acuras alms protos are downright beautiful.



its obvious where the talent in the company is working.

 

They don't do what other brands do, for sure. So the traditional V8, RWD design is not expected here (and didn't they cancel the V8, RWD platform development?). They have to ask themselves whether they want a repeat of the prior gen RL sales slump. For starters, they need a clear size differentiation--larger than TL, significantly (however this entails risk, more investment etc.) If they can ditch the polarizing design for something more pleasing yet eye-catching (hey its the flagship, do something different), great. Not sure if making it AWD standard is the way to go, but hey maybe they want to be like the A8. More wood and luxe please, and if somehow the word Legend made its way back (how about the 'Legend package' upgrade) that would be nice, but not required. If they make this a real GS/M/Genesis competitor and price it right, it could be successful. Not sure but I used to always think RL = Royal Luxury, but it could also mean Refined Luxury...if they make it match the name, it would be potentially good. Even signal their turnaround.

 

I simply don't agree with the idea that the current RL ever lost the "Flagship" position to the TL in the first place....IMO, that's nonsense. The TL may have a nominally more powerful engine, but if you look at the price, interior, fit/finish, equipment, trim, etc....it is clear to a monkey which car is the real Acura flagship. And, of course, which almost goes without saying....the exterior of the new TL is butt-ugly to boot.

 

Well there is an old saying.....you can never straighten out a dog's tail. HONDA will never learn....to compete with the mainstream luxury boats... they do need the V8 coupled with the rear drive or even try something in the essence of Caddy does.. FWD V8. But if they dont want to be the in the game.. who can change that....

 

Something to consider is that V8's don't necessarily mean bad MPG. The following figures are from the EPA website for 2009 and only include automatics.

RL - 16/22 - AWD.

GS - 19/26 (350 RWD), 18/25 (350 AWD), 22/25 (450h) and 17/24 (460 RWD).

5 Series - 18/27 (528i), 17/25 (528xi), 17/26 (535i), 17/25 (535xi), 15/23 (550i), and just for giggles 11/17 (M5)

E Class - 17/24 (E350), 16/22 (E350 4Matic), 15/22 (E550), 13/19 (E550 4Matic), 23/32 (E320 BlueTec), and 13/20 (E63)

 

Why "fix" something that isn't broke? That's not "straightening out a dog's tail"........that's cutting the tail off. Acura, IMO, already HAS something that is better than either FWD or RWD.............AWD, and one of the world's best AWD systems (along with Subaru and Audi) at that.

 

yawn..just tell me when they fire their design team and/or get rid of "the beak"...

 

Well, even right now, at no charge, for new customers who request it, Acura dealers are painting the "beak" in body color to make it less noticeable, or, in some cases, even replacing it with Honda grilles that fit the opening.

I agree with you, BTW, that the parrot-beak grille is ludicrous. But it is not the only ludicrous grille out there. The newer Audi, Mazda3, and Chrysler 300 grilles, IMO, are all grossly oversized and awkward.

 

I am not sure if I like it.......

 

I think Acura's biggest mistake was killing the Legend name !!

 

Wow, great point there. Another thing to note, as everyone has mentioned before in the other Acura threads, is the 5 speed A/T. The lack of the extra gear (or two+) has to limiting gas mileage and performance.

 

That's IF, and a big if American Honda can order parts from Honda Japan - and there isn't such available for the TL, MDX, and RDX which are made for America exclusively - the TL was the Accord Inspire in Japan but the US Accord is the Inspire in Japan.

 

I think it comes down to this- The RL is too close in size to the TL, priced higher, and has a hard time competing without RWD. If they fixed the styling and made it larger, I think it would be back on the board. The Legend was legendary before the TL came along.

 

Hehe I agree.

Probably why other car enthusiasts in other countries are happy that Acura is not launching there (cause if that happens, then they won't get this car as a Honda Legend and will instead get the ugly beak :P)

Anyhow, I do agree with what was mentioned earlier regarding fuel consumption. IMHO, the J37 engine is a fairly new engine. I wouldn't really say that the J-series engines should be replaced. I'm cool with newer version J-series powerplants (like the J37, J35A7 as well as those that have VCM) as long as yeah, they are new engines. Updates, revisions and upgrades are welcome to.

The gripe indeed would be the 5-speed AT though. As much as it is a good tranny, it apparently cannot keep up with its competitors in FC even with same engine. Thankfully, the 6-speed AT (that was unfortunately introduced on the ugly-*** ZDX) will come into the next RL which should improve on this aspect. Whether how big or small the improvement. who knows really...

Oh, and I'm still in favor of retaining SH-AWD as a standard drivetrain. Hopefully, Honda/Acura would have made some improvements to the setup to improve performance whilst reducing some weight (even just a bit). Hehe, bottom line. They should still stick with their torque-vectoring SH-AWD as standard

Just my two cents again

 

How far does Acura plan to take the V6 engine though? After a certain point and after so many iterations, a V6-hybrid or V8 option needs to be explored. The power available keeps on increasing. While V8's are low volume sellers, there is a special subset of population who wish to have it. So is Acura trying to say they are happy just covering the "average" consumer?