It's cold and raining in Chicago with the threat of a winter storm looming upon the windy city, and once again Ryan and I find ourselves battling the elements in order to witness an automotive press conference in the dead of winter in the mid-west. In case you hadn't heard, Acura will be revealing their restyled 2009 RL here at the 100th edition of the Chicago Auto Show. This should be interesting considering the RL's dismal sales record of the past 10+ years. Questions that remain to be answered include: Why bother with an MMC (mid-cycle model change, or minor model change)? The RL has existed in current form for 4 model years, why didn't Acura suck it up for another year and pour more resources into the FMC (full model change)?

We hope to be dazzled and awed by today's events, but in any case, you'll read and see all about it here, so check back often for updates.

Acura's press conference is at 10AM and the embargo for the press release is set for 10:30AM Central. I was just down at the Acura display speaking with a few folks and they seem genuinely excited about the developments for the RL. Though I can't really talk about it right now, there's a bit of new technology under the hood, providing more power and torque to the RL.

UPDATE from the press conference:
The car has just rolled out on the floor. 300hp and 275lb-ft from a new version of SOHC VTEC from 3.7L of displacement. The new version of VTEC incorporates dual lift profiles on the exhaust valves as well as the intake. The styling updates are noticeable but it's questionable whether the changes will be received well. As rumored, the car offers realtime weather (from XM) as well as cooled and heated seats (10-way adjustable on the passenger side now too). The headlights and taillights have adopted some curvature which looks a little bit like what BMW's done with their headlights. Photos coming soon.

Last edited by JeffX on February 06, 2008 12:03