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Automotive News & Views Where is Honda taking Acura?
1045 messages, Last post on Nov 06, 2009 at 7:12 AM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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Replying to: nippononly (Jun 05, 2009 6:36 am) Now, the second gen has come around and it's bigger, heavier and softer. And Honda did nothing to raise the power which was disappointing. I think they knew this and that's where the Big V6 comes in. Too bad it's probably going to turn a once balanced, racy sports sedan into a nose heavy boulevard cruiser 
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The TSX was supposed to be the anti-Accord while that car went up against larger saloons like the Avalon, Maxima and Taurus. But now it appears the TSX is closer to the Accord than ever before. Sadly, I think the only thing the V6 TSX is going to steal customers away from will be its own TL. 
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Replying to: anythngbutgm (Jun 17, 2009 6:27 am) |
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Replying to: xrunner2 (Apr 02, 2009 6:28 am) BMW is not their main competitor. Lexus and Infiniti are. Honda should do for the Acura brand, what it did for the Accord. |
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Look at the new designs: TL goes from beautiful to very edgy, some say ugly, bigger, more of a barge TSX goes from handsome to bigger, more numb, edgier (but not as ugly as TL) It looks like Acura is moving toward a budget Lexus approach. They are losing the smaller, agile vehicles. Similarly to the Accord, which used to be an agile, sporty midsized sedan and has turned into a big, soft barge (sporty if you used to drive a Buick or Toyota). Unfortunately I liked Honda and Acura *because* of the smaller and agile handling, with at least handsome styling. Although I'm getting older and softer, my automotive tastes are NOT. The new Acura sedans are NOT very attractive to me. I'll probably be looking at Mazda now, as I want a good value with good handling. Something like the Mazda 3 or 6. I like VWs but the Passat has gotten ugly and I don't like their reliability and cost-of-maintenance issues. Not sure what else in the marketplace would offer that combination.
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Replying to: tlong (Jul 02, 2009 1:25 pm) Of course, Acura is just trying to cater to what the "luxury market" is supposed to be in the U.S. Here "luxury" means squishy-handling, quiet, big-engined, and packed with every convenience feature they could possibly cram in there. Even BMW is increasingly going that route. Most enthusiasts will hunger for something completely different from their car, and while Acura used to have it, it doesn't have it now and won't have it in the future. Which is too bad.
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Increasingly, luxury means more gadgets and features that isolate the driver from the driving experience. That's not what I'm looking for. One solution is to go down market, to less feature laden models. That would mean replacing an older TL with an Accord, or something in the Accord class. Not a perfect solution, but there may not be a perfect solution. Another alternative is to just keep driving the old car. If enough people did that, one would think that it would send a message.
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Replying to: nippononly (Jul 02, 2009 2:27 pm) I had a 1998 Audi A4 (5-speed) and it was a wonderful car in most respects. I bought my current 2005 Acura TL (auto) when my kids got too big for the Audi's back seat. Even my TL is a bit too large and floaty for my tastes -- I like the previous TSX better than my TL in the size and handling department. My TL is a borderline barge cruiser with some semblance of sportiness. It's also a really nice looking car. I don't particularly care for the look of the new A4. And the prices have gone sky high. My 6 cyl A4 ran me about $32K in 1998. That same car today is over $40K.
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Replying to: tlong (Jul 03, 2009 8:04 am) |
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Replying to: xrunner2 (Apr 02, 2009 6:28 am) I agree that Honda's approach to inovation is too timid. They built some great cars like you mention the S2000 that beat the pants off all the competition. It waled on the Boxster, the TT, little Benz, and ... everything else in that class. The NSX is another example where Honda built the best 'Ferrari' ever!! Small volume but very competent with a powerfull 6-cyl. I would like to see Honda / Acura go BOLD again!!! The Element is a cool vehicle, but somehow Honda got it jacked up in the marketing dept. Toyota hit it just right with their Scion line. Cheap entry and double the price with accessories... Honda NEVER got that, -- and the sales figures are showing it!!!
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Automotive News & Views Where is Honda taking Acura?
