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Comments
I have Sprint and was going to get the LG phone that they offer. Did you have problems with the phone in general or just with the RL?
Thanks!
You said: "BTW, I think you should re-read my post, again. You said...I don't think I said that it is MY OPINION that the TL SHOULD be playing in the V8 arena."
Bodble..I didn't say that. I said and I quote: "You make a point that SOME PEOPLE feel the RL should be playing in that arena." That agrees with your point. and you said TL but meant RL. That's a typo but I'm OK with that too. I am not upset with you at all, I just happen to have a different opinion. You are right about one thing. The car you drive is not important in this. I was trying to understand your perspective. Sorry! Actually going back to Shotgun's post about the RL being compared to cars that have V-8 engines is interesting. C&D magazine did a huge comparison of luxury performance cars recently that included the RL with some cars that had V-8 engines and the RL did extremely well. I'll get you those numbers in the next post. Meanwhile Happy Motoring to you too my Canadian cousin. I have no bone to pick with you.
Nor I with you, jj. I think sometimes things get misconstrued in print, when you don't get the benefit of using facial expressions. I've always found your posts to be civil and helpful, so it was not my intention to be inflammatory. I do respect your opinion. Afterall, you actually own a RL whereas I'm strictly going on observation. So, all else being equal, your opinion would count for more.
And I was just teasing you about the "sedate" stereotyping.
Look forward to reading more of your posts in the future.
Car and Driver $55K sedan comparo:
1. M45 (219 points)
2. RL (215 points)
3. GS430 (208 points)
4. E350 (202 points)
5. A6 (199 points)
6. 530i (198 points
7. STS (191 points)
8. S-type (181 points)
http://secure.grubbs.com/cardriver.pdf
Acura is sufficiently and automotively sophisticated to recognize and select which field it chooses to compete in. When and if Acura chooses to compete in the V8 arena it will respond appropriately! Should that day arrive, my estimation is that Acura will, again, set new standards and levels of performance their competitors will not only respect - but scramble to meet.
Where'd you get that????
If someone's considering an M45 and an RL, you have to compare the v8 to v6, so there's no sense in excluding things this way. FYI, the Passat had a v8 in a more upscale version, but I think it put out less hp than many v6s, so it's really HP, torque, weight, etc you want to compare rather than engine size.
Excellent point! Whether it is called 2005 or 2006, or whatever is strictly labelling anyway.
One nod Ihae to give to the M is that their voice nav system recognizes spoken street names. It'd be nice if the acuras did that.
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/Comparos/articleId=104808
If there's a discrepancy between C&D and Edmunds (and maybe consumer reports?), I'd probably go with Edmunds' report until I can make up my own mind. C&D is probably for the super-enthusiast who would do pretend slolams if on the road alone; Consumer Reports is more for the person who just wants to get from point A to point B without having to stop at the repair shop. Edmunds seems to be in between.
And keep in mind they used a nearly stripped M45, if I recall. Virtually everything on the other two cars is available to the M. That SPORT SEDAN COMPARISON isn't worth the electrons that form the words. I think they should limit themselves to just doing driving impressions and research; leave the "comparisons" to dedicated automotive comparison magazines.
Which one do you recommend?
Thanks. My Verizon contract ends on June 12th, so I save $175 by waiting it out. Salesman in Cingular store promised to honor the current offer.....$50 for the V551, in conjunction with a 1-year contract. Is anything missing that you would have liked?
My RL has run perfectly, from the get-go. I don't care if it takes a slice more of "one, one-thousand" to get me off the line. I bought the WHOLE PACKAGE, so no comparo is possible. I put all of the info that's passed before my eyes into the hopper...and "ground out" an RL. I did a dozen walk-arounds, paid attention to this forum, touched every knob, sniffed the leather, loved the dash, was thrilled by the power and smoothness, read all the specs, was entranced by the audio, pleased by the nav's simplicity, stunned by my wife's enthusiasm ( a first!) and I wasn't deterred by the price. So the A6 or 530i may present one or two better stats, BUT HOLD ON, I BOUGHT THE WHOLE PACKAGE!!! My nature is unwilling to deal in ULTIMATES and ABSOLUTES. I do have one firm rule that I obey: Never buy a car that's reputed to frequent the shop more than the highway! In the shop, 0-60 loses its panache and the shop becomes a virtual showroom for a few celebrated marques.
I think the sports sedans they tested - M35, RL & GS are really looked at as luxury cars that are sporty (hence, no manual transmissions). The cars 1 model above (Q & LS) are all luxury. The cars 1 model below (G, IS, TL) are all sporty sedans with some luxury.
I think Edmunds is more in tune with who will drive those cars than C&D. Not people who want to race from stoplight to stoplight, but people who want a luxury car that can thrill once in awhile.
To the rest of your post...GREAT!
To Shotgun and WashDCguy....Cool!
To TaylOrd...seriously, which dedicated automotive comparison magazines do you recommend. I am trying to educate myself because my younger brother has been an enthusiast for 50 years and I want to bridge the gap now that I have all this time on my hands. (I was always off playing ball some where.)
Embarrassed? You mean "shamed?" The RL hung its hood in disgrace?
taylOrd, hanging an RL or GS out to dry requires a far graver offense than either one could have committed, considering their overall quality and refinment.
"Embarrassed" is a highly charged descriptive. You, as a car lover, must have felt devastated by their performance!
I think she makes up the target clientelle - I expect that the more sport-oriented drivers are just more likely to spend time in car message-boards.
It's not true you have to drive like Jeff Gordon to notice the difference. usatoday's Healey noticed it in normal conditions, just like under normal conditions the driving characters of 5 & E are different.
RL's caught between M's sportiness and pace and GS's luxury and refinement. Notice it has never finished first, and finished 2nd to M35 on both sides the the Pacific.
Right back at yer! :-)
George
And...does this look like something that could be added/modified for the US versions of the RL?
Or...have any of the US owners asked their Acura service dept about this? Can the ventilation be added?
Thanks.
Retrofitting cooled seats?
The seat cooling was one of my "must-have" features that I was ultimately willing to live without given all the other great features of the '05 RL. So, I posed the question to my dealer, but they were unable to check on the ability to retrofit parts since they don't have access to non-US microfiche. I did notice the seat heaters are simply insertable modules - but I would suspect the cooling "module" is more complex and may need to have access to ductwork from the AC system.
So, has anyone explored this? The US microfiche is, of course, available online at acura.com - but we would need a friend in Canada to compare fiche/part numbers to the Canadian version.
Of course, this may simply not be achievable. But worth a try for those of us in warm climates.
I'm wondering about the efficacy of ventilated seats. Help me out. The buttocks and the back smother a great part of the seating area, so whatever air would escape from the seat would come from the space between the legs, and, marginally, around the outside of the upper arms.
The seat, and the seat back, would be cool, but not ventilated, as "ventilation" describes the movement of air which, in this case, would not be happening. Is the purpose of this just to circumvent the hot seats that result from an idle car sitting in the sun? If THAT IS THE CASE, the seats would not be cooled in time when starting up after the car has been sitting, engine off, in the sun. Am I being dense? Yes, I must be dense, as it seems that great importance has been imputed to this feature. Fill me in, please.
Most of my driving is stop-and-go so I'm not surprised that I'm averaging about 15MPG. We'll put on 300 highway miles this coming weekend - that'll give me a better idea. Actually, I'm so taken with the RL that the mpg may be slightly dismaying, but not an issue. The optional steering wheel gives driving a wholly different feel; wonderful admixture of textures - the perforated leather and sleek, slim, smooth simulated trim.
Getting back to the ventilated seats. I believe there are coils within the structure of the seat that operate off the air conditioning system. I don't believe that air actually ventilates through materials that you block with your body structure. As I stated before, I am not an engineer and this is only a semi-educated guess. :-)
Like you, most of my driving is short trips around a metro suburban area, I get about 17 because some of it is also freeways to lake country but in May we'll be heading for Houston (A 1250 mile one-way trip and return) so I hope to get 26-27 MPG. (the car will have it's first oil change by then as well. In the next year we also plan to get out east again by car. We love Boston, and have been to Maine, New York, (Long Island is fantastic), Williamsburg. I've driven west to California but it is a real haul from Milwaukee. We will always fly from now on and do rentals. We leave for Phoenix next week and will fly there as well. Wish I could rent an RL but will be with Enterprise and I believe it will be an Altima this trip.
jj: I'm certain that our posts will arouse one or two sleeping engineers among us who will clarify the issue. The previous two RLs that I've owned have both had sheepskin coverings on the front seats - cool in summer, warm in winter. The leather on the current RL somehow doesn't present a comfort problem, even in the coldest weather - no sheepskin necessary. Additionally, the seats warms up surprisingly fast.
Thanks for the response, and safe trip to Phoenix.
George
I would guess just ventilated... Cooling seems like overkill.. If you are cooling the rest of the cabin, it seems just ventilation would be enough..
Where are all those Canadians when you need them?
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That would have been a GREAT feature for me, since I live in So. California. In fact it was the last feature that I debated as a "must-have", and almost drove me (pardon the pun) to the the M35.
And, we are talking about Canadian market cars... We realize that it isn't available in the US.
regards,
kyfdx
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I would buy that feature on my next car.
Regards,
BigRob.
But, the question is:
1)Is the air cooled by the A/C system?
2)Or is it just ambient air from inside the cabin, drawn through the seats?
(Say #2, please....lol)
regards,
kyfdx
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I've noticed the vent fan on the back of the Mercedes seat. One bad thing about having the vent there is if you "rip one," it's going to blow right in the face of the person sitting behind you! LOL!
I think the idea is to create enough air circulation to prevent moisture (sweat) from developing.
I've never had problems with sweat when using perforated leather, however, as I've already stated, I do like this feature.
Regards,
BigRob.
Regards,
BigRob.