This is fucking underrated. I know how the engine, transmission, electric motors work, i just didn't know it was implemented here! Man, i'm suddenly envious of the people commenting here about their own RLX hybrid.
This is absolutely the very best explanation I have seen so far of how the rear wheels work in this car, and the very best explanation of how the DCT works.
5000 miles in my car, now. Winter driving has reduced the lifetime fuel economy some, but it's still 30 mpg. This is a PHENOMENAL car for people coming from other Honda cars, although if you're hooked on Mercedes or Lexus you might not see a particular reason to move over to the RLX Sport Hybrid. Amazing, very quick and very nice handling car, for as big as it is. :-)
Do you have the krell sound system in yours? I've heard it sounds amazing, but I know they didn't make all that many RLX's with with the advance package.
Yes, I do have Krell Audio. :-) It's really very good. Although an iPod will still produce the best sound, you might find that XM satellite sounds better than you are expecting. It somehow decompresses satellite. It's good, but still not as good as the iPod or as good as HD Radio.
34+ mpg on occasion. Have never had a tank at 35, but a couple at 34. Have just completed a 1700-mile trip with four people total. Got 28.3 or so to 34.1 mpg at various times, depending who was driving and what were the conditions.
George Knighton Well if the BMW/Mercedes owner doesn't care about frequent and costly repairs, sure. Otherwise, there is reason to move over. If it's like other Hondas, just change the oil and drive drive drive.
ourworlds atwar Bought. I drive about 24K/year, so leases are not the best option most of the time. It's not regular AWD, remember. It's got four motors total, and the vectoring serves to make the car handle much better than you'd expect for such a big car.
About the shift buttons for the DCT: I've lived with my Sport Hybrid for 1200 miles now, and what I've noticed is that you don't have to LOOK at the shift controls to use them. It is very obvious when you put your hand on it where D and R are, and how to use them. You don't even have to look to activate the Sport Mode button. I think that must be what they were after, a real life real use improvement.
Alex,with all due respect my friend..,if you have complaints about the prize of Acura,you should check the prize list of 5 series Active Hybrid and Mercedes where you have to pay even for the trunk carpet and cup holders!! Acura is a premium brand that offers exclusivity,full pack of standard options and unmatched reliability! Okay,it doesnt have fancy angel eyes ( i m sick of them anyway),but i believe that Acura have the full right to be called PREMIUM and ask the right prize for it!!! And man,i live in Finland..,please do never compare Acura with Volvo and Lincoln..its a crime :)
Perhaps in Finland the market positioning is different, but Acura themselves are very clear that in the USA they consider themselves direct competition for Lincoln and Volvo. Like Lincoln and Volvo Acura is a brand based on front-wheel-drive products, their pricing structure is very similar to Lincoln and Volvo and all three brands lack products that compete within a full luxury lineup. The result is the "near luxury" brand position which how Acura describes themselves. The only full line luxury companies in the USA are currently Mercedes, Lexus, BMW and Audi. Infiniti and Cadillac are part-line luxury companies as they lack a full-size sedan and then the sub category is the FWD near luxury marques like Volvo, Acura and Lincoln. Buick would be considered "premium" rather than near-Luxury.
Alex on Autos I agree with your luxury brand "tiering", except for Audi being in the top tier. They may have a full lineup but they don't any bona fide rear wheel drive cars that I know of.
Honda has a very good video of the transmission: Basically the trans is divided into two shafts (standard for self-shifting automatics). The motor sits on the second shaft & provides extra boost as needed, plus an EV mode.
Very interesting vehicle. Have to say that I'd become disenchanted with Honda/Acura in terms of their strong suit: technologically interesting automobiles. This suggests the company may be on its way back on that front.
The MDX is the best selling Acura. Can't wait for this Hybrid SH-AWD system to make it's way into the MDX Hybrid. Hopefully the higher height of the MDX would result in minimal intrusion of the rear electric motors into the trunk space, and dramatically increase fuel economy.
Alex -- EXCELLENT review of the car I am looking at the RLX Hybrid as a (used) car in 2018 I have a 2005 RL approaching 300,000 miles Any thoughts about picking one up used now? I am finding a number of 2014 - 2015 models with low miles (30,000 miles) in the $25,000 mile range And some with 120,000 miles in the $18,000 range
@@thomasbarbeiro6853 I purchased an used CPO 18 RLX hybrid with 7200 miles back in Dec 2019. It has been flawless, fun to drive, and mpgs always 28-29 city and +31 hwy. It has just been scheduled maintenance and one free software update to the 7DCT. I would check out Acura car forums for RLX owners that have +100,000 miles on their RLX hybrids. Very few issues with this car. Planning to drive mine +150,000 miles.
Good review Alex. I am a new subscriber and I like how in depth the videos are. I'm Interested to see how this and other hybrids will hold up for those consumers who keep their cars for 5+ years and really put 200+ hundred thousand miles on them. I've heard several stories about Acura and transmission failure, even when taken care of properly. I've seen this car in person and it looks great, especially in Black.
In general hybrids fare well over time. The battery capacity of course drops but according to the EPA there isn't a noticeable drop after the "lifetime" is reached which for the EPA is 10 years and 160,000 miles.
That's the case for all batteries in genereal, however Li-Ion batteries aren't quite as durable as NIMH batteries which is why some makers have stuck to the older chemistry.
It isn't a simple answer unfortunately. Longevity really depends on how you use the battery and that's where the difference is found. Li-ion batteries dislike high discharge rates and that's where NIMH works well. That factors into durability in the long term so even though LION generally has a longer cycle lifetime than NIMH the use case causes the lifetime to change depending on how the battery is managed.
ThousanWhite That's because it's sits in a weird class. It's above normal, but isn't full luxury. Acura has always been that middle ground of near luxury.
Acura is a very impressive car, but it is missing something compared to Lexus and other premium brands. I don't know, but if I have to spend that much money on a car, I would go with another option.
Missing something? Most likely it's in the mind only. Drive them then decide. The reason I say that is because it's a common theme echoed quite widely in blogs, etc. You just have to know that all those making that type of comment haven't even driven one. Especially in the lux market, street cred and status make up a huge part of people's buying decisions. That however has little to do with how the cars are to drive, how roomy they are and how comfortable they are, etc. Perhaps Honda hasn't distanced the Acura brand far enough away from the Honda line but remember that in other parts of the world they haven't had to and they carry the Honda badge. Rather says something about the North American market doesn't it?
krauser979 Really? Lexus LS is the best and most reliable luxury car and Lexus LFA is one of the best super car. Until Acura doesn't build cars like these, they remain inferior.
The transmission in the LFA is very meh and clunky and the LS is a good car but for 100 grand id rather put my money on a Mercedes or BMW or Audi or even a Tesla
krauser979 BMW and Benz can't beat Lexus' reliability. Not to mention a base Lexus LS-460 is 72K, not 100K. LFA is one of the best cars ever built. That said by every car journalists.
Alex, in the video you couldn't give a final judgment because pricing was not yet available. Now that pricing for the RLX hybrid has been announced, can you please let us know what you think? Separately, have you heard anything about an RLX MMC for 2016, and when that might be released? (It's strange that a 2015 RLX hybrid is not available.)
I think that outside the price I liked the RLX but when I saw the price tag I was forced to say that it's one of the poorer values in the segment. The Volvo S80, Lincoln MKS, Lexus GS, BMW 5-Series are all better buys to be honest.
adoc student Yes, but it is quite a bit more expensive than the Lexus ES, Lexus GS, Volvo S80 and Lincoln MKS and the rear wheel steer can't account for the sizeable difference. For less cash the Volvo handles better, performs better, has autonomous braking, a smoother radar cruise control, real wood trim, a stitched leather dashboard and more comfortable seats. The same thing applies to the twin-turbo MKS.
It seems like Acura decided to cancel this model, at least, for 2015 model year (the information on their website has been removed). IMHO, most likely, there was low interest to this cool vehicle due to it being overpriced. Any thoughts on that, Alex on Autos?
Alex on Autos Great news! Of course, they would be even better, if the pricing would also be tweaked to be more competitive, but it's better than nothing (I mean cancelling the model). Thank you for clarification.
OMG, This guy is actually giving me a headache, he has not taking a single breathe or pause, it's like putting your VCR on fast forward, dude slow down a bit.
How bout mentioning that torque vectoring has been available from Acura since 2004 in the RL and now is available in the TL, TLX and MDX. Another incorrect statement with regard to the car under deceleration. Downshifting in any Acura with the SHAWD system splits torque again allowing the car to rotate better through a corner.
tkacle Don't care if you're an owner find out how the system works then. "When cornering under deceleration (with the throttle closed), torque being applied to the outside rear wheel is varied to change the impact on the vehicles momentum from an inward yaw moment to an outward yaw moment, helping vehicle stability." www.honda.co.nz/technology/engine/sh-awd/ The car still vectors torque under deceleration or else it would upset the handling of the car and provide no engine braking at all, or even worse lock up the wheel with the least traction inducing a spin.
yea...I must not know what I'm talking about. I was going a bit too fast into a turn with a good application of throttle, I was going too fast and I let off, which was shortly followed by the car going towards the wall even though I did not change the angle of steering, applying gas got me out of there. I think your theory applies better to the new all electric all wheel drive more than the old system. Here's a quote from the website you mentioned just in case "Up to 100 percent of this torque can be applied to the outside rear wheel and that wheels speed can be overdriven up to five percent by the acceleration device if the situation dictates."
tkacle This isn't a theory, this is fact. From what you have described most of what happened makes no sense. My understanding is that you let off the throttle and you didn't steer? The RL uses an acceleration device to overdrive the rear wheels to induce oversteer which should only work under throttle. Not while decelerating. Describing what you feel has nothing to do what is going on with the car mechanically.
Well you asked... The most unattractive thing about the RLX is Acura's insistence on using the front "beak" design. It's horrid. Kills the idea to look at it any further. 😉
Ok let's try this again... The most unattractive thing about the Acura RLX is their insistence on using that front "beak" design. It's horrid and kills the idea of looking at the car any further. :-)
Alex was driving a pre-production car. Since he drove that car, the RLX Sport Hybrid as it was given to us in North America has different tuning and different cams, putting the 0-60 time UNDER 5.0s. It's still not a very high top speed, limiting itself to 130 mph. However...getting away from a stop light or getting to 60 is a bit quicker with the production car than with the pre-production car that Alex drove. The change in tuning keep 30 mpg overall, but it's no longer 30-30-30 the way it was for Alex's car. It's now 32 mpg highway and 28 mpg city.
