Acura RL

shotgun · April 2005

Yeh...I too noticed the significant slow down Jjacura and wondered why? Other than a lack of torque and optimum gearing (manifested by off the line performance capability and a slight lack of top-speed capability) I'm completely satisfied with my RL. I suppose most of us are waiting to see what the 06' RL will offer to counter the new Infinity M's, BWW 5's, MD 350's, GS's, Audi A6's and so on. Should be quite interesting, don't you think?

jjacura · April 2005

The RL will serve us well and I plan to keep it for several years like I did the 2000 TL.
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.

acuraphile · April 2005

Well, what a pickle!
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

jjacura · April 2005

George, I was thinking about you yesterday as I washed the car. Had Frank's place tuned in with the sound up. George, my man I really extend best wishes for you to heal rapidly. Leesburg will be there when you heal. Is that the one in Virginia or Florida? Can you get around on crutches or are you confined to a wheel chair? Is your bedroom upstairs? Man, I really feel for you. Outside of having arthroscopic surgury to repair a torn miniscus 12 years ago, I have been very lucky. Fell off a 2nd story roof once 8 years ago and landed miraculously on my side missing a cement sidewalk by inches. Got bruised and scratched up by bouncing off the 1st floor porch roof and raingutter. My wife heard me land and came running out screaming for my daughter to call 911. Fortunately I regained my breath and couldn't feel any broken bones. Told her not to call 911 and had her drive me to ER to get checked out. Since that time we built a new home...everything on one level and we rarely visit the basement! Lots of trees though so I have to climb a ladder periodially in the fall to clean out the gutters. One of these days I am going to recruit help...Lord knows the wife is getting pretty insistant about that. The RL is a dream car for us and I really enjoy the toys. OH...I was listening to Jonathon Schwartz today and he played a Diane Schuur single which turned out to be a "Scat" version of "I only have eyes for you" Incredible range hitting the high notes like Ella. Guess I've rambled enough. You take care and keep on posting. Our buddy Mark C is over in the Luxury Performance Cars forum...did you know he ordered out an Infiniti M!! You have to go over there and check things out! Feel Free to Fromp Friskily Forward as Frogleg Frees up. Wow ...I'm going off the deep end George...must be the Wal-phed!

acuraphile · April 2005

jjacura:

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

pat · April 2005

I'm so sorry to hear about your fall - I hope your recovery goes well.

Do you live in Virginia? I'm in the Tidewater area.

terryakhan · April 2005

Hello Raja,
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

acuraphile · April 2005

Thanks, Pat. No, my daughter lives there and works there for MCI.

Thanks for your well wishes.

Best,,
George

jjacura · April 2005

"The differance is light years ahead."

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?

jmatthe · April 2005

George, you don't have to miss franks place as xm radio allows free access to the web service to subscribers. While it is not CD quality, it is better than nothing if you have a decent connection and a headset. I probably have read you wife's material, as I am also in the food industry. heal fast...jim

dennis721 · April 2005

Hi,
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

liy · April 2005

NY Times Review Acura RL

acuraphile · April 2005

Thanks, Jim, but how exactly do I access XM online and what is the exact drill, in steps?

George

pvs · April 2005

I own a 2000 TL which I wanted to replace with a more upscale sports sedan. Read all the recent publications and obviously considered M35x as the top candidate. Also tested the new TL and G35X. G35 is a great car but it just did not feel luxurious enough. The 2005 TL did not ride much differently from my current car. Nice car and a good deal though.
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?

jjacura · April 2005

PVS....Congratulations! You did exactly what I did last November. I sold my 2000 TL and bought a new RL. Couple of comments. I think you made a wise decision moving beyond the TL...actually the new 2004 TL was in our plans but after seeing the new design both my wife and I were disappointed. We felt Acura went too far with the sport design although the car performed extremely well. AND...what they did not have in the RL in 2004 was ENOUGH sport design (Too stodgy) and lacked performance so we looked forward to see what they were going to do with it in 2005 and the rest is history. It is truely a superior automoble and we both love the car.

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

pvs · April 2005

Ray,

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

jjacura · April 2005

PVS...Hi...actually I left a Ray Charles quote on that last post. You can use JJ...that's fine.

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.

bodble2 · April 2005

Ray Charles has reincarnated as jj

pat · April 2005

:shades:

jjacura · April 2005

Good one....OK Bodble....Good to know you are still around man!

jjacura · April 2005

You liked that one huh. Say, I got to thinking about those posts from PVS. Very interesting and I'm wondering about a couple things. He signed on to the forum for the first time the day he bought the new RL. Those were his only 2 posts in Edmunds forums. Hmmmmmm.

pat · April 2005

We are getting new members in droves these days. We are always glad to have someone who just purchased a vehicle join us to discuss it.

So we welcome PVS, and hope he enjoys his new RL. And we're glad to have him be part of our group here.

bodble2 · April 2005

Oh yea, I'm still lurking around, enjoying the RL vicariously thru you guys, and trying to behave myself, and be a good Townhall citizen.

pat · April 2005

I don't even recognize you.

jjacura · April 2005

I noticed you were at the auto show.and I understand THE INFINITI was getting all the attention. It's all timing, don't you think. Just like this forum now. Things have quieted down, so much so that our kindly host is participating as well. Pat will be reading this and I just want her to know that I too welcome new posters to these forums. The one I referred to before seemed OK on the surface and I really should take him for real based on those posts. I just got thinking about some things like huge discounts and a few other coincidences, thats all there is too it. If he ever comes back in I will certainly be glad to keep our discussions going. Hey did the forum add a new feature or my eyes playing tricks? Looks like there is an e-mail option next to the reply bar. How long has that been their? BODBLE2 You are always welcome to enjoy the RL vicariously through this group of proud owners. It is a great car. JJ

msu79gt82 · April 2005

Can you explain what you mean by "warranty preservation"? I do not understand what you are tallking about. What warranty? How does tire brand/type effect the cars warranty? Thanks.

dennis721 · April 2005

I am not 100% sure, but I was talking to my dealer about other tire options too. It seems that with all the electronics that depend on the correct tire diameter, 26.7" like the MXM4's that come on the car or 26.8" (.1" larger) for the Pilot Sport A/S is apparently somewhat crutial. The VSA system for example is one that depends on the correct tire diameter according to Acura. So I think they are saying if for example you get tires that are sonewhat larger or smaller and the VSA system fails, the warrenty might be void?? Just guessing. My dealer did not imply that. Also I posted quite a while back asking if anyone kenw about the Tire compensation-calibration set up screen on the multi information display. I ask my dealer and he could not tell me what that screen did exactly or how to make any necessary tire size adjustments. My calibration screen is showing that my tires are calibrated at (- 2.09%). It is also set to calibrate automatically, as the ON button is active for automatic calibration. I also noticed that the calibration varies as I drive just a few miles and the tires heat up and expand slightly. I ask the dealer what ( 0" ) is and he could find any info in the tech manual to help me. I was thinking we could adjust for different size variations in various tire options. I was wanting to buy a set tire size that was 27" in diameter and thought if knew what direction "0" was I could calculate the nominal size/diamater. He could even tell me that. So I am now looking at buying exactly the same size tire within +/- .1" in diameter, like the Michelin 245/50/17 Pilot Sport A/S. I wanted to buy something else like the Dunlop Winter Sport M3 in a 235/55/17 but it is 27.2" diameter and I am afraid to take the chance since the dealer is so unsure of how things work. I could also go to a 225/55/17 as it would be 26.9" still a bit risky but maybe OK?
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

bodble2 · April 2005

I don't want want to be in pat's doghouse (again)

cstiles · April 2005

Since 18 inch tires/wheels are available as dealer-installed options on the RL, perhaps the diameter calibration is intended to support that. Not sure how tire/wheel calibration would have anything to do with NAVI. I can see that it could impact stability assist systems, and the mechanics of the SH-AWD/yaw control, but I'm not sure what the connection would be to navigation function?

kyfdx · April 2005

It wouldn't affect the GPS function.... but, if different diameter tires made the speedometer inaccurate, it could affect the computations of time/distance calculations such as miles to empty, etc.. (computer assuming a speed that you aren't actually traveling).

jjacura · April 2005

This stuff is not rocket science or brain surgery but makes perfect sense in plain old physics. Disregarding the benefits of performance and ride I wonder at what point there is ANY RISK of voiding any of the warranties as Dennis had indicated. We've been reading about people going to 18" and even 19" tires as well. The prototype had 20" tires. Was that just for appearance? Raises a lot of questions doesn't it.

dennis721 · April 2005

JJ,

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

cstiles · April 2005

I believe this thread started with someone complaining that their RL was making too much road noise, causing them to swap their stock Michelin Pilot MXM's for another set of Michelins.

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.

jjacura · April 2005

Dennis721...Thank you for the information. As a retired engineer who better to really explain it. I respect your opinion.

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.)

dennis721 · April 2005

I started to investigate tire options because the OEM Pilot MXM4 tires are not very good tires in all performance aspects especially their rating in snow (ref: Tire Rack owner surveys). No the stock tires do not bother me as far as ride comfort, handling, road noise ect., just snow, so I bought an extra set of standard 2005 Acura RL 17" wheels and was looking into getting a winter tire set which I would change in October and back again to the MXM4's in April. I know that with the MXM4's you can get by fairly well in winter because of the SHAWD and the VSA systems, but I like to do a little more then get by in bad weater. With the capability of this car and good tires you should be able to go anywhere as long as you have ground clearance.I had a 2004 TL and I had the Dunlop Winter Sport M3's on it, and it was an excellent tire for deep snow and ice. Problem is it is not made in the 245/50/17. This got me started to look for alternatives. The Michelin Pilot Sport A/S is an excellent all season tire with high marks in wet and dry handling, low road noise, very good ride comfort, and good snow handling, (7.3 snow rating on a scale of 10 possible). The Pilot MXM4 only rated 4.5 on the same scale for snow. Also the MXM 4 was had low numbers for all the other categories with a 6.3 average overall score it rated last in its category 16 out of 15 other tires in the same category. On the toher hand the Michein Pilot Sport A/S rated 8.3 overall and it placed 3rd out of 18 as compared to 17 other tires rated in its category. All my info is from the Tire Rack.
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

jjacura · April 2005

I ran well past 60,000 miles on my 2,000 TL before finally replacing the tires and they were OEM Michelins. The ride always felt superior to the previous cars we drove. We did not have rough winters here in Wi. during those years. That's not to say that we won't in the future. Nov. '04 was the first time I ever bought a new car entering into a winter but I was confident the SH AWD would execute well if we had a regular winter of snow. (In addition when I asked the RL sales rep about going UP in size to 18" wheels and tires he talked me out of that consideration immediately by suggesting the ride would be stiffer and the investment was some where over $2,000 more. As it turned out the most snow came when we were out of town so it really turned out to be a mild winter for us. Having said that, I better not say another word. (We've had storms in May that have flattened the flowers and crashed many a tree limb to the ground in this part of the country.) But I like the idea of the High performance All season Pilot Sports and will consider them this fall.

kyfdx · April 2005

On the side of the interstate getting a ticket from a state trooper... Ouch!!

dbth · April 2005

I have Motorola V551 and use it with a bmw x3.Bluetooth works flawlessly, best feature of the car.The bluetooth on drains the battery 3 times faster than with bluetooth off.

bdkinnh · May 2005

I won't have the ability to test drive an RL for another week or so, but one thing that has me worried are the few reports (here and elsewhere) that the ride on the 05 RL is a little harsh compared to the 04 (and earlier) RL.

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!

acurafan4 · May 2005

I recently saw the 05 RL and really like it and am considering making a purchase.
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?

nebraskaguy · May 2005

>>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.

acurafan4 · May 2005

nebraskaguy-

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.

washdcguy · May 2005

I've had my 2005 RL since October 15th of last year. I've had not one single problem with anything. Most reliable car I've ever had (especially after my problem-plagued Mercedes E Class).

billinsobe · May 2005

I currently have a 2003 Audi A4 and while it's really fun to drive I am concidering trading it on a 2005 / 2006 Acura RL. My Audi is the greatest car I've ever had, but it really doesn't compare to the RL (they aren't in the same class anyway so I wouldn't expect it to compete).

The RL has a wonderful interior, great features and drives like a dream. It's worth taking a test drive.

ferrelli · May 2005

The 2005 RL gas tank is listed in the owner's manual as holding 19.4 U.S. gallons of fuel. Yet after filling the tank more times than I care to think about with current gas prices, the most I've ever been able to get in the tank is 16.2 gallons. That fill-up was with the gas gauge reading below the E and the emergency "you have X miles left to drive!!" light showing me with 2 miles left before the engine dies.

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

jjacura · May 2005

(Interesting) I stick all my receibts in the center console and the largest fill to date was 16.47 gallons back when I had 1,500 miles on the car. I can remember being close to the 5 mile mark on the computer at one time and that was probably this fill-up. Checked the specs in the book and you are so right (19.4 gallons). This one is worth checking out. I plan a couple of long trips this year and it would be good to know maximum cruising range on a tank.

steven9179 · May 2005

I've owned my RL since december. I've had zero problems with this beautiful machine-- a pleasure to drive, own and receive compliments about. So, go for it, you won't be disappointed.

Steve

kyfdx · May 2005

I have a Honda CR-V with a 15.3 gallon tank, that I have never been able to get more than 12.6 gallons in...

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

dennis721 · May 2005

I am not sure mind you, but I would bet that empty on the trip computer and gas gauge does not include the reserve. I have no idea why they do it this way, but I cant believe the RL would actually have a smaller tank the the 2004-5 TL which is supposed to have a 17.0 gal capacity and a higher MPG rating.
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

jjacura · May 2005

Dennis, You may be right. I was referring to the RANGE which calculates the estimated distance you can travel on the remaining fuel in the tank. (On your Multi- Info Display) Maybe it PADS that somewhat to provide a safeguard. (But 3 gallons?) By the way just as a warning...you never want to run out of gas because it can cause misfiring at the end, that could damage the catalytic converter.

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

Acura RL

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