Entry Level Luxury Performance Sedans

flightnurse

Are you saying that BMW is being a 2 liter diesel? 320d???

flightnurse

Interesting to hear that, however if you lived here why would you drive 80 miles RT? would you live in Casa Grande?

shipo

"Are you saying that BMW is being a 2 liter diesel? 320d???"

Yes, that is my understanding; there are supposedly two different 2.0 liter diesel 320d versions being released to the market, one a higher mileage version and one a higher power version. That said, it remains to be seen if both will make it here to the States.

sweendogy

Good question would love to see a manual awd version - one can dream.

Internal thought "Infiniti can you build a manual g37xs before manuals go the way of the north American redtailed puffin"

flightnurse

Shipo that is good news, with the way today's diesels run this should be a great combo, just hopefully BMW wont price it too high.

nyccarguy

That was my main problem with the E90 335d. They tried to go upmarket with it thinking maybe people would buy a 335d over a 335i. Hopefully a small diesel will be offered price comparable to the 328i. Oh, & please offer diesel with a stick & Xdrive.

nyccarguy

Uh-oh, that's 2 things we agree on in the same post.

I'd like Infiniti to also offer a G37X w/ a 6 speed stick

kdshapiro

I have a little piece of the rock outside of Phoenix.

sweendogy

http://m.caranddriver.com/article.rbml?id=http://blog.caranddriver.com/?p-71672

Goodnight TL or TSx. Acura finally getting it - After all those rants over the years . The bad sales numbers, the styling, the performance. Return of the legend......And a new Nsx.

tlong

Wow, hopefully Acura is going to improve a bit. They've really descended since the redesigns of the TL and TSX.

flightnurse

I have been a very big fan of the NSX since day one. I just haven't been able to walk up to the table and throwdown 30K for the one I wont (post 2002) mostly because of lack of garage space, however with the purchase of my new home (4 car garage) a NSX is in order. Now if I can only find post 2002, yellow with black interior with a stick....

nyccarguy

Looks like its getting WORSE! This ISX is a guided up Civic. The next RDX is just a V6 powered CRV, no SH-AWD, no 4 cyl turbo?

sweendogy

Rut row.

Guess they are not reading this blog - we should remove the tsx as penalty- lets add a Buick - hosts ...hello

markcincinnati

New Acura line up: 3 cars, 2 CUV's 1 Super car.

SMALL - ISX - a deluxe Civic (no SH-AWD apparently).
MEDIUM - TL - (maybe, MAYBE renamed) can't tell if it will remain this size or shrink or grow
LARGE - RL or maybe LEGEND (as large, interior that is, as a BMW 7 series)

RDX - based on CR-V, (no SH-AWD apparently).
MDX - redesigned and will hit the market in calendar 2013 (as a '14?)

NSX - one V6 (direct injection) 2 electric motors (for the rear)

The cars will not stress performance and apprently Acura owners #5 most desired content is the sound system (does that mean the ELS system will go away?)

Hard to tell exactly what NOT stressing performance means -- keep the current 305HP offering and make it get better MPG's? Tune the suspensions for comfort rather than handling prowess?

The Acura statement says something about getting away from Honda -- yet two of the 5 cars will be tarted up Hondas (which may be a good thing since the price will, apparently, be low -- but no SH-AWD?) Bummer.

Well, I think the performance of the '12 TL 3.7 SH-AWD Advance is very Audi-like -- will Acura hold the line and NOT improve this, or will the new TL (whatever it may be called) be tuned for a more Buick like ride and not be granted direct injection or a turbo or super-charger (option).

Stating that you WANT to be the best second tier car you can be seems akin to (almost) throwing in the towel.

My wife, lusting for an MDX to replace her FX35 (for the SH-AWD) is rethinking this now.

I am wondering if my '12 is my first and last Acura?

32 months to go.

sweendogy

32 months to go - well atleast it's no a pre-2012 with the ugly beak.

markcincinnati

It's only a little bit beaky looking -- but I got it because it performed very well, was comfortable, had a great sound system and seemed like the most bang for the buck amongst my choices.

I do enjoy driving it, which was one of the "must have's" for me, too.

Reputation for reliability and durability didn't hurt any either.

nyccarguy

I am wondering if my '12 is my first and last Acura?

Mark - I wonder the same thing about my 2010 TSX. I just refinanced it again as I plan to pay it off & keep it for a while. Somebody else is going to have to make one HELLUVA car to make me not buy a BMW next.

Original Loan from dealer was 5.65% for 60 months.
Refinanced after 1 yr @ 3.44% FOR 48 months.
Refinanced again after 2 yrs @ 2.41% for 36 months.

sweendogy

Look if your happy with the car and it's not a burden in costs then run it. Those cars a bullets compared to others in the group. It's a euro accord - Honda standard of good reliability. The brand is failing to excite but it's still a Honda and if your refinancing continues you will be at zero % in 2 more rounds.

nyccarguy

That's probably the last of refinancing the TSX. Hopefully I'll be able to pay it off in 2 more years, then start doubling up on my Pilot payments to get that Paid off sooner than its original 5 year loan.

Kirstie_H

Oh, this discussion gets read every day by at least one host. It's just that I'm not going to waste time re-addressing a topic I've already addressed.

sweendogy

My comments were made towards acuras management - But sice you brought it up I Would like to know what it takes to remove a car- I mean we have seen te S60 pop in here after a few of us made comments. -

Kirstie_H

There are factors outside of this particular forum that influence vehicles included. One of those factors is the popularity of the vehicles - if we get a lot of searches on a particular make/model, that one is more likely to be included because they're the folks who are looking for information more often.

As for Acura people reading this discussion... who knows? I'm sure they have staff looking at comments on forums all over the 'net, but they don't usually tell us they're around and which discussions they're reading.

sweendogy

why would searches on the internet place a car in a specific category here? I would bet the Civic has more searches then say the TSX but that does not mean it should be included. right- and it isnt. We added the S60 only after it was chatted here for almost a full model year, but was clearly gunning for the group from day one- given the reviews and its marketing. Has a car ever been removed?

And ACURA people should be watching and listening to what the buyers want-- internet is a world wide web of knowledge.

Kirstie_H

I'm really not going to keep debating and explaining the point. Let it go - it really is NOT that important in the grand scheme of things... in these forums or in real life. We're talking about searches on Edmunds.com.
Vehicles have been shifted from time to time.

sweendogy

ok thanks for clearing that up. your right in the grand scheme its not important but why have topics then.

kleiner

HA! Thats kinda annoying that you're so impatiant! hehe

markcincinnati

We can talk about ALMOST anything we want on this particular forum -- and unless we wander too far off subject or get rude and crude or start making ad hominem statements to others, well, it seems to be tolerated.

At the moment, my interests are somewhat of a strategic or future nature; I am wondering what in the wide wide world of sports Acura means by its statement that it will "de-emphacize"performance (at least that is how it read to me.) Sure, we're talking about ELLPS cars here, but I don't think that suggests that we're not interested in performance.

I am interested in these cars, at this point in time, due to the fact that they give their owners most of the ""L" of the LPS cars and almost all of the "P" (or at least they seem to have up until now.)

If Acura wants to no longer persue "P" does that mean they will focus more on "L"? I mean how can you remain in the Premium class if you are not either heavy on the "L" (Lexus and often Mercedes comes to mind) or heavy on the "P" (and Audi and BMW -- and sometimes even Cadillac -- spring to mind).

It seems Acura is attempting to prep me (if I can be prepped, that is) to accept "good cars," since we're no longer going to even try to make great cars (insofar as lux and/or performance is concerned.)

The 2012 TL SH-AWD Advance seems to embody a lot of performance and a lot of luxury (in the ELLPS world, I mean) at a good price. My TL's content for the dollar seems high -- considering, too, that Acura seems more willing to deal on the selling price than, say, Volvo or Audi.

As I read the variety of "press release" type of communications coming out of Acura these past couple of days, they seem to be saying -- we're going to have 5 really good cars and 1 super car to choose from. We are going to build, mostly, "really good cars" -- we're going to focus on value, green-ness and that Acura DNA (whatever that is).

They continue by saying, "Our customers tell us they don't buy our cars first and foremost for performance -- and even a great sound system is #5 on our surveyed customer's list."

I am interested in hearing from you on this topic and others and about other manufacturers. Hell, I'd bet I've had more Audis that the vast majority of folks and I would be glad, damn glad, to chat and opine and bloviate on that subject too.

Let's get back to talking about the cars. OK?

:confuse:

tlong

Let it go - it really is NOT that important in the grand scheme of things.

Agreed. It's tiring to have some of those posts clogging up this forum.

sweendogy

Thanks for posting Part of the post.

sweendogy

Took me a while to he threw that- I will as soon as you do one of 2 things- keep a post to less the 1k words or come up with a topic. The choice is yours.