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2014 Acura RLX

Earlier in the year, I reviewed a powder-blue Volkswagen Beetle Convertible, and I witnessed a group of high-school-aged girls ogling the car as it sat in my driveway. In my head, I found it to be a funny-yet-fitting scene that I didn't think of again until a 2014 Acura RLX showed up in my driveway. This time around, an elderly neighborhood couple stopped to give the big Acura sedan a closer look. The RLX is trying to shed past stereotypes of its predecessor, the Acura RL, just like the Beetle. Hoping to avoid becoming the de facto "grandpa car," Acura has completely reworked - and renamed - its flagship sedan.
As the bookend to the new entry-level ILX, the addition of the 2014 RLX might give Acura its strongest sedan lineup ever as the automaker looks to break the cycle of being a middle-of-the-road luxury brand. Stepping up to the big-boy table isn't going to be easy, though, as the competition keeps getting tougher. Forget cars like the Mercedes E-Class and BMW 5 Series, the Acura RLX is going to have its hands full with the likes of the Cadillac XTS, Lexus GS and Hyundai Genesis, not to mention a strong consortium of lower-priced, mid-luxury sedans like the Hyundai Azera, Toyota Avalon and Chevy Impala. The one thing all of these cars have in common is a reputation for being an old man cruiser.
I spent a week with the new RLX to see if it could shake the stigma of its outdated predecessor or if it would just leave me searching for the nearest early bird specials.

Acura ILX headed for Civic-like early upgrades

The not-yet-ready-for-primetime 2012 Honda Civic saw it quickly returned to sender for refurbishment, now the Acura ILX is headed in the same direction in its very first year. Automotive News reports that the small, Civic-based sedan from Honda's luxury brand isn't meeting sales expectations, with an annualized rate of 22,000 to 24,000 sales instead of the 30,000 the company is after. More telling is that the ILX "is being outsold by the Buick Verano, Volkswagen CC and Audi A4," and, except for two months since it launched, it has also been outdone by the Acura TSX it is meant to replace.
Part of the cause has been the 2.0-liter, four-cylinder engine: its 150 horsepower to motivate a sedan that can weigh up to 2,970 pounds doesn't offer the kind of performance or value experience that buyers in the segment respond to. Another big issue is that the top-level 2.4-liter engine is only offered with a six-speed manual even though most buyers of the highest trim don't really want to shift their own gears. Lastly, the ILX might not put enough space between it and its frugal underpinnings - our first drive review pegged it as "the world's nicest Honda Civic."
An automatic transmission is on the way for the 2.4-liter, but it isn't clear when. And while Honda admits that the 2.0-liter is underpowered and Automotive News says it's on the way out, the company hasn't yet said how that situation will be corrected.

A smoother operator | 2017 Acura MDX Sport Hybrid First Drive

There's a lot to unpack when trying to understand the 2017 Acura MDX Sport Hybrid. Acura is billing it as a three-row crossover infused with NSX technology via a sport-oriented hybrid drivetrain. So it's a hybrid crossover, sure. But it doesn't comport itself like a traditional crossover, nor is it a conventional hybrid. What it is, underneath, is an intentionally subtle blend of impressive technologies doing their best to appear transparent – and it's too subtle, I fear, to be appreciated by those who'd like it the most. This is a lot of foreshadowing, but if you're not familiar with the MDX Sport Hybrid's powertrain, let's fill you in. The MDX Sport Hybrid uses the same basic system as the 2014 RLX Sport Hybrid, with some newer NSX battery tech sprinkled in, packaged neatly into the refreshed third-generation MDX platform. The system improves handling and efficiency – but more important, it smoothes out the harshness of shifts and engine stop-starts. We do need to examine the system in some detail to understand how all this affects the MDX as a whole, so let's go toe to tail. Up front is a transversely-mounted 3.0-liter V6 making 257 horsepower and 218 pound-feet of torque, as well as featuring i-VTEC and cylinder deactivation. It's slightly smaller than the 3.5-liter V6 found in the conventional MDX and many other Honda and Acura products. Attached alongside is a Honda-produced 7-speed dual-clutch transmission that has a 47 hp, 109 lb-ft electric motor-generator stuffed inside. Amidships are the battery pack and the electronics to control it, and stretching aft from there are large cables feeding power to a pair of electric motors that reside in single housing, one for each wheel. Together, they produce electron witchcraft and torque-delivery wizardry – and add 72 hp and 108 lb-ft of torque to the mix. The total system output is 321 hp and 289 lb-ft of torque – a gain of 31 hp and 22 lb-ft over the conventional MDX SH-AWD. Beyond the raw numbers, there's the remarkable subjective benefit of the Sport Hybrid's drivetrain. Engine start-stop events are quiet and smooth, nearly imperceptible when under way – in stark contrast to the too-perceptible shudder of competing engines kicking on. The electric motors (mainly the one residing in the transmission) add in power to make up for the lull during a shift, making shifts up or down seamless, as well as providing regenerative capacity.