2011 Acura RL SH-AWD - Short Take Road Test - Car and Driver
What Is It. A mildly refreshed version of Acura’s generally capable but unremarkable and slow-selling flagship sedan. On sale in much the same form since the 2005 model year , the 2011 Acura RL gets a tweaked front fascia with chrome spears in the outboard air intakes and a slightly toned-down version of the much-maligned, guillotine-esque beak that was fitted a... Inside, the infotainment interface has been revised (although the quality of its graphics remains largely the same), and genuine maple trim and a new Sea Coast interior color are now available. (Yes, Sea Coast could refer to just about any color, from sandy beige to watery blue to oil-slicked black. ) The most significant alteration is the upgrade from the previous five-speed auto to a six-speed box. It’s easy to forget what a nice car the RL is to drive—as consumers seemingly do on a regular basis—until you slide back into it. The naturally aspirated 3. 7-liter V-6 (generating 300 hp at 6300 rpm and 271 lb-ft of torque at 5000 rpm) pulls with... The six-speed RL hits 60 mph quicker than before—6. 1 seconds versus 6. 5 for a 2009 RL we tested —while also gaining 1 mpg in the city and 2 on the highway in EPA testing. And as always, Acura’s torque-vectoring Super Handling All-Wheel Drive makes sure little of the power at hand goes to waste, with absolutely tenacious grip and an impressive ability to mitigate understeer. Indeed, as the nose starts to push, the outside rear wheel gets the lion’s share of the torque, realigning the RL’s pointy snout with the. Source: www.caranddriver.com
