The 2014 Acura RLX Sport Hybrid SH-AWD.
Acura’s flagship RLX sedan is about to gain a new level of sophistication – as well as improved performance and fuel economy – with the debut of the new Sport Hybrid SH-AWD drive system at the LA Auto Show.
The 2014 Acura RLX becomes the first Honda product line to use the new three-motor hybrid system, an even more advanced version of which will be used to power the next-generation Acura NSX supercar. While the gas-electric system is expected to improve fuel economy compared to a conventional gasoline engine, Acura’s new SH-AWD technology also promises to boost both performance and handling by being able to direct power to both the front and rear axles of the 2014 RLX.
The new version of the RLX will debut the latest of three new hybrid drivetrains developed by Honda to replace its original Integrated Motor Assist, or IMA system. Each is targeted at a particular segment of the market, from the low-cost single-motor system in the Honda Civic to the new twin-motor drive of the 2014 Honda Accord to the new 3-motor hybrid that will be focused on the Acura brand.
The interior of the RLX Sport Hybrid will feature plenty of legroom - and high-tech features including a new Heads-Up Display.
In the RLX Sport Hybrid SH-AWD model the vehicle will draw primary power from a 3.5-liter SOHC direct-injected i-VTEC V-6 making 310-horsepower. That gasoline engine will be directly paired with a single, 35-kilowatt motor linked to the front axle through a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission. Two additional 27-kilowatt electric motors will be linked to the rear axle, one driving each wheel – for a combined total of 377-hp.
(Click Here to check out the review of the new 2-motor Honda Accord Hybrid.)
This approach can be thought of as a sort of through-the-road all-wheel-drive system, eliminating the need for both a conventional drive shaft and a rear differential.
Acura has offered a mechanically based Super-Handling All-Wheel-Drive system on various models in recent years, using brake intervention to direct – or vector — torque, as necessary, to one wheel or another. The new system can shift torque electrically. For example, in a right-hand corner, the outer wheels gets now power to help steer more precisely through the turn.
Not only does the 3-motor approach improve handling, the maker claims it also can deliver a blend of “V-8-like performance with 4-cylinder fuel economy,” in this case up to 32 mpg on the highway, with a city rating of 28 mpg and a combined EPA estimate of 30 mpg.
(Acura lands in third place in the new Consumer Reports auto reliability survey. Click Here for the full story.)
While the maker isn’t offering specific launch times, it suggests the RLX Sport Hybrid “runs a 0-60 mph time comparable with competitor’s V8-powered machines.”
Other new features debuting on the 2014 Acura RLX Sport Hybrid SH-AWD are a new electronic gear selector and the new Acura Heads-Up Display, the HUD system designed to provide “mission critical” data, such as speed and turn-by-turn navigation information where the driver can see it without having to turn eyes away from the road.
Acura is hoping the new Sport Hybrid model will help charge up demand for the RLX sedan which, senior company officials admit, has not generated the sort of sales they initially were hoping for.
As for the hybrid version of their SH-AWD system, look for it appear in other Acura models, most notably in the soon-to-be-revived NSX supercar – though in that model, TheDetroitBureau.com reported this week, the hybrid drivetrain will be reversed, with a V-6 and single electric motor on the rear axle and the twin motors powering the front wheels.
(For more on the next-generation Acura NSX drive system, Click Here.)