Acura RL Wins Edmunds.com's Inside Line Comparison Test of AWD Luxury Sport Sedans
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Acura RL Wins Edmunds.com's Inside Line Comparison Test of AWD Luxury Sport Sedans
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — August 1, 2005 — Analysis by Edmunds.com, the premier online automotive resource, today announced that the Acura RL won a comparison test of five all-wheel-drive luxury sport sedans.
Edmunds.com's Inside Line editors tested the 2005 Acura RL, Audi A6 3.2 quattro, 2006 BMW 530xi, 2006 Infiniti M35x and 2006 Lexus GS 300, to determine which car delivered the best combination of performance, luxury and value.
"It's not the fastest or the flashiest, but the Acura RL still ran away with first place because we were looking for the all-wheel-drive sedan with the right balance between performance and luxury," said Ed Hellwig, Senior Editor of Edmunds.com's Inside Line. "What it lacks in distinctive styling it more than makes up for in sold overall performance, a well-designed, comfortable interior and a standard features list that leaves little to be desired."
The Audi A6 snagged a distant second place; it earned top scores for its interior design, materials quality and overall build quality but didn't fare as well in the performance testing or evaluation of features.
Noting styling touches such as chrome-ringed gauges and wood trim on the console, the Edmunds.com editors observed that the cabin looks and feels like a luxury car should.
The Infiniti M35x barely edged out the BMW 530xi for third place. The editors felt that the M35x traded refinement for performance. They gave high marks to the V6 engine, which they said was "so good, there¿s no need to upgrade to the V8."
The editors felt that the BMW drove better than any other car in the test, and is comfortable and practical as well. But with a sticker price of $59,815 and an Edmunds.com True Market Value® very close to sticker, it was nearly $10,000 more than the Infiniti and almost $15,000 more than the Audi. The editors remarked, "It's good, but not that good."
The less athletic 2006 Lexus GS 300 AWD pulled up the rear. Editors commented that it is a better luxury sedan than sports sedan; it was competent and capable, but just didn't have enough personality to stand out in this crowd.
About Edmunds (www.edmunds.com)
Edmunds.com is the premier online resource for automotive information. Its comprehensive set of data, tools and services, including Edmunds.com True Market Value® pricing, is generated by Edmunds.com Information Solutions and is licensed to third parties. For example, the company supplies content for the auto sections of NYTimes.com, AOL, About.com and IGN.com, provides weekly data to Automotive News and delivers monthly data reports to Wall Street analysts. Edmunds.com also publishes a high-speed, on-screen car magazine called Inside Line available free at www.insideline.com. Edmunds.com was named "best car research" site by Forbes ASAP, has been selected by consumers as the "most useful Web site" according to every J.D. Power and Associates New Autoshopper.com StudySM and was ranked first in the Survey of Car-Shopping Web Sites as reported by The Wall Street Journal. The company is headquartered in Santa Monica, Calif. and maintains a satellite office outside Detroit.
