dom

Sure its a brand image thing but I'll bet they'll have not s single problem selling a V10 $90K NSX.

MaximaPower

V10 NSX is going to be $90k? i'm gonna start saving

dom

I have no idea what it will cost. I thought the last NSX was 90K so I went with that number. Point being, if brand image was such a problem how can they sell 90-100K NSX's?

MaximaPower

well, the last RL wasn't $50k so i dont see how the next NSX(2010?) will be the same price

and btw, they couldn't sell...but it was limited production anyway

charliemike

Because the NSX is a badass motherf'n car that looks like it's going 200mph when it's parked.

Yes the Z06 is an unbelievable car. But if you're a West Coast yuppie wanting to make an impression on a budget, do you roll up in a Z06 or a NSX? The NSX has exotic cachet ...

Is that even up for debate?

dom

Exactly... So if they did the same with the RL?

Thats my point, brand image can't be blamed for poor sales of a ho-hum product.

charliemike

Exactly! Negative brand image comes from boring or shitty products.

dom

Not the point.. I was throwing a number out there thats significantly higher than 50K which is apparently too high for an Acura. Wheather it will cost 90 or 120K, it will sell. See charliemikes post.

95gt

You are comparing a very small sales vehicle that is a sports car to a mainstream luxury sedan. Not really comparable. I mean what were they selling like 50 NSX's a year for the last few years? People that are looking for 100k sports cars have fewer choices to make, normally care more about the vehicle performance than the name plate, etc.

I don't think the RL is an absolute home run but compared to the cars in its price bracket I think it stands up very well in comparison. Styling wise I think it is dead on if not better than most, feature wise, performance wise it is right there. The only thing I can think of for its sales performance is people buying 50k cars don't think of Acura when they think of premium luxury sedans. They think MB, BMW, Lexus, etc.

dom

All very good points. But I still think that if the RL had more distintive styling will wouldn't be having this discussion right now.

95gt

Totally agree, could have been even better. Hey until last weekend I agreed but after spending the weekend in one and seeing it next to other 50-60k cars I was a lot more impressed with its styling.

End of the day it still needs some more juice under the hood, and options would be nice to have for some people.

MaximaPower

the less expensive, FWD version of the RL would be..................the new ES350

lol....and the ES will sell

ilitig8

Yes, but the ES just needs continuation and does not need the penetration the RL does.

Crazy Bimmer

Sweet, at this rate we all will be able to get a FWD RL for 30k.

phile

Nah, I think they'll take away Sh-AWD, nav, a few techno gadgets and knock the price down to 45K.

TSX69

I have come to expect bland exterior styling from Honda/Acura as well as Toyota/Lexus. They seem to focus more on the interior which is fine by me bc that is what I will see most of the time. Germans, on the other hand, seem to have the opposite philosophy as I find their interiors rather bland.

Anyhoo, I have always liked the wicked headlights of RL - sadly, I could not find a decent pic but these are the best. Too bad they could not make the rest of the car as aggressive as this:

dom

Better be lower than 45K. Aren't most people picking up RL's in the low's 40's now?

Crazy Bimmer

Hell the old gen RL went for 45k and that had at least navi. (of course those sold for way under as well)

Now, they should make a cheaper coupe version of the RL. Dunno how it would do with sales but what a cool way to spice up the lineup!

MaximaPower

definitely needs to be less than $45k if its gonna get stripped down a bit...$38-40k would b a good starting price....similar to the M35 and GS300

GreenMonster

you don't like the looks of a fat accord...

I drive a CLS, bland styling is where it's at

GreenMonster

Some are (check the RL checking thread in the RL forum), but there are still some paying 44-46 up to msrp...

GreenMonster

That might work for me... get rid of the techno crap, keep the SH-awd and make a lower priced sport coupe version of the RL...

It'll never happen 'cause that idea makes alot of sense

Crazy Bimmer

Was the legend coupe priced higher or the same as the sedan?

Shawn S

The Coupe was more by about 4-Grand.
Remember, these are prices from 1995 !!!

neuronbob

I agree with all of those begging Honda to FINALLY just join the fricken trend and make the RL a V8, RWD monster. THAT would differentiate it enough from the TL to make it worth $50k.

Honda should have priced the RL better in the first place. The only good thing I can say about this is that the early adopters have all bought in at this point, it's time to get the rest of the lux market hooked. By the time all the early adopters came on board, the Infiniti M35x came out, for thousands less than the RL. I even considered trading my TL for it briefly last fall . Now RL sales have dropped, and Honda is wondering why....

GreenMonster

A lower priced FWD RL V6 probably isn't going to sell well either...

1) It's going to be tough for a V6 FWD lux sedan to compete with the some of the competition...

2) Even if a lower priced FWD RL V6 sells better then the "loaded" version they have out there now, it'll probably be at the expense of lower TL sales...

If they do make a FWD RL V6, then they'll have 2 TL's (the TL and a RL FWD v6) and 2 TSX's (tsx and civic si sedan)...

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...cross+shopping

They know people are cross-shopping within the Honda/Acura brand, and they say they want to be on the shopping lists of non-honda/acura buyers, but it doesn't look like they are making vehicles to solve the problems

Buggers should hire some of the folks on the forums here, instead of paying the jabronies they've got now

dom

The only thing they share is a similar HP rating.

F23A4

IMHO, the TL (being such a terrific sport-luxury sedan for thousands less) really didnt help the RL's cause. The RL is just not $10-15k better than the TL. (Then again, the first time I drove the TL, I felt that it's $35k sticker was underpriced by a few thousand.)

neuronbob

We, being Honda/Acura enthusiasts (and therefore the brand's best customers and cheerleaders) know what would bring more people to the brand. They do listen occasionally.....

With that in mind, here's neuronbob's solution to the RL "crisis":

1. Drop current RL in price to compete with Infiniti M35x, don't drop *anything* from it. So a few people considering the TL A-Spec (high $30's in price) would decide to spend a few more bucks, so what?

2. Make RL-S or RL A-Spec with small-block, ultrafuel efficient, ultraclean emissions V8 and RWD or AWD for $50k. I know Honda can do this, their V6s are among the best in the market (excepting torque generation, but that's another thread). I would pay $49k for that. I like the RL's looks and feature package, but as others have said in this thread, it's not worth $10-15k more than the TL.

Why can't they get the RL right the way they did the TL?