I got a call from my Acura dealer today; they wanted me to test drive the new RL that just came off the truck this morning...

When I got there with my friend (who has a BMW 330ci convertible), we saw 4 brand new RL's : Black/black, silver/black, midnight blue/black and light blue/tan

we test drove the black one, very shiny.

Things I liked:
-----------------
- Paddles on the steering wheel, to shift gears + and -
- Very smooth ride
- Rear articulated rear shade, goes up and down at the press of a button.
side shades are also provided for rear passengers.
- Directional xenon lights
- Nice Brembo brakes with Acura emblem embossed in 3D, not painted as in the TL
- Very quiet interior
- Handled nice on the curves
- 4 wheel drive
- Tire pressure sensors
- Rear headrest can be lower with a push of a button.
- DVD-Audio

Things I didn't like:
------------------------
- The sound system is not very intuitive, there are a lot of tiny buttons, and the volume control is a tiny knob in the center of the console.
- Directional lights seem to move only when turning right. (I guess they don't want us to blind people coming towards us).
- Doors didn't seem as solid as on the TL (my feeling)
- No touch screen for the NAVI
- Must use the rotary dial for selecting characters of the alphabet which is
a pain, since you cannot use voice or touch screen (as in the TL).
- Joystick to control NAVI is too big for my taste. (copied too much from BMW)
- Trunk didn't seem much larger than the TL (although nice)
- Couldn't test the Real Time Traffic information on the NAVI since it's not active until you buy the car and pay for it.
- Didn't care for the dials, they look outdated. (may look better at night).
- Didn't like the sticker price either, a little over $49,000.oo

I will post more details the next time I test it.

 

Good review. Will move to Cars & Bikes tomorrow.

 

nice review. i was going to take a test drive just for kicks when i get a chance.

 

I can't believe that the RL Navi doesn't have touch screen!

 

my dealer should gimme a call this thurs or friday for 05 RL test drive too

 

Wow thats such a step down. What do these corporate people have in mind. What makes them tick and come up with stuff like that. I've heard driving a Toyota product, like a lexus, you need to come to a complete stop before inputting an address while driving (unlike our TLs). I dont get it.

 

......but please tell me you're kidding me that there is no longer a TOUCHSCREEN ability for the NAVI??

Are these designers/engineers on drugs??

What the f*ck have they done with my Navigation System??

One of the reasons I have been been a DEVOTED ACURAPHILE is because of the untouchable, unbeatable world-class Navigation system which no other manufacturer, OEM or AFTERMARKET can touch, let alone beat it!!........Now they've gone and done something so UNBELIEVABLY STUPID!! Shame on these idiots

I say, Go screw up anything else, but not the main f*cking selling point of your car .......from your list I can forgive and overlook all the other negatives, but I am still in a state of shock that they've messed up the greatest Navi .....SIMPLY UNBELIEVABLE!!

 

......I will not touch a Lexus with a ten foot barge pole, even if it cost 10K less than the Acura......Can't say that anymore, can I??

 

Check out this cool video of the RL's SH AWS display.
If the video doesnt steam just right click and save.

http://video.vtec.net/05/rl/05rl_intro.divx

 

first of all lexus has one of the best navigation systems in the market

the biggest reason why you cant input anything into the navi while driving is so that you dont put yourself into a dangerous position. playing with the navi and driving at the same time=not safe at all

Probably the whole touchscreen to dial thing might be or maybe because of price and duarbility of the two?

the 05 RL has a 8 inch monitor? thats going to be one expensive touchscreen. YES i am totally in favor of the touchscreen navi but there has to be a good reason why they changed it. BUT because acura has already spoiled us with the touchscreen in previous models they will be getting lots and lots of complaints about it and probably have a touchscreen by 06-07 models

sidemarker

 

The problem I see with the car is that it has incredibly bland styling. It appears that acura engineers ripped off the styling from the 1990 Lexus LS400. The interior is nothing really to crow about either.

 

what complaints are we getting with the touch screen? i have had my car for about 7 months and i don't see a adverse effect of the touch screen.

 

wow! 49k? thats how much my dad got his brand new 04 BMW M3 for! (they had to ship it by boat from germany as well)

 

The reason they don’t have a touch screen is everything is voice activated. Like our car we can use our voice but when it comes time to put in the name of the street when need to type it in. In the RL you can say the letter you want instead of typing.

 

Nice one though i should let you people know that you might need the DIVX plug in. get it from here. DIVX

I never said the lexus Navi is bad. I just pointed out a fact which is true.
Also dont our TLs already have an 8 inch screen?? and it is Touch Screen.

Thats a good thing. But having a touch screen still comes so handy.

 

i'd go for the M3

 

LOL!

 

Personally, I don't care for the voice activation in my TL, except when using the phone. As far as having voice control over turning up the stereo, turning the AC off/on, etc, it seems kinda lame. I mean those controls are less than an arm's reach away and I don't need to take my eyes off the road to get at those dials/buttons. I love the touchscreen navi though. What a huge mistake to make it all voice activated. Imagine trying to speak some off the wall roadname into the mic only to have the woman's voice yell back at you "Pardon?" It's way faster typing it in imo.

 

People in the market for an RL aren't interested in an M3, think about it.

 

your dad is my new hero.

 

Those are two very different marketing demographic targets. The 545i will probably be the BMW competitor to the new RL.

 

the knob is a copy of BMW's iDrive, thats how their navigation systems work, the knob controls EVERYTHING, its kind of intuitive, but a royal pain in the arse sometimes... the new Acuras are taking severals cues from the germans to market to those people... I think Acura is doing a good job, they need to kick the guy who is picking what features come to Acura and which ones don't

 

I agree that the M3 and the RL are apples and oranges but the RL would be a closer comparison to the 6cyl 530 than the 8cyl 545 in terms of price and performance.

The real competition will be the 2006 M35AWD and the 2006 GS330AWD.

 

Another thing I like is that the Acura/BOSE system can play MP3's !

and it uses the 10 bose speakers in conjuntion with a noise cancelling system to quiet the interior.

The actual price of the model I saw was $49,470

The salesman said, they didn't make the screen touch screen because it's too far to reach up on top of the dashboard... (weird answer).

I took 36 pictures which I will post tonight or tomorrow...

 

The '6 cyl 530i' wasnt lost on me. It's just that some folks here get insulted when a beloved Acura sports/luxury sedan is compared with a "weaker" 3.0L I6 BMW (although the new R6 3.0L I6 puts out 255hp). So I figured I'd give the RL more credit than it probably deserves, by comparing it to the 545i. :P

 

Moving to Cars & Bikes

 

and your point being?

 

 

Hopefully i'll be able to test out the RL this saturday at my dealer. I'll be sure to bring my camera and take pics.

Our TL has an 8inch touch screen.
I also think that the reason the RL doesn't have touch screen is because the screen is placed so far up so it'll be hard to reach. But I didn't see it in person yet. Only in the pictures.

 

yea i gained a lot of respect for him when he got the car hahaha

 

in MY opinion, the M3 is a much better buy and is a much better car that turns heads and catches eyes and has incredible power.

dont hate me for saying that cuz once again... its MY opinion
i respect the fact that other ppl would prefer the RL's over the M3

(u also love the M3 10x more once u've driven it)

 

It also has a very stiff ride, is impractical and has hardly any features.

Don't get me wrong but you are comparing an apple to a coconut.

 

GOtta disagree again. Maybe compared to the RLs techno, it hardly has features. THe reason the M3 is so loved, it is pratical, it can be used daily, with room for 4 for a quick lunch. Then taken to the track on weekends.

 

Um.... like someone said earlier, different demographics, different cars, different needs.

Ask me a 2 year ago what I want to drive and I would have told you M3. Having a 4 door will always be more practical than a 2 door car. Easy access is better than squeezing in.
It's a different approach for different kind of people. Think of it as, I'd rather get a 540 than an M3.

 

Same here. 540 is far more practical and liveable. The M3 is definitely a second or third car.

 

i'm not hating. MY point is that they aren't even competition for each other. a fair comparison would be the 50k RL vs a 50k 5-series. dollar for dollar, the RL is a much better car than an equally priced 5-series. yes the m3 is a very nice car indeed, probably the only bimmer i would ever want to have, besides an m5.

 

Amen, couldn't agree more. Acura's always had the best OEM navi systems. It sounds like they're letting go of that with the RL. Why??

 

From all the reviews i've read so far, the RL's navi is by far the best Acura has offered.