flexer

Excellent review neuronbob. I started the thread because I was super hyped about the car. I thought: "finally this is acura's answer to all the V8 luxury cars while still keeping the v6 motor they have grown to love." I have no driven one, but I thought all that torque at zero RPM must feel better than any sub 5 liter V8. Looks like we will have to wait till 2016 for a large scale launch and sale of cars. Maybe by then they will squeek a little more power out of the car. :-)

JonBoy

neuronbob - how is the fuel mileage? I know they said 30/30 is the EPA estimate but what does it get in the real world?

neuronbob

I think it's really sad, honestly. The entire RLX launch from A to Z has been a clusterfsck in my opinion. The Sport Hybrid is what previous RL owners, myself included, have been waiting for, and now they only give us 250? Acura have been uniquely silent in response to many questions from loyal RL/high-end Honda owners on this car. Rumor is that they simply CAN'T make more for whatever reason, most likely batteries.

And yeah, it looks kinda like a 9G Accord. Personally, I love how the 9G Accord looks.

You just don't expect an Accord-like thing to blow by you like a Mustang.....and this car does. I love it! It's the last car a cop will look at when looking for who blew by them at 80 mph.

I also love the silent running you get when you're in pure electric mode, in a parking lot, or below 50 mph.

It's great in a way that's the polar opposite of my CTS-V, which is loud brash, and a little faster.

Honda needs to make more, tweak the conservative styling a bit (better wheels!), and market the hell out of this thing as "your NSX for $70k cheaper" or some such.

Above about 32-34 degrees F, I can easily achieve the listed mileage on individual trips.

Below that, the mileage drops off a cliff. Unfortunately, I took delivery on 11/4/14 and it immediately turned cold and snowy in Cleveland. We did not see 60 degrees from the end of October until last week. In February, the average temperature in the Cleveland area was 15 degrees...not high, now low, the average temperature. In my 60-40 highway-city commute, I was getting 20 mpg until I broke and purchased an engine block heater. Like all hybrids, the batteries are less efficient in the cold, and the ICE has to be on more frequently to heat the cabin. Adding the engine block heater improved my mileage to 25-26 during the cold spells, acceptable on winter blend fuel IMHO. Next winter I'll try blocking the front grille, too, to maintain engine heat.

I hope to see better mileage with the change to summer blend fuel in another month or so.

In the meantime, my Fuelly for this car looks like crap because it reflects only winter mileage. You just have to delve into the numbers to see the car's actual performance.

mosesbotbol

Two friends of mine both bought new RL's several years ago and they were ahead of the curve on technology and were just awesome cars, but the styling started getting stale and the V6 was competitive. There were a lot of details to air management and lots of cool features. Both cars were quite reliable too. 7 years later and the current one looks basically the same. I dig what Acura is doing with the head lamps, but over all the car just looks old compared to what Infiniti and Lexus are promoting.

flexer

You hit the nail on the head. I own an SH-AWD RL myself and the tech that came in the car is just mind blowing. There are so many hidden sweet features that most owners don't even know half of the things the car does.

mosesbotbol

How the AC is directed to the corner with the most sun via its GPS location and direction... That is pretty neat.

neuronbob

I loved my 2GRL, too. I had a 2006 (i.e. that year all the bugs were taken care of) and it was a geek mobile at the time. I put an A-Spec suspension and wheels, and stickier tires on mine and man could that thing handle. I traded it for my CTS-V sedan, though.

The Sport Hybrid is even better-handling than the RL, with the primary limiting factor being those damn low-rolling resistance tires which give way way before the suspension does.

mosesbotbol

^^ Brought up a good point on the handling. In '07 a friend bought an new Qporte Automatico and I remember the steering being very similar to the RL.

neuronbob

Bringing yet another thread back from the dead. So since the last time I posted, I switched out the stock 19's for 20's and Continental ExtremContact DWS tires. The Contis are much stickier in the dry and the rain. Further, the wheel/tire combo is 3 pounds less on each corner than stock. I did lose the Helmholtz resonators of the stock wheels, and now I have typical Honda tire noise. Oh well, it's been in every Honda product I've owned in the last 25 years, so I'm used to it.

Wheels are Concept One CS-55 with 9 inch width and 35 mm offset. This setup does not compromise ride quality at all and the stance is a bit more aggressive. It changes the whole look of the car from stock. I love it!

People have stopped me on the street asking when Acura started making Legends again, LOL!

The Legend rebadging


Rear 3/4


Front 1/4



Front wheel detail




Rear wheel detail

rob-2

I have the DWS tires for the winter and like them. Very quiet and grip is great for all season and 560 count. Something about that wheel on that car doesn't seem right, brakes too small?

Only 24mpg mixed isn't great. We will see 20 in the 05 RL and in my 6.4v8 I am seeing 17-18. Hardly impressive for expensive hybrid tech.

On long road trips the RL will get 25.5 mpg and the 6.4 23-24. Is there new programming coming to address this from honda?