Why does Acura always gets the blame for FWD lineup when a pseudo luxury German car maker with unreliable FWDs goes scots free?

+1

I’ve always wondered why Audi gets a pass for selling gussied-up Volkswagens, but Acura doesn’t. Every Audi except the R8 originates from a front-drive platform, and the only advantage Audi really holds over Acura is engine size–which actually results in most Audis being pretty nose-heavy as a result.

If given the choice between an RL and V6 A6, I’d take the Acura. I’d probably still take the Acura if it was a V8 A6. God knows it handles better and isn’t nearly as likely to be a maintenance princess as it ages

Acuras are nice cars. Remember the nice car? Saab and Volvo also made “nice” cars, too. The problem is that the Camry XLE and Accord EX-V6 are very nice cars, too, and the BMW 323i, IS250 and C230K, while not quite as nice, have shiny badges on the nose that make them more attractive. Acura (and Saab, and Volvo, and to a lesser degree VW and Subaru) don’t have a lot of room to play with between XLE-level Toyotas and basement-trim Mercedes.

All this “must be RWD/V8/etc” is just window dressing for badge snobbery; a good luxury car doesn’t need such a thing to sell in masse (and, from the number of C230s, E350s, 323s and A6 3.2s I see, this is valid). Acura makes very good cars, but there’s nothing special enough about them next to their low-end competition to sell in bulk. If they had four rings instead of a compass on the grille, they might do better.

Back in the day, Volvo and Saab defined what it was to be “better”. Now, Ford and GM have bastardized them back to “Good”, leaving Infiniti and Acura in the Better category (others?), while Lexus has made the jump to Best.

From the comments here, it seems as though Acura’s position in the Better class is being threatened by its own designs, while Infiniti’s position has been strengthened by the success of the G sedan and coupe and M sedan.

To that end, I don’t buy the “Acura is Mercury/Lincoln” bit. But I’m biased, so I’ll spare you the rant.

I believe the first WTF product from Honda/ Acura was the RL which came right on the heals of the last Legend GS model which was actually more powerful, sleeker, and simply better looking. IIRC the RL came out around the same time that Infiniti wreaked the Q45. Both mid 90s RL and Q45 did a great deal of damage to these brands. These cars killed the momentum that the Acura and Inifinti brands had built up during the early 1990s.

The RL was a “what is it” type of car! In a move to make their flagship more competitive with the Lexus LS Honda created a car that turned-off most previous Legend owners yet did not have the good to appeal to LS owners or aspirers.

Another Honda product that “missed the mark” was the (much loved HERE) NSX. While fine in concept the NSX was easily outdone (in the real world) by the 1990s Supra TT, 300zx TT, and RX7 TT. All excellent sports cars built with reasonable affordable steel bodies. The NSX was always serverly over-priced for was it was. IT also lacked any type of “edge” over the players that Honda was aiming for. At the end of the day the NSX is best described as a novelty.
Put into perspective, at the end of its run the NSX was a $93,000 car that was easily outclassed by a $60,000 CaymanS.
By aiming for the sky with the NSX Honda built a car that was out of reach for even most “well to do” Honda fans. The irony is that while Honda had a hard-on for the 911 Porsche was in the process of creating the extremely successful, company saving Boxster.
Image the success the NSX could have been IF honda decided to be smart and make a $40,000 to $45,000 sports car back then.

How they achieved this distinction doesn’t seem to be rocket science. First they replaced real names with anodyne initials (how’d you like to be remembered as the man who approved replacing ‘LEGEND’ with ‘rl’), and then they axed their number one showroom traffic draw – the Integra/RSX – vehicles which, in all four generations, simply oozed the essence of “Honda-ness”. The final insult is the recent crop of hideous chrome cow-catchers adorning the new TSX/RL. Of particular note is the current MDX whose face could only be described as (in the word’s of Garp) ‘pre-disastered’.

Perhaps its only fitting their demographic has shifted to a more senior slice of the market. Macular degeneration (coupled with dementia?) is probably the best means to ensure an appreciation of what Acura has become.

+1. Although, a dual clutch option would work… And how about a V8. With optional Recaro seats AND optional side curtain air bags…

But it’s not gonna happen. After seeing the latest TSX regurgitationrefresh, you can stick a fork in acura.

“It just doesn’t drive like a luxury car. It doesn’t have the interior of a luxury car.”

OK? I am game. What is a luxury car? And how would I know it when I drove it.

Yes, I have driven Mercedes, extensively and for many years, and Cadillacs, way back when.

P.S. I drive a 2002 Honda Accord LX-V6, and I like it. Outside of the leather and the wood panels, tell me what are the real meaningful differences between my Accord and a luxury car.

Small, light, efficient, with great handling and engines that are mild on the bottom and hot on top. That’s Honda’s strength. They need a good compact sedan.

I have always wondered the same thing. VW’s/Audi’s arguably drive worse than Acura’s.

Why does Acura have to be Lexus? They used to be independent minded and gave the market unique products. The Legend and Integra were not RWD are still amazing cars. They should try and forge a unique brand identity, they don’t have to be a “tier 1″ Luxury manufactuer because they never were.

What happenned there. They seem to have captured the (US?) market for Motorcycle touring with their Goldwings but they can’t seem to replicate that on Luxury Auto’s. Maybe their commitment isn’t there, or they may be sidetracked by their aircraft business. Who knows maybe they’ll make fuel efficiency breakthroughs in the airliner industry the same way they did for autos.

Anyway, the Integra had good value and I thought the TSX was it’s successor but the price range doesn’t say so. Civics are really known to be economy cars so the Si doesn’t cut it either. So c’mon Honda do something. Fill that void and bring back the soul on your cars…

Although, if Acura really want to compete alot more and get better models out there, they could go one of two ways I know of. One way would be to go like VW/Audi, and have models based on mainstream but improve the interiors and up the performance to. Or maybe go like Lexus and Caddy and develop new platforms and become a true luxury competitor that way.

But until Acura does something different, it would eventually become the Mercury of Honda.

You do realize that Honda has the lowest percentage of trucks sold in the US by a major manufacturer, right? You do realize that Honda has the most fuel efficient fleet, right? You do know that Honda just reported record earnings, right?

The problem with that is we would still have a 4cyl car costing over $35,000! This will not fly in the face of a RWD turbochargered 4cyl Hyundai coupe that will list for about $25,000.

Although Honda does make some fine products I have to say that Honda manages to “miss the mark” on just about everything outside of the Accord and Civic. With the S2000 it appeared that Honda created the engine before they had a car to put it in. Rather than chase after the Miata and the Boxster at the same time Honda should have built an Elise killer. The S2000 is too heavy for its engine with its power top and steel panels.
At the end of the day the S2000 was too expensive to compete with the Miata yet at the sametime was Too hard-core yet NOT powerful enough to compete with the Boxster. It simply fell into its own (undefined) niche.
The Ridgeline is built with an “off the shelf” Transmission that can’t handle any type of heavy load. Where is the HD manual 5pd with a HD Clutch?
Honda created an Accord and TL that so close that they compete directly with each other.
In a move of cheapness that Honda believed would go unnoticed they moved their flagship from a unique longtitudinal mounted FWD chassis to the “share-all” Accord platform resulting in one hell of a lack-luster luxury sedan!

In all Honesty Acura is simply Lexus with only the ES350 and RX350. I can’t include the IS series because they manage to have that REAL luxury trait RWD that all Acura products lack.
The Lexus equivalant of a TSX would simply be a 4cyl ES. Viewing Acura in this light it is easy to see NOT a luxury brand it is.

Dare we use the phase; “half-a$$” here!

Maybe so, but it is a sweet car.

I also wish Acura would bring back the RSX/Integra. I think it would compete with the likes of Mini very well with the right styling. Acura has an extremely uphill battle to become a true tier 1 luxury marque, especially in this economic climate. They should be what they already are, but better. For example, how about building the next RSX in the S2000 chassis and fit it with a turbo? One can dream right..

In this day and age, a fully loaded Accord is just as luxurious as a TL, if you can get past the Accord’s bland looks in the same way a Lexus ES350 is just a fully loaded Camry in an elegant dress. And the RL is just overpriced for what it offers.

As a former Honda Fanboy, (I owned one of the best cars ever made by Honda, a 1989 Prelude Si) I must say that I find NOTHING Honda makes today “cool” or “exciting” or for that matter very practical.

Today Honda thinks it is a cross between Toyota and Ford. Its lineup of vehicles is made up strictly of sedans and crossovers, WTF????
OK, they have the Fit(a product never intended for the USA), big freaken deal! No more Civic hatchbacks, no more Accord wagons or hatch-backs, What happened to the popular AWD Civic wagon?
The S2000 is an over-priced car that NO-ONE asked for and its sales prove this fact. We wanted a better Miata from Honda NOT a $33,000 peaky torque-less wonder that is higher-pirced than a 350z conv!
Remember the CRX? A car that Honda can’t decide if they should make again, or the Integra, the car that put the Acura brand on the map? What happened Honda? I guess all of those young MEN that made your brand what it is today no longer count anymore!

Nevermind the Acura brand Honda needs to redefine what a Honda is. If I want a Toyota I will buy one from Toyota (they do make better Toyotas than Honda could ever do). If I buy a Honda I do expect to get a very “different” car than a Toyota or Nissan.

Bring back the Integra (or at least RSX); right car, right time, and they must have sold more than all the other Acura models put together.

In Canada they have this: the CSX. It’s essentially a Civic EX-L with the iVTEC. You can get nearly the same here in the States with a optioned-out Si. ‘Cept no leather.

What a new Integra/RSX needs more than anything is a power plant where you don’t need to peg the tachometer to get to the good stuff.

The RL is too small (and too similar in size to the TL) to make much sense. It doesn’t compete with the LS, the 7 or the S, and I believe even the GS is larger. So is it in a class (overpriced) all by itself?

The new TL, with available FWD or SH-AWD, will be a hit, if buyers can get past the new grill.

The TSX is hot hot hot, and is a big improvement over the old model (numb-steering notwithstanding).

I can’t remember what the status is of the RSX. But it is a solid replacement to the Integra.

The MDX is category leading (as a drivers 7-seat SUV). The RDX is forgettable.

Will an NSX replacement and new four-seat convertible do the trick? Debatable. But definitely a step in the right direction.

Full disclosure: If Acura would make a RWD sedan with manual transmission, I would drive Acura’s forever.

Yes, I love my car. No, it is not a luxury marque. And yes, I sleep well at night.

But now, the field is crowded with players in that space — above mainstream but below M-B/BMW/Lexus. Infiniti has momentum and appears to be moving up, but Acura remains undifferentiated from Audi and Volvo.

So what is Acura all about. The ads say “Advance”, but doesn’t address a selling proposition which is unique. Eveyone has NavSys, and backup cameras, and bluetooth integration — apparently the Ford Focus does it best! so what is Acura really about?

If you truly believe that $4 gas is here to stay, then maybe the USP is green?