No such qualms should affect those on the inside of the RL, mind you. It's not only much more upscale than the outgoing car, but delivers up the luxury in a positively unique manner. Some character traits remain, such as the familiar "T" shape formed by the horizontal wood strip across the dash and vertical center stack, but the use of dark tones mixed with platinum metalwork makes for a total package that is less austere, and more intimate overall.
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| The interior of the 2005 RL is much more upscale than the outgoing car, here being appreciated by one of the many media attendees that came to witness the new car's launch. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
While the new RL offers a commodious interior front and back, Acura promises a more intimate relationship between man and machine, a driver-oriented luxury car in sharp contrast to some of its rear-passenger coveting contemporaries. But just because Acura's new luxury car is to be sporting, doesn't mean it needs to follow the lead of Lexus, Infiniti and all of the Germans. Rather, the RL will not feature V8 power, but instead deliver up a more powerful version of the trusted single-overhead cam, 24-valve 3.5-liter V6, good for 300 horsepower while still delivering much better than average fuel economy and LEV2-ULEV emissions standards.
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| The new RL offers a commodious interior front and back, with what promises a more intimate relationship between man and machine. (Photo: Acura Canada) |
That's a lot of power to put through the front wheels, Acura's traditional drive layout, so an all-wheel drivetrain has been chosen to optimize power while minimizing torque-steer, common to powerful front-drivers. All-wheel drive will also benefit traction in inclement weather, making the RL an ideal car for Canadian winters.
But to simply call Acura's new drive system all-wheel drive would be doing it an injustice, as the Japanese marque makes it quite clear this is the most technically advanced all-wheel drive system any automaker has ever put into production. Therefore, it is dubbed SH-AWD (Super-Handling All-Wheel Drive), a title it reportedly lives up to.