The new Acura RLX flagship will be offered with a high-tech torque vectoring system.

Acura continues its efforts to reposition itself as a major luxury player, rather than an upscale also-ran, with the NY Auto Show unveiling of the all-new RLX “flagship.”

The new model  compliments several other recent product roll-outs, acting as the top-line counterpart to the new Acura ILX entry-luxury sedan.  The RLX, which upgrades the aging RL model, largely abandons the Acura brand’s much-maligned “beak” grille while introducing a more powerful engine family that includes a high-tech way of shifting torque to help steer through corners.

The new model is the centerpiece of a design and engineering strategy that American Honda calls “human-centered engineering,” or as CEO Tetsuo Iwamura puts it, “man-maximum/machine-minimum.”

Though roughly the same size, the styling of the new RLX is more sporty and up-market than the outgoing RL – as well as most other recent Acura entries with the exception of the NSX supercar concept the maker previewed at the Detroit Auto Show last January.

The RLX will have "the interior roominess of a (BMW) 7-Series but the exterior dimensions of a 5-Series."

It nonetheless makes use of the old flagship’s underlying front-wheel-drive platform, something of a disappointment to those who had hoped to see Acura migrate to a new, rear-wheel-drive  architecture.  But as with Audi and Lincoln, Iwamura said Acura believes luxury buyers can be quite satisfied with more fuel-efficient front-drive vehicles, especially if there’s an option for AWD.

And for them, Acura will offer a high-tech package that comes as a gas-electric alternative to its older, mechanically operated Super-Handling All-Wheel-Drive, or SH-AWD, system.

The heart of the new hybrid version is a 370-horsepower, 3.5-liter direct-injection V-6 paired with three electric motors.  Routed through a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission, that power can be shifted front-to-back, left-to-right.  In a corner, additional torque goes to the outer wheel, effectively steering the RLX through  the turn.  Traditional AWD systems tend to plow into corners.

The hybrid combination, meanwhile, means 30 mpg City, 30 Highway and 30 Combined in the EPA test cycles.

For those who simply want a front-drive package, Acura will fit the RLX with a 310-hp V-6.

Acura is holding off on a number of other details about the RLX until closer to launch.  But in an interview after the RLX news conference, Mike Accavitti, the marketing chief for both Acura and its parent Honda, offered a few additional details.  The new flagship “delivers the interior space of a 7-Series (BMW),” he said, “but the exterior dimensions of a 5-Series.”

In traditional Acura style, the RLX on display at the 2012 NY Auto Show is being described as a “concept,” though Iwamura acknowledges it is “a very strong indication of the production RLX that will go on sale at the beginning of next year.”