2009 Acura RL

What: Substantial midlife update for Acura's flagship sedan.

What's new: Revised AWD system, more powerful engine, styling.

What's Hot: Torque-vectoring all-wheel drive. Audio/navigation system. Styling of everything but the grille.

What's Not: Steering feel and feedback. Configuring of Bluetooth via voice control. Front grille.

How Much: Base price, $47,040; As tested, $54,460

On the Road:
The previous-generation RL faced some challenges. In a market dominated by V-8-powered sport sedans, the RL offered a V-6 and sedate styling. It fell outside consumers' minds, and sales trailed behind rivals. Acura has updated and adapted the RL by increasing horsepower (although there are still only six pistons firing under the hood), fine-tuning the all-wheel-drive system, and radicalizing the styling, to say the least.

The 2009 RL is comfortable and quiet and comes equipped with a bevy of features standard, keeping with Acura's philosophy of short options lists. Underhood rests an SOHC 3.7L V-6 with VTEC on intake and exhaust valves. The engine is smooth while circling its 300-hp powerband and returns 16/22 city/highway mpg. It's mated to a five-speed transmission; six speeds forward is more common in this class now, but the ratios are spot on and the powerband is wide, so there's no downside to being short one cog.

That transmission is connected to Acura's SH-AWD system, another standard feature on the RL. It's a slick piece of drivetrain engineering that, during aggressive cornering, can send up to 70% of the available 271 lb-ft of torque to either rear wheel. To combat understeer, electromagnetic clutch packs in the rear are capable of overdriving the outside rear wheel. This creates yaw and, as a result, makes for a neutral driving sensation, although mild understeer is still evident at the limit.

Steering is an electrically assisted, variable-ratio rack-and-pinion affair. The variable ratio is nice, but the tradeoff is a loss of sensation through the wheel. Turn-in feels vague, as if the steering wheel doesn't share a mechanical connection to the front wheels. Not helping is the RL's large 39.7-ft turning radius, which is greater than even the Chevrolet Tahoe's 39.0 ft.