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Driving Impressions
The Acura RL is a driver's car, with agile handling and a taut, poised feel. It grips the corners, has excellent transient response and stops in a short distance. The ride is a nice balance, firm enough to feel expansion joints but not so firm as to be harsh, and it cruises easily and comfortably. The cabin is quiet, benefiting from a noise cancellation system that reduces road noise and tire noise but especially boom from the engine exhaust.
Acura's Super-Handling All-Wheel Drive improves the handling of the RL considerably. SH-AWD distributes power not only between the front and rear wheels but also between the left and right rear wheels. The system controls this distribution of power precisely to enhance handling. Essentially, the system overdrives the outside rear wheel in corners to reduce the understeer that is inherent with all-wheel-drive layouts. As a result, the RL doesn't plow in corners. It simply motors around them.
We found the RL's sophisticated all-wheel-drive setup particularly helpful in tight corners where it keeps the nose of the car tucked in. The car seemed to respond well to throttle in the corners. The effects of overdriving one of the rear wheels is most noticeable at racing speeds, but the system improves handling feel even at a moderate pace. The RL just feels precise. It goes exactly where you want to go. You get improved handling stability on dry or wet roads. The all-wheel drive also brings improved traction and stability on snow and ice. The system is biased to the front. When cruising along, 70 percent of the engine's power goes to the front wheels, and 30 percent goes to the rear wheels. Stand on it, however, and up to 70 percent of the power goes to the rear wheels. That means little or no wheel spin when accelerating.
On a tight road racing circuit, the Shenandoah 1.2-mile road course at Summit Point in West Virginia, the RL felt much more agile than a 2005 Mercedes E320 4Matic (all-wheel drive). The E320 felt heavy and lethargic, like an old Mercedes. Compared with the Acura, the Mercedes lacked grip and suffered from understeer and slow steering; plus it was hard to modulate brakes and hard to modulate the throttle. (The Mercedes-Benz E-Class has been upgraded somewhat for 2006.) The RL was easy drive, and easy to drive quickly. A BMW 530i we drove felt livelier and more fun with its rear-wheel drive and sports suspension than the RL, which is based on a front-drive platform. Whether the BMW would ultimately be quicker in timed lap sessions wasn't clear. What was clear was that the RL was the easiest to push to the limit in unfamiliar corners. The Acura RL would be an excellent choice if you had to choose a car to try to outrun bad guys over an unfamiliar mountain road, and that would be particularly true if the conditions were slippery or unpredictable.
There's plenty of power on tap. Acura's 3.5-liter V6 engine generates 290 horsepower at 6200 rpm and 260 pound-feet of torque at 5000 rpm. That's impressive power from a V6. (You may note the 2005 RL was rated at 300 horsepower. That's because of a new horsepower rating system set by the Society of Automotive Engineers. The 2006 RL is every bit as powerful as the 2005 model; nothing has changed. It's just measured differently.)
Luxury cars with V8 models offer more power and more low-end response, but the RL delivers solid performance. The Acura RL can accelerate from 0-60 mph in less than 7 seconds, so it can compete with a BMW 530i. Acura's 24-valve, single overhead-cam, aluminum VTEC V6 combines strong power with low emissions and reasonable fuel economy: The RL meets the government's stringent standards as a LEV2-ULEV Ultra-Low Emissions Vehicle and earns an EPA-estimated City/Highway 18/26 mpg.
In everyday driving, it's smooth, responsive and enjoyable. The driving experience is aided considerably by the excellent five-speed automatic transmission. Shifting is cr
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