Get yourself a pair of Zubaz, because Acura's bringing back the early ‘90s all over again with the RLX — a big, V6-engined all-wheel-drive sedan concept with four-wheel steering.
Like the Vigor and the Legend of Acura's heyday — and the current RL — the RLX is almost completely devoid of any exterior styling. It's just sixteen and a half feet of car.
Like the old Legend, the RLX makes do with a V6 while its competitors all sport V8s. It's an all-new 3.5-liter engine with direct injection, putting out 310 horsepower or 370 with the assistance of an optional electric motor.
Both engine configurations are interesting: the 370-horsepower hybrid comes with SH-AWD, which puts the engine's power to the front wheels, and only drives the rears with the electric motor. It's like the new NSX, but in reverse.
The 310-horsepower base engine doesn't come with AWD, but it does get brand-new four-wheel-steering, which was Honda's technocratic calling card in the early ‘90s. In the RLX, it's called "Precision All-Wheel Steer," and it adjusts the toe angle of the rear wheels in conjunction with the car's electronic steering and stability control programs.
On the inside, the RLX comes with two big digital screens: an eight-inch display and a seven-inch touch screen. The driver gets all the standard safety collision warning lane departure programs and Facebook/Twitter connections as as every other luxury car, as well.
When this RLX concept becomes a real production car in 2014, we'll finally see if this thing is a return to interesting, spritely, durable old Acuras of the past, what with its high-output V6 and assorted technological gimmickry, or if it's just another fat, beige sedan that no one will notice, care about, or buy.