TSX69

2012 Acura RL Replacement Named RLX
Coming to NY

The confirmations of new product at the New York International Auto Show keep coming. This year the show is set to play host to a whole slew of important debuts. SRT Viper, Fisker Nina, Honda Crosstour Concept, Hyundai Sante Fe, the 2013 Chevrolet Impala and Traverse have all been confirmed. Earlier today Toyota released a teaser of what is likely to be the new Avalon.

Particularly in the full-size sedan arena the show will be an interesting 1 – Chevrolet Impala, Toyota Avalon (likely) and now the replacement for the Acura RL. Wards Auto has confirmed that the new sedan will be getting a name change, dubbed RLX. RLX? What is it with Acura these days sticking X on everything? We thought X was supposed to mean crossover, or at least all-wheel drive. Regardless, RLX it is. As far as full-size sedans go, the current RL is just about as uncompetitive as they come.

1st introduced in 2004 as a 2005 model, the RL is overdue for a replacement. The mid-cycle enhancement it received for 2009 did it no favors, only making it look more dated (in our humble opinions). According to Acura’s vice-president Jeff Conrad, the redesign will be a total 1. That is good news. Past reports have pointed to the new car being the 1st to debut Honda’s new hybrid Super-Handling All-Wheel Drive technology.

The system would eliminate the usual AWD driveline because the rear wheels would be powered by electric motors. This would enable the SH-AWD’s usual front-to-back side-to-side distribution of power. If true, that’s what we like to hear – innovative technology to differentiate Acura from the rest. Acura is near-luxury, and it has adopted that role wholeheartedly with the new ILX and redesigned RDX. It remains to be seen where the new sedan will be positioned. Without rear-wheel drive or V-8 power though, we don’t expect it to make much of an impact.

oo7spy

I am truly shocked. It's a stupid name, but then again, I can think of one competitor that doesn't have a stupid name.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

fuck honda.
they are stupid

Rob144

ReLaX everyone! If the car is good enough, it'll make a name for itself. I may be biased, but I'm getting a bit tired of articles ragging the RL for being so old/uncompetitive/long-in-the-tooth. It was ahead of its competitors when it came out.

While I don't care for the whole name-a-car-with-acronyms-so-you-force-people-to-say-the-brand approach, Acura's nomenclature is better than Lincoln's (a brand I want to like, having grown up in a Lincoln household). People know a TL, TSX, MDX because of the goodness of the car -- quick: which Lincoln is the MKS?

If the car is again based on the JDM Honda Legend, we can always rebadge.

Maybe they can name the option packages: RLX Legend, RLX Sport, RLX Premium.

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

Oh the drama.

oo7spy

But if it were a bone stock MB or Audi with a face lift, .

TSX69

Acura Will Debut New RLX FlagShip Sedan in NYC

Acura’s next flagship sedan will likely be called RLX, and is expected to debut next month at the New York auto show. The company hasn’t made an official announcement yet, but two signs point to RLX as the replacement badge for RL. 1st, Acura VP Jeff Conrad may have told Wards that RLX is the new name; when asked, Acura representatives declined to confirm whether the Wards quote was accurate. 2nd, the company has applied to trademark the name RLX with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Neither is dispositive, but taken together, we’re pretty convinced.

The RLX is set to replace the aged and out-classed RL, but will follow a similar formula. Like the outgoing RL, the RLX will feature all-wheel drive and a V-6 engine. This time, however, Acura’s range-topper will use a clever hybrid system to drive the rear wheels with electric motors. The setup should prove to be lighter and continue to offer rear-axle torque vectoring.

With the RLX replacing the RL, the TL will be the last car in the Acura lineup with a 2-letter name. We’ve been told that Acura will offer just 3 sedans in the future—the new ILX and RLX will be 2 of those, meaning that either the TL or the TSX is likely to bite the dust. Given its 2-letter name, the TL might be the more likely candidate, but Acura is currently in the process of trademarking TLX. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Rob144

There it is again: "aged and outclassed". Ooof.

Although he's a Mercedes spokesperson, I like to think of the RL more as a Roger Federer in the world of autodom. Elegant, not flashy, still quite competitive, and not without class.

Can't wait to see the RLX. Doubt I'll be able to afford one, anyway.

shrykhar

Or Tim Henman - nice guy but perennial runner-up. Henman actually was somewhat competitive though so that comparison's not quite fair to him.

Should've called it the RLY ... as in O RLY? You can rename a turd all you want ...

oo7spy

Who are you, and what credentials do you have to be commenting on the RL?

I just want to know so that we accurately judge how much weight we should give your insight.

getakey

I say go back to your own forum where you can muck around in your own s**t

shrykhar

I've owned plenty of Hondas and Acuras ... I just find their current floundering about depressing and wish they'd put out something competitive instead of fiddling with badges and eco credentials.

shrykhar

Um ... I'm glad you like your RL so much?

23109VC

i do agree with Rob that the articles that bash the RL as being boring / uncompetitive need to be taken with a grain of salt. When the RL first came out - it was ultra competitive and won some shootouts. I know there is a shootout online where it was rated #1 against it's luxury competitors... now in the CURRENT market.. yes the RL is not competitive... and if you pit our 2G RLs against NEW cars.. sure you can argue it's uncompetitive...

but I, and many of you, bought the RL as a used/CPO car and compared it to other near luxury / luxury used cars in the 2005-2008 year range... and in THAT price point, the RL kicks all the other cars a$$es.... big time.

as to the new RLX.... i hope Acura hits a home run with it and it is a true BMW / MB competitor. It will be interesting to see if the electric motors can provide enough extra power to make the V6 feel like a V8. Acura and the RL were always bashed for not having a V8 option.

The car makers always seemed to judge the RL / 5 series / etc by their "best" model.. so they loved a 550i.. and then the RL was just "so so" by comparison... when in reality, BWM sold 90% 530s... and compared to THAT car the RL was better...

now that the RLX will lack a V8.. IF the SHAWD hybrid system gives it enough extra kick that it has V8 power levels.... maybe it will get some respect.

the car needs to be marketed at BMW buyers... but at Acura prices. and they need to actually market it.... Honda has done a poor job or marketing the RL...

if they release something that would be as exciting looking as an Aspec RL would have been back in 2005-2006 - they have something. if they stuck with the same formula they used back when the 2G first came out -the car mags will rip it up and down and poo poo it....

fingers crossed.

getakey

yup - love it
bought it new in 2005 and have 150k miles

waiting on the 2013 news and pics

phishfood

Blah, new name will make 2G's take a resale value hit.

People will be thinking it must be even worse as it has no X and they will be missing something if they get a plain RL

Ballinger

That's okay: I don't plan to sell mine.

I might drop a 350cid V8 and some off road tires up in thare, but I ain't sellin her.

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

yeee haw?

rlx015

I like the name... RLX really fits better for an AWD car; it will just be silly to see RLX that is not a AWD car

oo7spy

There we go. Now I know to give your opinion of the RL the weight of a feather, and I think the wind is about to blow. I don't know what car you own; I have never driven one or even seen one in person, but I can say for sure that it is a turd.

Thanks for your input!

Rocket_man

The unfortunate truth is that the RL is not competitive. For the sake of the Acura brand, if they are going to keep selling a car they call thier flagship, I hope it is more competitive. Maybe a re-naming will help break the pattern of poor RL sales. In the one statistic that matters most, sales, the RL is a distant competititor. Now depending on what people think it is competing against, in terms of 2011 annual US sales:

RL - 1,096
BMW 7 series - 11,299
BMW 5 series - 51,491
MB S class - 12,258
MB E class - 62,736
Audi A6 - 11,124
Audi A7 - 6270 (only on sale for 9 mos of 2011)
Audi A8 - 5700

For a car company trying to make a profit, sales is where it is at. By this measure the RL is not even close. I hope the next gen RLX will reverse this trend.

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

I personally like the fact that there are only 1000 sold... if I wanted a mainstream car I would have bought a beamer

23109VC

I wonder how the rl sales figures were in 2006-2007 vs the same competitors? Probably better but not a whole lot I suspect.

The failure of the RL to be competitive wasn't because the RL is or was a bad car....it was perception. In the $50k price point where the RLwas...people wanted something that said "I have more money than you", and an Acura doesn't do that as well as a BMW or Mercedes.

Acura could have made the 2g RL a tad sportier, a bit faster....and gone more dad to head with the fer,and,..they opted to do it the way they did.....and the results are in the sales figures. The stats don't lie, the rl doesn't sell well.....but for those of us who bought one.it doesn't really matter. The rl is a great car. The sales figures and car magazine reviews also don't take into consideration the fact that the guy in the BMW will be taking it up the a$$ in the service department while I am zipping around with no mechanical issues in my "boring" and "uncompetitive" Acura! Hahaha

Back to the new car....I don't really mind the name change. If a name change helps them sell more..good. Maybe the X will help market that it is AWD. The BMW competition that is all wheel drive have an X in their names...so if a BMW shopper comes to an Acura dealer, maybe it reinforces the SH-AWD feature?

Does this mean they need to rename the TSX the TS? Or they will drop it totally? My guess is TSX is gone. The new ILX will replace the TSX. They are close in size to one another..which has been a problem for Acura in the past. The TSX was too similar to the old 3G TL, the 4g TL was too close in size to the RL....they need to have a lineup that has less overlap.

I'm guessing the new RL will be larger than the current TL. if they drop the TSX, their sedans will then be more differentiated from one another.

Will we have

ILX
RDX
MDX
RLX
NSX

And a TL renamed TLX? Maybe they will drop all FWD TLs? I can't imagine they would when so many of their current sellers are fwd...unless they find a way to add AWD to all their existing models but maintain competitive pricing???

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

I hope you guys are emailing all this free business analysis to the boys and girls at Acura.

oo7spy

The RLX will be bigger than the TL. The TSX will be discontinued. They will sell the current model for as long as there is a market but will not redesign it. The TL will become the TLX - Acura is in the process of trademarking it along with RLX. Both TL(X) and RLX will be offered in a base FWD option.

TonyCD

Heavy, I AM in marketing, and this name scheme is freakin' stupid. Just like Cadillac's and Lincoln's and Infiniti's are stupid.

I give a a partial pass to Mercedes, BMW and Audi's schemes. In Mercedes' case, only because the same scheme has been around so long that people have it memorized (C,E,S). The other two, because there's a hierarchial logic to them that helps you place individual models within the lineup (3,5,7 for the core models of BMW, though they seem determined to screw that up; 4,6,8 for Audi's, although ditto).

IM (not especially) HO, the others are simply following like lemmings off the cliff. You can't mount a rational defense of what happened to Acura sales when the Bright Boys first ditched the Legend and Integra names precisely BECAUSE they were better known and better loved than the Acura name.

If you have a brand equity, you don't flush it down the toilet just because you've decided your customers "should" care more about the Acura name than about your Legend or Integra sub-brands. They didn't, and they don't.

Brand equities in consumers' minds are laboriously built (or destroyed) over lots of time and lots of dollars. No brand management with half a brain would flush all that equity down the toilet for no better reason than tossing a hissy fit because somebody's marketing textbook says you'd be better off with different customer attitudes than the ones your actual customers have.

With this RSX stupidity, Honda's self-immolating state of denial about "Acura" vs. "Legend" and "Integra" continues. No matter how big you are, or how many layers of bureaucracy you can hire to hide from facing questioning about your decisions, a stupid course is a stupid course. And they'll continue to pay for it in continued crappy sales and brand erosion. They're screwed again, and once again they didn't even have the sense to lube themselves first.

Not to be all negative, of course: Congratulations and thank you to Acura for making another handful of meticulously engineered, bargain-priced used luxury cars over the next six years.

getakey

Articles every day:
http://www.insideline.com/acura/rlx/...auto-show.html

Indicates 20KW engine on each rear wheel. Thats 26HP per wheel, so a total of 52HP in addition to the gas engine

But no leaked pics

Aman

RL - RLX. Do we really care about a letter? I want to see what the car's like.

getakey

I think adding the X is good to denote a major change to the model. That said, I think with all the models having an X takes away from the uniqueness of the new powertrain in the NSX and RLX

deepen03

so looks like the TSX and TL will last through the 2012 year, and we'll get a TLX in the fall as a 2013 model..

RLX, TLX, ILX, RDX, MDX, ZDX.. good lineup..

deepen03

I think its fine.. looks like Acura wants a fresh start with customers.. rebranding cars is a good start. just like when they went from the Legend/Vigor to the RL/TL back in the 90s..

M T L T L

The current RL's SH-AWD system can send upto 70% of engine's power to the real wheels when the conditions call for it and 100% of that power to either left or right rear wheel.
Based on the specs provided for the upcoming RL(X), how are they going to manage to have similar or even better driving dynamics with only 26hp on either of the rear wheels ? If we can expect atleast 300hp form the gas engine in front, the SH-AWD configuration on the new car will be nowhere near the of the actual one unless I'm missing something here.

neuronbob

Jeez guys, calm the heck down and wait for the official announcement. There is no need for rudeness or fighting here. Express your opinion and move on.

Doesn't matter what the name is, if it isn't competitive in the segment, it won't sell.

Too bad they aren't naming it "Legend". What a lost opportunity IMHO.

oo7spy

Sorry Bob. I have a hard time ignoring trolls.

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

I agree, I meant that literally... cause someone up there isn't getting it.

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

Most of us would just debadge it anyway.

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

Sorry, I just follow his lead.

typeR

dont forget the third electric motor on the main engine

oo7spy

But without a drive shaft, that power will never get to the rear wheels. He is asking how they plan to get comparable power to the rear wheels with the new system, and it sounds like they can't.

TonyCD

As I have, among others of us.

But here's more food for thought....

Despite the nonsensical alphabet-soup naming scheme Acura is using, two models managed by sheer weight of goodness to carve out some name recognition for themselves anyway: the TL and the TSX.

So what is Acura doing? They're killing one, and renaming the other.

Nice work, guys.