wstr75

I truly love my 2006 RL with 107K miles, but can feel the onset of seven year itch symptoms and the need for some new car smell. When will the AWD hybrid RLX be available?

Colin

No date has been set, but this is not unusual. The entire focus at Acura is on a successful launch of the new MDX. Once that is done, I expect to learn more about the RLX-H. It is supposed to be this calendar year though.

hondamore

I called Acura Customer Service in Canada and asked the same question...I was told that they have no idea when it is arriving. Apparently they (Customer Service) find out when the release will be a day before it is announced to the public.

dbrandwein

Local Acura dealer yesterday said AWD/Hybrid out in November. No specs or pricing yet.

christopher1

$70,000 and up RLX AWD Hybr... i will wait for it to become used.. it should be in the 50,000 range as the RL advance is but ACURA has lost there minds with that asking price. My paid for 2005 RL with 217.000 is running just fine! i will wait.

Colin

Where is this info come from? If only in the Advance trim, +$10K for the technology seems warranted (viewed logically). Doesn't mean that there will be a lot of takers.

neuronbob

Congrats on 217k miles. My bet is that the RLX-H will top out at $70k, but of course we will not know until just before release.

Can hardly wait!

hondamore

I talked to some Acura corporate guys at our local RLX/MDX track day and they speculated that the AWD version will be $70K Canadian and built in "very limited numbers". This is their informed speculation, so take it for what it is worth.

KeithL

So low numbers of the SH-SH-AWD and no real SH-AWD then I don't see the RLX finding a decent niche. Let's see what June numbers say. This thing could be the next ZDX.

jhr3uva90

I hope Acura hurries up with the SH-AWD version. Also, I hope Acura realizes that if they price the hybrid RLX too high it will cost more than a Tesla S. Meanwhile, the Tesla S is gaining popularity.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles...-iphone-moment

hondamore

If Tesla continues to grow, they are going to find themselves with a lot of competition from the larger auto manufacturers jumping on the electric luxury car bandwagon. Then, the question will be if they can build a better car than Acura (placed first on the list for sentimental reasons), Lexus, even Mercedes and BMW. Two years later we will have rolling blackouts throughout North America and we will have to start cooking using propane or natural gas.

Sorry for being off topic - I also would like Acura to at least let out some hints about the SH-SHAWD version already.

getakey

Tesla S is already a better car than Acura, BMW, MB, Lexus

charging EVs will mostly be at night when the grid is underutilized

Ken1997TL

Of course it's nicer for the price, government subsidies will do that.

jhr3uva90

From the article I posted, Tesla demonstrated a device that swaps out the battery without the driver having to recharge it. It is a 90 second process. Perhaps those "swapping" stations use some non-grid means to charge the batteries they are swapping. That could be possible.

db22

Yes but the swap option is not cheap.

getakey

about the same price as filling up your gas tank

WheelMcCoy

Well, government subsidies + vision + audacity + near flawless execution will do that.

Don't forget that Fisker also had government subsidies but has gone bankrupt.

db22

but you have to use a full charge to reach the next charge station even if you didn't plan on going to that city.
It's just like asking me to buy a gasoline car to drive around in but with only 80 gas stations or I need a 350 foot extension cord to reach the parking lot from my hotel room.

db22

I spoke to ACS on Friday and they stated the latest date for the real RLX is December 15.

I say real because I think that the PAWS should have been reserved for the TLS. Having two distinctly different versions of the RLX creates a marketing nightmare because they tout the present RLX as the premium Acura knowing full well that their is a premium premium coming in a few months.

My original question to ACS was regarding the color of the turn signals at the rear and they asked me if I had contacted my dealer. I said yes but the guy there told me that he didn't know because he has never noticed. It turns out that the turn signals are red even though the car is made in Japan and is planned to be marketed in more countries than just the USA so they need to have a rear light cluster that has amber already designed. I asked if making the rear light, the brake light and the turn light all the same color was a conscious effort or did the designer have his head up his a$$?
I told him never to let the same guy design traffic signals where you pull up at the red stop light and wait for it to turn red so that you may proceed.

Malibu Flyer

I spoke to ACS on Friday and they stated the latest date for the real RLX is December 15.

I wonder how the MDX is going and when Acura will get around to beginning the pre-release marketing for the RLX hybrid? Will we start to see some announcements about an "event" that will show the car and perhaps allow some in the press an opportunity to drive it?

I, for one, am not interested in the current RLX but might be in the hybrid. I have held off driving the Audi until I could evaluate the RLX hybrid. As the year drags on and deals start to show up on the current Audi I will get more tempted to pull the trigger and stop waiting for the next RLX to show up. My 2005 RL is getting very long in the tooth. I still like my current car but am more than ready for something new.

Colin

If the 12/15/13 date is close, could they possibly call it a 2015? If true, then the auto mags will get 'first drives' in Sept-Oct range (although as traditional print media fades and we move to the internet, these lead times seem to be shrinking).

KeithL

I think legally they can not call it a 15 unless it ships after 1/1/14, but I could be wrong.

vhdoshi

I think part of the reason the RLX hides the exhaust tail pipes is because the tesla model s does not have any tail pipe. That's just my guess.

After checking out the tesla website, it looks like the tesla model s is rear wheel drive only. Which I don't like. The RLX hybrid will be all wheel drive, which gives the RLX an advantage over the tesla model s.

Also, I could not find out what the transmission is on tesla model s from its website. Is the model s a CVT ?? Not sure. But I am glad that the RLX is a dual clutch transmission.

GoHawks

Also electric cars dont have transmissions like those found in conventional cars.

Edward'TLS

At this very moment, the tentative release date is Dec 15.

A 15-day slip is nothing when further delays are in store later.

Malibu Flyer

I haven't seen any updates on the anticipated release date. Does anyone have any new information?

Shouldn't we expect to see some announcement of cars available for reviewers to drive? I would think Acura would want to get this model out sooner rather than later given all of the mediocre press the RLX has gotten to date. It seems to me like the hybrid is the only chance the RLX has for redemption.

I am interested in the hybrid because of the rumored handling improvement. Performance is important to me and the current RLX isn't going to cut it while one of the Audi's probably will. I have owned Acuras since the first one came out and have generally enjoyed the 6 I have owned. So far the RLX doesn't look like I will continue with Acura unless the Hybrid fits the bill.

Fabvsix

I am shocked there are no test vehicles (RLX Hybrid) seen on the streets by now......

jshaw

Well, they wouldn't be too hard to disguise as normal RLX cars...

Chrisdg19006

Or Accords!!, as was the case with the auto journalists test drive event from back in the Spring

2011TL

I'm guessing two possible reasons for no release date on the hybrid version:

1) Unresolved technical/production issues.
2) Waiting on a couple additional months of PAWS sales data, before determining the initial hybrid MSRP. The rumored +$70k MSRP might have to drop if PAWS sales are below target.

Whatever the reason, the longer they delay the more likely potential customers will walk.

Colin

LOL, This assumes that the world is waiting with "baited breath" for the Hybrid RLX!? IMO, it is doubtful that, except for a handful of people here, very few even know about that car. More likely, THE most important thing for Honda is to get the Accord Hybrid launched. I've seen rumors that it's already garnered pre-orders of 7000 units!

CFoote

...and herein lies the problem with Honda -- their focus is not on their luxury brand, their energy is focused on their main brand.

Nissan seems to get get it with the Infiniti brand -- I wish Honda would too

Chris

Colin

There are obviously degrees of focus. However, it could be argued that this is one of the reasons why Nissan was weakened and was purchased by Renault. I'm guessing that Honda sees value in independence.

jshaw

Considering all Infiniti vehicles at the time were nothing more than existing JDM Nissans, often with normal Nissan build quality, I doubt Infiniti, a largely US-only phenomenon at the time, was the real cause.

What bankrupted them was building airplanes, real estate, and many things that had nothing to do with cars (something most major Japanese companies seem to have trouble with... Hondajet and ASIMO). It's a little known fact, but Nissan used to be one of the biggest Japanese real estate companies, until the Japanese economy went under in the 90s, dragging Nissan with it. Nissan Motors? Just like Mitsubishi Motors is to Mitsubishi the airplane and ship builder, it was a small part of the bigger Nissan. Though Renault have effectively pulled Nissan Motors free of most of it's old Nissan buddies.

wstr75

As has been said numerous times on the 2nd Gen RL board, Acura appears to use its low volume RL as a large scale field tester for future changes to be implemented later on its higher volume Acura and Honda offerings. We previously owned a 1st generation 2002 RL. I now own a 2006 RL. When given a 2006 TL loaner, it was amazingly similar in feature sets to our 2002 RL. The present generation TL is similar to the 2005 - 2008 RL in some feature sets, particularly the SH-AWD version. The RLX's new feature sets will undoubtedly be seen on higher volume Acura and Honda products. The link below gets into the special suspension aspects of the RLX. We will likely see much of those aspects in the next generation TL. I daresay the hybrid RLX is a field mule for aspects of what is coming in the NSX and will also likely be seen in future MDX and TL versions. In the NSX it could be the sensors, switches and some of the programming algorithms, etc.

http://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/t...alkaround.html

Using a low volume car that is priced high enough to cover the field follow-up expenses, still make a profit and serves as a halo place-holder product is not a bad strategy for Acura IMHO.

jshaw

That plan really only works if costs can be recouped (S-class). Otherwise, it's just a fancy feature glutton. Lane watch didn't make it to any Acura (yet?). Neither did the night vision camera, nor around view cameras (Canada gets a version of the latter, Japan has had both since 2005 or so - the first computer-assisted night vision system in the world, according to Honda).

So far, it only means the MDX and TL are limited by the RL/RLX feature set (though Acura Canada is fighting that). Too bad Acura (USA) hasn't showed any signs of following the leader - BMW (the same company Honda has copied the most). That company has little fear of their vehicles being cross-shipped, so they do not need to use technology features as the primary model differentiator (as noted, Acura Canada seems to get it when it comes to this).

Edward'TLS

^^^^^

Acura Canada didn't have to fight for anything for it's 3G MDX.

When the top-trim 2014 Canadian MDX is listed at $66K, in contrast to the top-trim 2014 US MDX's $56K listed price, it is a given that the much more expensive Canadian version must carry more high-tech features and contents than the US counterpart.

jshaw

Do tell, then, what happens when the RLX was supposed to be the top model in a region where AWD sells? Wait for the hybrid? Wonderful, it's also a region where hybrids don't sell, namely due to the battery being less useful in colder weather.

So the Canadian MDX had to become the flagship, while the RLX got demoted to merely being "top sedan."

Edward'TLS

^^^^^

If you have been an Acurazine member with a much longer history, you would have realized that this topic of whether the RL/RLX or the MDX is the flagship of North American Acura, has been argued to death.

The RL/RLX and the MDX are in two vastly different vehicle category, one being a sedan and the other a SUV.

The RL/RLX is the flagship Acura SEDAN and the MDX is the flagship Acura SUV, in North America (US & Canada).

So both are the flagships of North American Acura, one in the sedan category and the other in the SUV category.

db22

So why don't Acura put all of the top features in both vehicles? A lot of families have an SUV and a sedan, I for one have an RL and an MDX and I want ALL of the features in both but Acura does not offer them. Holding back known features are only hurting Acura sales - the Advance needs to be advanced not a vehicle that compromises.