Turn of the Decade Spotlight: Acura

2010. New year, new hopes, new dreams. And of course, new cars. And when I say new cars, I mean new cars. Not some next generation car with a hyped up facade, hybrid engines, and touch buttons/screens galore. No, I am talking about those truely new cars, that no one outside of the company has driven before, and with reputations (good and bad) to build. Let's start, shall we?

Acura is the pinnacle of Honda engineering, the very name the exotic NSX was brought to United States under. Acura represented a radical change in the market. Here was a car that was affordable, yet its exoticness looked every inch the rival to Italian super cars. Now, Acura has established itself as a well made, dependable luxury line-up. And for 2010, they've brought out something(s) special. And I'm not talking about the fancy new corparate logo (which Edmunds claims is akin to a bagel slicer). No, riding on top of this pastry-cutting goodiness is the Acura ZDX and the RL.

The ZDX has been spotlighted by Acura in recent auto shows. many believe Acura means to transform the ZDX into their flagship car, like the Altima is to Nissan. The car is a beautiful design, but seems to have that little quirky edge to it. Starting with something I noticed when looking through ZDX's homepage. The ZDX is described as a 4-door coupe. A bit contradictory, don't you think? At first, I thought it meant that the ZDX's second set of doors was sucide doors, but if you look at this picture:

you will see a second set of door handles. But the term coupe is fairly broad, so lets not worry about these base grammatics. Instead, lets look at what it brings to the table. The basics:

-300hp 3.7L VTEC V6

-6-speed sequential sportshift automatic transmission

-Acura's SH-AWD system (Super Handling- All Wheel Drive)

-A power panoramic glass roof

-Collision Mitigating Braking System (CMBS)

Quite impressive. And all to be had for $45,495.

The interior looks like what it should be. Plenty of features are sure to be found, and is sure to be a comfortable ride.

Acura RL

This Acura is the bigger brother to the TL. It has a bigger engine (3.7 to 3.5), more horsepower (300 vs 285), better base options, and Acura's SH-AWD as a standard option to boot. Some features include:

-SH-AWD

-Navigation system with Voice Recognition

-Bose 10-speaker surround sound system

-Bluetooth hands-free system

-CMBS

-Adaptive Cruise control

The RL promises to be a sporty, fun vehicle that allows it's driver to have fun in the lap of luxury.

Both these cars seem to be a viable option in the car market. They both look good, perform good, and offer a reasonable amount of equipment for your money. Tune in next time for the next spotlight: Acura's rival, Lexus.