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RL vs. Legend

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Which one do you like best.
In my opinion, the Euro Honda front end isn’t that much of an improvement…

Conversation 21 comments

  1. They’re both unequivocally elegant and true to the legend that is a Honda! Reliability, exceptional service and performance — only in a Honda.

  2. The top one isnt that bad. The front grille does grow on you. Nothing wrong with being a bit different.

  3. The RL looked better in pre-2009 Acura trim. Even with the more conservative Honda grille, the car still has the newly disfigured headlights (and taillights at the rear). The 2005-2008 version may not have been as “distinctive” as the 2009, but it was an attractive and tastefully detailed car. Honda has completely ruined it no matter if it’s badged as a Honda or an even more hideous and bizarre Acura.

  4. Hey Vince, What’s up with the extremely secretive and scarce info on the updated 2009 Honda Element? Even the latest October big 3 car magazines, which covered model updates and changes for 09, have nothing about it! Do you have anything you can share with all of us?

  5. Don’t really care for either. Acura is really just a honda?? No way, who told you that? Does that mean lexus is just a toyota? Cadillac just a chevy? Infiniti just a nissan? Um, get over it already.

  6. I agree that the 2008 model was quite a looker and both of these butchered it. The Legend is still the better looking version though, and the “Acura” looks like a tortoise. With braces.

  7. Doesn’t matter which grille you put on it, the overall design of this car is severely lacking in any market, not just luxury. At least it doesn’t have all kinds of different lines all over the place like the new TL. I don’t know what the Honda designers are smokeing lately!

  8. I think the Euro version does look better than the US version. However I think the Euro version looks like a Hyundai Sonata. Although Honda may have excellent engineering, their styling department is TOTAL CRAP! This car is just one example. Would you like a snowplow or a Hyundai Sonata? Hey, I wonder if the US version appears in or was inspired by the new “Death Race” movie. You know….with the big shield and all…..

  9. Saw one the other day (top). Its actually less severe in person. But then, I like the new look of the TSX.

  10. the top photo looks like the wrapping is still on it from shipping. the bottom photo reveals the unwrapped, very weak present.

  13. If a new car design isn’t groundbreaking (ie offensive), it is said to look like Hyundai, bmw, daihatsu, rolls royce, etc, etc, etc. If it is unique, then it is horrible, designers are smoking crack, etc, etc, etc. I mean how many iterations of the three box sedan with four wheels, two headlights and tail lights and a grill can you come up with without either being outside the box or looking like something else?

    As far as Acura being a “luxed up” Honda, that is what makes it stand out. Honda has consistently had groundbreaking technology copied by its Japanese counterparts, has a higher resale value and more fun to drive quotient than its competitors.

    If I’m going with a luxury brand from a manufacturer that started out with more humble origins, I’ll go with one that has consistently made the best automobile throughout its history. Subjective design issues aside, When has there ever been a bad Honda? Who can match their reputation in a car that the majority of the masses can afford?

  14. The new RL schnozz, when I first saw it, was overly wide and hideous. But now that I’ve seen the new TL’s overly tall AND wide proboscis, I’ve officially downgraded this to just lame. And the Legend doesn’t look much better.

  15. The robot lips don’t look so bad when the car is light silver. However, in every other color it’s just a stupid looking grille tacked-onto a bland, mediocre car.

  16. Honda/Acura design generates hate because there is nothing else to complain about. There are 2 cars parked in my garage, an Acura and a Land Rover. One reliable and not so pretty and the other not reliable but beautiful in mud or clean. Acura IS luxury and costs less. Don’t know where you guys are from but no one around here drives a 30k lex but soro girls and AARP cougars. I like our TLs get up and go. I just wish Acura would call them vigor and legend and Rover would call the big dance disco III.

  17. Everytime I see the “new” TL, I can’t help but think of a girl I knew in the 7th grade who came back from vacation with a severely swollen upper lip as a result of an allergic reaction to a bee sting. No difference between the bee-stung girl and the ’09 TL.

  18. “If a new car design isn’t groundbreaking (ie offensive), it is said to look like Hyundai, bmw, daihatsu, rolls royce, etc, etc, etc. If it is unique, then it is horrible, designers are smoking crack, etc, etc, etc. I mean how many iterations of the three box sedan with four wheels, two headlights and tail lights and a grill can you come up with without either being outside the box or looking like something else?

    As far as Acura being a “luxed up” Honda, that is what makes it stand out. Honda has consistently had groundbreaking technology copied by its Japanese counterparts, has a higher resale value and more fun to drive quotient than its competitors.

    If I’m going with a luxury brand from a manufacturer that started out with more humble origins, I’ll go with one that has consistently made the best automobile throughout its history. Subjective design issues aside, When has there ever been a bad Honda? Who can match their reputation in a car that the majority of the masses can afford?”

    You know, I am not even the biggest fan of Honda or Japanese luxury but this guy here has made a lot of good points.

    Cheers!

  19. “Honda/Acura design generates hate because….”

    If I am not mistaken, design is the first thing you see in a car. And design is the main thrust of this blog. It is not about hate. And I agree with you that the Land Rover is junk. I wish Honda produced Audi designs though.

  20. There is plenty to complain about these cars beside the design. It’s front-wheel-drive platforms, cluttered dashboards, increasingly geriatric performance to name a few. Some of which might have been overlooked for years because of the clean, no-nonsense design. Not anymore. The new Acuras are absolute eyesores and the bad design just underscores the other weaknesses.

  21. question your doubtlessness. I also recommend against using the word “unequivocally” to describe car design. Vince, the bottom one is only better because I’ve been programmed by American television to think Acura is “premium” brand, when it is really a tarted up Honda. It’s funny, with Honda badges on them, the new “underbite” Acura designs don’t offend me so much as they do when pretending to be “premium”, or even…wait for it…”luxury”.

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