Eyes on the Prize, Gadgets at the Ready

For years, that come-on has sent shoppers running from Acura’s discount alley to more illustrious brands like Mercedes, BMW, Audi and Lexus. 

Honda’s luxury brand does many things well, but prestige sedans have not necessarily been one of them. Acura’s wheelhouse is the $30,000 to $45,000 range, and after a recession-era plunge, the brand is smartly ramping up sales. The new RDX crossover may be the best pocketbook-friendly alternative to an Audi Q5 or BMW X3. A refashioned MDX, Acura’s popular midsize crossover, is busting out of the gate. And the TL is an underrated entry-luxury sedan, especially with Super Handling All-Wheel-Drive, or SH-AWD, which despite its supersilly name actually improves handling.

But Acura seems to run out of air, and inspiration, above the $50,000 heights. The new RLX shows Acura, Sisyphus-like, trying to roll a midsize sedan up the mountain to where the German gods live.  We’ve seen this tragedy before, most recently with the Acura RL. That RL was as D.O.A. as any luxury car can be; a spreadsheet on wheels that, by 2011, became the worst-selling mainstream car in America, finding barely 1,000 customers.

The RLX fares better, but it doesn’t confront Acura’s high-end sedan issues head on, preferring to dodge them by adding more space and enough gadgets to fill a Best Buy. Acura’s flagship still seems designed for an illusory luxury world, one in which low-key virtue trumps high design and ego-inflating performance.

Wedded to Honda’s less-is-more philosophy, Acura has publicly rejected the development of a rear-wheel-drive sedan (or an optional V-8 engine) despite all the evidence that big-money buyers prefer a rear-drive platform: the Mercedes E-Class, BMW 5 Series, Lexus GS, Infiniti M and Jaguar XF all send power to the rear, with all-wheel drive available across the board. The formidable Audi A6 is all-wheel-drive only. Eight-cylinder engines are options in all but the Lexus and Audi.

The RLX wades into this shark tank, for now, in exclusively front-drive form. Power is amply supplied by a new direct-injection 3.5-liter V-6 with 310 horsepower, a gain of 10 over the RL’s 3.7-liter V-6.

This silky, strengthened version of the Honda Accord’s V-6 shuts down half of its cylinders in steady cruising, helping to lift the fuel economy rating to 20/31 m.p.g., up from just 17/24 for the RL. So far, so good, though even my most frugal-minded efforts failed to squeeze out more than 27 m.p.g.

But as your eye sails over the Acura, it finds no safe perch in a sea of bland. On two occasions, I strolled past the Acura, blending in at the curb, and had to backtrack to find it. There’s nothing unpleasant about the RLX, but the go-along-to-get-along styling doesn’t bode well for what’s already an underdog in its class.

One distinctive feature, the gleaming Jewel Eye LED headlamps, did a great job of cutting through nighttime murk.

Big, airy and relaxing, the RLX’s interior benefits from a two-inch wheelbase stretch and 1.8 inches more width. Acura says there is more rear knee and shoulder room than in any competitor, and the extra space is apparent. Acura might have pressed that real-estate edge with genuine room for three in the rear, but the center perch is typically high and hard.

Here’s an appreciative nod to the manual rear window shades: Lift the main section, and a smaller shade pivots out to cover the remaining triangle of glass.

The new rotary-knob control system is blessedly simplified, though screen menus remain cumbersome in the anal-retentive Honda fashion.

The RLX looks to stare down any competitors’ technology: “I’ll see your cellular-linked assistant, integrated phone apps and adaptive cruise control, and raise you a four-wheel-steering system.”

That Precision All-Wheel Steer system — or PAWS, in one of the more apt industry acronyms — can turn the rear wheels in tandem with the fronts for greater high-speed stability, or in the opposite direction for low-speed agility and a slightly reduced turning circle. It’s an often-tried technology that’s never caught on, probably because the effect, as ever, is largely imperceptible.

The same goes for the optional lane-keeping assist, which spies lane markers and lightly nudges the steering wheel to keep the car centered. But here, Acura seems too timid, or worried about liability, to go all-out: The system stops operating if a driver’s hands stray from the wheel. And since its digital hand still lets the car drift wide without human input, it’s hard to see the gain over basic lane-departure buzzer warnings.

The RLX literally doubles down on video displays, stacking a sharp eight-inch navigation screen atop a seven-inch touchscreen. There’s some redundancy between screens, but the Acura can display navigation, audio and climate controls simultaneously with no crowding. (Don’t try that in your Mercedes.) The optional Krell audio system is a knockout for spacious sound and tonal clarity — on par with some big-name Bang & Olufsen units — especially when I popped in an audiophile-level CD.