Acura’s flagship car in the North American market happens to be the Acura RL, which is sold under the label of Honda Legend in Japanese and other markets where the Acura brand doesn’t exist. However, the funny part of the story is that all the RL cars are built in Japan, at Saitama facility centre.
The Acura RL has always been a re-labeled version of the next generation Honda Legend, and the current generation RL happens to be a true copy of the fourth-generation Honda Legend.
Acura RL
The abbreviation RL in the name Acura RL stands for ‘Road Luxury’. It is a bizarre fact that Acura started labeling its cars with alpha-numeric designators to closely associate the names of its models with the manufacturer. As a matter of fact, the Legend marquee was dropped off since it was known as Legend rather than Acura Legend, and the emphasis was more on Legend than the brand Acura.
First generation (1996–2004)
The first generation RL was rolled out into the market during the year 1996, which was basically launched as a replacement for Acura Legend. The Acura 3.5RL was the first ever Acura vehicle to be marketed with alpha-numeric designators, and then the other models such as 2.5T, 3,2CL and 3.2TL followed the league.
First Generation Acura RL
However, despite the fact that Acura succeeded in improving their brand image with the Acura 3.5RL, they failed to dominate the market, as Lexus and Infinite cars had taken over the Japanese market by then.
Second generation (2005–present)
Code named KB1, the first model in the Acura’s second generation line-up was considered to be the best ever vehicle marketed for under $100,000. It was expected to be featured with the V8 engine, but the RL series hasn’t received the V8 update to date.
Second Generation Acura RL
The second generation RL was unique due to the presence of SH-AWD all wheel drive system that had a torque vectoring technique that could alter traction side to side in rear wheels and from front to back as well.
2009 Mid Model Change (KB2) - 2009 Acura RL
The RL received an extensive mid-model change (MMC) in 2009, and it was regarded as “the most extensive Acura MMC ever built”. With codename KB2, it was upgraded to 3.7L engine that could deliver 300 hp (220 kW) and was produced based on the ULEV-2 standards.
2009 Acura RL
Moreover, the SH-AWD implementation was also modified in order to improve the dynamics.