New Honda president says we don't need V8s, rear-wheel drive

[TJPark01]

Hyundai must be drooling.... This leaves the number 2 player in Japan basically walking away from trying to play the luxury segment. Equus & Genesis, welcome to the dance.

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[Sal Collaziano]

Hyundai must be drooling.... This leaves the number 2 player in Japan basically walking away from trying to play the luxury segment. Equus & Genesis, welcome to the dance.

Full Article...

Really. That seems like a huge mistake by Honda.. Acura has some very nice vehicles but there's so much better out there.. I don't know how the owner(s) of a company can be comfortable with that...

 

[TJPark01]

Acura has an identity issue in this country. The cars are high quality, no doubt, but they haven't been able to define who they are. Lexus is clearly leaned toward the Merc crowd, soft, plush, stodgy, boring, exceptional build quality, under steers like a bastard if you try to drive them hard. Infiniti is after the Bimmer crowd, stiffer, taut, road feel, performance, sport drivers, but partially owned by the French (yuk!). Acura is...um, super handling AWD, uh... NSX, oh yeah, they canned that, it's oh wait, those heinous grills and transformer like designs that are front wheel drive platform based. yeah, that's not what lux buyers look for. There's no emotional connection to the consumer. That may work for Honda', or selling lawn mowers or entry level like TSX. But it doesn't work for cars like the RL, which for 50k is not getting my blood flowing.

 

[wallymn]

Have you ever said, of any Acura, I have to drive one.....?

NSX, RL, TL etc.... they never made me want to visit the dealership.

BMW -535 balance and power, I had to check it out,

Infinity M45 in 2003 it was a major (like the genesis) change in the segment.

MB - nope

Caddy - CTS

Lincoln - LS , a sharp car with a small cabin...

but an Acura? never got my blood up.

 

[TJPark01]

I test drove an RL with a friend. I'm thinking 300HP, AWD, top of the line model. After we left the dealership I said to my friend, man that really was a big trunk in that car. That's what I remembered about the car, that it had a big trunk. The car was slow, heavy, the steering was too light, and I felt like I was driving a really expensive accord, which is a great car, but not 50k great. 5 gears really at this price? I really want to like Acuras, as I am a big fan of Honda, but I can't get behind their lukewarm performace, polarizing designs and lack of dong and ball factor.

 

[ctrcbob]

Acura has an identity issue in this country. The cars are high quality, no doubt, but they haven't been able to define who they are. Lexus is clearly leaned toward the Merc crowd, soft, plush, stodgy, boring, exceptional build quality, under steers like a bastard if you try to drive them hard. Infiniti is after the Bimmer crowd, stiffer, taut, road feel, performance, sport drivers, but partially owned by the French (yuk!). Acura is...um, super handling AWD, uh... NSX, oh yeah, they canned that, it's oh wait, those heinous grills and transformer like designs that are front wheel drive platform based. yeah, that's not what lux buyers look for. There's no emotional connection to the consumer. That may work for Honda', or selling lawn mowers or entry level like TSX. But it doesn't work for cars like the RL, which for 50k is not getting my blood flowing.

Hey TJ,

Don't knock the French or their cars. FORGET EVERYTHING YOU THOUGHT YOU EVER KNEW ABOUT FRENCH CARS. I would love to own a Peugeot 607 which is the most beautiful car made in Europe. Also dependable. A friend of mine has one over there. Great Car.

Whenever I vacation there, I always lease (lease, not rent) a Renault Laguna which is a GREAT everymans car. I've leased Renaults (three 21's and three Lagunas) and never had an iota of problems.

Next time, if I can afford it, I'll lease the 607. If not, I'll lease a Laguna.

Again, forget everything you thought you ever knew about French cars.

 

[TJPark01]

Hey TJ,
Again, forget everything you thought you ever knew about French cars.

It's not the cars I have an issue with. As a ret. military personell, you know what I mean.

 

[jailer]

They ROYALLY screwed up with the exteriors, for many of the models, just way too bad for a quick fix. That was probably the main problem for the newer generation. TL and TSX just need that front end tweaked and they would probably be much cooler vehicles. The interiors are KICKASS, IMO. Very nice and SOLID feel. Rear end of the TL I can deal with, but the TSX is actually pretty damn cool. Better than a 3 series from the rear.

It will probably never make regular car news, but that SH-AWD TL DOES in fact, leave all competitors in the dust on the track, including the beloved 335i and 335xi, and not by a little. Who's talking about that?? Nobody.

Acura/Honda have, without a doubt IMO created a "soul" in how most of their cars drive, although NOT ALL. That is what I have come to believe after owning alot of them, and it's probably due mostly to that VTEC cranking with ALOT of refinement, and some killer 4 bangers.

TJ, go drive the "entry" TSX 4 banger with a manual for a week, then the Genesis 2.0T for a week, and rate them OVERALL, for all aspects. I bet you choose the Acura. It does 60 in the 6 second range too.
Your main point, I do agree with you though.

 

[TJPark01]

I have driven the new V6 TSX, and it's probably their best model. I'm even OK with the looks. I have to agree, I do like the techno feel of the interiors, even though most of them are too button heavy on the center stack, the cars feel very well made. The RL is way too expensive for what it it is and the TL is high on the list of ugliest cars sold today. I like the MDX and the RDX.
My main point is that they are the middle child, the Peter Brady of the big 3 Japanese luxury name plates. Clearly they're not happy about that.

 

[jwaters943]

Acura has stumbled for years now, but I still appreciate their vehicles.

Why?

Reliability
High Resale
Good Dealership Network/Customer Service
Slightly higher than average fuel economy
Low operating costs
Reasonable Pricing
Lack of luxury car stigma (e.g. BMW/MB)

They do need to invest in RWD and a V8 (or at the very least a Super/Turbo charged V6), and their new grilles need to go. Other than that though, I can't fault them too much. They may no longer have anything that gets the blood pumping the way the NSX did, but they're very practical and a relatively good value. In my mind they're the Japanese Volvo.

And as much as I love my Genesis, if I could transplant this interior in my Genesis I would. The seats are superbly comfortable and supportive, and I love the attention to detail and use of color. Just my $0.02.

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[TJPark01]

Acura has stumbled for years now, but I still appreciate their vehicles.

I had a very good experience with the one Honda, I had, but that was 20 years ago. It's clear by Honda's statements that, they are going to focus more on the mid to small size cars, which is what they're really good at. I think they are starting to realize that trying to be all things to all people (GM), is a shitty business strategy. There is no need for the Ridgeline or Pilot. I prefer Honda's over Toyotas, but without a competitive price advantage(Hyundai), or performance advantage (Infiniti), or stunning design (Audi) I just can't get onboard with Acura, with so many choices out there.

 

[jwaters943]

A bit off topic, but speaking of Infiniti, I'd love to own one of their vehicles someday, but I refuse to because of their poor dealership network. The closest dealer is 2 hours away. :*(
Meanwhile, our Acura dealership is 5-6 minutes from home and absolutely wonderful in terms of amenities and customer service. And Lexus is just a few minutes further than that. Infiniti simply needs more dealerships if it wishes to compete w/ Lexus and Acura.

 

[jailer]

Acura are HORRIBLE Tailors with regard to the exterior, so they NEVER know how to "present" their vehicles, for the most part. They always ride too high, with smallish wheels, and skinny tires with wheel gaps. However, most of the time, it is just a couple of tweaks to an otherwise gem of a car whom was just waiting on the FUKIN TAILOR!

 

[TJPark01]

A bit off topic, but speaking of Infiniti, I'd love to own one of their vehicles someday, but I refuse to because of their poor dealership network. The closest dealer is 2 hours away. :*(
Meanwhile, our Acura dealership is 5-6 minutes from home and absolutely wonderful in terms of amenities and customer service. And Lexus is just a few minutes further than that. Infiniti simply needs more dealerships if it wishes to compete w/ Lexus and Acura.

Infiniti's are definately modeled after BMW's. The cars are great, especially the M & the G. The only two knocks on them are, poor interior quality, (although it has gotten much better of late), and some NVH issue with road noise and as the VQ has gotten bigger the more you wind that V6, after 5k rpm, it starts to bite back at you. Other than that, I was really considering a G37 coupe, but the old lady was having no part of that.

 

[jailer]

Acura's interiors are on my top 2 list with Audi, then would follow something like BMW, Mercedes..... Hyundai is "becoming" and so is GM/Buick believe it or not. Inifiniti is o.k. too.