Consumer Reports reviewed the new RL and did not rate it very high at all. It ranked 9th of 13 cars. The TL was rated 2nd behind the new Infiniti M class.
They marked it down for several things, confusing controls, too many buttons, no larger than a TL and $15,000 more in cost, large turning circle, poor transmission shifting, poor handling, small cabin size, long braking distances, etc.
Bad review and $50,000? Why would anyone buy one?
- Russ (with a TL and an NSX, but no RL)
Not to mention it?s a lot uglier than the TL!!!! Maybe people would buy it strictly for some sort of status reason... ??? I know I?d never buy one.
- Mike (with a TL and an RSX, but no RL :))
you're right - that CR rating may be the RL's kiss of death
At least the RL is cheaper and more reliable than Land Rover and Jags. They are still around.
I traded my 04 TL for an 05 RL in February and love it. I really like the TL except for the torque steer. I don't understand the comments about the shifting, handling and braking distances. The RL was 4th in the CR test of AWD cars. The best braking distance was the MX35 with 128' and the longest was 133' for the Lexus GS300. The RL was 131'. All were close. The RL had the best 0-60 time. I love the way my RL handles and the transmission if very smooth.
I think this gets to the heart of the differences between CR and C&D magazines. Consumer Reports is a great resource for buying an appliance or anything else that doesn't involve one's heart. Car and Driver gives weight to subjective as well as objective factors and often cars with great heart stand out from other than may have better stats. C&D recently compared the
2005 Acura RSX Type S against other $25k "cheap speed" cars. It didn't post the best times in anything but won the comparison largely on refinement and feel, subjective terms. As always, your mileage may vary!Russ
-- Russ Panneton snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com Nederland, CO "Too bad ignorance isn't painful"
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