They just need to RWD their whole line-up. Honestly.

I used to have a 3.2L CL Type-S and it was a beast. Top quality interior, great engine...but FWD just kills the handling/fun.

The front end is just an absolute eye sore. That giant chrome catastrophe between the headlights is gawdy. Bleh.

RWD+V8=TIER1

Jung, please tell me,

Since when has Acura ever used a V8 engine. They are even rethinking their V10 engine plans in the NSX ???!!!

Its always been V6 engines or a V10 in formula One racing (i think)!!!

Anyway, as pointless as it seems, it could very well be competitve against the VW Passat CC (Passat coupe).

Jeepers Creepers!!!

I must have had a brain fart, because I don't know how I could have missed the Acura's expected $50,000 price.

Would anyone really want to pay that much for a rebadged Honda?

...well, maybe Noya.

I didn't say they ever used a V8. If they want to move up in the world, they need to.

i cant look at this car and not think of the 'red tail light' monkeys, and the way their tail covers their butthole.
Strange were these guys get their inspiration of the grill.

A coupe is definitely a good idea. I think they ought to compete against the A5 and maybe the 3 series.

It's got to be rwd though. Or, at least a version of SH-AWD with nearly all of the power going to the rear wheels like the A5.

But 50k? Get real. It's going to be an accord coupe with a tuxedo on. Acura needs to build real cars, not pretty Hondas.

I take that back. The TL is already a 4 door coupe looking car.

Acura needs a real 2 door coupe. Not another garbage fake coupe like every other brand.

Redesign that nasty nose, the rest of the car looks pretty good.

Sorry Saheed,

F1 has nothing to do with being a Tier 1 brand. Lexus, Mercedes, BMW, and Lexus all use V8-RWD in their flagship cars. This is what Acura is trying to compete against using V6-FWD cars. One day they will learn.

And even if F1 had something to do with being a Tier 1 luxury brand you would use a V8, JUST LIKE F1 USES NOW. F1 currently runs 2.4 liter V8's. They also ran V-10, V-12, and even turbo 4's for awhile. It helps to know what you are talking about.

This is why comments should be banned. Half of them are bashing the styling of whatever-it-is, the rest are misinformed idiots spreading bad info across the internet.

To hell with the naysayers...I like the car (weird grill and all)!

Dear Joe,

Slow idiots like you never take enough time to read peoples comments! I never said that Formula 1 racing had anything to do with Acura being a Tier 1 brand. My point was that with years of having a descent profit and a good position in the market, they would do fine without a V8 engine.

Gas prices are sky high ( the drop to $3.75/ gallon in Florida is still expensive in my opinion), and with new engine tech like efficient turbo charging, V8's are totally unneccsary.

Hey Joe,

Please don't bother pretending to be smarter than all of us. Thats just not the point of this posting comments here.

Thankyou...I guess.

I have owned Honda and Acura products for most of my car history and have found them very well built and an okay car.

Acura will need to work on the part of their cars just being okay. People purchase Mercedes and BMWs all the time even though they have the worst record for being in the shop the most but when they do work they drive wonderful.

This last generation from Acura is complete off base with the copycat use of the Cadillac style. These Acuras are just not appealing. Having driven and owned both the 2002 TL and the 2008 TL, I must say the 02 was my most favorite. The current '08 feel cheap and stale.

I would like to see Acura change their design studio to one that specializes in more European style or more Conservative styling.

I am with most people here that Acura needs to extend the SH-AWD to all of their cars in the line up as an option but as far as wanting a V8 option, I could do without that. Acura's V6 engines are quite potent.

FWD is only fun in small and light vehicles (MINI Cooper, older vehicles) but I'm sure they're terrible in the behemoths that are Acuras today. The MINI is an amazingly fun car for FWD, just read the reviews, and I'll back it up. I bought one because it was a very fun vehicle for its price range (more so than the Cobalt SS, which I thought was super fast/agile, but it wasn't quite as fun, IMO).

Acura really does need to make the jump to RWD. You can't compete with vehicles if you use a completely different drivetrain.

I'm glad to see the majority thinks Acura is in the crapper.

Of course when you kill your only sporty coupe, and the TSX is powered by a NA four banger, yeah I can see where that's going to head you.

And if they "actually" came out with a V8 they could put it into that piece of crap car the Ridgeline.... And don't tell me it's a truck. The Baja and El Camino aren't trucks even though they have beds.

@Joan of Arc

I thought you had a 335i.

Just how many cars do you have?

Let's say it died of cancer.

Or girlfriend wrecking it?

Don't remind me.

Let's say it died of cancer.

Or girlfriend wrecking it?

Don't remind me. But, yes, I only have one car. I'm no richie!

Saheed-

From your first post:

"Since when has Acura ever used a V8 engine. They are even rethinking their V10 engine plans in the NSX ???!!!"

No one said that. Every car guy here knows the need one. Why? Because their high end cars lose in every comparo to a 5 series, E class, IS, LS, or any other Tier 1 luxury maker. Show me a comparo in R&T, MT, or C/Dthe RL or TL won? Duh.

"Its always been V6 engines or a V10 in formula One racing!!!"

WRONG!

"Anyway, as pointless as it seems, it could very well be competitve against the VW Passat CC (Passat coupe)."

WRONG! Since it costs over $50k.

Your entire first post was useless. On to your 3rd:

"Slow idiots like you never take enough time to read peoples comments! I never said that Formula 1 racing had anything to do with Acura being a Tier 1 brand. My point was that with years of having a descent profit and a good position in the market, they would do fine without a V8 engine."

So what does F1 have to do with anything? Why even bring it up? Oh, because your ignorant self didn't know they ran V8's and was using it as a false point, spreading your misinformation across the internet. I'm the idiot?

"Gas prices are sky high ( the drop to $3.75/ gallon in Florida is still expensive in my opinion), and with new engine tech like efficient turbo charging, V8's are totally unneccsary."

Yeah, let me know when Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, Audi, and Cadillac stop making V8 cars. You may want to enlighten them. Oh, wait. They won't.

You are the reason that blogs/forums are bad sources of information. And I am certainly not claiming to be smarter than anyone here. Except you.

The tsx needs the rdx engine and sh-awd, they could easily do this and keep price down as they're already priced similarly. Add a 2 door coupe option for the tsx, and you have a decent car. If its priced similar to low end 3 series people will bite. The tsx could use a diesel option.

The TL type s needs the 3.7 with dohc instead of sohc. If they could make almost 300hp out of a 3.2 dohc more than 10 years ago they should be able to make a lot more power with half liter more displacement. The TL could also use a diesel option.

The RL needs a whole new setup. They could go with a 3.7 dohc for the base, but they would need either a turbo, or a v8 to make enough power.

If they want to compete with the cl, they need more technology too. Simple nav and bluetooth doesn't cut it.

this car just screams for a really good set of floor mats thrown in.

[They just need to RWD their whole line-up. Honestly]
This is one of the genius's who's been giving domestic manufacturer's advice.
Accura is a tier one builder, just drive one of their cars. Efficiency and comfort are the future, not rear wheel drive gas hogs.

Anyone else think the nose looks like a transformer?

To all the people saying this car doesn't look bad, the article isn't about that car. It's about a new coupe, the picture above is of the new uglyfied TL.

I bet we're going to see a TSX Type S or something similar with SH-AWD and the RDX 2.4 Turbo engine in it. If this new 4 door "coupe" can't compete down the straights with the Genesis Sedan (V8) or Coupe (V6) than Acura gets a big FAIL in my book. The 2.4T gets horrible MPG in the RDX and I bet it will get about the same in whatever car they throw it in next.

Acura's problem used to be that they were just average at everything. Now their problem is they are average at everything except looks, which is below average. Some day Acura will learn they have to do more than tweak the fenders, up the compression, and add some electronic gadgets to an Accord to be a real Luxo company. I've driven Honda's and Acura's for the last 12 years and couldn't see myself buying anything in either of their lineups now.

Acura seems to have an identity crisis or something, they want to be luxury but almost all their commercials focus on performance and handling, which they lack in the first and only get the second when you have SH-AWD.

I want to see some of your V8s up against a Civic SI, you want performance and fun, look at the SI. If you got a deep wallet, look at the S2000. Those are the two best cars in my book

@CivicMan

ROFL, an SI? My 8 year old GSR with 8psi of boost will run all over an SI, an S2000 may be a challenge in the twisties for me though. Even without the boost I'd be able to take an SI in the straights or the curves. The SI came in dead last when Road and Track did a test between it, the Cobalt SS, the SRT-4, GTI, and Ion Redline. The S2000 while quick, is becoming very dated. BTW, you don't need a deep wallet for an S2000 either. You can get them on eBay or around town for under $18k used.

Well at least this time the blogger wrote that they're aiming for Mercedes CL-Class.

Much more plausible, than saying Acura was aiming at Bentley/Rolls Royce.

One thing that may get the attention of buyers in the market, is a rear wheel drive platform.

Good luck to them.

Acura's electronics implementation in all of their current line is terrible. As much as I did not like my Mercedes, it did a much better job of integrating the BT phone and diagnostic systems.

As it stands right now, I cannot get AcuraLink messages from Acura because only a small amount of phones support this service. Blackberries are not one of them....

I will say, this car will be the shortest owned car I have ever purchased....

I gotta agree with Gary.

Acura has had an identity crisis for a long time, or just a lukewarm attitude towards real luxury. Going "Tier 1" will require fresh eyes and minds.
Yes, you aren't offensive to the eye, wallet, or road Honda, but rarely do you ever see more than safe baby steps in design changes out of them. Honda needs to do more what Toyota is doing with Lexus to differentiate the two lines better (Scion is a good example too).

And don't forget Hyundai is on a freakin' rip right now in the states, and they finally have the quality and price that got the "Japanese" car bloom going in the 80's. I'm sure we'll see them drawing in buyers who are financially on the ragged edge of luxury car buyers.

Dump the Acura brand and blend/cut the current line into Honda, or get serious and make a few luxury cars that don't look and feel like a Honda. Basically the same thing GM and Ford need to do.

Oh, one more thing...
I don't care what Acura pic that is. The group that designed that grille should be clubbed like baby seals. Unless it's going to be in the next Transformers movie. Then it's OK, i understand.