The Acura RL competes with the Lexus GS, NOT the LS! (luxury car, vehicles)

[Pink Jazz]

It seems that many people seem to love to compare the Acura RL to the Lexus LS, despite the LS being a larger and more expensive vehicle. Lexus' direct competitor to the Acura RL in both size and price is the GS.

So, why is the Acura RL compared to the Lexus LS if they are different classes of vehicles? Just because they are both the flagship models of their brands doesn't make them direct competitors. For example, Volvo's flagship is the S80, but it is designed to compete with the Mercedes-Benz E-Class, BMW 5 Series, and Audi A6, rather than the S-Class, 7 Series, and A8.

[NJGOAT]

FWIW, I don't know anyone in their right mind that cross shops a Lexus LS and an Acura RL. For that matter, no one even cross shops a Lexus GS with an Acura RL. If you want to find the most direct competitor to the RL it's the Acura TL in SH-AWD guise. The TL is cheaper, performs the same and has pretty much every feature you could find on the RL.

Acura is a brand totally lost and has been getting debated in the current luxo-battle thread, the brand is really sitting in the "near luxury" group which means its competitors are going to be coming from Buick, Volvo and Lincoln. You can toss Infiniti in there as well.

So, I would say the Acura RL's competitors are these cars:

Buick LaCrosse, in particular the V6 AWD model. Better materials and execution then the RL, but lacks some of the toys, though coming in at around $8k less you really can't fault it too much on that end. The ride is less sporting, but acceleration is the same.

Lincoln MKS, in particular the EcoBoost V6 AWD. It has everything you can get on the RL and then some and will hands down outperform it in acceleration, though the RL is the better handler...slightly.

Volvo S80 in T6 AWD guise. Just like the RL this car isn't really sure what it's supposed to be other then "different". I consider these a wash, but Volvo's fantastic maintenance program gives the S80 the edge overall.

Infiniti M37x. It costs a little more with similar options, but returns better performance and much better handling. It lacks some of the tech features, but the driving experience makes up for that. Infiniti also has a little bit better pedigree then the RL and is closer to an actual luxury car then the RL is.

Then we get back to the TL, which is probably the best competitor to the RL. Maybe that's why Acura doesn't sell very many RL's?

[43north87west]

I've never considered those two cars to be direct competitors.

The obvious answer to your question, is because both models are the top of the sedan model line for each manufacturer. Therefore people compare them as the top of the line vehicles that they both are, even though they don't compete directly.

[RandyWatson13]

The RL competes with the Accord and failure. It has sucked completely since 1995 or so and changing the name to Ralph Laurens RLX ain't going to help.

Some people might confuse it b/c sadly an Accord based car with a V-6 only is Acuras "flagship". Its been a failship for ages now.

NJGoat hit the nail on the head. There are minimal reasons to buy the RL over the TL which is much cheaper. Acura should just cancel the RL and be done with it.

[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

Originally Posted by Andros 1337

It seems that many people seem to love to compare the Acura RL to the Lexus LS, despite the LS being a larger and more expensive vehicle.

The Acura RL? They still make those?

[xlroadster]

I hope they redesign it soon, because it's becoming Really Long in the tooth.

[SpeedyAZ]

Originally Posted by RandyWatson13

The RL competes with the Accord and failure. It has sucked completely since 1995 or so and changing the name to Ralph Laurens RLX ain't going to help.

Some people might confuse it b/c sadly an Accord based car with a V-6 only is Acuras "flagship". Its been a failship for ages now.

NJGoat hit the nail on the head. There are minimal reasons to buy the RL over the TL which is much cheaper. Acura should just cancel the RL and be done with it.

Acura should revamp its entire lineup and start from scratch. Neither the RL or TL offer anything that would interest someone looking at a near-luxury vehicle. I honestly still don't know how they're still in business...

[vegaspilgrim]

Actually, the RL is a fine automobile-- a coworker has a 2006 RL and I've had the chance to ride along a few times. But I agree that nothing about it really stands out from the competition. I think as a used car it's actually a great value. But as a new car, I'd rather buy a Lexus GS if I had that kind of money to cough up on a car.

The current (soon to be old) 2008-2012 Honda Accord is so large compared to previous Accords, just eyeballing the two, it looks pretty close in size to me as the RL.

If I'm not mistaken, isn't the RL, even though it has AWD, based on a FWD platform? Whereas both the Lexus LS and GS are RWD vehicles that have AWD as an option.

I used to like Acura a lot... until they ruined themselves starting with the FUGLY 2009 TL.

[RandyWatson13]

Originally Posted by SpeedyAZ

Acura should revamp its entire lineup and start from scratch. Neither the RL or TL offer anything that would interest someone looking at a near-luxury vehicle. I honestly still don't know how they're still in business...

Honda die-hards are some of the worst fanboys in the planet putting up with slow, overpriced, ugly, not really luxurious and coming up with reasons to buy it over the superior competition.

The MDX is the best thing they make. I knew they were lost when I can't find reasons to buy a Ford/Hyundai/Kia over an Acura.

[PKCorey]

Originally Posted by vegaspilgrim

A

I used to like Acura a lot... until they ruined themselves starting with the FUGLY 2009 TL.

Whoever approved that redesign should have been fired.

It is so sad. They came very close to beating the BMW 3 series then this POS came out. Sales have been down by 60% since the redesign and the rest of the Acura lineup keeps getting bad as well. Acura is a case study in everything that you don't do when you are almost in the lead...