Luxury Sedan with No V8 Engine
Many luxury vehicles available nowadays, like the STS, A6 and BMW 5-Series, offer V8s as well as 6-cylinder power plants. Even if this is the case, Acura chose not to equip their Acura RL with the V8. This is because according to Acura officials, although the presence of a V8 engine can help a luxury car’s image, the said engine’s presence in a luxury sedan only amounts to an addition of only 15 percent in the actual sales.
The people in Acura believe the RL’s V6 engine has more power than the 6-cylinder power plants of the 255 horsepower STS, the 255 horsepower of A6 and the 184 or 255 horsepower of the BMW 5 Series sedans. For this reason, the RL’s 2008 engine remains a 3.5-liter 60-degree V6. But it takes on a new design and has the capacity to develop 75 more horsepower than the 6-cylinder in the RL of 2004.
Aside from this, the 2008 RL engine’s torque is up. It has around 260 lb-ft at 5000 rpm and can be compared with the 231 lb-ft at 2800 rpm speed in the predecessor RL. The new RL is heavier than the old one. This is due to the addition of the all-wheel-drive as well as other new features. The RL 2008’s curb weight is now nearly 4,000 pounds.
The RL’s 2008 new engine, although it is not a V8, it moved the RL powerfully. The engine sounds good and refined. It doesn’t give off sounds that it doesn’t have enough power to move the car because it doesn’t. It can move the RL just fine. Acura never sets a compromise when it comes to vehicle performance.