dom

From A-CL

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=165482

Its about the same price an the RL. I was expecting the 45 to be about 5k more.

sipark

How much cheaper is it in V6 form?
I thought that would better compare against the RL..

ClutchPerformer

Uh oh...

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

Base price is close to the RL, but the options are several grand shy of where they would have to be to match the RL's package.

ClutchPerformer

List price: $48,500
As tested: $49,090

It seems to have more "stuff" than the RL, too.

Edit: Man, a 5.3 0-60?! Carlos Ghosn wasn't kidding!

sipark

According to Road & Track (maybe Motortrend), he's the most influential figure in the automotive world today.

ClutchPerformer

I think it was MotorTrend. And I agree. The man almost singlehandedly breathed life into a dying mid-90s Nissan. And he's delivered on his promise that all Nissan cars will have the most HP in their class.

phile

Besides what's listed on the Acura site, an RL owner posted on the RL forums about little touches inside that are not listed. Things like door handles lighting up, rear passenger sunshades, doors that open 90 degrees, rear windows that roll all the way down, etc. I truly believe you get what you pay for in the RL.

ClutchPerformer

I don't know about you, but I'd rather have ventilated front seats like the M45.

phile

When the people at Acura get their heads out of the clouds, they'll give it to the RL, cause it's already available in Canadian RLs.

ClutchPerformer

Yup. Even worse than the decision not to put heated mirrors on '04 TSXes.

Why would someone in Canada need a cool seat and someone in Florida doesn't?

phile

And here's the kicker...the RSX got heated mirrors for the 04 upgrade.

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

Actually, I just priced one on Infiniti's website and an M45 outfitted to match the RL in equipment comes to roughly $6k more. An equally equipped M35x comes to roughly $2k more.

And yes, Ghosn is the man of the automotive world. I'm reading the book about his takeover and turnaround of Nissan and it just amazes me how poorly managed Nissan was before he got there. He's doing a damn good job with the company and is pointing it in the right direction. If they can get their build quality to match Toyota and Honda, they will easily become the class leader.

Junkster

He's shaken up the Japanese business world...

There's even a manga (comic) on his story to restoring Nissan.

Junkster, who thinks Ghosn is doing more then 99% of all other heads

gocubsgo55

Carlos Ghosn is the role model I'd pick if the question were ever asked who it was (just ahead of Junkster). Hard work, honesty, and a good mentality.

phile

Well speaking of role models, I'll go off topic a bit and talk about Finbar O' Neil. For those who don't know, this man turned Hyundai's image around within a few years. He was responsible for initiaing the 10 yr warranty program to help buyers put more confidence in Hyundai's not stellar track record, specifically its poor reliability record.

And in 2003, he left Hyundai for Mitsubishi, presumably to do the exact same thing. I guess the situation is more dire at Mitsubishi than he thought, cause he's leaving Mitsubishi.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050104/latu121_1.html

mg7726

all that speed and it can't run away from the fuglyness of the front/back exterior design

mg7726, who wouldn't pay $50k+ for a nissan

Junkster

Hyundai did improve during the time as well in terms of quality and reliability, so that the warranty become more of a safety net instead of a primary means of keeping a Hyundai on the road. But O'Neil does deserve credit for coming up with the idea.

Mitsu, on the other hand, might be near hopeless, seeing as to how O'Neil even gave up on it.

And that points to how great Ghosn was to Nissan. Nissan needed a full-on restructuring. Ghosn cut employees, reworked contracts with suppliers, spent more on design, and planned out more shared components between models. We have to remember, the Western style of rebuilding (firing peeps, reworking contracts, etc) is frowned upon in Japanese business... Ghosn wasn't well recieved his first year, when he started the steps to rebuilding, but now he's treated like a god figure in Japanese business.

Junkster, who thinks Mitus just might be hopeless to save

sipark

Mitsubishi

He should join Wolfgang Bernhard and work for VW.

AlterZgo

Two things...

1) I think Ghosn has done well for Nissan from an economic standpoint, but his cost cutting has seriously impacted Nissan/Infiniti's quality control. It has also taken away some of Nissan's unique sporting flavor. For instance, a car like the S15 Silvia would NEVER have been approved or built under Ghosn. But, the S15 Silvia is 50x the car that a Sentra SE-R is and would likely take major sales away from the Mitsu Evo and Subaru WRX if it were available in the U.S.

2) Is it me or does the RL seem to be akin to the TSX for the midsize luxury market? Like the TSX, the RL delievers a whole bunch of technology, refinement, and standard equipment, but is underpowered. The lack of power is acceptable in the TSX's sub-$30K category where certain trade-offs are expected due to price, but I think it is inexcusable in a $50K luxury car where buyers expect not only refinement and technology, but power as well. The flagship RL should perform at least as well as a TL. As it stands, it barely out accelerates a 6 speed TSX. What's up with that?

Precision Crafted

I hoped that the RL would push beyond 300 to give the TL room to move up to 300. I guess the powers that be know what they are doing. I just wish they'd give the rest of us a clue.

biker

I think the most impressive number in the test is the .90G skip pad number.

Simply put - M Sport is the best handling 4 door sedan.

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

Whoah there...a little overstated, don't you think? I believe that title still goes to the BMW M5. The Infiniti M is pretty good though...

95gt

I think in the latest C&D the RL outhandles all the ones that they show on the list (m45, RL, 530 and a couple others)

fyi

ClutchPerformer

Well it's not like the TL hasn't had more power than the RL in the past. I don't think Honda's too worried about that.

dom

I'd think the 545 will still give it a run for its money.

ClutchPerformer

That car's been out for a while, though. I'm pretty sure they've already tested it.

dom

Until they're tested head to head on the same surface that 0.90 means nothing. And besides, when did skidpad become the determining factor of a cars handling? There's alot more to it.

iNteGraz92

the RL isn't mean to compete w/ the v8s. it has more power than competing 6 cylinders. i also don't understand the comparison between the rl and tsx. the benz e500 is faster than an s500. what's up with that?

biker

True, but anything beyond hard numbers (like skip pad and slalom) is subjective - like some folks love Active Steering on the 5 series and others don't.

ilitig8

I would even argue these "hard" numbers have some play. It still takes skill to extract the best SP and slalom numbers out of a car. Even on the same day, same surface and same driver results could be skewed. Depending on which car ran first or second the track temp may move quite a bit (cloud/ no cloud), the track may have more/less rubber laid down or the driver may feel more comfortable/fit better or just have more concentration for one run or the other. One has to compile all the numbers (assuming no 9/10th or 10/10th test drive) and distill them into a valid opinion.

From what I have seen in the US and Euro press thus far the M and RL are a drivers race. I think the M would prevail on a long sweeper track like the N-ring but the RL might do better on a tighter track like Gingerman.

The M has more power but may have more issues putting down the power, the M's rear steering is probrivesably balanced by the RL's SHAWD. In the end, again distilling the opinions and numbers I think the average driver would be faster in the M45. I say this because the average driver can harness the straight line muscle and better braking ability of the M45 than the possible handling advantage of the RL. I certainly have not driven the M45 yet but expect to find the RL balances in the middle of it and the more relaxed Lexus (though this could change with the next gen Lexus) and the M leans more toward the BMW equation.

My final opinion of the RL will likely remain as it is: great commuter and long distance warrior and the M seems thus far to be more what I would pick for a drive in the mountains or fun catching the sport compact crowd unaware.

The 50K question is one I will be answering for our garage soon, we need a lux/sport sedan so when all the new candidates hit we will be doing a bunch of test drives. Will let you know what I find...

Vandy

biker

You must not have seen the thread about the M35 (not the 45) beating out the RL by 2sec a lap in Japan. M45 is way above the RL in terms of performance.
My view is - once you get down to a sub 6s 0-60 sedan what's the point of going further?

Precision Crafted

I would say to that the M35 has more Torque available. Honda is all about HP.

dom

I missed that thread. Link? Name?

heyitsme

Think it means those tires have some grip, they also have the 700ft slalom @ 65.4mph. Handling is hard to put on paper, but it sounds like the car is off to a nice start.

phile

Which issue...I gotta see this.

machination

He's talking about that test from Japan where they compared the LIGHTER, RWD, sport-tuned, 19-inch tired Nissan Fuga against the Legend. I seriously doubt the M35x would be that much, if any, faster the RL we have here.

Found in the RL forum:

machination

They both hit 60 in 5.3 seconds, but the 5 is a little faster through the quarter mile. R&T tested it along with the 530i, but didnt do any other performance tests for some reason.

machination

I think pricing was just announced officially yesterday:
Base V6-$39,900
Base V8-$46,750
V6 AWD-$42,400
V6 sport-$42,700
V8 sport-$49,500