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Acura rolled out the 2009 RL at the Chicago Auto Show, so the appearance of the Honda version of the car, badged Legend, isn’t the most searingly-hot news. What is frightfully obvious when you set eyes on the Legend is that the Honda version looks about a billion times better without the shield-style grille that afflicts the Acura in the most tacked-on fashion. Equally puzzling – and not a recent development – is why Honda trashed the established and respected Legend name for the anonymous and innocuous RL for Acura’s top-tier sedan.

Competition in the RL’s segment is brutal, and the same criticisms of the current model apply to its replacement. There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with the RL, mind you, it’s nicely styled, and well appointed – although when faced with the preponderance of rear-driving V8 competitors, the RL can’t claim superiority by chassis layout alone. Packing the 3.5-liter V6 that yanks the Accord around with authority, there’s no need for a V8, nor is RWD a necessity with Acura’s chassis wizards on the job, but buyers might remain unmoved.
[Source: Car Fanatic via World Car Fans]

Acura is slated to release its NSX replacement sometime around the turn of the decade, but despite what you may have heard circulating the ‘Net, it’s not going to be priced to compete with Ferrari and Lamborghini. There’s little doubt that Acura’s 500+hp, V10-powered super sled has Italy’s finest in its sights, along with the perennial show queen, the Lexus LF-A, but even with current exchange rates between the Japanese yen and the U.S. dollar, the successor to the NSX won’t be carrying a sticker around $180,000. After contacting Mike Spencer, one of Acura’s press people, he confirmed that the comments he made were taken out of context and that definitive pricing for the new vehicle is still a long way off. He would only say that the exchange rates would have an effect, but it would be unfair to attempt to guesstimate on price this early in the game. Considering that the last NSX was knocking on the $100k door before it was killed off in 2005, we’d expect a higher sticker for the next model, but pulling a number out of the air, comparing it to other vehicles in the segment and claiming it as fact, is hardly fair. As such, we’ll wait for a formal announcement from Acura so you can start saving your pennies for the NSX’s upcoming replacement.

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Honda has finally issued a TSB on the third gear issue that’s been plaguing everything from the Civic Si to the Acura TL. According to affected owners, when the manual transmission was in third gear, it would occasionally pop into neutral and occasionally grind into place. Honda originally didn’t recognize the problem and still isn’t issuing a recall, but they have put out a TSB and are offering to correct the problem free of charge to owners who take their vehicle into a dealership. The documentation for Honda and Acura is now available (PDF warning) and you can hit the jump to see which vehicles are included in the TSB.

2003-07 Honda Accord V-6 with M/T
2008 Accord V-6 coupe with M/T
2006-08 Civic Si coupe
2007-08 Civic Si sedan
2003 Acura 3.2CL with M/T
2002-06 Acura RSX with six-speed
2004-08 Acura TL with M/T

[Source: AutomotiveArticles via KickingTires]