SPEAKER 1: The Acura NSX is a high tech super car
that uses hybrid technology to create an exhilarating driving
experience.
But have you ever wondered what it would be like
if it had four doors and the drivetrain was backwards?
Well, wonder no more, because this is the 2018 Acura RLX
Sport Hybrid.
Up front, the RLX receives a new hood.
It receives a new front end and new grill
that inherits Acura's new styling
language, the thing that you're seeing on the MDX and NSX.
It retains the Jewel Eye headlights,
but it gets new head light pods that
include some LED turn signals and LED daytime running lights.
You also get this new chin spoiler
that ties into the side skirt.
You have new 19-inch wheels.
Got a hybrid badge, in case you forget you bought a hybrid.
And around back you have all-LED tail lights
that are a new design with a new rear end look.
Now, mechanically this car is related to the NSX,
because it takes the electric motors that
drive the NSX's front wheels and sticks them in the back to help
guide the car through turns.
It takes the V6 that the NSX had in its middle,
replaces it with seats, and sticks the V6
under the hood where it's assisted
by another electric motor and drives the front wheel.
The whole thing makes 377 horsepower and returns
28 miles per gallon, which isn't bad.
If you are a Japanese car nerd or an '80s
and '90s luxury car nerd, you remember the Acura Legend.
In the mid '80s, when Acura was still a very new car company,
Honda brought the Legend Sedan over.
And it was an important car for them,
because it both helped define what Acura could be in terms
of a luxury car company.
It was also the first V6 in a production Honda car.
The Legend eventually became the Acura RL,
and the Acura RL eventually became this, the Acura RLX,
which is actually going to be the Legend in Japan.
Over the life of the RL and the RLX,
the criticisms levied against this car
have remained pretty consistent.
It doesn't have a V8.
It's not a rear-wheel drive.
It's not quite as luxurious feeling
or as sporty or as exciting to look at as some
of its German competitors.
With this refresh, Acura is hoping
to address some of those concerns
and make this a car that stands up
a little better against its European competition.
For 2018, Acura updated the interior,
making some tweaks to the design and improving
some of the material quality.
So all the touch points feel pretty premium.
It's a quiet interior.
These new seats are comfortable.
In the Sport Hybrid they're heated and cooled.
You get a full suite of driver aids and active safety
features.
There's a lot of content in this car.
The overall design doesn't have quite the same wow
factor as the more recently redesigned E-Class or 5 Series.
This infotainment system really lags behind the competition.
The two-screen setup makes sense in some situations.
It's nice to be able to look at your GPS directions
and be able to change radio stations or adjust the music
or whatever else.
But the interface isn't very user friendly.
The voice controls don't work super well.
And it's just not as fully featured
as the offerings from some competitors.
So the Acura RLX Sport Hybrid works a little differently
from other luxury hybrid cars.
You get a V6 engine up front that's
coupled with a seven-speed automatic transmission that
has an electric motor attached to it to help
boost the power from the V6.
Where the Super Handling All-Wheel Drive comes in
is this car takes the electric motors that in the NSX
drive the front wheels, and moves them to the back.
So each of the rear wheels in this car
has an electric motor that can provide power to it.
And that means that when you're going through turns,
it really helps push the car around.
And for as big and heavy a car as this is,
that means that it corners really competently.
And I mean it just goes on these twisty roads.
So in the Acura RLX Sport Hybrid, in normal mode,
at low speed, it will actually crawl along
just using the electric motors.
And in this car, when the gas engine
kicks in during normal driving, it's actually pretty smooth.
It's pretty unobtrusive.
The one place where it's noticeable
is if you're at a stop and the car decides
that it needs to kick the engine on to charge the batteries.
And that's when you sort of feel the engine start up
and you hear it running so that the batteries can get juice.
The RLX suspension is actually really nice.
It absorbs small imperfections in the road really well,
and it provides a pretty comfortable ride
that I like a lot.
It does-- On some road features you get bounce out of it,
and that makes it feel a little unsettled.
But that doesn't actually affect the performance that much.
As much as some of the competitors
have more controlled body roll and a ride that
feels a little more buttoned down and connected,
the RLX, thanks to this Sport Hybrid system,
is surprisingly capable.
It's really its own sort of fun.
I think it's a different fun from the German sedans.
It's that feeling of a big comfy sedan that just somehow
magically will push itself around a corner
faster than you would expect.
The RLX's back seat is pretty spacious.
There's a lot of leg room here, and I'd
say headroom is average for the class.
It's what I'd expect.
The seat itself is comfortable, and it's heated as well.
You get this power rear sunshade and this tricky side--
Yeah, look at that.
That's almost as fun as driving the car.
Not.
The other thing they did for 2018
was they reduced the size of the battery, which
means that the trunk has gotten slightly larger.
It's still not as practical as a non-hybrid car.
The rear seats don't fall down and there's no pass through,
so you're definitely giving up a little bit of practicality
here.
Unlike some of my coworkers, I'm not
terribly concerned with the outward appearance of a car.
I figure once you're inside driving,
you don't have to look at it.
So I'll leave that up to you.
On the inside, it's comfortable.
It's quiet.
It's quick.
And it's surprisingly capable.
It doesn't have quite the wow factor in here
that you get from the newest generation of something
like an E-Class or 5 Series.
And this infotainment system is definitely just
behind what's available in the class.
The other thing they've done that's smart
is they've reduced the cost of the Sport Hybrid trim
by $4,000 for 2018.
This car comes basically fully equipped,
and it undercuts the cost of its competitors
pretty significantly.
I think that's a smart move for them,
and It will make this car a little more
competitive on the market.
I like this car.
It's a kind of fun that I appreciate,
and I like the comfort that you get here.
The drivetrain is an impressive piece of technology,
and it works really well in the real world.
But there's no denying that the impression from the inside
is that this car is just a little behind the curve
when you look at the competitive class.
We're looking forward to getting this car back to the office
so we can do a full test on it and tell you all about it.
For more information, check out edmunds.com
to find our full rating and review of the 2018 Acura RLX
Sport Hybrid.