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The resale value will be there when I'm ready to buy Acura's flagship in 2008. There has been interesting reading in Luxury Performance Sedans if you have not been following it in the last 2 days. I still honestly believe we have the BEST car out there for the money Shotgun. Enjoy the ride my man. I put my first nick in the rear bumper the other day...very very minor but never the less a slightly irritable situation. My wife says..."John ...now you have an Amish car". (Apparently the Amish will put an imperfection in their products on purpose) But I don't know any that drive a car, especially one like the RL.
I hadn't even gone in for the first oil change when the Fates intervened and sent me tumbling down the stairs of my house, rupturing the quadraceps of my right leg! I will not be driving my RL for two months, minimum. We had planned the first long trip to Leesburg and the day before leaving, I did the dirty deed. Negotiated those same stairs for forty-two years......
I can't even SIT in the car as I have an 8 lb immobilizer, set at zero, fully enclosing and extending my leg to protect it from bending and damaging the sutures.so, here I am, vicariously enjoying talk of my RL's siblings! -;)
Don't stop writing!
George
PT taught how to negotiate the stairs to our bedroom - I'm at my desktop now. Using the laptop in hospital bed downstairs is quite cumbersome. I'm using a walker and am seeing the surgeon for the first post-op visit tomorrow. He says three months to recovery, but I'm about to turn eighty and don't know how well or how fast I'll recover. My wife is wild about the car so that at least gives her some surcease from worry about me. She's the Food Editor of a national magazine and works full time - I have an aide here with me until she comes home from work each night.
I miss Frank's Place and miss the RL in the most affectionate way!-;) I have high hopes that July will find me behind the wheel again.
Many thanks for your well wishes and I'll try to post as often as possible without boring you fellers with medical stuff.
BTW, the Leesburg is in VA.. So Mark went for the M! Am not surprised. Good luck to him. Interesting guy.
So, happy motoring and keep posting.
Warm regards to you all.
George
Do you live in Virginia? I'm in the Tidewater area.
I found the same harsh and choppy ride on my 05 RL as you have described. I have replaced the OEM tires and not the rims. The tires I had my dealer installed to preserve the warranty is the Michellin Sports A/S as recommend by Tirerack.com to reduce noise and harshness.
The differance is light years ahead.
Hope this helps
Thanks for your well wishes.
Best,,
George
If the Michelin Sports A/S exchange preserves the warranty and at the same time gives you such an improved ride then I wonder why Acura did not make it the OEM tire. Are their any negatives to this tire? Wear Quality?
Why do most car manufacturers put on crappy tires, cost!! Cost savings is all I can think of.$ 30/tire extra times 4 = $120 per car x 20000 vehicles per year = $2.4 million. I am getting a set for my RL too. However I dont hate the oem that much, I bought an extra set of wheels off a 2005 RL with TPM's and I will put the new Pilot Sport A/S on them and switch them in the fall and spring. The Pilot Sport A/S looks like a lot more agressive tread, almost like a snow tire, it rated 3rd out of 18 other tires in the same category in the Tire Rack performance reviews by customers. If I remember it had an average rating of 8.3 out of a possible 10 based on 8,000,000 plus miles driven, You should go to the www.tirerack.com and read the comparison. They cost $208 each plus about $45 shipping on a set. The Tire Rack test tires and has a great reputation.
By the way, Acura did the same thing on the 2004-5 TL's with the Bridgestones, real junk. Just take a look at the Tire Rack and see how both OEM tires rate for the RL and TL. It amazes me too why the OEM's do it as it comprimizes the total car so much for only an extra $120.
Dennis
George
Finally, we test drove the M35X. We read many excellent reviews about the car's performance so coming to the test our only concern was the interior (we liked the exterior of the M). Spent considerable time driving the M and left it unimressed. I think it is a little noisy for a car in this class, the ride was not smooth. Interestingly, we actually liked the interior of the M with a couple of packages a lot.
The dealer would give up $750 at most, the sticker was over $50K. Plus, they were giving us less than we expected for the 2000 TL trade.
Next day went to test RL. I liked it after driving it for a couple of minutes. Went back roads and highways. Felt perfect to me. The back seat and space are smaller than the M but it did not concern us. I think front seats and front row space are excellent. In fact, I think that the front seat is one of the best in business and I drove MBs, Volvos, BMWs, etc.
Don't understand why people think that RL is underpowered. On a highway I went from 55 to 95 in a quick moment without any disturbing noise I experienced in M35x. It was rainy during the test and I had an opprtunity to drive up and and down hill on very curvy roads. The car felt so confident that I began making turns at the speeds that my wife could hardly tolerate.
Went back to the dealer, got $3500 off MSPR, they also gave me accessories worth $300 for free. The trade in price was $1000 more than Infiniti gave me.
Took an hour to negotiate and to sign all the papers. No drama, nice experience.
Now is the question: what is the best bluetooth phone Cingular or Verizon for RL?
Your comment about the RL being underpowered may be coming from some people that feel it should have more low torque but you are right on with the 55 to 95...(between those numbers it is very quick!) And on curvy roads I can understand your enthusiasm for it's performance there. (Also the wife thing while you run that gambit...understand that too...mine would react that way too.)
The Infiniti M35X came out of the box very strong and like the RL when it made it's debut, the media gave it a lot of positive ink. Some gave it raves. I applaud your decision to stay with Acura there as well.
There is excellent feedback on the Motorola V551 blue tooth phone and Cingular was promoting it very hard for a long time. Our Best Buy currently has an outstanding price of $49.95 on that phone for signing a 2 yr contract with Cingular. In this market the Cingular stores can't touch that price.
Once again congratulations on the RL purchase....you bought it for a great price as well!
> "Music is nothing separate from me. It is me... You'd have to remove the music surgically."
-Ray Charles
Thanks. I'll check this Cingular model out.
Picked my car today Silver Platinum/Black. The dealer claims it is the combination sold the most. Looks great. How did you learn the car? It is a bit overwhelming. I think it may take me days of practice to take advantage of all the features. I like the fact that I can drive and do all the basic things without using the computer but there is so much more if you know your way around screens and voice commands.
Glad to join the circle of the RL owners
PVS
Celestial Silver is also my exterior but we took the Taupe interior. I've had black in a previous Acura Vigor interior and liked it a lot. I'm still learning about the car and even feel that as interested as one can be to electronics there is an overwhelming learning curve at the outset. It won't be long and you will feel comfortable with everything. Some people like reading manuals. I mostly skimmed through manuals in the past but am retired now, so I took more time with this one. Read your manual, but enjoy the car and watch the speedometer, as it is so smooth those 300 horses can quickly put you over the speed limit.
So we welcome PVS, and hope he enjoys his new RL. And we're glad to have him be part of our group here.
I hope all my dribble here helps you somehow.
I also think the tire calibration screen may only impact the navigation system and not help the VSA system at all? Dealer did not know!
Anybody who knows more about this than me please help!
dennis
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Well the tire recommended by Acura for the 18" wheels they sell is the Michlin Pilot Sport 245/45/18 which is still 26.8" diameter only 0.1" larger than the factory 17" tires, but if you notice the aspect ratio of the tire is a step down to a lower profile 45 instead of 50. The tire has to give up height and thus is stiffer, in order to maintain the same overall diameter of wheel and tire. If you go to the 19" wheels then the tire has to be a 275/40/19 and these then would be 26.6" diameter and a shorter yet sidewal would ride harder yet and flex less. This would improve handling but ride will suffer. In the 20" wheels you would need a 245/35/20 which would still be 26.8" diameter. From 17" wheels to 20" wheels you have given up 3" of tire sidewall and a reall stiff firm ride, but super handling. These are only a few combinations you could use, but you have to watch the tire and necessary rim width so as not to interfer with you suspension and fender wells. Usually the wheel offset can be changed slightly to use a wider tire and rim if necessary.
To summarize, you can stay in factory spec range within +or- 0.1" on the diameter, but my question still is how much does Acura deem to be acceptable of you want to go more than that, like say +or - 0.2" or 0.3" on the diameter and if so then does the tire calibration screen take care of all the electronic systems that would be effected by the change.
Consider tire wear, tires typically have 11/32" tread depth and are worn out ar 2/32" or 9/32" wear. When worn out they have lost 9/16" on the diameter or .5625". You can see where I am headed. I know there is some range that is ok technically with the electronic systems on the car. The tires that come on the car have to be able to wear off at least .5625" in diameter and still not mess up any electronic systems on the car.
I called Acura's 800 help line and got nothing but, " use the same size that came on the car". 245/50/17 in order not to not void your warranty.
I am a retired mechanical engineer and I know all systems have a range in which they can be calibrated and still be effective.
dennis
My RL rides smoothly and quietly, and I can't imagine anyone complaining about the road noise on this car. Plus, the noise cancellation system helps reduce interior noise levels.
Could the person have been adjusting to the fact that since the car has AWD, some front axle drive-hum is to be expected? If they previously drove a rear drive car, it's possible they are not accustomed to the (minor) drive train noise coming from the front, as well as rear. I also wonder if they checked to see if the tire pressure was too high. Finally, the 3.5 V6 is not as silent as a larger displacement V8 may be, but it's still pretty quiet, IMO.
Cstiles I believe here was the sequence..in Post 6211(rajabhat): "I've had my Acura 2005 RL AWD for 2000 miles now. It is a superb car overall, there is nothing quite like it, but...the ride is somewhat harsh and choppy, disappointing for a flagship RL car. Maybe when you combine AWD and tight precise handling, that's what happens? The car has a strange rattle in ruts that is disconcerting."
then in Post 6223 (terryakhan): "I found the same harsh and choppy ride on my 05 RL as you have described. I have replaced the OEM tires and not the rims. The tires I had my dealer installed to preserve the warranty is the Michellin Sports A/S as recommend by Tirerack.com to reduce noise and harshness.The differance is light years ahead. Hope this helps."
Like you cstiles, I too find that my RL runs quietly but there are some road conditions that bring out a harsher ride. Now it would be interesting if you really can remove this harsher ride by replacing the OEM's with tires that only cost $30 per tire more, if that would do the job. Apparently terryakhan says it will. ( Lightyears ahead obviously exaggerates his claim.)
The two tires are in different categories, the MXM4 is a Grand Touring all season and the Pilot Sport A/S is a Ultra High Performance All Season tire.
Considring all the above discussion, I believe the Pilot Sport A/S tires are really light years ahead of the MXM4's even though I havent driven a car with them, but if Dunlop doesn't come out with the necessary size for me by fall, I will probably be buying a set of the Pilot Sport A/S for my first winter in the RL.
If it were not for the tire diameter issue I was going to buy the 235/55/17 Dunlop Winter Sport M3.
Dennis
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I've never driven any RL at all, so I don't have anything to compare it to. I have driven an 05.5 Audi A4, an 05 BMW 330xi, and an 05 Audi A6 - all of these gave smooth rides, even over rough pavement. If the RL was a good as these, I'd be happy.
A couple of weeks ago I drove the 06 Lexus GS300, and was not impressed with the ride at all. The AWD version has run flat tires, and I thought the ride was really harsh - probably because of the tires.
If anyone has driven the A4, 330xi, or A6, if you could compare the ride quality to the RL I'd appreciate the feedback. I'm leaning toward the RL, and I don't want to get my hopes up too high since I won't be able to drive it for a week.
Thanks!
However I am a little concerned with some of the 05 RL problems (i.e. electrical, dead batteries, noise, navigation system, etc.) that are posted on this discussion site.
A sales associate told me that its best to purchase a newly designed car at least six months after its introduction. It allows the manufacturer time to make retrofits and modifications on the manufacturing line which is better than dealer fixes.
Can someone please tell me when the 05 RL was first made available, and if they think most of the early problems have been fixed?
The 05 RL was first available October 14, 2004. I was the first one out of my dealership with one. I've read of a few problems on this board, but I've had zero problems. It's a fantastic car.
Thanks for the information. Really appreciate it.
I've test driven the RL, M35 and was also lucky enough to drive the new 06 3 Series 330 yesterday.
I didn't care for the exterior, interior, and drive of the M35.
I know the 330 is not in the same category as the RL, but it is a car I am considering. Its feels light and fast but its exterior and interior is nothing like the RL. In fact even though I was told the seats were leather, I'm still not sure if they really were.
I'm seriously leaning toward the RL. Thanks again.
The RL has a wonderful interior, great features and drives like a dream. It's worth taking a test drive.
So what gives? I cannot imagine the fuel system stores 3.2 gallons of gas between the injectors and the tank. Is this fuel left in reserve? A typo in all of Acura's official docs?
I'm curious on one hand, but also planning a long cross-country drive and those missing 3.2 gallons of fuel add up to nearly 75 miles of highway driving between stops for me.
Cheers,
ian
Steve
What I'm curious about.. Does it still have 2.5 gallons in it, when I think it is on dead empty? Or, does the tank not allow you to completely fill it up?
Something tells me I'll never know, unless I run out of fuel.
regards,
kyfdx
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I have not noticed in my 05 RL yet because I dont let it get lower than 1/2 tank usually, but I have noticed that the miles to empty on the trip computer always seems a little low.
Also in passing, I love my car, not one problem. I have only had it one month, but I must say I like it so much better than my 2004 TL, soomther ride, quiter and more luxurious.
dennis
Just a comment in passing as well, it has been a terrific car for us since November and I have not had any problems at all. I know one guy that misses his very much because he's been banged up after a fall and I want to contiue to say "HELLO, BEST WISHES ON YOUR SPEEDY RECOVERY" to our buddy AcuraPhile. I know you are reading this. Get well soon. JJ