2011 Acura RL Review – More Than Just a Fancy Accord | Car Reviews and news at CarReview.com

2011 Acura RL

Styling

The Accord analogy is an unfortunate parallel that some of our drivers drew when first seeing and driving the RL. Sure the nose is a little different, but when one looks at the back half of the car, the similarities become apparent. Acura has decided to stay relatively conservative with this updated RL, probably because of the mixed design reviews on the latest TL.

We aren’t advocating the bird’s beak look of the TL, but rather recommend shapely fenders and a sportier tail, instead of the slab-sides and Accord rear half. Jaguar and BMW have come out with some great styling changes to their new mid/large sized models and have raised the bar when it comes to exterior design. By comparison, the RL just seems rather boring.

Value

Is the Acura RL a fantastic mid/large luxury sedan for the money? It depends on what you are looking for in this class. Handling, build, and reliability are the three top traits, followed by comfort, performance and finally styling. Given that the target demographic is looking for style, technology, and performance, the RL falls a little short in two of these three areas.

At $52,210 as delivered, the RL is less than some of the European competition, but you can get a Lexus GS or Infiniti M, which both have more power, for the same amount of coin. Perhaps, if it were $10k less, this would be a stand out value play that would compete well against cars like the Hyundai Genesis.

More Than Just a Fancy Accord

This is Acura’s best RL yet: it’s smooth, has predictable power, a solid but staid interior and exterior, with enough technology to provide safety and comfort for a great daily driving experience. However, given Acura’s conservative approach to the RL, you also get a package that doesn’t stand out above the crowd and won’t receive any extra attention. It’s almost an oxymoron — a utilitarian luxury car.