OVERVIEW
A great deal of attention was given to the design, materials, comfort
features and convenience amenities of the 3.5RL interior, from major
issues such as control location and passenger head, hip and shoulder
room to smaller details such as extra-large beverage holders and a
special compartment intended specifically for the driver's
sunglasses. The overall design thrust was to give the interior a very
open, relaxed ambience, much like the comfortable living room of an
elegant, yet casual, contemporary luxury home.
MATERIALS
The leather seating surfaces that give the RL its luxurious look and
feel are carefully hand-selected American hides that are tanned with
an innovative process that helps the leather retain its soft, supple
feel and resilient strength far longer than conventional automobile
interior leather. The oils in conventional leather tend to evaporate
out of the hides in time, especially when the car is parked in the
bright summer sun. This causes leather to prematurely age and dry out
over time. It has another annoying side effect-the oil that escapes
from the leather is then deposited on the rear window and windshield
glass when the interior cools, causing a persistent and
hard-to-remove "fogging" effect on the glass over time. The leather
used in the RL is specially treated to resist this phenomenon; it
reduces window fogging 90 percent better than conventional leather.
The center console of the RL features rich Tendo-camphor wood that has been carefully contoured, finished and preserved by a deep protective clear coat.
SEATING
The driver and front passenger seats are the products of extensive
research and development. They are designed to absorb vibrations and
bumps and to provide outstanding comfort without sacrificing the firm
support needed in enthusiastic driving.
In testing, the RL seats decreased the upward force felt by test subjects by 50 percent over conventional seats; that is, the subjects felt the jarring of irregular road surfaces only half as strongly as with a conventional design.
Human factors research revealed that the human body has its own resonant frequency; that is, the vibration frequency at which the internal organs of the body pick up an outside vibration and resonate with it. If felt strongly, vibration in this frequency range is very unpleasant, and human test subjects generally gauge the vibration felt in a moving car on the level of vibration felt in this narrow range, between 5 and 10 Hz or cycles per second.
To damp out as much of this vibration frequency as possible, the configuration of the springs in the RL seat cushions were analyzed using the NASTRAN finite-element analysis program. Six different designs were tried before one was found that performed to Acura's exacting standards.
Other details in the seat design include gently rounded thigh bolsters at the front to avoid digging into the driver's and passenger's lower thighs. And the front lateral seam, which often runs across under the thighs, has been moved forward and down, eliminating this possible source of discomfort.
The front seats have even been designed to make rear-seat passengers more comfortable. The backs of the seats are concave, giving rear seat passengers nearly an inch more knee room. And the seat rail structure was designed to give rear-seat passengers nearly an inch more horizontal foot room, while the underside of the seat is carpeted to prevent shoe scuffs.
The driver's seat is eight-way power adjustable. It is linked by a memory system with the outside mirrors and electronic tilt and telescoping steering wheel, allowing one of two preset configurations to be accessed at the touch of a button. The front passenger's seat is four-way power adjustable. Both front seats are also heated.
The rear seats are designed and built to fit full-sized adults in total comfort as well. A fold-down center armrest incorporates its own dual beverage holder, and a pass-through to the trunk allows long objects to be carried without soiling or marring the interior.
INTERIOR COMFORT AND CONVENIENCE
The RL is the most lavishly equipped Acura ever built. Advances in
soundproofing throughout the car make its interior by far the
quietest in Acura history. Nearly everything is standard, including
cruise control, individual reading lights, power windows, door locks,
moon roof and remote keyless entry. The center console features an
adjustable, two-position armrest and an illuminated storage area with
a 12-volt accessory power outlet and tray designed to hold a cellular
phone.
SPEED-SENSITIVE INTERMITTENT WIPER
The RL is equipped with an automatic, speed-sensitive intermittent
wiper system that slows down the wipers when the RL is stopped or
moving slowly and increases their speed when vehicle velocity
increases. The wiper blades are specially designed to reduce noise
while in operation.
AUTOMATIC HEADLIGHT SYSTEM
In the RL, a sensor at the front of the instrument panel senses
outside illumination levels; when darkness occurs during automatic
mode, the headlights, taillights and instrument panel lighting are
automatically turned on for nighttime convenience. When the vehicle
is parked at night, the lights are left on after the ignition switch
is turned off, but go out automatically when the driver's door is
opened.
INSTRUMENTS AND CONTROLS
Acura automobiles have always been known for their high level of
ergonomic design and control harmony; the RL takes us to a whole new
level of human engineering. The instrument panel is configured with a
"trinocular" design. A large center speedometer and associated gauges
monitor driving functions. A left-side, slightly smaller circle
contains the tachometer while a symmetrical right-side circle
includes the fuel gauge and less-used, yet important indicators. The
instruments have large displays and are illuminated, even in daytime,
for easy recognition. Much time and effort has gone into minimizing
the attention needed to understand and monitor each particular system
and to make each switch and control nearly as easy to use the first
time as it will be after years of familiarity.
The engine's response to the throttle, for example, has been carefully analyzed and developed by fine-tuning the engine powerband, PGM-FI fuel injection system, transmission control unit and the physical layout and geometry of the throttle pedal itself. It has been developed to give a controlled feel that harmonizes, not only with the brake pedal and steering, but also with subjective human expectations of the effect a given push on the throttle will have on vehicle acceleration and speed. Every system has been optimized to give the driver what he or she asks for the first time, instead of forcing the driver to make a constant series of approximate control movements and subsequent corrections.
AUTOMATIC CLIMATE CONTROL
The RL is equipped with a state-of-the-art automatic climate control
system and air conditioning system. The system is not only powerful
in terms of cooling capacity and efficiency, but it is also extremely
quiet, even when quickly cooling the interior on a hot Death Valley
day. Even rear-seat passengers have personal control over the
direction of heating or cooling air coming their way. Great pains
have been taken to ensure cooling uniformity from front to rear, and
an innovative subcondenser has been added to the A/C system,
improving the efficiency of the unit substantially. In controlled
testing, the A/C system cooled the interior from 100 degrees to 70
degrees Fahrenheit in 15 minutes-quicker than any other competitor in
its class.
MICRON AIR FILTRATION
A state-of-the-art air-filtration system removes pollen and other
contaminants from the interior environment. The filter element is so
fine, it can trap all particles of 3 microns or larger, including
almost all pollen and dust, and inhibits the passage of bacteria as
small as 0.5 microns as well as some components of cigarette smoke
and particulates in diesel exhaust. The filter has two layers: both
are composed of felt-like, nonwoven fabric fibers, and one layer is
electrostatically charged to help attract and trap even more dust and
other airborne particles.
HEAT-REJECTING GLASS
Special solar-energy-absorbing, green-tinted glass is used in the RL,
minimizing the effects of the hot sun on the interior and its
occupants. This reduces the load on the climate control system for
better cooling efficiency, delays the temperature rise in the
interior when the vehicle is parked, and further protects the
interior leather and other materials from the effects of solar
radiation.
AUDIO SYSTEM
The Acura/Bose® audio system for the RL is the most impressive ever
designed for an Acura automobile. Developed and tuned by Bose
Corporation specially for the RL, the music system is acoustically
optimized to provide clear, authentic sound in any seating position
of the interior and automatically compensate the balance of bass,
treble and midrange for any volume level. It features an AM/FM tuner,
cassette, and a six-disc CD changer mounted in the trunk.
Eight speakers are used: two 2.5-inch tweeters mounted in the front doors, two 6.5-inch single-cone full-range speakers in the lower front door panels, two 5.25-inch full-range speakers, mounted in the rear-door panels and two 6 x 9-inch low-frequency drivers in the rear package shelf.
From the easily accessible, dash-mounted control unit, audio output is sent to the auxiliary power amplifier unit located in the trunk. Separate amplifiers are provided inside the unit for each of the six individual front speakers. Each tweeter has a 12.5-watt amplifier while each of the four full-range speakers has its own 25-watt amplifier and the two rear speakers, which act in concert as subwoofers, share a 100-watt amplifier. Total music system power is 225 watts.
The antenna for the various receiver systems are all built into the rear window. These include the AM/FM antenna and the antenna for the radio-based keyless entry system. The elimination of the antenna mast lessens complexity and reduces wind noise for the rear-seat passengers.
ACURA NAVIGATION SYSTEM
The latest generation of the Acura Navigation System is the only
factory-installed option available on the fully equipped 2000 3.5RL.
This new system has significant enhancements than boost its
convenience, ease of use and utility. There's a new, larger,
seven-inch matte-finish touch-screen that resists fingerprinting and
is easier to read. Smart new logic lets you type in your destination
with significantly fewer keystrokes, and route calculation time is up
to twice as fast. You can also preprogram a route with up to five
destinations, or have the moving map display icons for gas stations,
restaurants or ATMs. And with a new Digital Video Disc (DVD) on-board
database with almost 14 times the storage capacity (increased from
520MB to 4.7GB), the entire continental United States is contained on
a single disc.
The Acura Navigation System unit uses Global Positioning System (GPS) data received from satellites, as well as its own inertial guidance system, to precisely pinpoint the location and velocity of the car. When asked to guide the driver from one location to another, the system provides both audio and visual cues, helping the driver to find the proper destination quickly and easily and with minimal distraction. Verbal instructions such as, "Keep right" or "Next exit on the right" give the driver the basic direction, and a visual LCD moving map with a directional arrow, located high on the center console, provides detailed information on street names, turning instructions and driving distances. The navigation system also provides information and directions to 3.7 million local restaurants, theaters and points of interest.
The new seven-inch, color LCD display now has a picture-in-picture capability, so you can see the "big picture" map and get detailed turning instructions simultaneously. The new system will also display your current position coordinates at any time, and a balloon function instantly shows the address of any location you select on the map. You can also search for a selected point of interest simply by inputting its phone number. The voice guidance control has 11 different volume settings and automatically mutes the audio entertainment system front speakers momentarily when direction commands are given.
SECURITY/IMMOBILIZER SYSTEM
A remote keyless entry system is standard on the RL. The keyless
entry system is radio-controlled-this gives much better range than a
conventional infrared system, allowing the driver to unlock the RL or
activate the "panic button" antitheft function while still a
considerable distance from the car. A special electronically coded
key prevents the car from being started, even if a mechanical
duplicate of the proper key shape is used. A transponder, built into
the key, signals the immobilizer control unit the key is genuine. If
the car is hot-wired, or an unauthorized key is used, it simply will
not start. This system is a substantial deterrent to theft.