carcounsel.com |HID|

Anyone who has spent time with all the Nav systems on the market will probably tell you Honda/Acura makes one of the most impressive. The system on the RL is even more so: it has the ability to take into account real-time traffic data, rerouting you around traffic before you get stuck in the secondary jam of people scrambling for an alternate route.

If you live in LA there’s an alternative to buying an RL: Traffic Gauge.

I haven’t used it and have no affiliation its maker, but given the cost it’s hard not to be impressed with the concept, especially if their claim that users save over 7 hours a month holds true…

We’ve been watching the progress of the upcoming Acura RDX carefully, mostly because it will feature the brilliant SH-AWD system developed for the $50K RL.

Acura’s released details on the RDX prototype and we’re surprised to see it includes a turbocharged engine. (Honda – like BMW - has been reluctant to use turbos in the past and now both are doing so to compete for ever larger horsepower numbers without increasing engine weight. Interestingly both companies have resorted to variable vane turbo units for less compromise than usual between response and power output).

The new 2.3 liter engine’s 240 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque compare favorably with the 205 horsepower and 163 pound-feet of the 2.4 liter currently used in the TSX, an engine that Car and Driver points out is

down substantially in torque versus [VW’s 2.0T motor], 164 pound-feet compared with 207. Moreover, getting the i-VTEC cam lobes to assert themselves requires twirling the tachometer needle north of 6200 rpm. From there, it’s only 900 rpm to redline, a rather narrow power band that requires lots of rowing with the gearbox to exploit.

On short, we’re excited about the RDX because it signals two things: 1) an end to overpowered front wheel drive Acuras and 2) an end to torqueless Hondas. (Or so we hope).

Now that every kid with a fiberglass bumpered Civic CX has a Type R sticker on their cars, Honda’s considering a model that will out-R the Type R: the Type RR. (Say that 5 times fast).

You can read more conjecture here.

At 2860 pounds, the Si weighs 500 pounds less than the VW and nearly 200 pounds less than the next lightest Cobalt SS. And although it was the featherweight, the Honda felt the most solid and the most planted. It also boasts wonderful brakes and the tightest steering ratio of the bunch, but the electric steering system is overboosted, lacks on-center feel, doesn’t provide nearly enough feedback, and becomes annoying in real driving conditions, where it requires constant attention. source: Automobile

Honda has every right to be proud of the new Civic; after 5 years as one of the worst cars in its class it has finally returned to form.

When they mention that the Civic is Motor Trend’s Car of the Year you might be skeptical given the magazine used to be the laughing stock of the automotive press (they once gave the Chevrolet Caprice the same award)...

But like the Civic MT recently experienced a rebirth, with CAR’s Angus Macenzie and Car and Driver’s Frank Markus being two notable new hires.

(Look for a buyer’s guide to automotive magazines and buyer’s guides in an upcoming post).

Click here for 4car’s impression of first Hybrid based on a car that’s not fundementally flawed.

UPDATE: Now Britian’s What Car? has driven it too; here’s an excerpt from their overview

Ride & Handling: 2 stars – All that electrical gubbins in the hybrid system adds weight to the Civic, and the car leans quite a lot in corners. This model is based on the US-spec Civic saloon, and the soft suspension makes the car float over crests. It doesn’t ride that well over bad surfaces, either, and the brakes tend to snatch.

Most older Hondas and Acuras we’ve ridden in have automatics with frighteningly severe shift quality. Granted Hondas have always shifted firmly to prolong transmission life (slow shifts cause more wear) but something seemed amiss…

Then we remembered: most Honda autos require a Honda specific fluid. Here’s a quote from the owner’s manual of a 1997 Accord:

always use Honda Premium Formula Automatic Transmission Fluid. If it is not available, you may use Dexron III automatic transmission fluid as a temporary replacement. However, continued use can affect shift quality. Have the transmission drained and refilled with Honda ATF as soon as it is convenient.

A brochure for Genuine Honda fluids states:

Honda’s special proprietary formula offers superior anti-shudder performance (resulting in smoother shifting) and prolonged life, Use of non-genuine brands can impact the performance of your transmission in the form of poor shifting, shudder and low fluid pressure.

Given the business practices of the average mechanic or quick-change artist (and how few people get their higher mileage cars dealer serviced), we’d say its fairly unlikely the Honda or Acura you’re driving or considering as a used car purchase has been running on the correct fluid. (Only dealers and a small handfull of Honda specialists stock the fluid).

And its not just the automatics that are under threat. Honda once suggested conventional 5W or 10W30 motor oil be used in its manual transmissions but has since taken the time to come up with a purpose-designed lubricant called Honda MTL. Thinner than oil, thicker than manual transmission fluids, the Honda formulation is optimized for the finicky and delicate synchronizers in Honda gearboxes. As one message boarder explains:

aftermarket MTL [is] too slick. Redline and Royal Purple users have been having the same problems. The synchros can’t get up to speed quick enough because of the decrease in friction. Many top brand tuners still recommend using only Honda MTL in the trannies. I definitely do. Their engineers aren’t dumb; they formulated their MTL the way they did for a reason.

Unfortunately, while dealership parts departments stock Honda MTL, the service departments we’ve polled don’t use it (it’s easier- and cheaper – to get all your lubricant from the same 55-gallon drum). Every service advisor, mechanic, and parts guy we asked admitted they use Honda MTL in their own cars but as one said”In a customer’s car? Why bother? They’ll never know the difference…”

(And you won’t – until your transmission starts failing).

marketing claim:
the Michelin Energy™ MXV4® S8 tire offers an array of improvements over its predecessors including a quieter, smoother ride, improved snow performance, lower rolling resistance and improved handling on dry surfaces.

owner experience:
Was very happy with the tires these replaced (OEM MXV4 Plus) with 52k. NOT HAPPY with the MXV4 S8. Dont believe Michelins hype – they are not better in every way. Handling diminished, ride now jittery (not balance – just harsher), braking distances longer. They are quieter, and I expect they will last, but if youre happy with the MXV4 Plus, stick with them!

our take:
The Michelin Energy MXV4 has long been one of our favorite tires of all time – grippy, quiet, confidence inspiring, surprisingly capable in the winter. The next generation – the Plus version – had better impact absorbtion and uncanny tracking but was slippery when cornering in the wet or snow and loud on some surfaces. Still a number of cars that drive well do so largely because they come from the factory on the MXV4 Plus – take them off and your refinement and fuel ecomomy are often lost. Unfortunately the S8 version is as vague as its predecessor was precise. It exchanges grip 99% of the time for better winter traction and lower noise levels on those rare occasions. Whereas the Plus made the car it was placed on, the S8 detracts from it – witness the feel of the old Accord or Jetta vs. the new ones: in both cases the S8 lends a slippery, vague feel regardless of any improvements made elsewhere in the chassis.

As much as the press likes the Acura RSX Type S, we can’t bring ourselves to feel the same way. Sure, it loves to be taken by the scruff of the neck and thrashed, but even if we look past the tire noise or the engine’s lack of torque the fundementally flawed Civic based suspension and steering makes us wish Honda hadn’t decided the double wishbones were too costly and space inefficient.

The new Civic fixes many of the flaws of the strut front and ‘reactive link’ rear suspension, and the new Si comes with a limited slip differential that made cars like the Integra Type R and original Nissan SE-R legends* so we can’t help but agree when mph magazine founder Eddie Alterman asks

When Honda’s offering a car that’s newer, cheaper, just as fast, and dare we say it, more fun than the RSX, why would anyone buy the Acura?

*Think instant autocross winner. The key is a helical limited-slip differential… that eliminates wheelspin in hard corners when the weight’s off the inside front wheel. The RSX lacks this useful device. C&D, 10.05

I was excited to learn Acura is going to fit it’s marvelous SH-AWD system to its upcoming RDX, and we still are. (FWD keeps the TSX and TL from being viable options – hopefully this signals that the technology will proliferate throughout the model line).

But whereas I thought the car had real promise if based upon the TSX/Accord platform, we’ve since learned that it is to be based on the dynamically challenged CR-V/Civic underpinnings.

We hope the suspension revisions seen in the new Civic make it into the RDX as well – if they don’t, the car’s suspension will cry uncle far before the SH-AWD’s advantages can come into play…