When will the Superman grille fully consume the Acura lineup?

by "Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
Published 06/12/2017 at 15:58

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Hey everyone, let’s ponder the not-so-exciting Acura lineup and its equally not-very-interesting attempts at front end styling themes that nonetheless manage to irritate large swaths of the internet that otherwise don’t really care about Acura cars!

So far, Acura’s new Superman grille has replaced the beak grille on the TLX and MDX. These are Acura’s newest vehicles outside of the NSX, so it makes sense that they were Supermanified during their mid-cycle refreshes. But what about the rest of the Acura lineup?

ILX

Seriously, why the hell is Acura still selling a tarted-up previous-generation Civic? This makes absolutely zero sense to me. Even with the assorted more-premium bits that come along with the Acura transformation, the previous-generation Civic is a vastly inferior car to the current Civic. If someone wants a luxurious Civic they should buy a current-generation Civic Touring, not an ILX. The Civic Touring tops out at $27,475 including destination. The TLX starts at $33,950 and has less equipment than the Civic Touring. Maybe that leaves room for an ILX to exist, maybe not.

Chances of Superman grille being applied to current generation ILX: 15%  

Chances of new generation ILX happening:   30%

RDX

The RDX is Acura’s second best-selling car behind the MDX and shares its platform with the Honda CR-V. The current RDX has been around since the 2013 model year, whereas the CR-V on which it is based was updated for 2012. Since the CR-V was just updated for 2017, you might expect a new RDX based on the new CR-V would show up for 2018, but you would be wrong. The 2018 RDX configurator is live on the Acura website and it’s the same car. Maybe it’ll be updated for 2019. I’d expect it to get the 2.0 turbo from the upcoming Accord, and maybe continue to have a V6 option.

Chances of Superman grille being applied to current generation RDX: 5%  

Chances of new generation RDX happening:   100%

RLX

I actually rather like the RLX. Wait, wait, I hear you laughing, wait, I have a reason! The only problem with the RLX is that the Accord is already bigger than the TLX. The RLX is only a little bit bigger than the Accord. There’s not that much more room or really much of anything to distinguish the base model RLX from a loaded up Accord V6. But the RLX Sport Hybrid is actually rather cool. I still think Acura should’ve left the TL (and TLX) to do the volume selling and only sold the RLX Sport Hybrid. That’s exactly what Honda does in Japan where the RLX is sold as the Honda Legend. Unfortunately, the base fwd non-hybrid RLX led everyone to perhaps rightfully criticize the RLX as a slightly nicer/bigger Accord for a lot more money. The RLX has yet to receive a mid-cycle refresh since being introduced for the 2014 model year. So you know what that means!

Chances of Superman grille being applied to current generation RLX: 85%  

Chances of new generation RLX happening: 70 %

Chances of new generation RLX being an awd turbo hybrid like the NSX: 30%

NSX

We all know how long the original NSX stuck around with basically only a couple of mild refreshes. The new NSX just came out and the beak is fully integrated into the overall front fascia. I’m not sure how exactly the Superman grille could be integrated into the styling. But I wouldn’t put it past Acura to do it as part of a future update.

Chances of Superman grille being applied to current generation NSX: 55%  

Chances of new generation NSX happening: 70 % (in 25 years)

Bonus Round: CDX

The CDX is an Acura-fied Honda HR-V but with the 1.5 turbo out of the Civic and CR-V, that’s exclusively sold in China. Acura supposedly might bring it to the US , probably. They should, what with the subcompact crossover segment blowing up in popularity. They’d sell a whole lot more of them than the stupid ILX. And well, it’s already got the Superman grille.

Chances of Acura selling the CDX in the US: 100% (if they’re smart)

Replies (19)

"Sweet Trav" (thespunbearing)
06/12/2017 at 15:59, STARS: 1

Hopefully never. Corporate grilles are a very stupid idea.

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
06/12/2017 at 16:01, STARS: 0

"Mercedes Streeter" (smart)
06/12/2017 at 16:04, STARS: 0

I actually like the different variations of the Acura beak.

See also: I liek this

"Sweet Trav" (thespunbearing)
06/12/2017 at 16:05, STARS: 0

Let me know how corporate grilles worked out for Pontiac, Mercury, Saturn, Hummer and Lincoln...

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
06/12/2017 at 16:06, STARS: 0

That 3rd gen TL doesn’t have the beak. The beak was introduced on the 4th gen TL.

"Ash78, voting early and often" (ash78)
06/12/2017 at 16:06, STARS: 0

Wait, I thought the ILX was the “one-stop shop” replacement for the TSX and TL, sort of like Mazda did with the 6 (replacing the 626 and Millenia at the same time). It never struck me as a Civic, just a blandified version of the two cars it succeeded. TIL?

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
06/12/2017 at 16:10, STARS: 0

The TLX was the TSX/TL replacement, for purposes of consolidating their sedan lineup from 3 to 2 models.

The ILX is a stupid gussied-up Civic that exists because after all that talk about consolidating their sedan lineup from 3 down to 2, Acura decided they wanted to sell 3 sedans anyway.

Except the ILX is way worse than the TSX ever was.

"TheHondaBro" (wwaveform)
06/12/2017 at 16:12, STARS: 0

The RLX is built in Japan.

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
06/12/2017 at 16:14, STARS: 0

Yay?

"Ash78, voting early and often" (ash78)
06/12/2017 at 16:31, STARS: 0

Ahhh, I was thinking of TLX, you’re right (despite that these things are everywhere, this should speak volumes about their anonymity, IMO).

I knew an “Acura Civic” had been around in Canada for quite a while, but didn’t realize they made it down to the states with it. The Canadian market is surprisingly different than the US in certain niches (eg, the Mazda5, which was almost the brand’s top seller there)

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
06/12/2017 at 16:41, STARS: 1

Originally there was the Acura EL in Canada which was very much a Civic with different headlights and slightly nicer interior. The ILX at least has more to distinguish it from the Civic, and it has the 2.4 liter motor from the Civic Si (and TLX) but still, it’s very meh.

Although I have to correct myself about the ILX coming after the TLX, it came before the TLX. So basically at one point Acura had the ILX, TSX, TL and RL and the TSX, TL and RL were all very similar. The TL and RL were basically the same size. So the TSX and TL got consolidated into the TLX and the RL was replaced by the RLX and there’s more of a gap between them.

The ILX is still stupid though.

"Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever" (superchan7)
06/12/2017 at 17:03, STARS: 0

I dislike the new grille. It’s not as good as the refined beak/shield/thing that they finally got right.

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
06/12/2017 at 17:07, STARS: 0

I think it works well on the MDX but I’m not as much a fan of it on the TLX.

"TheHondaBro" (wwaveform)
06/12/2017 at 17:14, STARS: 0

...So built in a Japanese factory to Japanese standards.

"Tapas" (tapas)
06/12/2017 at 17:30, STARS: 0

I don’t like the “superman” grill.

There. I said it.

I thought Acura was in a good place with the beak (?) grill, in terms of proportion and overall integration with their design language. The tips of the beak on the top flow into the bonnet lines well.

The stupidman grill is just creates this retarded underbite/protruding jowl underneath the lights. Not pretty.

They just changed that one grill element to an odd one, in an otherwise good design.

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
06/12/2017 at 17:58, STARS: 0

American-built Honda products don’t exactly have a reputation for lower quality. Even the NSX is built here now.

The problem with the base RLX is it’s a large premium fwd sedan. Other members of that segment:

The Lexus ES starts at $39k and splits the size difference between the TLX and RLX.

The Cadillac XTS and Lincoln Continental that are both 6 inches longer than the RLX and start at $45k.

You could conceivably even throw in the Buick Lacrosse and Toyota Avalon that start at $33k.

The RLX starts at $55k . The Sport Hybrid is $60k and tack on another $6k for the Advance package for either engine option.

If you look at the upgrade engine + awd options, the XTS V-Sport has a 410 hp twin turbo V6 and awd starting at $65k. The Continental 2.7T awd with 335 hp starts at $53k and the 3.0T awd with 400 hp starts at $60k.

Point being, the 377 hp RLX Sport Hybrid at $60k is somewhat in line with the hot versions of the XTS and Continental, but the base fwd model’s price is way out of line with anything else in the segment.

"Alf Romio" (alfromio)
06/12/2017 at 19:56, STARS: 0

NSX grille render. I think it’s s’ok...

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
06/12/2017 at 23:54, STARS: 0

Ehhh....

I suppose it could be worse.

"LastFirstMI is my name" (donstone13)
06/13/2017 at 07:34, STARS: 0

I thought the NSX was a hybrid of the two grills. Thats’s why everyone was so excited about it. What, is it some other kind of hybrid too?