He didn't know it at the time, but the middle-aged guy at the gas station summed up our reservations of Acura's newest luxury car, the 2005 Acura RL, when he said, "What is that, the new Accord? It looks pretty nice, wow, what an interior, it's beautiful. Honda really builds a nice car."
Not only did our friend, who was filling up his modified Nissan 300ZX, mistake Acura's new $50,000 flagship for a mainstream Honda, he used the word "nice" when describing it. And he used it twice.
Nice? Socks are nice. A pat on the back is nice. Saving 40 cents when you supersize is nice. This is an opulent, 300-horsepower, all-wheel-drive luxury car with enough high-tech gadgetry to rival a Battlebots convention.
The Acura RL isn't nice. It's a car capable of taking on Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz. It's great. It's awesome. It's bitchin'. It might even be fresh if the kids are still using that one.
This kind of thing didn't happen with the BMW 530i we recently tested. Reactions to that sedan were strong from our fellow citizens at the pumps. Comments ranged from "cool" to "hot" to "that's one of the ugliest cars I've ever seen, but it's better-looking than the BMW 7 Series."
Not everyone liked the look of the BMW, but no one confused it for a car that costs half as much, which let's face it, isn't nice.
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| 2005 Acura RL A-SPEC |
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| 2005 Acura RL A-SPEC |
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| 2005 Acura RL A-SPEC |
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| 2005 Acura RL A-SPEC |
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| 2005 Acura RL A-SPEC |
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| 2005 Acura RL A-SPEC |
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| 2005 Acura RL A-SPEC |
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| 2005 Acura RL A-SPEC |
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| 2005 Acura RL A-SPEC |
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| 2005 Acura RL A-SPEC |
