descartesfool

Looks like this might give the Audi boys something to worry about. Can it come with a manual or are the paddle shifters the way to go. Starts at 300 hp, so maybe 400 or more in race trim? Who thought the TSX would be good?

http://world.honda.com/news/20....html

"The Super-Handling All-Wheel-Drive System™ (SH-AWD™) is the first and only all-wheel-drive platform that distributes the optimum amount of torque not only between the front and rear wheels but also between the left and right rear wheels. During straight line cruising and moderate cornering, up to 70 percent of torque is at the front wheels. During full throttle acceleration or spirited driving, up to 70 percent of available torque goes to the rear wheels for increased acceleration and enhanced cornering. In addition to varying the torque front to rear, SH-AWD varies the amount of torque to the left and right rear wheels. When cornering, this ground-breaking technology overdrives the outer rear wheel, sending up to 100 percent of rear torque to that wheel to dramatically enhance the RL’s cornering, steering feel, handling and stability. The result is class-leading cornering performance and cornering stability as well as enhanced traction on dry or wet surfaces. "

Here is a link to Honda's technical description:
http://world.honda.com/news/2004/4040401.html

"TOKYO - April 1, 2004 --- Honda Motor Co., Ltd. today announced the development of a new Super Handling All-Wheel-Drive system, called SH-AWD, that provides cornering performance that responds faithfully to driver input, and outstanding vehicle stability. A world’s first, the SH-AWD system combines front-rear torque distribution control with independently regulated torque distribution to the left and right rear wheels to freely distribute the optimum amount of torque to all four wheels in accordance with driving conditions. The new system will be available this fall in the Acura RL (North America) and the Legend (Japan).

By monitoring driver input and driving conditions, the SH-AWD system determines the optimum front-rear and lateral (left-right) torque distribution. This information is then conveyed to the rear differential, where direct electromagnetic clutches continuously regulate and vary front-rear torque distribution between ratios of 30:70 and 70:30, and lateral torque distribution in the rear wheels between ratios of 100:0 and 0:100. Torque is used not only for propulsion, but for cornering as well, resulting in a significant enhancement in vehicle maneuverability.

The SH-AWD system is composed of sensors to detect steering angle, lateral g, and other vehicle information; an ECU; and the rear differential. The direct electromagnetic clutches inside the rear differential, another world’s first, employ electromagnets to obtain precise control over the multi-plate clutches. Built-in search coils monitor the gaps between the electromagnets and the magnetic body to achieve precise, continuously variable torque regulation."

And I thought my Torsen LSD was hot!

MechE00

I'm a sucker for performance gadgets (prelude 4WS, etc.).. but hoo-wee! I wonder how much that option will cost, and I wonder how much a repair on it would be!

Which one is the RL? I can't keep nameless cars straight.. isn't it one of the ugly ones?

genxguy

Looks like a cross between a CL and a Camry.. specs sound nice, but 20" wheels? Nice competitor to 5-series and A6, tho.

what the...

I was kind of wondering when honda was going to move into this AWD craze. I guess their sticking their big toe in the pool to test the waters.

Zack - who's keeping his fingers crossed for the 240 hp, AWD 2006(7? 8?) Prelude.

Shmeek

Hrmmmm....what's the date on that press release?

Chris

They need to put a V8 in the RL brfore they give it AWD. It needs to compete with the Lexus, and as I see it now, its no comparison (but at the same time cheaper too) :shrugs:

Looks too much like a CL:

descartesfool

Yea but paint it white and orange!

Who is going to be the first to strip this RL to minimum weight, then add a turbo or supercharger like that the NSX 3200 cc motor was running. Entry cost a little higher than a Civic. Current Audi RS6 rules in WCGT specify 4172 cc with twin KKK turbochargers and 8.8 compression and 7000 RPM limit, and restrictors, with minimum weight including driver of 3150 lbs. The M3 has an engine size of 3250 cc and a minimum weight of 2600 lbs. Could be the RL would be competitive somewhere in between there. I wonder if Realtime has any ideas on this. AWD Audi's have been pretty awesome in GT until the "unlimited" CTS-V came along. The AWD has always been stunningly good at standing starts. The again, not sure if you can get weight down and power up enough in a 3500 cc motor with 3750 lb stock car (not sure about the weight). Then again those rules are meant to equalize things. I just like the concept of this new AWD system.

MechE00

re: the picture... whoa.. mighty ugly. Looks like a cross between the Toyota Camry and the older Dodge economy sedan (edit: couldn't remember name correctly) .

Maybe I'll wait until they have the cool technology as an option on the Integra Sedan replacement or that other new one (other than this one) before I start having dreams of driving it.

ah well.. just personal opinion..

RiceNmotioN

Wow, a new trend for Acura. Infinity turns most of it's cars AWD, so lets follow suit with an AWD that's not like Honda's 90/10 split. It'll be nice if Acura can do something about it being fat and heavy.

JMU R1

Why would you want to make it a race car? Honda already has a much better platform in the NSX which is soon to be redesigned. By the size of the thing it would be like BMW racing the 5 series. I know Audi races the RS6 but even then I think its kinda dumb, why not race the smaller S4?

Anyway I don't think Realtime or anyone else would waste their money trying to make a racecar out of an RL. It would take at least a year of development time to get anywhere with it which would only leave one year of racing before the arrival of the next NSX.

Ponyboy

Ehh, that's a limited perspective. Following that rational would dictate the question, "Why race a Civic, Prelude, Accord, TSX, Integra, ITR, (insert Honda car here)." Perhaps they, Honda, want to showcase their SH-AWD technology or the sport worthiness (umm, don't know if that's a word) of their flagship sedan. I understand what you're saying but it could happen. It just depends on Honda's marketing priorities.

I'd love to see Realtime campaign a Comptech FI'd RL. But just call it a Legend already.

descartesfool

Running a high power car fast on the track is all about putting the power down without spinning the tires, launching off the corner as fast as possible and then using this exit speed as a basis for the straight speed. This is why changing the tires from T1-S to RA-1's has made such a difference for cars like the Corvette and others with those 5.8 L motors in WCGT. They can use their grunt. The new Honda AWD system might be a significant advantage to getting the power down. Since it works with yaw and g senors and can continuously adjust left-right (0 to 100%) and front rear power split (from 70 to 30% to 30 to 70%), this might be used to great advantage when coming off the corners. You can imagine this thing being tuned like an ECU, since it has electronic clutches, and optimized for maximum grip at all points around the track. When Audi came in to racing, both in road and rally racing, they dominated totally because of their superior technology in AWD. The new NSX might or might not be a great platform for racing, but I would think success with the RL (Legend?) would do a lot more for Honda sales in NA where the sales of the NSX are nothing short of anemic. Plus they originally said the new NSX was going to be a hybrid AWD with electric motors, 50 hp on each front wheel and 300 hp on the rear wheels. his tells me Honda is thinking AWD is a key to high performance. But I would have to agree on the "ugly" comment. Then again I thought the same about the CTS-V, but it sure looks a lot better once the aero guys got through with it, plus a winner always tends to look good anyways!

JMU R1

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Ponyboy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Ehh, that's a limited perspective. Following that rational would dictate the question, "Why race a Civic, Prelude, Accord, TSX, Integra, ITR, (insert Honda car here)." Perhaps they, Honda, want to showcase their SH-AWD technology or the sport worthiness (umm, don't know if that's a word) of their flagship sedan. I understand what you're saying but it could happen. It just depends on Honda's marketing priorities.

I'd love to see Realtime campaign a Comptech FI'd RL. But just call it a Legend already. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Not the same rational. The Civic, Prelude, Accord, TSX, and Integra all race in touring car classes because they all fit the touring car formula. Putting a full size luxury car in a GT class is not the same thing.

All I am saying is that there are better uses of Honda's marketing money than trying to make the RL into something it is not. Why not spend that money on grassroots race programs or on sponsoring DC5 and CL7 teams in Touring? It will cost them at least a quarter million dollars to put forth an RL effort if not more. Then when the next NSX comes are they going to race the RL instead of that? Wouldn't quite make sense would it? I'd rather see an S2000 in GT and even then a S2000 would have a huge uphill battle to be competitive there.

Really, the only reason Audi races the RS6 is because they don't have a true flagship sports car. If they go through with making the Le Mans I wouldn't be surprised to see the RS6 program go away.

Chris_

There is an article about the RL in the latest issue of BestCar in japan

According to the article, an RL/Legend test mule with a prototype SH-AWD sytstem was tested at the 'Ring against a Skyline GT-R. The article states that the RL's lap times consistently bested the GT-R.

http://www.vtec.net/news/news-...30131

JMU R1

I saw that too and I find it hard to believe but I suppose its possible if the RL doesn't weight too much. Still I think that the suspension on a luxury car is going to be tuned a lot softer than something like the Skyline GT-R so itd still be somewhat of a stretch for the RL to beat it at Nurburgring.

TeamSlowdotOrg

See Active Suspension on the S60R and Active Roll Stabilization on new BMW's. The compromise between roll stiffness in turns and ride comfort on the straights/streets is pretty much eliminated by those systems (which of course add some to the balance in the Great Compromise: extra weight).

bb6h22a

While I admire techonological advancement, I still prefer cars that have only mechanical traction aids (i.e., LSD, large tires, etc) rather than electronic ones. While there's a paramount improvement in traction with electronic systems, as most computers can react quicker than the avg driver, it, in my opinion, dillutes the driving experience, and dampens the feedback. This is in addition to the added weight that electrionically, multi-differential systems bring with them.

HapaHaole

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bb6h22a &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">While I admire techonological advancement, I still prefer cars that have only mechanical traction aids (i.e., LSD, large tires, etc) rather than electronic ones. While there's a paramount improvement in traction with electronic systems, as most computers can react quicker than the avg driver, it, in my opinion, dillutes the driving experience, and dampens the feedback. This is in addition to the added weight that electrionically, multi-differential systems bring with them. </TD></TR></TABLE>

you are not a fan of Formula 1 are you?

RiceNmotioN

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SBE &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

you are not a fan of Formula 1 are you?

</TD></TR></TABLE>
I take it you've never had to deal with a BMW check engine light not allowing you to drive the damn thing.

bb6h22a

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SBE &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

you are not a fan of Formula 1 are you?

</TD></TR></TABLE>

I am, very much so. However, in my road cars, and in my race cars, I'd rather rely on my right foot.