So then I presume that the gay engine has sex with the gay i-drive? How precisely does that work? I mean... the knobs are far larger than the dipstick. Oil port on the head?

 

its nice looking but i think they should just make the tl awd or something i love the tl's new looks or maybe just make the tl rwd ...and 300 hp

the knob on the center console makes me think bmw parts bin i dont know maybe its just me or bmw maybe sold acura/honda a box of junk ...expensive junk atleast

 

How exactly is a 3.5 V6 with 300 HP castrated?

 

the only thing I dont like about it still having a v6 is that hp really doesnt matter in my opinion all that much in this market segment. What matters more is how smooth and seamlessly the car gets up to speed. This is why most competitors use a v8. Unless they can figure out a way to get at least 280 lb-ft by 4000rpm, I dont think it will be too successful. It will still do much better than the current RL, but I cant see it exceeding 10-12k per year.

Yeah I know hp is a great tool for marketing and it will likely bring people in to test drive the car...but I kinda feel like most of the people that will be cross shopping it will not be satisfied unless the torque is there too. Of course honda and acura loyalists will love this car and people that moved on to say a 530 or gs300 from their TL might very well come back. and people looking to upgrade from the TL will likely choose this car.

 

by your response, i assume a base 525i is gay as well?

 

Yeah it'd be nice for the RL to have a V8, but the price point it will most likely be at is far lower than any of the V8 versions of its competitors. The cheapest of the bunch are the A6 4.2 and GS430, which are both over $50k. The 530i and E320 are also in that price range. If anything the RL competes against those cars, and the only one with a similar price, equipment level, and V8 is the GS430. Thought of as a competitor for the V6 models, the RL suddenly becomes much more relevant.

 

well i was really hoping for a hybrid. that way it can get the great torque and get good mileage. I'm still hoping we'll see a hybrid version within a year of the RL's release. My parents are going to be purchasing a new car by summer 05 and the way it looks right now I'll be convincing them to get the new m45. If there is a hybrid version of the RL out...that might change.

 

It's castrated in the sense that Honda doesn't even have the balls to release the torque stats on the engine, and since we are comparing the RL to LS430, the 3.5 V6 sure does seem castrated compared to 4.3 V8 that delivers 300lb/tq as well as 300 hp, most likely having much better power range not waiting for stinking vtek to "kick in".

 

A base 525 is very gay indeed, perhaps the only gayer thing might be a 325.

 

You brought up a pretty good point, have to agree with you there. I guess there's a pretty big market there for slow, heavy, boring cars with prestige badges, so RL should do well. Doesn't do anything for me though.