Car and Driver: 2014 Acura RLX Tested

by Eddie Alterman of www.caranddriver.com

Why was the old Acura RL so firmly nailed to dealership floors, with just 379 sold last year? That’s easy. It was too small. Its back seat was so tight that rear riders could practically adjust the stereo, could possibly even drink from the front cup holders with a long-enough straw. Too in thrall to Honda’s minor-key virtues of frugality and modesty, the RL couldn’t compete with the chest-thumping, lane-filling champions of the mid-size luxury-car segment. 

Repeat: It was because it was almost Civic-sized in back, and not because it had a six-cylinder engine or was based on a front-drive chassis. In fact, you could argue that the rest of the luxury-car fleet has finally caught up with the Acura flagship. Amid rising fuel-economy standards, a six-cylinder luxury sedan no longer seems like a tin Rolex. Furthermore, all-wheel drive is now the de rigueur luxury-car format, and Audi has even sold front-drive A6s and A8s with a straight face. All of this might not get the new RLX the respect it deserves, but what Acura has produced here, for better or worse, is a car fully in sync with these comfort-, mpg-, and tech-obsessed times. 

The RLX overcompensates for the old car’s biggest failing. It’s full-figured, with a 2.0-inch-longer wheelbase and 1.7-inch-wider body than the outgoing RL’s. The cabin is far airier and roomier than before, with lots of clearance for occupants’ extremities. It’s also beautifully finished in muted tones, but its two-screen radio and nav interface is confusing; you never quite remember which of the screens and knobs will deliver the function you want. Also, the seat bottoms are too short for even the moderately lanky.

Engine downsizing touches the RLX, but only by 0.2 liter. The naturally aspirated, direct-injected 3.5-liter V-6 feeds the front wheels 310 horsepower and 272 lb-ft of torque, up 10 and 1, respectively, from the old 3.7-liter. Acceleration times are about par for the class, with the speedo needle finding 60 mph in 5.8 seconds and the quarter-mile passing in 14.3. Fuel efficiency should be very competitive, at 20/31 city/highway, figures we’re inclined to trust as they’re derived from a naturally aspirated engine. (We saw 20 mpg over about 1000 miles of mixed driving, but we drive like we’re qualifying at Monaco.) 

Interestingly, Acura’s fuel-sipping strategy doesn’t rely on a tiny engine or sluggish gear ratios to achieve its result. Its final drive is actually 14 percent shorter than the RL’s, preserving the high-revving, coltish character of the powertrain primarily via careful management of its variable-valve-timing and cylinder-deactivation systems. The car retains the high-rpm urgency and natural linearity—abetted by a telepathic transmission—that’s missing from the turbocharged set. 

But some of the fuel saving comes from, of all places, the rear suspension. Good news, lovers of high-tech Japanese cars from the late ’80s: Rear steering is back. Acura calls it Precision All-Wheel Steer, or, cutely, P-AWS, and it can toe the wheels independently. Under braking, for example, it pigeons the rears inward to keep the car stable. It also incorporates an ersatz torque-vectoring software program dubbed agile handling assist—let's call it AHA—to rotate the car into corners with the brakes.

Beyond its handling benefits, the independent rear steering helps fuel economy by reducing tire scrub, especially in corners. It’s an expensive and complicated way to eke out some fuel savings, but it spares drivers from having to suffer low-rolling-resistance tires that impose braking and cornering compromises.
P-AWS and AHA give the RLX vivid path accuracy and turn-in characteristics, as the car refuses to betray its front-wheel-drive layout and 60.8/39.2-percent front-to-rear weight distribution until pushed hard. The steering is as predictable and progressively weighted as what we’ve experienced in a front-drive Honda product. Despite the flat and stable ride, though, we found wheel impacts to be a bit too harsh for a car that boasts fancy new ZF Sachs dampers. 

Hold on: We’re not done with the acronyms and abbreviations yet. The Advance trim model we drove had LKAS (lane keeping assist system) and ACC (adaptive cruise control), as well as FCW (forward collision warning) and LDW (lane departure warning), which are standard on the base car. Sadly, none of these letters conjures images of fuzzy animals or contrived surprise, but the first two do create a force field around the car in stop-and-go traffic. The Acura folk call this the “405 feature,” in reference to L.A.’s clogged carotid. ACC prevents the RLX from hitting a leading car by slowing to a full stop if necessary, and LKAS keeps the car in a lane, its camera-based intelligence actually steering the car away from a road line. So text away, idiots. These control-seizing functions aren’t on by default, and the multi-button process to engage them isn’t well guided, but at least you have to willingly deploy these systems. Acura’s legal department thanks you. 

Honda’s upscale brand is not bashful about charging customers for all of this, with the base car starting at $49,345. That includes an adequate but by no means complete raft of acronyms: P-AWS, LDW, FCW, full LED headlights, and the basic but excellent 10-speaker ELS audio system. The RLX with Navigation trim level adds navigation for $2500. The next trim level up is the RLX with Technology Package, at $55,345, and it brings 19-inch aluminum wheels, four more speakers, blind-spot warning, power-folding side mirrors, rain-sensing wipers, and very soft Milano leather. Moving on to the 14-speaker RLX with Krell Audio Package for another $2500, you get a system that spent four years in development. You can hear it in its absolute fidelity at high volume and its level of sonic detail; you notice things in old songs you’ve never heard before. Our test car was a fully stocked, $61,345 RLX with Advance Package, with all the above plus ACC, LKAS, ventilated front seats, parking sensors, heated rear seats, and pre-crash braking and seatbelt systems. That’s suddenly real money, even if it’s about $5000 less across the board than the German competition. And an all-wheel-drive RLX, with a 370-horse three-motor-hybrid V-6, a seven-speed DCT, and expected 30/30/30 fuel economy, is coming later this year. We’ll see if it can command the $70,000 it’s expected to cost, but you’ve got to admire Acura’s chutzpah.  

Source;
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2014-acura-rlx-fwd-test-review