Originally Posted by hotclick56

Originally Posted by hotclick56

Acura is not serious about performance and selling cars to enthusiasts. They are serious about cutting cost and their bottom line. I went to the Acura showroom in West Chester, PA to take a look at the TLX. The gear shift was replaced by idiotic mickey mouse push buttons. Easier to make and less cost in materials.]

Originally Posted by Legend2TL

Yes please, you're killing it here hours of inspection, disassembly and rework for a gearshift assembly? This is a auto manufacturer, not NASA.

Tolerance checks? Heat treatment? Roughness requirements? Hardness requirements?

You realize these assemblies are typically made of injection molded plastics with stamped sheet steel/pipe fabrication and some automated welds.

Originally Posted by hotclick56

Originally Posted by hotclick56

Originally Posted by ttribe

Oh crap!!!!!!

Originally Posted by Legend2TL

I was Director of Product Development at my prior company. Before that Hardware Engineering Manager and workedt with manufacturing engineers in operations.

Bottom line, unless you have the BOMs, operations costs. work process flow/steps, and accounting books you don't know COGS.

Originally Posted by TacoBello

Yeah but those 19k redline engines are toast by the end of the race, sometimes before the end, lol.

Originally Posted by Legend2TL

I was Director of Product Development at my prior company. Before that Hardware Engineering Manager and workedt with manufacturing engineers in operations.

Bottom line, unless you have the BOMs, operations costs. work process flow/steps, and accounting books you don't know COGS.

Originally Posted by hotclick56

If you were the Director of Product Development, then you should know how expensive it would be to manufacture a intricate mechanical assembly versus an electronic push button panel.

Even stamped steel would require dies to be fabricated & automated welds would need fixtures & programming. These all adds up as costly expenditures to make the part.

Originally Posted by Sarlacc

Do you even know how intricate these new 8 and 9spd transmissions are?

A fucking shift lever is the least of their expenses or cares. But you ignored my other reply anyway. So, how would even expect to engage in conversation...you're just here to trying measure dicks over how something is made and how much is costs.

Which is completely asinine to the conversation anyway.

Originally Posted by hotclick56

I will not respond anymore to this conversation with an uneducated person with profanity coming out of their mouth. PERIOD! Haven't your Mother washed your mouth with soap when she heard this kind of garbage?

Originally Posted by hotclick56

I will not respond anymore to this conversation with an uneducated person with profanity coming out of their mouth. PERIOD! Haven't your Mother washed your mouth with soap when she heard this kind of garbage?

Originally Posted by mrmako

So if I say the reason guys want the shifter to be a metal stalk is because it looks phallic, will I get run out of here?

Originally Posted by hotclick56

If you were the Director of Product Development, then you should know how expensive it would be to manufacture a intricate mechanical assembly versus an electronic push button panel.

Even stamped steel would require dies to be fabricated & automated welds would need fixtures & programming. These all adds up as costly expenditures to make the part.

Originally Posted by hotclick56

I will not respond anymore to this conversation with an uneducated person with profanity coming out of their mouth. PERIOD! Haven't your Mother washed your mouth with soap when she heard this kind of garbage?

Originally Posted by hotclick56

Originally Posted by SamDoe1

please graduate college, find a job, get some experience, and then come back. .

Originally Posted by hotclick56

If you were the Director of Product Development, then you should know how expensive it would be to manufacture a intricate mechanical assembly versus an electronic push button panel.

Even stamped steel would require dies to be fabricated & automated welds would need fixtures & programming. These all adds up as costly expenditures to make the part.

Originally Posted by justnspace

hotclick, where are you?

Originally Posted by Pseudomaniac

Dear Honda/Acura et. all,

As a teenager and aspiring engineer in the 90's, I drooled over the NSX pictures in car magazines. The clean lines, Ferarri rivaling performance in a dependable, sleek, road-going car that didn't have to be dissected every 5k. I was in love with the logic used, and once able to do so, became a Honda customer in 1997 with the purchase of a Del Sol Si.

It was quirky, head turning, nimble, fun, and an absolute pleasure to drive. Every bit of the reliability went along with all the enjoyable aspects, and the Cayman Island Green was a paint color you wouldn't dare see another manufacturer at the time attempt. It was risky; and ingenuity filled.

It mad a customer of me. The Del Sol was replaced by the B16A2 powered 2000 Civic Si, which promptly received a header, cat delete, cat back, and any JDM ITR parts I could source on the engine bay and interior. Civic Type R red carpet and door panels, steering wheel, console, shifter, floor mats - I was a brand loyal fan boy, and after adding an LSD the car should have been standard with, it was a formidable track day car at the autocross. I bought a third hand 91 CRX for a daily beater, and in spite of having 200k on it, it ran like a top, and I got every penny I spent on it back out of it, when I sold it and bought a 92 Civic Si to replace it. I realized even with the D motor, how spunky a car it was, and just fun to drive, whilst still sipping the petrol.

The boy racer in me was getting more expensive tastes, and while the call of the German rides was noticeable, and in my price range, I bumped up to an 01 Acura CL for my cruiser. I had other plans for my toybox. The auto-box wasn't much to ride home about, but the ride quality, power, and interior were spot on. To date, I still think the CL had the most comfortable seats you've ever made. After the garage space was made available to do so - an 00 S2000 AP1 became the weekend warrior.

The S2000 was perfection. The car needed nothing to hit the track, and nothing to be enjoyable to cruise. The radio was more or less an afterthought, and you weren't buying it for the radio anyway - you were buying it for that screaming F20C, and snick-snicking your best ever manual trans at 9,000 RPMs, screaming down the back roads.

A home, wife, dog, and kids were all coming into the picture. I kept my beloved S2000, and dumped the CL for an 02 MDX. This was my first regret. It rode like crap, and wasn't nearly as comfy as the CL it replaced. It was anemic on power. The wife took the brunt of a bigger car and we replaced her civic with a 99 TL. I was content finding the unicorn I'd sought after a few years earlier; a 2003 CL Type S 6 Manual.

Comptech headers, comptech B pipe and exhaust. P2R intake manifolds. Polished throttle body, lightweight Flywheel and Stage 3 clutch. Lightened pulleys, and new struts and springs. The 4.6 Liter Mustangs could hang with her to 45 or so, but once I hit 3rd gear, it was gone. No contest. Comfy seats, clean lines - awesome ride, and Honda reliability - fantastic car.

Tired of clutching the daily driver, she was sold and replaced with an 09 TL SH-AWD. The wife bumped up to an 07 Type S.

The 09 TL was ugly; bulbous, but the interior and gadgetry were well thought out. It was comfortable to sit in, and drive. The AWD stuck to the road, but it was a cold, lifeless, uninspired machine.

The 07 TL was a formidable rocket of an FF Honda. Torque steering, and harsh riding, but a blast to drive hard. The navigation sucked. The phone integration sucked. The seats were pleasant enough, but the harsh ride was noticeable.

After years of mediocrity, reinforced by the vanilla purchase of the RDX, The 09 TL was my last "I'm going to settle for an Acura" purchase. After bolting every RV6, P2R, and other available goody on for the hope of more power, none was really there. The gear box was abhorred, and sloppily slurped up seconds between up shifts. At 80MPH and WOT, it bogged, and choked, as if the computer said - uh, um, er, okay, gas pedal, right.... let's go. It was floppy and sloppy. It became rattly, and the seat cushions quickly lost their charm. The technical toys were unpredictable, with phone integration sometimes working, sometimes not, and never offering the ability to keep pace with where they were heading.

The 07 remained solid, where the 09 went south. Traded in the same year, with very low miles and pristine conditions, the 07 fetched only 1000 less than the 09 - as the market was equally un-fond of the beast.

The 2014 RDX replaced the 07, and became the kiddo hauler. Finally stuck the J35 in it and made it something that they could ask money for. The interior suffered. Cheap plastics inside and out. Unfinished parts. Rattles. Skimped design with molded plastic appointments instead of multi-part assembly. Pleasant enough on power, it rattles your teeth out at stoplights when cylinder management kicks in to tame it down; something you can't turn off. The remote start is quirky, and unpredictable. The backup camera offers no active logic, and the navigation, borrowed from the outgoing TL, cuts out the voice control system and further skimps. It's vanilla, uninspired. It's just a toolbox - no soul.

The 03 Honda Element in the downstairs garage serves as a reminder of what a fun vehicle you used to make. It's 5 speed manual paired to the solid K24 is still snick snick even with 220k on the ticker. It revs, shift quickly, chirps tires. No AC - no nonsense. The little box moves out when it needs to, and is still fun to drive. The driver is connected to the road through the vehicle, and I have fun taking it to the hardware store.

After checking out the new TLX, and RLX options, I can only conclude that you've lost your way. These are soulless mass productions of uninspired yawns. They are numb; unimaginative. The TLX drives like an Accord on Ritalin. The RLX does the same, if it were addicted to Popeye's chicken. Getting AWD and all the tech toys on the RLX yields a 370ish horsepower car that in trim like an 07 TL would be a fun, rocket of a 13 second flat car, and still have all the creature comforts. Instead it feels like an 80's Lincoln. Big ass - no movement. Numb steering. Numb ride. The dual screen interior is pretty, but under utilized - and for $70k - you'd really better re-think your market.

I have nothing nice to say about the TLX. You effectively terminated the TL, and rebranded the TSX. Call it a TSX and be honest with your customer base, instead of presenting the facade that it's a TL and commands such a price tag. The shifter is tacky (and apparently unreliable). If I wanted a 4 cylinder revvy car, I'd buy a Civic Si, or suffer through an ILX's buzzy acceleration. 40k "luxury" cars don't get Civic engines - or at least not Civic engines without boost. Really.

When I turn the key on my shiny new AMG C63, the ground rumbles. The vibration of 6+ liters of V8 letting you know that there's nearly 500 ponies ready to romp with you, on a snick-snick double clutch gearbox that you can barely out blink. The immersive stereo can drown out the outside world, but with that glorious engine note, why would you want to do so? The iphone integration works - like when you turn the key - it works. No hunting, no fussing, no waiting. Works. The Continental tires do what they are designed to do, and aren't rock hard Michelins that sacrifice ride for performance and performance for longevity. The lines are clean; simple, but aggressive. The seats are better than the S2000's Recaro designs. High bolsters with power adjustable lumbar. The Nav click interface at your armrest is intuitive. No touch screen hunting. The front end doesn't look like it has a honeycomb growing from both eyes.

I am your high income middle class. I buy cars that I want before I buy cars that I need. I'm a lifelong Honda/Acura guy, and I'm tired of settling. I bought a Benz - that makes nearly twice the power of anything you sell while sacrificing nothing but mileage - and I spent less money than your flagship or it's TL impersonating baby sister cost.

There's no denying what you used to be; and unfortunately, I believe the Acura badge shall soon fall by the wayside. The NSX forthcoming will most certainly be in the 130k range with any real power under the hood - and already be inferior to a 6 year old Nissan offering.

You've lost your way. Please find it; we miss you. Innovate. Lead. Be risky. Take chances. Go wild. Quit following. Quit settling. In the meantime, I'll be enjoying your German competition.

-Pseudo

Originally Posted by MTEAZY

There's also little purpose in comparing the price of a new Acura to a used German car out of warranty.

Originally Posted by TacoBello

True. It would be a terrible thing to embarrass the brand new Acura by comparing it to a 5 year old car...

Originally Posted by MTEAZY

Don't even try to troll an OG like me, kid. It's not happening.

Originally Posted by MTEAZY

Don't even try to troll an OG like me, kid. It's not happening.