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Acura NSX owners receive custom short teaser movies of their personal car

In a neat bit of fan service for those who've ordered Acura's new NSX halo car, the company will make a short film that reflects the way the car's been configured. Those films are on their way to future owners as you read this. In addition, they'll get a 1:18 scale custom model of their own car, reflecting every appearance option inside and out. That's neat. So neat, in fact, that we decided to commission our own video. We got together and configured a car in the lovely Nouvelle Blue Pearl, and sent our build over to Acura. They put together a video that's mostly representative of what an owner would see. You can see our build plate (hint: it says "Autoblog – Precision Crafted By Performance Manufacturing Center" on it), and that's "our" car on the dyno starting about 22 seconds in. If you want to check out someone else's film, you can compare our build to Jay Leno's. The reason Acura can do this is that there simply aren't that many available configurations for the NSX. This is at the root of one of the main criticisms some of our editors have about the car. An NSX starts at darn close to $160,000, and there are eight paint options (not too bad), four interior color options, and three seating options. All well and good, but compare that to the 16 paint and 12 interior color/material choices in a 911 Turbo, for example, choosing a similarly high-performance car at a similar price range. And there's a further wrinkle: Porsche will paint your car to match a sample you provide, so in reality the ability for an owner to make the car uniquely theirs is infinite, if you don't mind paying for it. See also the BMW Individual program, or McLaren's MSO one-offs. We're not just talking about the MSO Defined options, but the MSO Bespoke program itself, which will basically do anything you want to the car as long as it's road legal and your check doesn't bounce. We've been to MSO, and they're not kidding: they'll build anything. So yes, these custom videos are nice fan service, and they'll certainly jazz up the buyers who've already ordered one of these dynamically impressive cars. It's a move that builds loyalty, and certainly doesn't have much of a drawback. But for us, already a bit sensitive to Acura's conservative option list for the NSX, it serves to highlight the gap between Acura and the more established brands in catering to well-off customers' desire for bespoke range-topping creations.

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 RLX gets chassis upgrades, AcuraWatch for 2016

As Acura's flagship sedan, it makes sense for the RLX be available with the brand's premiere technology. So for the 2016 model year, two trims of the luxury vehicle are getting the latest version of the AcuraWatch suite of safety tech. While the 310-horsepower, 3.5-liter V6 carries over, all trims of the 2016 RLX get an updated suspension tune with decreased spring rates and a less stiff rear stabilizer bar. The changes should provide a more plush, quieter ride inside. There's also a new color available called Acura Silver Metallic. When equipped with either Technology Package or the Advance Package, the 2016 RLX also gets a mix of cameras and radar to provide several safety luxuries that the brand wraps together as AcuraWatch. The system includes things like adaptive cruise control, collision mitigating braking and blind spot information. This improved version adds a Cross Traffic Monitor and Road Departure Mitigation. The latter aid watches the lines on the road to help keep the sedan in its lane. If RDM detects a possible accident, it can even provide steering and braking assistance. Furthermore, the Advance Package now receives Acura's Surround View Camera that places four cameras on the sedan to provide a 360-degree view when needed. The RLX's pricing remains the same from last year with the base version starting at $50,590, plus a $920 destination charge on all models. The Technology Package takes the price up to $54,450, and models with the Advance Package will run $60,450. 2016 Acura RLX Adds AcuraWatch™ and Other Enhancements to Elevate Premium Sophistication and Value AcuraWatch™ expands scope and content of safety and driver assistive technologies Chassis tuning enhances ride quality; 19-inch wheels with new bright finish standard on all trims Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) unchanged With the most comprehensive suite of safety and driver assistive technologies yet available on an Acura, the 2016 RLX luxury sedan goes on sale March 3 with manufacturer's suggested retail prices (MSRP) unchanged from the previous model year. This price hold represents a significant value, especially for the Technology package due to the addition of AcuraWatch™ and Advance package that includes the first U.S. application of Acura's Surround View Camera system3. Both RLX packages will also adopt the application of Road Departure Mitigation (RDM) and Cross Traffic Monitor.