General Car, Inferior or Superior Interior, & Eternal Mullet Barge Discussion Thread

[D Griff]

That TLX does look very nice. Good job Honda on the styling. I didn't see any links for other information but it's basically the 2.4 and the 3.5 with automatics through front wheel drive or the hybrid AWD?

 

[PetrolHead]

I'm surprised at how good the TLX looks...as in, it's not ugly! That fucking shield/beak grille won't die, but it looks not ugly on the TLX for a change.

 

[D Griff]

I'm surprised at how good the TLX looks...as in, it's not ugly! That fucking shield/beak grille won't die, but it looks not ugly on the TLX for a change.

Yeah, the grill is gross, I didn't mention it because it's kind of a given at this point :laugh:

It still kind of seems like it'll be another boring car from Honda though, but I'm trying not to pass judgement. Regardless they'll probably be flying off dealer lots.

 

[PetrolHead]

I'm surprised the beak has lasted this long. I've never seen a review that praises the style of an Acura, especially with the beak...wouldn't Honda want to fix that? It's been around for many years now, has no founding in heritage or anything, time to try something else.

I'm sure the car will be remarkably unremarkable just like all the others. That's not a bad thing, Honda's the best in the industry for doing it. Still, not sure it'll fly off dealer lots when there's offerings from BMW, MB, Audi, Lexus, Infiniti, Cadillac that are much truer premium sport sedans.

 

[johnny_p]

Nice car. Its subdued but it doesn't look bad. Interesting news on the 8 speed transmissions.

 

[D Griff]

I'm surprised the beak has lasted this long. I've never seen a review that praises the style of an Acura, especially with the beak...wouldn't Honda want to fix that? It's been around for many years now, has no founding in heritage or anything, time to try something else.

I'm sure the car will be remarkably unremarkable just like all the others. That's not a bad thing, Honda's the best in the industry for doing it. Still, not sure it'll fly off dealer lots when there's offerings from BMW, MB, Audi, Lexus, Infiniti, Cadillac that are much truer premium sport sedans.

Acuras seem to sell really well here, I see them all over the place all the time. I'd say more than I see MB or Audi... BMW is probably the most popular. I don't really "get" Acura purchases personally, it doesn't really seem worth the premium over the Honda counterparts, but plenty of people seem to disagree.

The RSX Type-S was a pretty sweet car, haven't cared much since then.

 

[PetrolHead]

Acuras seem to sell really well here, I see them all over the place all the time. I'd say more than I see MB or Audi... BMW is probably the most popular. I don't really "get" Acura purchases personally, it doesn't really seem worth the premium over the Honda counterparts, but plenty of people seem to disagree.

The RSX Type-S was a pretty sweet car, haven't cared much since then.

From a national luxury market share standpoint, Acura does ok with the SUVs. But the cars leave a lot of room for progress. Safe bets like the ILX and TLX will only help it grow so much when you have "new" brands like Infiniti, Cadillac, and to some extent Lexus going balls deep with design, features, and performance oriented products.

 

[D Griff]

From a national luxury market share standpoint, Acura does ok with the SUVs. But the cars leave a lot of room for progress. Safe bets like the ILX and TLX will only help it grow so much when you have "new" brands like Infiniti, Cadillac, and to some extent Lexus going balls deep with design, features, and performance oriented products.

Yep, the SUVs are what I see the most of but there are sedans aplenty as well here. The ILX is pretty rare around here though, I guess people aren't hot on paying $30k for a Civic.

I'd be going for the ATS or a 1, 2 or 3 series if I wanted some sort of luxury/premium car. I'm certainly open to seeing Acura's offerings though as they emerge. I liked the sedans they made several years ago, the second gen TL was nice and the original TSX was pretty decent also.

 

[Calvinball]

Same power figures too. People are not going to like this.

:laugh:

Still pretty disappointing that hp numbers haven't changed, but Subaru is a small company so to develop and test a new engine just to be used on a low production car like the STI doesn't make business sense.

Especially since there is already a higher hp version of the FA series available for the jdm legacy. Something like 295/295, with I'm sure a much beefier powerband, better fuel economy, etc.

Scratching my head on this one.

 

[PetrolHead]

sorry grambles, gotta agree:

http://jalopnik.com/acura-is-slowly-committing-suicide-1501315445

 

[troyguitar]

sorry grambles, gotta agree:

http://jalopnik.com/acura-is-slowly-committing-suicide-1501315445

I disagree. From the comments:

Not making the things you want made and not being successful are unrelated in the car business if you are a Jalop. Disconnect them. The world loves beige, and will pay big bucks for it. This will be true for the rest of your motoring life. I'm the first person to want a high-revving V8 RWD 6MT sporty car from Acura, but with continued and steady increases in sales, Honda has 0% impetus to give us that.

Acura may be pushing it's way out of the enthusiast market. But in doing so they're aligning themselves with where the majority of the market is and wants. Boring. Reliable. Good looking. Lots of gizmos. Four wheel drive option for when it's wet. Good fuel economy.

Acura is checking all those boxes.

etc...

Acura is a car that normal people buy and normal people represent actual profit.

 

[Zillon]

Acura is a car that normal people buy and normal people represent actual profit.

Actual profit allows automakers to make the niche products that us car guys love.

That is, of course, if automakers are willing to squander some profit to produce something worth driving.

 

[Zillon]

Oh, not sure if anyone noticed yet, but the BMW 2-series configurator is up and running.

I was thinking that the US would get the 220i, but it looks like we're getting the 228i.

Still. $36k+ for the M-sport 228i. Ouch.

 

[Rockchops]

Nope.

And this is where traditionalism gets most. Honda has engineered its DCT with a torque converter to provide linear throttle inputs, without the need for nifty wet clutch packs, oil pressure modulations, or nifty clutch tuning for infinite variables. I don't know the engineering behind it in great detail, its not a traditional TC, but it acts very close to one and at a certain point it "locks up". I'll see if I can find some literature on it, but its Honda being Honda and developing technology that's already out there and making it intuitive and better.

I waited for the DCT to do something out of the ordinary and act like a DSG. I was fortunately surprised when it never did. Smooth all the way, all the time.

Interesting. My DCT (BMW) acts a lot like the VW one except there's more lag off the line which takes some getting used to. With a TC, I imagine a lot of that is eliminated.

 

[troyguitar]

Actual profit allows automakers to make the niche products that us car guys love.

That is, of course, if automakers are willing to squander some profit to produce something worth driving.

Honestly if I were in charge at one of these companies I'd completely ignore "enthusiasts" as they're a waste of money.

Just put a 6" lift kit on any little Euro hatch, an iPad in the dash, a turbo 4-cylinder engine and the ZF 8-speed in it with heated seats, sunroof, and a back-up camera. Offer it in White, Black, and Gray for $29k FWD and $31k AWD and you have enough USA car sales to support an entire brand.