NY 2012: Acura RLX Concept

Acura's flagship sedan, the RL, has always been the big luxury car for the uniquely-minded individual.  Someone who doesn't need a V8 in their top line status symbol; who'd rather have torque-vectoring AWD and VTEC.  Or who doesn't want their big luxury car to actually be big inside.  Unfortunately for Acura, all three of those people already bought an RL.  This fact shows up in the RL's sales figures: Acura sold just over a thousand of them in the US last year - making it rarer than the Gallardo or Continental GT.  With the TL sedan offering almost all the tech and power for a fraction the price, it's no big shock.  Something had to be done.

The rumor has been circulating around for ages that the next Legend RL would get a V8.  Honda's never put a V8 in a road car, and they're not about to start - no, there's something far more interesting going on under the hood of this RLX "concept" that precedes the new top-line car.  The RLX will be the first production car in the US to utilize a through-the-road Hybrid AWD system, which Honda calls "Sport Hybrid SH-AWD" in their typically humorous naming convention.  This will be the first application of the system we saw in the gorgeous NSX Concept back in Detroit.  Under the hood is a brand new 3.5L 24v VTEC V6 with direct fuel injection, good for 310bhp.  There's an electric motor mounted in each rear wheel which can provide positive or negative torque - basically an active differential. The whole setup is good for a claimed 370 horsepower while returning 30mpg on the city and highway cycles.

Other cool new stuff includes a 7-speed twin clutch gearbox, a rethink on All Wheel Steering (with independent adjustments on each rear wheel), stacked LED headlamps, variable steering rack ratios, and a raft of safety features.  Of course there's a bunch of tech goodies on the interior, with a 7" touch screen above an 8" display, data-connected apps, a 14-speaker stereo, and other trappings of the luxury lifestyle.

The only problem I see is Acura's continuing inability to style a car in any way other than "nondescript" - the only things that stand out here are the swage lines on the sides that drop down from the hood, trace under the doorhandles, and gradually terminate at the end of the doors - that, and the oddly shaped tail lights with LED trails on the outside.  It's a shame that all the cool technology comes out first in expensive luxury cars for old people, but let's cross our fingers that it trickles down to something like the CR-Z - which could use the extra poke!