Whether you love or hate Acura, there’s no denying that they stick to their guns.
The RLX, as previously discussed, will come standard with front-wheel drive and a V6 engine, in keeping with Honda’s legendary stubborness tradition. The base RLX will put out 310 horsepower and 272 lb-ft of torque, while returning 20 mpg in town and 31 mpg on the highway. A four-wheel steering system, not seen on a Honda product since the now departed Prelude, will apparently help with the car’s driving dynamics.
The big news with the RLX is an all-wheel drive system with a 3.7L V6 and two electric motors in the rear wheels, good for 370 horsepower. The hybrid version is said to be good for 30 mpg city and 30 mpg on the highway as well. The transverse layout will also pay divendeds with respect to interior packaging. Despite being the same size as a BMW 5-Series, the RLX apparently offers as much as 3 inches more rear seat legroom than its RWD competitors. Length remains unchanged, but the car rides on a two-inch longer wheelbase.
A whole host of electronic nannies are standard, as well as an interior loaded with all the necessary gadgets. The RLX may be a technical tour de force, but it’s tough to imagine that such an image-conscious segment would be drawn to such a nondescript looking car.
Sweet. So you can buy a slightly more powerful and luxurious Accord with styling that combines the most bland elements of the Suzuki Kizashi (rear), last-gen Infiniti M/Nissan Fuga (profile), and Lexus LS460 (headlights) with Acura’s own much-scorned, ugly, cheap-techy grille.
Great.
The mileage numbers are impressive for the engine power, and there seems to be some fairly neat but non-starting tech WRT 4-wheel steering (already proven completely pointless in the US market by 1995 by Honda themselves, Mitsubishi, and Mazda) and the hybrid deal (Lexus can’t even make hybrids light up in the luxury segment, so expect that to go precisely nowhere).
They consider this a worthy $60k+ flagship for a supposed luxury brand? I just don’t understand it.
+1 all day long. 60k for a gussied up accord??? Why try to save the RL when it already had one foot in the grave?
Acura should seriously consider naming this the Seppuku.
Every time I think Acuras can’t get worse, or even uglier, they prove me wrong, and wronger.
Acura is the new poster child for automotive suicide-by-design.
I think 7-series taillights grafted onto an E-class rear end.
Base model: Why?
“Whoops I spilled chrome on my Avalon.”
I gotta learn CAD.I want to throw a Saab 900 greenhouse and wrap-around windshield on that thing, suitably scaled-up.
I love everything but the beaks.
Someone still loves Acura? My brain cannot compute the lower character line. Aside from being the mirror image of that on the ILX (to accentuate the front fenders?), it slowly rises towards the upper character line, then abruptly disappears.
Paging (Design) Dr. Mehta!
I still love Acuras, because underneath they’re Hondas!
Exactly; it’s nice to be a fanboy of a company that doesn’t make you feel like a battered wife (VAG, BMW, etc, etc).
But why not just buy the Honda then, and save a lot of money, get the same (or better) reliability, unless badge snobbery is a necessity (for whatever reason(s))?
And better design.
DeadWeight: Please show me what Honda sedan comes in AWD/370HP/tripartite hybrid system/is specifically designed to be quiet.
The only “why not just buy a Honda” argument is successful for a the MDX and ILX (if’n you can look past the Civic’s interior and never sit in an ILX to see how much better it is). The other models all offer substantial differences that are simply not available lower down. So please quit with this argument unless you’re talking about those two.
Unless there is an AWD, V6, manual Accord sedan I’m unaware of. Or a V6 CR-V.
+1 internets to EChid
Acura RLX versus Cadillac XTS in the lamest comparison test of all time!
BMW sells 4 cylinder 5-series, and everybody else sells mostly V6 models of their 50K+ cars. This is car is more then logical, though most people rather not be pragmatic apparently. Most of the cars in this price range are not V8s, people are fooling themselves into thinking it matters.
I would agree that a modern 6 cylinder engine should be more than powerful enough in almost any sedan, but I don’t think it says “luxury flagship” either. Especially at the prices these companies are asking, once you load them up with options. Sixty thousand bucks could buy TWO loaded V6 Accords – and this certainly doesn’t look twice as nice.
No did does not look twice as nice as an Accord, but then I don’t think a Flying Spur does either. Acura played it safe, not because they could not afford to make the car look more upscale.
Acura has not fielded a competitive large sedan since the original Legend. The RLX does not appear to be likely to reverse that trend.
And even that was a bit too narrow to really be considered “large”. I do miss my short-Legend, a 98 3.2TL, but it had as much room as a compact car does these days. We replace it with an Accord, which is definitely a large car.
Acura seems to have “Lincoln disease”, which involves coming up with an ugly styling language and sticking to it until the end.
Come on Honda, just admit it, you’re trying, really trying to kill Acura. You’re taking from the 1990’s Pontiac and 1980’s Cadillac playbook and taking it to a whole new level.
Badge engineer ’em and build them butt ugly. Don’t make them competitive in price, feature, comfort, or performance. Rely on the blind faithful to keep it going.
I love Acura as a brand, I’ve come with a millimeter of buying an Acura on three different occasions, twice ultimately coming in second place in my buying choice, and once the math on the price just wouldn’t add up. I hate what Honda is doing.
What we’ve got here-ah is, FAIL-yah to innovate. Honda is running a near perfect, text-book example of the Peter Principle, reaching their level of incompetence a little earlier than anyone expected.
How is a car with a unique hybrid system, that apparently gets 30mpg combined from 370HP not “innovative”? What the heck else were you expecting them to do? And if its “RWD and a V8” I’d say that that is a hardly an “innovative” approach.
If anything, Acura’s been a bit too innovative. They’ve dressed up great technology in a fairly bland sedan, just as the last gen RL was. Good cars, good tech, but no one noticed.
Also: Please explain how BMW and Audi’s solutions in this regard (which is DI and turbos) is ANY more innovative? Because I’m not seeing it.
EChid, the amount of German Fan Boys on this site is overwhelming. I for one thinks the new RLX is quite nice and looking forward to a test drive at the dealership. I would much rather have this than another -run of the mill- 5 Series or E-Klasse that every other house wife is trolling in the suburbs.
This is coming from an S5 owner. But the wifey does drive an MDX and WE love it. I don’t think I need to explain to you of all people why I got an MDX over a X5, ML, FX, etc.
The lower part of the nose is rising up to meet the beak, like its smirking at me. Its like they want to draw more attention to that stupid grill.
If cars were people, that car would be considered obese.
Gaaaack!
Unimaginative, bland styling. Not what I’d expect from a 5-series contender.
Sad to think this used to be the Legend. The car pictured is certainly no legend, literally and figuratively!
Must say a little disappointed that Honda waits what, ten years, to break out the 4WS but not on a serious bang-for-the-buck Prelude or similiar, but a sad, and clearly lost, Avalon wanna-be mixed with the face of Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel. Honda, seriously brother, time to look in the mirror and admit that the buck-toothed smile isn’t bringing them in nor is the yawn-worthy styling.
Not just ugly, but aggressively ugly. Holy Hannah.
In fairness to all manufacturers, how much styling can be done when pursuing ever lower drag coefficients dictates the used-up soap bar shape?
All they can do is pretty-up the lights, crinkle the side panels and make the front end even more insectoid. Beyond that, all we’re ever gonna get are these flattened, 4-wheeled confinement vessels.
Though not immune, trucks still suck less. Particularly if you don’t care about going faster or turning more sharply than traffic requires.
I can’t believe the decision to put that ugly, abrupt kink in the front fender and front doors was the product of the wind tunnel. I blame mushrooms.
You win.
Or all the hoods that are no longer flush with the fenders back at the windshield leading edge, which is to satisfy European pedestrian crash regulations. Every damn car has it now.
I do think this would make a fantastic…$20,000 used car, 3 years old with 20k miles.
Many people are fine with bland exterior styling. The daily driver doesn’t need to shout “Arrest me!” or “I’m one of the 1%!” I’d like to see some interior photos.
Also, front wheel drive is a good choice for a car like this. 90% of the time it doesn’t matter which wheels are driven. If it’s raining, snowing, or icy, front wheel is better than rear wheel. Rear wheel is better on a dry track (or driving in a style that’s better suited for the track), but who’s going to track this?
The driven wheels matter when you have 310 horsepower and a fair amount of torque. It’s too much for FWD, especially on a flagship car. The torque steer on these is just miserable – and rear wheel steering is not going to eliminate it.
Do you think the ugly styling of this car was a conscious effort to avoid antagonizing the covetous underclass?
What kind styling shouts, “Arrest me”, and what would be the basis for that arrest?
I don’t think it’s ugly, just bland. If your weekend car is a highly recognizable luxury car, you might want a daily driver that attracts less attention and won’t make you sad if it gets dinged in the parking lot.
The styling of cars like Mustang and Corvettes says “arrest me”. You don’t get arrested for the styling, obviously, but it says to law enforcement that you’re the sort of person who probably likes to speed and they should look more closely at you than at a minivan.
The 370hp hybrid with E-AWD is extraordinary technology, especially as it still gets 30 mpg with that output and all four-wheels driven. But, Dear Lord, must Acura package their fancy new technology is such an unextraordinary design?
The hate that this car, and this brand gets, is the inability to make a vehicle that is aesthetically desirable.
As the sales of the RL have always been dismal, playing it ‘safe’ in design is not actually ‘safe’ in the luxury segment. They need a design that stands out and differentiates itself in a very crowded market.
People said that about the Acura generally a few years ago. Then they responded with the TL restyle which did exactly what you suggested. And everybody hated them for it.
Wow, it looks like a CONCEPT CAR!
Or…did the RLX concept car back in April at the NY Auto Show look like a PRODUCTION CAR…
This is a toughie.
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/04/04/acura-rlx-concept-revealed-new-york-2012/
That car is BF ugly. I wouldn’t pay $30K. I used to love Honda and Acura. I was a fan boy. I’ve had 3 Civics and would have given my left testicle for an early 2000’s RSX. But this thing? Or most of the cars Honda makes today. Honda is dead to me.
“would have given my left testicle for an early 2000′s RSX.”
ROFLMAO!!!
But I agree with your point 100%
I had an early 2000s RSX. It was an awesome car. Though when I purchased it, I arguably should have gotten an 06 Civic Si intead, if just for the LSD that the RSX lacked.
I replaced it with an early 2000s S2000, which is also an awesome car.
Both have been great to me at autocross, the RSX was great on the track too. We’ll find out how the S2k holds up this spring.
Call me crazy though, I actually like this RLX to an extent, especially as a used car. We’ll see what happens, but I don’t think it can do worse than the RL did.
OK, you’re crazy.
jjster, I don’t think Honda is marketing this car to guys who’ve had 3 used and beat Civics and would give an organ for a used RSX.
Scion might.
The silver beak lives on. At least you can count on something in this world.
I just dont see all the hate twds the grille,..in 2009 yes,..but how is it that much worse than others out there?,..piling onto an acura article with a “beak” comment is played out.
My neighbor has a 5 series,.prob 2010,..man is it bland and has noo personality exterior styling wise.
30/30 with 370 for a car this size sounds good to me. To each their own.
Um…
Andy,
Holla at your boyz!
I don’t particularly like the grill or the front fenders, but this car has the potential to be a keeper. That puts it above German cars in its price range. The interior needs no apologies too, and I’m saying that having driven my company’s 2012 Audi A6 today. It was a nice drive too, considering I saw no warning lights for once.
The problem is if Acura would put some more (or different) effort into design, their cars from top to bottom would be keepers.
Just imagine, reliable, holds value and as a cherry on top, an exhilarating design. What the car looks like is important to buyers in this segment. Once Acura figures that out, I’m guessin’ the wind will angle more towards their backs.
Agreed. As an Acura, it needs good styling to get people in this segment to reach for their wallets. Just because BMWs are hideous doesn’t mean that ugly sells itself.
Chevrolet called, they want tail lights from Cruze back!
Yawn.
I can’t understand why anyone would buy an Acura anymore.
Kill Acura and make more interesting Hondas.
They just get uglier. Sad.
RLX launch….
… vtec.net is all angsty and whiney
… all the Hyundai trolls are coming out on Jalopnik
… business as usual with the teenagers on Autoblog
… snark as ever on TTAC
… seems like business as usual. Even regardless of the merits, you gotta admit, people don’t boo nobodies. Acura, though not vibrant, is not ‘dead’… ‘dead’ and ‘dying’ is a company that nobody works up the energy to praise or complain about (Suzuki, Mitsubishi).
They get the attention because people fondly remember what they used to be, which boils into frustration with what they have become.
I think it’s a great looking car and I also like the refreshed TL and the ILX. If I didn’t prefer Toyota/Lexus and had $60 grand to blow, I’d buy one of these.
Sue me.
Why would anyone want to sue you? Smack some sense into you, maybe…. but litigation…? NO.
I’d like to see MK do a TrueDelta(tm) comparison of the RLX vs. the Avalon.
Acura reminds me of Oldsmobile circa 1994. Flailing, and outed to the public as not “real” luxury. They were once considered in the same realm as Lexus thanks to the Japanese’s superior materials and build quality. But now that the quality playing field has been leveled, they’ve been exposed. Acura needs an Aurora-esque Hail Mary…that doesn’t fail. The RLX is more like the Ninety-Eight LSS — nice, but not enough.