Looking Back at 2017

2017 has admittedly been a somewhat slow year for us. With lots going on in our personal lives, it's been hard to post regularly. Still, 2017 was still an eventful year for us in automotive terms. As East Brother is currently on vacation, I will share some of my favorite automotive moments from 2017.

Cadillac Truth + Dare 

Earlier this year, East Brother and I attended an event put on by Cadillac called the "Truth + Dare" driving event. It was an event put on to highlight some of the technological and performance aspects of Cadillac's newest crop of vehicles. This wasn't something we covered here on the blog, but ended up on our own personal Instagram accounts instead. Still, despite the coverage, we had a blast at the event. The highlights being getting to floor both an ATS-V and CTS-V down a 1/8 mile course, and getting to flog some cars through a small autocross course.

Instagram

Speaking of Instagram, we finally have an Instagram account! I know, it only took us a few years to hop on the bandwagon. You can find us @eastwestbrothers.

Alfa Romeo Giulia

2017 marked the year Alfa Romeo was serious about returning to the mainstream American auto market with the Giulia mid-size luxury/sport sedan. East Brother and I managed to snag a test drive a few months after it hit the market at our local Rusnak Fiat/Maserati/Alfa Romeo dealership. While we both walked away impressed with how the car drove and looked, the interior was well below our expectations of a car costing north of $50k (as equipped). Of course, there was also Alfa's "legendary" reliability issues constantly nagging us in the back of our minds. 

A few months ago though, I had noticed that the dealer had vanished. Considering that at the time of testing, the Giulia was probably only doing about 2,000 units per month, it was really no surprise that Rusnak decided to abandon ship. It's a fantastic car, and I really want to like it and recommend it to people, but the reliability issue and company longevity issue really makes it hard to like and recommend. Damn shame too because it's such a fantastic driving and gorgeous looking car. 

East Brother's Chevy Bolt

East Brother acquired a new vehicle this year with a new Chevy Bolt EV. I was never a huge fan of his Ford Focus EV, but the Bolt, despite looking funny, impressed me with its performance and level of technology. Funny how we now have two cars in our fleet in a shade of  "pull me over" blue. I think we've agreed to stick with the theme and possibly get our next car in a similar shade of blue.

Vehicle Retirements

2017 also marks the year we sent two of our long term cars back to their respective manufacturers: our 2014 Acura RLX and 2014 Ford Focus EV. You can read about our respective final thoughts on both of these vehicles here and here.   

I hope that 2018 proves to be an even more exciting year for us. 

Stay safe everyone, and Happy New Year!

Long Term Test: 2014 Acura RLX wrap up

It was a long time coming, but after three years, our 2014 Acura RLX has finally been retired. Over the course of the three years we had the RLX, it served us well as a daily commuter, grocery getter, and occasional road trip car. With our folks retired now, keeping around a large luxury sedan, just like keeping around a large SUV, seemed pointless. Most of the RLX's former duties have been taken over by our 2016 Honda Accord Touring, which serves these duties just as well as, if not better than, the RLX. Over the course of the three years though, we've come to learn a lot about Acura's full-sized luxury sedan. Here are some of the things we liked and disliked about our 2014 Acura RLX Tech.

Long Term Test: 2014 Acura RLX Tech post #6

The recent acquisition of our 9th generation Honda Accord Touring places us in an interesting position to examine something: is the RLX genuinely worth the rather extensive premium over its more pedestrian relative? While a bit older in age, the RLX and the Accord both sit at the top of the sedan ranges for their respective brands. They theoretically serve the purpose of getting buyers to get large sedans with nearly full-size levels of leg room in more typically mid-size exterior dimensions. Sharing many traits, including their FWD architecture, similarly rated 3.5-liter V6 engines, and even their 6-speed automatic transmissions, the two cars are so close in spec that it is no surprise that people often complain about the RLX being little more than an Accord in a fancy suit. But since we actually have the two cars in our possession at the same time, let's actually compare a few of their key traits and see if the comparison is a fair one.

Long Term Test: 2014 Acura RLX Tech post #5

Update #5
Current Miles: 16,382

In the nearly two and half years that we have had the Acura RLX in our garage, it has seen its fair share of...unforeseen damages. The first time the RLX saw a body shop, the front end of our MDX somehow managed to find the rear end the RLX in an unfortunate incidence of friendly fire. That incident caused quite a significant amount of damage, with the driver's side of the rear bumper pretty much mangled to hell, the trunk lid bent in enough so it could not open, and even some minor frame damage. More recently, the RLX was yet again sent to the body shop when a less than patient driver scraped the car against a wall while backing the car out of a driveway. While not as severe as the first incident, it still caused quite a bit of damage, with giant scrape marks across the passenger side front bumper, minor scrapes on the fender and some minor denting. Both incidents have highlighted how expensive this car is to repair!

The Acura RLX is currently the only car in Acura's lineup that is still entirely assembled in Japan. From my experience with my own car, vehicles that are shipped in from foreign countries and sold in low volumes are generally going to be expensive to repair. There is a reason why the RLX and my S2000 are the most expensive vehicles on our insurance policy! The first accident cost well over $5,000, as the impact from the MDX was apparently hard enough to cause minor structural damage to the RLX, and left the car out of commission for over a week. It also left the car with a strange grinding or crunching noise from the rear of the car at low speeds that has never quite gone away. The second accident was not quite as severe on the damage front, but still ended up costing well over $2,000 to repair. Even though the RLX is essentially a Honda Accord with different skin, I guess body shops will charge a premium for repairing a car with aluminum body panels and a luxury badge.

Thankfully, no other damage has come to the RLX, and mechanically, everything still works perfectly fine. With body and frame damage costing this much to repair, I would hate to imagine how much mechanical or electrical repairs would cost. I have heard that repairing Acura's signature Jewel-Eye(TM) LED headlights cost quite a pretty penny. It seems that Acura may be great at packing technology into their cars for a reasonable price, but when it comes to repairing them, things can get quite pricey.

Long Term Test: 2014 Acura RLX post# 4

Fourth update
Current Miles: 10,294

What is there to say about the Acura RLX? In the nearly two years we have had it, it has been reliable, comfortable, and an overall pleasure to drive. Sure, the RLX has had its share of problems, mostly involving recalls, but as with all new models in their first year, we anticipated these growing pains. The only complaint I have about the car is that it does not get utilized quite enough in our family. Two years, and we have only just broken the 10,000 mile mark. Considering the lease agreement attached to this car, Acura Financial clearly believes that we should be approaching the 20,000 mile mark within the next few months. Clearly, that is not going to happen. I would actually be quite surprised if we even reach 20,000 miles by the time we need to return the car next year.

What I would like to do this time is to focus on the rear seating area of the RLX. As I usually spend my time driving solo (whether it is my own car or in the RLX), I do not get to spend a lot of time in the back. When I do though, I really enjoy it in the back. The RLX is the first car our family has had where I feel like I can truly stretch out my legs, and do not mind sitting in the back. I actually find it to be far more comfortable than sitting in the front passenger seat. The large amount of room available in the rear seating area makes it feel like the RLX should be a car where you would hire a driver to shuttle you around in. Then again, when was the last time you heard of anyone hiring a driver to shuttle you around in an Acura? Image issues aside, this is definitely one of the most comfortable rear seating areas I have experienced in a long time.

As comfortable as it is in the back of the RLX, it is not without its faults. For a car in its price range, I would have expected the rear vents to have their own climate control console. Acura saw fit to include it in the MDX, so why not the far more expensive RLX? Then there is the fact that while cars like the Hyundai Genesis include sun shades in the rear as standard equipment, you are not getting them in the RLX without upgrading to at least the trim level with the Krell sound system. This actually bugs me quite a bit as sun shades used to be standard equipment across all trims on the RL. As comfortable as the seats are, it does make it a little difficult to sleep in the back with the sun beating down on you. 

What we are missing now is a proper road trip with the RLX. We still have a little more than a year left on the lease, so hopefully that will come soon.

Long Term Test: 2014 Acura RLX Tech post #3

Check out our most recent update for the 2014 Acura RLX here.

Third update
Current mileage: 7,333

One of the things that the car magazines have continued to complain about with the RLX is the dual-screen infotainment system that debuted with the car in late 2013. Most of the complaints say that the system is confusing, difficult to use, or slow to respond. Most reviewers, who spend only a matter of hours with the car, never having the time to dive deep into the system to tweak its many features to suit their usage, feel that the system becomes an encumbrance to the overall ownership experience and that the design can feel dated. Of course, I will not disagree with those reviewers on the graphical design used for the interface as Acura is often noted for being a few steps behind the curve when it comes to this kind of stuff, but I will disagree about how user-friendly the system is.

Long Term Test: 2014 Acura RLX Tech post #2

Second Update
Current Miles: 3,436

The 2014 Acura RLX has a strut bar...a bit unexpected.

About two months ago, I got the opportunity to use the RLX as a daily driver for a little over a week. Just as I would have driven my own S2000, I drove the car to and from work, as well as to run errands and hang out with friends. During this time, I was able to find out some new things about the RLX that I had not noticed when we first drove the car back in December.


As was initially mentioned in our first post, the RLX handles pretty darn well for a front-wheel drive car of its size. The Precision-All Wheel Steering (or P-AWS for short) does a great job at getting this nearly two ton sedan to rotate through corners quickly without nerve wracking understeer. Unfortunately, the RLX's nimbleness around corners does not translate to its ability to make a U-turn. While making a U-turn at a light one day, all the usual nimbleness of the RLX while carving up canyon roads seemed to vanish, and the car understeered like a pig. While a car's ability to make a U-turn is not generally considered a performance benchmark, I do worry that if you put your foot down too hard during a U-turn, you could potentially lose control. This is definitely something I did not experience with the 2011 RL thanks to its Super Handling All Wheel Drive (OR SH-AWD). I am guessing I will not have the same issue with the RLX Sport Hybrid, whenever it finally decides to show up.

Another quirk about the RLX I noticed were its insanely grabby brakes. A gentle tap on the brake pedal can nearly bring the car to a complete stop at low speed. Every time I go from driving my own car to the RLX, I always forget how grabby the brakes are and it freaks me out. I do wish the brakes had a more progressive feel to it. I do admit though that I am impressed with the stopping power of the brakes. The RLX is a very heavy sedan, and for the brakes to bring the car to a dead stop that quickly is impressive.

Most reviews and comments I have read about the RLX call the car bland to look at. Personally, I think it is a conservatively handsome car. While driving the RLX out to hang out with friends, I actually received quite a few compliments on how good the car looks. I often feel like the RLX, along with other Japanese luxury sedans, are unfairly criticized for their looks. If a German luxury manufacturer puts a car out that is merely an evolution of a conservative design they have used for years, it is called handsome and inspired. If a Japanese manufacturer does the same, it is criticized as being bland and uninspired.

We have only had the RLX for about half a year now, so we are looking forward to more opportunities to test Acura's newest full-sized luxury sedan. A long road trip with the RLX definitely sounds like it will be a good test of its ride and new noise isolation technologies.

Brand Profile: Acura

This post marks the start of our brand profile series of articles. Each post takes an in-depth look at a single brand that sells vehicles in the US market and shares not only some of the history of the brand's vehicles, but also the brand's current standing through the lenses of enthusiasts. We start with a brand that is near and dear to our hearts and, as they recently reminded us for April Fools, alphabetically first. Our family has owned 16 Acura cars since 1992 with everything ranging from the smallest 2-door Integra to the 7-passenger MDX. Our relationship with the brand has long been based on the value proposition of excellent, well-equipped cars for significantly less than the competition. However, as the years have progressed, our own impression of the brand have also changed.

In March of 1986, Acura sprung forth from the minds of Honda's executives and became the first Japanese luxury marque to be introduced in North America. Acura started with two vehicles: the Legend sedan, and the Integra, which was available as both a five-door and three-door hatchback. Eventually, that grew into a full line-up of cars and a few SUVs. Over time, the brand evolved from a distinct premium brand into what felt increasingly like upscale Honda vehicles, especially as the engines and platforms were shared across the two brands.

Image courtesy of Drive to Five

Always taking a different approach to engineering than their competitors, Acura focused on cars that were fun to drive, even if they did not fit the definition of a traditional performance car. The Acura Integra, a small front wheel drive hatchback that also spawned a sedan, quickly gained a following among the tuner crowd for its easy tunability and surprisingly capable chassis right out of the box. The Legend, especially the second generation coupe, showed that a luxury car did not have to give up any driving dynamics to coddle its passengers in total comfort. To demonstrate just how capable their cars were, they also introduced the world to the NSX, the first all-aluminum supercar that could be daily driven with the reliability and ease of repair of a Honda Accord.

Long Term Test: 2014 Acura RLX P-AWS Tech post #1

Long-Term Introduction

Current mileage: 534

With the 2011 Acura RL Tech now officially back in the hands of Acura Financial, we welcome the newest vehicle to our garage: the 2014 Acura RLX Tech P-AWS. Fitted with the latest drivetrain and interior technology that Acura has to offer, the RLX represents a nice upgrade from the now defunct RL. Sporting a 3.5L direct injection V6 motor making 310-hp, a 6-speed automatic transmission driving the front wheels and joined by Acura's new precision all-wheel steering system, the car sheds the signature AWD system in an effort to improve the fuel economy while still maintaining some of the sporty character that the torque vectoring SH-AWD system used to provide.

We tested this car when it first came out last year, and, to be honest, our initial impressions were good, but not great. The interior was nice, with the new two screen arrangement of the center console and huge rear seat, but the outside was a little bland and the steering too soft. Of course, first impressions can be overridden by spending more time with a car and in the case of the RLX, it makes a big difference. I drove it around Southern California for a few hundred miles over the course of a two week period and any initial skepticism for the car was replaced with reserved admiration. Depending on how you use it and what your expectations are, the RLX will either be a big disappointment or a real gem.

Allow me to explain.

Long Term Test: 2011 Acura RL Tech Wrap-up

Current Miles: 16,640

December 14, 2013 marks the final day our Forged Silver Metallic, 2011 Acura RL Tech spent with our family. This RL, the second one we have owned, has served us well for the last three years. Besides a very minor paint quality issue I noticed when we picked up the car (which was fixed under warranty), the car has been trouble free. What surprised me most was the fact that the transmission did not suffer any issues and was not recalled for any problems. It is an odd thing to be surprised about, but considering Honda's history on rolling out new transmissions, the fact that there were no problems left me a touch amazed. 

Test Drive: 2014 Acura RLX P-AWS Tech

Power Acura of South Bay received their allotted two demo units of the 2014 Acura RLX and I had the good fortune of the dealer contacting me for a test drive. Both my brother and I have been following the development of the RLX quite closely, so naturally, I could not pass up this opportunity. The two units Power Acura had received were a white tech package model, and a dark blue advanced package model. Unfortunately, the general manager of Power Acura had decided to take the advanced model home with him, leaving only the tech package available for preview.

Preview: 2014 Acura RLX P-AWS

Recently, while test driving the ILX, the opportunity arose to see in person the 2014 Acura RLX sedan. This was a true production ready car in FWD with the P-AWS (Performance All-Wheel Steer) and the Advance package. We took the opportunity to snap a few pictures and offer our thoughts on the car.

From the East
This is a car with much greater presence than I would have anticipated. It looks significantly better in person than the press photos or even any journalist photos can really capture and should make quite the impression when driving down the road. The interior looks much better in the rich black as it hides a few oddly placed cut-lines in the dash and the materials looked to be up to the standards of the class. I am looking forward to having the opportunity to drive the car when it becomes available at the dealerships later this year.

From the West

My first look at the RLX came during the Los Angeles International Auto Show (LAIAS), where the production version of the 2014 RLX made its debut. Upon laying eyes on the car, I was immediately drawn to the new “Jewel Eye” LED light cluster on the front of the car. The entire car itself blends nicely and is pleasant on the eyes, but it doesn’t seem to stand out very well in dark colors, like the black one that was available at LAIAS. Acura’s own press photos of the car in silver seem to work make the car stand out better. Unfortunately, the Acura representatives kept the doors locked, so I could only see the interior from the outside. From what I could see though, the interior looks very nice and upscale. Now we just have to wait and find out if the new Earth Dreams 3.5 liter, 310 hp V6 is up to the task of hauling this thing around.