Yumcha

Call me when it is not ugly.

dom

You'll be banned long before then.

invisiblewar

a little late to be bringin in a v8 now...gas prices will be >$6 and no one will be able to afford buying a "fuel eficient" v8

Good job on rwd tho

phile

F the gas prices. This thing is just plain late as it is. We should've had a FR sedan since, oh let's say, 1986.

Brandon24pdx

Acura is gonna go from zero to hangin-with-C63 AMG hero? I'll believe 420 hp and RWD when I see that shit.

Moog-Type-S

Disconnect your phone...the call isn't going to come

Moog-Type-S

BraveDemon

OMGWTFBBQ!!

J.k. In all honesty, too little too late. Sorry Acura but most of your loyal customers have or will be jumping ship to BMW, Audi, [Insert your carbrand here].

And yeah, I agree that a V8 420hp with todays gas prices is just too late. Imagine what gas prices will be like in 2012. On top of the ridiculous price the next gen RL will flaunt.

Mokos23

promising, but a little too late.

dom

Its never to late. I'm sure they still plan to be in business come 2011.

PG2G

You guys act like Audi, BMW, Mercedes, and Infiniti will stop offering V8s or something.

Its late, but its obviously not too late. And it doesn't sound like too little either. Its not even ugly, it looks like a big ass TSX.

Edward'TLS

A 420hp V8 RWD sedan from Acura is never too late. It'll only be too late if BMW, MB, Lexus, and Audi have all dumped their V8 powerplants from their lineups.

dom

That isn't the final styling, likely not even close. Its just a cut up 09 TSX welded on to a RWD platform.

LuvMyTSX

This is what so many people on here have been begging for, saying Acura needs it to compete with the big dogs, even though it'll likely be a very small percentage of sales overall (just like V8s are for the other brands). Talk about damned if you do, damned if you don't, wow.

Mokos23

read carefully it says it's testing it on a TSX mule

PG2G

Oops :P

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

It's late but I thought a lot of you guys said FR + V8 = part of improving the image of a brand? Besides, the current RL is not selling well at all anyways, might as well try something new?

biker

The RWD platform might be new but I have a feeling the styling will follow the typical Honda pattern - intro a real looker as a concept/prototype and then the production ends up looking real bland.

Never Summer

I can't wait to see what the new RL will be like, 420hp?!? That would be amazing, and quite frankly just what Acura would need to become a more viable competitor in the sport/luxury market.

titan

Agreed. It's absolutely necessary. The V8 is the first step in what's also necessary to compete with the big dogs, and that's to have a S-Class competitor in the lineup. Until then, the brand will be considered second tiered luxury, just as Infiniti will be until the second coming of the Q flagship debuts.

evolpe

It's the TSX Type S!

Mizouse

thats what i was thinking, why would they use a TSX body to test out the new RL? why not use the refresh RL or heck even the out going TL?

LuvMyTSX

Honda should have put the wheels that are on that TSX mule on the 2G TSX as stock wheels......they look much better than the current choice.

JediMindTricks

^muthafrikin

Trackruner228

iTrader: (1)

+1

Why would they not even at least use the current RL body style to test drive the new RL. It makes no sense to me why they would test drive it in a TSX.

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

http://www.hondakorea.co.kr/html/aut...how/sub02.html

It says that the Honda Korea is releasing the new RL at the end of June.

phile

Cheaper R&D cost?

This looks like a production TSX that was gutted and mutilated. You wouldn't want to do that with an RL and its sand blasted coat of paint, various aluminum panels, etc., just for the sake of having a body to conceal the hardware under.

BraveDemon

Its not like I (or others for that matter) are saying that it's too late to build a RWD or a V8 - let me rephrase:

"Honda/Acura we were hoping for this years ago and we've been waiting patiently. Many of us have decided to leave the Honda/Acura camp and unless this RWD V8 is priced extremely well or offers something that we can't get in a BMW, Mercedes, [insert car brand here], we won't have any incentive to go back to you."

So maybe its not too late for everyone, but it is too late for some.

What Acura needed was to introduce RWD into the newly introduced TSX and TL. The TSX just began its new generation, and that design will probably be in rotation for another 5-7 years. Same with the 4th Gen TL - it'll start its rotation next year and will probably have the same platform for 5-7 years. What does that mean? No RWD TSX, TL or whatever for at least 6-8 years.

So the only RWD we'll see in the near future is a $60k+ flagship sedan, that many won't be able to afford OR (maybe like me) will be able to afforde but don't want to own because we'd rather drive something a little more sporty.

IMO, I personally don't see why I would spend $60k+ on this new V8 RWD RL when I could get a V8 RWD Genesis Sedan or the Pontiac G8 for almost half that.

Of course you can make the whole Msl82 vs. Jjabber "war of the badges" argument. But meh.

So too late? Yeah, I guess its never too late. I guess Acura is like that 68 year old going back to college to get his BA. Economical/Efficient? No, but I guess theres personal achievement/values that are important as well.

Sly Raskal

iTrader: (1)

How dare you threaten to ban a member of the darkside!

fsttyms1

Now hopefully they will follow suit with the TL as well and get rid of fwd/awd and give us some drive line options.

phile

It's too late for the TL at this point. Maybe in another 6 years.

fsttyms1

Thats what im talking about. I know the 4th gen is a lost cause. Hopefully when they supposedly go to tier 1 the TL gets the same treatment.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

I agree that some people will move on to something else, given it took Acura that long to make this step.

However, what you said, also brought up some other points. For instance, you mentioned there's no RWD TSX or RWD TL, and then you also mentioned, why would anyone spend $60k on a RWD V8 RL, when you can get a Genesis or G8 for far cheaper. So, if Acura were to offer a RWD TSX, we can also say, there's the RWD V6 Genesis and RWD G8 for $30k, and I get much more power and stuff, why get the RWD TSX? IMO, this kind of debate can go on forever, and doesn't make much sense to me.

Again, I've seen many saying a V8+RWD flagship is needed to boost the image of Acura, now Acura is finally doing it, but unfortunately people are still complaining. I mean we have to be more realistic, seems like what people want to see from Acura is a car with RWD, V8, 50+mpg combined, 500hp, 500lbft, 2000lbs, that costs $20000 or something.

Criticism is welcome, but we should not forget this 2011 RL is exactly what many were hoping for.

alphason'sac

Damn, I thought that this would be good news for everyone. This is huge for a company that took such a stand AGAINST V8 cars. It did take too long, but look how long it took GM to start making quality cars that people cared about again. Look how long it took Ford to, er...well nevermind........

BraveDemon

For one, I would have no problem paying $35k for a TSX with the power train of the RDX (Turbo 4 + SH AWD). Hell, I plan to get an 09 EVO, so obviously an AWD turbo TSX would be right up may alley for that price point.

Two, a RWD TSX would be a completely different car from a RWD Gensis or G8 just by the sheer size alone. I'd be really surprised to see a Drift Genesis on the Formula D circuit. A RWD TSX... that would be cool.

Three, RWD TL would probably be closer in size to the G8 but again would be alot smaller than the Genesis and a lot more sporty.

RWD TSX/TL is what everyone was hoping for; and now I'll settle for SH-AWD.

And I specifically stated that between the RWD V8 RL, V8 Genesis and G8, the RL with its doubled price tag does not seem so special. My point was not only to say that you can get tons of other cars at a cheaper price, but that other manufacturers have stepped up the game before Acura and have already brought RWD + V8 + Affordability to their flagships.

Again with badge wars aside, you tell me whats the current better buy for a flagship sedan: a decked out RL or a decked G8 or Genesis?

Well, what can you expect? Acura's been screaming and hollering about: "Oh we're gonna be better than Maybach." "Oh we're gonna be the next Bentley." "Oh we're gonna have the best super sports car but discontinue every single sporty vehicle in our lineup."

Shit on the people long enough, and the people will throw shit back at you.

Not exactly. We were hoping for this years ago. What we hope for yesterday is not necessarily the same as what we hope for today, or tomorrow for that matter.

We were hoping for this RWD RL years ago before the 2g RL was launched. Now, its just logical to move to RWD (esp since Hyundai and Pontiac have done it) and if they announced another FWD RL, then I'm sure even the current gen RL owners would feel unmotivated to get another RL.

Honestly, sure a V8 RWD RL sounds good on paper, but you think that V8 RWD RL is gonna instantly change Acura Brand into a BMW fighter? Not at a $60k+ price point. RL's are already rare as is, and with the jump to a V8 and RWD, it'll be on the rise.

The better move would have been to make their entry sedans (TL/TSX) RWD with selectable drive trains. Why? Simply cause they'd sell more.

Again, disappointment with the 2g TSX and the 4g TL - those should have been RWD, and the fact that they're working on a RWD RL proves that Acura could have done it, but for some unknown reason, decided not to. Not to mention the new TSX is ridiculously expensive. (or in my opinion anyway).

The RWD V8 RL is years away, and I only pray to God that it will not be as bland as the RL's have been.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

Points taken, but for the better buy, wouldn't you agree the G8, Genesis, Charger would be a better choice than say, a 5 series, E Class, or A6?

Hmm, I believe Acura started talking about the tier1 crap months ago, and IMO, we are at an Acura forum, which means most likely we will hear news from Acura a lot of times. If we spend that same amount of time at other forums, such as Toyota or Mazda, you will be hearing a lot about when will Toyota ever make a sports car again, or when will the RX-7 going to come out. People here think Acura is only bs-ing because we spend a lot of time here, we hear the same news/rumors all the time. In reality, this kind of things happen with almost every brand.

No, I don't think so, many people still want to see a V8+RWD RL. I mean, me and EdwardTLS and some others were just debating that months ago, definitely not years. And this is exactly what Acura needs, a car that sounds good on paper to boost its image. The current RL is already not selling well, why not try something new, try something that people have been asking for? Besides, the current RL is expensive mainly because it's pretty much fully loaded even for the base model. At least when compared to say, GS, 5, E, or A6, the RL doesn't have many options for customers to choose from. That makes the car too $$, and not everyone needs a fully loaded car. If they can provide more trim levels, or options, similar to what Acura Canada is doing for the TSX, that alone can make the car much more affordable.

As for TL and the TSX, I can understand why people hear prefer RWD, simply for that sportier feeling. In reality, those two are selling well. 1st gen TSX sold much more (two times more) than what Acura expected (yea, you can say that's bs from Acura), and the TL, has been selling well too (until recently), not in the territory of the 3 series, but still fairly good. It would be risky for Acura to move to RWD all of a sudden since those are selling so well, it would cost much more to engineer two more platforms (too many platforms is the reason why Nissan was in such deep financial problem in the early 1990's). Also note that the FWD layout has been working well in terms of handling for both the TL and TSX. This might be old news to you, but remember the TL-S with worse tires than the IS350 and G35S 6MT, is still 2 seconds faster on Willlow Springs, driven by a professional driver on the same day. It might be one test, but that's the only test that's done by a pro. Having a SH-AWD option would be a good intermediate step. It gives consumers another option, it's a middle step from FWD to RWD in a way, and SH-AWD is an awesome system that actually helps handling and improves the sporty image of Acura, that's also the reason why BMW and Audi are copying and improving that system.

BraveDemon

^ Points well made and taken. I don't think you're wrong at all. I just represent the other side of Acura customers.

A little off topic, But as for....

God... this has been repeated so many times on these forums. Its like the only argument 3g TL owners have against Lexus IS350 owners. I don't want to open a different can of worms on this thread, so I'll agree with you that it was simply one test.

Costco

Its never too late, especially since this is what a lot of people wanted. The only time I think it'll be too late is when their whole line-up offers V8s when the EPA begins enforcing its 35mpg fleet average mandate by 2020 or whatever it was. We're finally seeing progress, honestly if it looked just like a jumbo-sized TSX it would be way better looking than the concept RL (minus the fugly grill on both counts)

I actually find you and BraveDemon to have good points. Go on vwvortex, there are plenty of people in the Car Lounge who are former VW owners, yet diss them regularly. Each side has their good points also.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

lol, yea, I think it really depends on where you are looking at.

As for the Willow Spring test..yea..it's really getting old.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the compliment.

Yea, I think this is a good step for Acura, you know, a flagship sedan with RWD + V8, exactly what many have been asking for, with SH-AWD as an option. And also a NSX replacement as the halo car with V8 and/or V10. Then further improve on the core models such as the TSX and TL to ensure they meet that 35mpg goal. Do you by any chance know if they can combine numbers from Honda when achieving that 35mpg goal? If so, then they won't have too much trouble for sure. If not, I guess that's another reason for introducing diesel and/or hybrid.

I think the test mule, with the stretched TSX body actually looks good, better than the actual TSX..lol... the rims are much better looking too.