ANCHOR: AT THIS YEARS LA AUTO SHOW ACURA ANNOUNCED IT WOULD BE BRINGING OUT A NEW FULL SIZE SEDAN FLAGSHIP CAR. THE UNUSUAL THING ABOUT THIS NEW ACURA IS THAT IT HAS NOT JUST ONE BUT 3 ENGINES. OUR AUTOMOTIVE EXPERT NIK MILES MANAGED TO GET HOLD OF A PROTOTYPE TO FIND OUT WHAT ALL THE FUSS IS ABOUT. NIK ON CAM: THIS IS THE 2014 ACURA RLX SPORT HYBRID SUPER HANDLING ALL WHEEL DRIVE SEDAN. NORMALLY A HYBRID CAR WOULD HAVE TWO ENGINES A GAS AND ELECTRIC BUT OF COURSE ACURA ARE CHANGING THINGS UP! AND IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR THE 3 MOTORS UNDER THE HOOD IN YOU WILL ONLY FIND ONE. THE OTHER TWO ARE REAR MOUNTED AT THE BACK OF THE CAR. THE TWO OTHER HYBRID MOTORS ARE MOUNTED BETWEEN THE REAR WHEELS IN THE RLX POWERING EACH WHEEL SEPARATELY. A CLEVER IDEA BECAUSE DEPENDING ON THE ROAD CONDITIONS EACH WHEEL NEEDS DIFFERENT AMOUNTS OF POWER. ITS CALLED TORQUE VECTORING POWER LEE QUOTE ABOUT ROWING A BOAT TORQUE VECTORING THOSE TWIN MOTOR UNITS LOCATED IN THE REAR SUBFRAME ARE THE FIRST OF THEIR KIND, WHEN YOU ADD THE LARGE AMOUNT OF INTERIOR ROOM AND ALL THE STANDARD FEATURES THAT COME WITH THE BASE CAR, ON PAPER THE RLX SPORT LOOKS CONSIDERABLY BETTER THAN ITS COMPETITORS THE Q60 AND THE LEXUS GS. WHEN YOU GET IN THE DRIVERS SEAT THIS LARGE SEDAN MANEUVERS LIKE A CAR HALF ITS SIZE, BUT MAINTAINS THE BIG CAR RIDE QUALITY. THE GASOLINE ENGINE IS A 3.6 LT V6 AND WHEN YOU COMBINE IT WITH THE TWO ELECTRIC HYBRIDS ENGINES YOU GET PERFORMANCE AND FUEL ECONOMY, THE RLX SPORTS HYBRID CONSUMES THE GAS OF A 4 CYLINDER ENGINE WITH THE POWER OF A V8. IN OUR TEST DRIVE WE GOT AN AVERAGE OF 31 MILES PER GALLON THAT IS ABOUT DOUBLE OF SOME OTHER LARGE CARS. THE CABIN IS FULL OF LUXURY AND USEFUL TECHNOLOGY INCLUDING A 3 ZONE CLIMATE CONTROL. NIK ON CAM: ACURA HAVE MANAGED TO KEEP MUCH OF THE TRUNK SPACE ALLOWING 4 GOLF BAGS OR ONE AUTOMOTIVE JOURNALIST. ACURA HAVE ALSO ADDED A HEAD-UP DISPLAY NIK DRIVING THE NEW RLX SPORTS HYBRID WILL BE ARRIVING IN DEALERSHIP IN THE SPRING. ALTHOUGH ACURA HAVE NOT ANNOUNCED PRICING WE UNDERSTAND IT WILL START AROUND $60,000. WHICH IS WELL EQUIPPED AND HAS MORE STANDARD FEATURES THAN MANY OF ITS COMPETITORS

• published: 11 Dec 2013
• views: 277