The 2005 Acura RL - Ride and Drive Review

I just returned from the Ride and Drive in San Francisco for the new 2005 RL and this car is pretty amazing. Luxury, performance and technology; this RL has it all. We had classroom sessions and an opportunity to test the car on a closed course in a controlled manner. We also had the RLs expected competition available for back to back comparisons. This meant that our impressions of each car were fresh in our minds as we moved from car to car.

As we left our classroom sessions at the hotel, we drove to the demonstration track in a bunch of RLs. As we negotiated the city streets, I was impressed how well the cars rode over the poor streets of downtown San Francisco. The cable car tracks were barely noticeable and I was beginning to become worried that the the talk about how well this car handled would be all hype. After all, how could a car be so composed over poor roads and still handle the twisty stuff?

The facilitators set up a pair of demonstration courses: The Luxury Track and The Performance Track. The Luxury Track was a relatively slow course with a number of obstacles and simulated road hazards. On this track we could compare the Mercedes E320 and BMW 530i to the Acura RL. As we drove over the sections of the course designed to simulate pot-holed roads, the compliance of the RLs double wishbone/multi-link suspension really came into focus. There we some sections that required turning and braking at the same time and here, the RL was composed and sure footed.

The things that really stood out in my mind were the way the Mercedes steering needed a lot more turns to negotiate the tight sections of the course. There was also a huge amount of body roll in the transient maneuvers. In contrast, the BMWs Active Steering made the same turns with much less drama. This system speeds up the steering ratio at low speeds to enhance responsiveness, and backs it off at higher speeds to reduce “nervousness” at highway speeds. Neat stuff, indeed, but the RL with it’s electronic power assisted steering was similarly nimble around this section of the course.

On the Performance Track we had the Audi A6 Quattro Turbo and the BMW 530i on hand for more vigorous run with longer straights, heavy braking areas into corners, and a beautiful sweeping turn with a decreasing radius that was taken in second gear. This was both fun, challenging and really gave us a chance to push the cars and experience the Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD) in the RL.
In the Audi, there was noticeable turbo lag as the car rolled off the line, then suddenly “whoosh” the boost comes on and the car really starts moving. Sadly this was the high point of the A6. Once you ask the car to stop or turn, things become less fun. The suspension is simply too soft for anything but freeway cruising. Lots of brake dive, body roll and understeer make this a poor choice if you’re remotely interested in performance.

The BMW had in interesting quirk in the throttle. If you stomp it off the line, acceleration is pretty “leisurely”. If you slowly “roll into” the throttle, it picks up speed much quicker. I was surprised how little power there was, could it be that the traction control was kicking in? It didn’t seem like we were overpowering the chassis but it sure wasn’t accelerating very quickly. Around the faster turns, I ran into a surprise. The steering actually seemed slower than the RL! I can only surmise that the higher speeds were conspiring to move the steering system into a lower ratio. Either that or I’m imagining things.

In the RL, I had a chance to try different driving lines through the decreasing radius sweeper. If you carry too much speed, and suddenly apply the brakes, you will get understeer (lots of it). Very safe and very expected. However, if you can steadily feed throttle through the corner, the SH-AWD will power the outside rear wheel to help point the nose of the car into the corner. At no time did it feel like the tail was going to come around. In fact, the only way you could tell the system was working was that the car made it around the corner when there was no reason it should have.

The computer will move torque to the back axle immediately as you accelerate so the feeling is no different than a normal RWD car. At 4000 lbs, the car is not exactly "tossable" but it feels light on it's feet and responds faithfully to driver inputs. Transient response is very good; compared to the others it changes directions much faster.
The key to "RL handling happiness” is following the "slow in, fast out" rule of thumb. You need to keep the power on through the corner in order for the SH system to work it’s magic. The final ranking of the cars is as follows.

4th Audi A6
This car was the only one in the group with forced induction and because if this there was a lot of turbo lag. The car also ha too soft a suspension that induced lots of body roll all made this car my least favorite of the batch. Somehow the car managed to have a lot of roll without gaining a truly comfortable ride. On the plus side. straight line acceleration was the best of the bunch, but only by a hair.

3rd Mercedes E320
The Mercedes was characterized by really slow steering response, lots of body roll and a distinct lack of power. This made the E320 only slightly better than the Audi. The user functionality was also lacking. There were a bewildering number of buttons scattered all over the dashboard and in the proudest German tradition, none were labeled with regular words like "Air Conditioning"!

2nd BMW 530i
The results might have been different if this had been a 540 with the V-8, or a 530 with the sport package or even a 530 with a manual transmission. However, this car wasn’t equipped like that and as a base 530 it was not a better car than the RL. If it was a 540 to get closer to the RLs power output, there is little doubt it would have been close on price. Let's face it, the BMW is not a bad car, on the contrary, it's a pretty good car. Nearly everyone hates the i-Drive user interface, and after trying to get comfortable with it, I tend to agree that the controller could have been better executed.

1st Acura RL
Did this car win because I sell them and I wouldn’t pick our new car as the loser? Am I biased? It’s really difficult to say. I try to view the cars objectively and logically, but once you’re in this price range, there are always a lot of emotions that come into play. Logically, this car is the obvious winner. It out performs all the intended competitors in ride quality, quietness, acceleration, and handling. Comparably equipped, it out performs them in value but this is nothing new. What is new is a willingness by Acura to give up their insistence that all our cars be front wheel drive. The Super Handling All-Wheel Drive system demonstrates Acura's technological leadership and Mr. Honda's philosophy that we are innovators not followers! I hope you’ll join us as we expand our automotive horizons