2002 Acura 3.5RL

It says so right there in the first paragraph of Acura’s press information: The 3.5RL can “duel easily with the Mercedes E Class, BMW 5 Series, Audi A6 and Lexus GS 300, LS 430 and Infiniti Q45.” Acura puts its flagship luxury sedan up against this lofty company and begs comparison. OK, Acura. You asked for it.
The Good News
The 3.5RL’s V6 gets a slight boost in power for 2002, from 210 to 225. While that’s not much on paper, the end result is excellent acceleration in all ranges. Also new this year, according to Acura, are a firmer suspension, larger stabilizer bars and low profile tires. This speaks to the 3.5RL’s intent to further qualify for the “performance” part of that “luxury/performance” tag by increasing its grip in the curves. It does handle well, but steering remains predictably soft. (Acura is capable of tempering this fluid feel, as evidenced in the sportier 3.2TL sedan.) I do credit improvements with making this sedan feel less remote, more responsive than previous models. The confidence is becoming. And the RL settles down beautifully at highway speed. Endowed with Acura/Honda’s mastery of vibrationless travel, this RL slips down the road with a hush.

Also new for 2002 is OnStar emergency system which connects drivers with a live operator 24 hours a day. You have to pay a fee (much like paying for phone or cable) to activate this feature, but it can give you route suggestions, restaurants, news updates, sports scores and the ability to listen to e-mail via a voice-activated Internet connection. Mine also had Acura’s handy dandy navigation system. Ah, the 21st century.

There are also some subtle exterior changes, but you have to look hard to notice. It has evolved visually into a pleasingly elegant sedan. Inside, the RL remains soothing, if not overly luxurious.

The Bad News
I found a lot of this, not because the Acura 3.5RL is a bad car, but because it envisions itself in stratosphere company. My largest complaints may stem from recent updates. One is the ride. For a sedan that is primarily luxury, the RL’s ride is impertinent. It reacts harshly to even small interferences. I’m sure this comes from Acura’s desire to increase the RL’s handling tenacity, but other sport sedans don’t sacrifice thusly.

Then there are the brakes, also victims of new adjustments aimed at more response with less brake-pedal effort. I’ll say. Tap on these brakes and the response nearly gives you whiplash.

Inside, several things don’t live up to this 3.5RL’s opinion of itself. One is how hard it is to get your hand between the door and the seat to make adjustments. If there isn’t sufficient room, why not put the adjustments high on the door like so many others? The audio and cruise control adjustments on the steering wheel are a nice touch, but they aren’t backlit at night rendering them somewhat useless.

The radio should be where the climate control is and vice versa. The positioning of knobs for both systems is ridiculously awkward, resulting in frequent miscues. Again, this could so easily be fixed.

More than these parts and pieces, however, I find this 3.5RL lacks passion. From its looks to its performance to its luxury, there is nothing tantalizing here. Extraordinarily competent? Certainly. Lovely, even. But nothing that excites the senses and makes me want to part with $45,000.

Gas Mileage
EPA rated at 18 mpg city/24 highway. Better than the luxo V-8s.

Price
Manufacturer’s base, $45,150;
Price as tested, $45,630

Is it worth it?
Acura would argue that $45,000 thusly equipped cuts well under the competitors listed, and I won’t argue that. But $45,000 is still a lot of money for a car, and, for the most part, those able to plunk down this kind of cabbage are also able to afford a BMW, Mercedes, Audi or certainly Lexus and Infiniti. With that in mind, I find this 3.5RL to be a fine car, but one that comes up short in all the categories to which it aspires. That opinion is further underscored by its price. It’s not cheap.

The Acura 3.5RL may be the car every Honda Accord owner hopes to drive some day, but dollar for dollar, the Accord delivers more satisfaction. If this sedan pictures itself a prime competitor against the best and the brightest, it has some polishing to do.

Beth Stein is a life-long car buff and free-lance journalist living in Nashville. She has reviewed new vehicles in print for 12 years as a weekly columnist for Nashville’s daily newspapers and on television for Road Test Magazine and Motor Trend Television. Currently, her reviews appear nationally on Car And Driver Television.