Acura Still Needs Help

"TheHondaBro" (wwaveform) 08/04/2015 at 14:20 • Filed to: acura

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The TLX, RDX, MDX are selling like hotcakes, but that’s about it. The RLX is pracically non-existent and the ILX is just selling poorly. On top of that, no one really knows what Acura is anymore. Acura built its foundation on luxury, sporty Hondas. This is something I believe they need to return to, and here’s how:

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This is a biggie. My dad used to drive a CL Type-S, and that thing was phenomenal. It was stupid quick when you mashed your foot in the loud pedal, it made a great noise, and the manual transmission was among the best ever put on a production car. New Type-S models, built solely for performance/enthusiastic driving, would be a great thing for the company. (Manual included)

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Acura is missing a competitive coupe in their lineup. The CLX would be just that. Complete with two engine choices (2.4/3.5), optional manual, optional SH-AWD, and a Type-S variant, it would be a killer.

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A special-edition ILX. Stripped down to its bare essentials, built for speed, the ILX Integra, a return to the legendary nameplate. FWD, 2.4 engine with a screaming redline, the ILX Integra would be the ultimate FWD performance car.

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And to finish things off, Acura’s premiere luxury limousine. A return to the “Legend” nameplate. It would pay homage to the Legend of old. 3.5 engine, SH-AWD standard, optional hybrid system, and luxury to rival the likes of Lexus and Infiniti.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > TheHondaBro 08/04/2015 at 14:25

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Do they need the ILX to sell? It seems like any sales they have will just be icing on the cake since it’s just a civic with moar markup and they sell approximately eleventy billion of those per year.

Party-vi > TheHondaBro 08/04/2015 at 14:37

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1) Acura has nothing to offer for Type-S performance. A high-strung turbo 4-pot is not something that would work well in their luxury brand cars so the Type-R engine is out, and I don’t see them getting any more power out of the V6 they currently have.

2) An Accord coupe with an Acura badge essentially. It would be nice to see a manual V6 model, but you probably won’t. It would need AWD to compete as well since there aren’t any other luxury FWD coupes out there (is the A5 AWD still, or optional FWD?)

3) Acura will never sell a stripped-out car, nor will they sell a heavier Acura-badged Civic Si. Acura is the only luxury brand that has FWD cars left beside Audi, but you can get Quattro on every car from Ingolstadt. Besides, a new Integra would compete with the Golf GTI and other hot hatch-type cars, and Acura doesn’t want to compete down market

4) Acura is never going back to actual named nameplates. Luxury cars all have alphanumeric names for a reason - it promotes brand recognition and gives an air of sophistication. The only reason Cadillac has kept Escalade is because it has become it’s own brand/marque for buyers.

Acura sells expensive Hondas. At least Lexus has the decency to makes its Toyotas cars RWD.

TheHondaBro > Party-vi 08/04/2015 at 14:45

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Luc - The Acadian Oppo > TheHondaBro 08/04/2015 at 14:51

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The last great Acura (besides the NSX of course)

pjhusa > TheHondaBro 08/04/2015 at 14:52

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Nice article.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Party-vi 08/04/2015 at 14:54

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To your point 3.

Even LINCOLN has everything available in AWD now.

Chteelers > TheHondaBro 08/04/2015 at 15:00

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How about fixing the meaningless names? Audi and BMW numbers make sense (higher numbers are bigger class). Mercedes are relatively simple (alphabetical, with numerals for bigger engines). Cadillac is less straightforward, but at least their products look somewhat different from each other. Acura’s aren’t alphabetical, there are no numerals denoting engine size, and the names are too similar (Why have an RLX and RDX??)

And all the cars are identical. The 3 sedans look exactly the same. I mean, exactly. The SUVs are barely different.

Party-vi > TheHondaBro 08/04/2015 at 15:04

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You’re a trooper

Stapleface-Now Hyphenated! > TheHondaBro 08/04/2015 at 15:14

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Get rid of the damn corporate beak. It’s fucking ugly.

The other problem is that there really isn’t an Acura vehicle that is better than the competition. I think their best vehicle is probably the ILX, oddly enough. But that's just a luxo Civic.