Acuras Made A LOT Of Mistakes Over The Years. Was THIS The BIGGEST?

In all my years involved with cars there are a few companies that have always mystified me.

And at the TOP of the list, Acura might be first place.

They were the FIRST Japanese company to guess right that a luxury tier should be added and the opportunities were great. They launched with to this day their best looking non-sports car, the LEGEND.

People (myself included) loved it and it had a classy aire to it.

And they did it YEARS before Lexus so they had a head start. BIG TIME.

But then Lexus rocked everyone's boat and the rest is history.

Acura tried to fight back with their 4-door Legend Sedan but that butta-smooth Lexus V8 and build quality couldn't be beat.

So some genius there gets a report that says only the name LEGEND resonates with buyers and Acura is lost in the shuffle.

So what does this Einstein do? He/She gets the company to DROP the Legend name.

If you ask us, the SMARTER move would have been to dump the ACURA name in FAVOR of Legend.

So tell us Spies, if you had to name the BIGGEST mistake they've EVER made, would THAT be it?

Spies, discuss...

bmw7er - 8/3/2020 12:06:33 AM

+8 Boost

1. Losing the Legend name was the dumbest move in automotive history. The Legend and Legend Coupe were perfect cars and I always wanted one.
2. Moving to the stupid letter name was the second dumbest move.

valhallakey - 8/3/2020 1:07:39 AM

+6 Boost

Agreed. I think it was also a mistake for Cadillac not to bring back some of their historic names as well as some from their show cars.

MDarringer - 8/3/2020 9:27:26 AM

+2 Boost

I cannot believe that Cadillac thinks that names ending in "ick" is the way forward when they could have gone with Elmiraj, Escala, Eldorado, Seville, and Fleetwood for the win.

dumpsty - 8/3/2020 12:30:56 PM

+5 Boost

Yes!

Legend, Vigor, Integra were all excellent (timeless & descriptive) vehicle names. Why do you think Camry, 4Runner, Supra, Land Cruiser are still around today?

dumpsty - 8/3/2020 12:31:36 PM

+3 Boost

....Civic, Accord, Passort...

blackbr - 8/3/2020 6:52:02 AM

+1 Boost

They release beta products and their infotainment system trails Honda’s.

MDarringer - 8/3/2020 9:25:29 AM

+2 Boost

By far the biggest mistake was the Vigor. It was a pile of shit made by crudely lengthening an Accord and stuffing in a losing powertrain. The Vigor failed miserably.

THAT is why suddenly Acura "discovered" that the Legend was the problem. The real reason is that they couldn't admit to themselves that they shitty Vigor was the cause of their shit storm.

The Legend and the Integra were both doing well.

Instead of going back to the drawing board with the horrible Vigor, they gave us the flavorless RL and the bland TL. Acura lost their mojo forever at that point.

They did the Precision Concept. Producing it faithfully as the Legend would have been the correct move.

Agent00J - 8/3/2020 9:39:04 AM

+1 Boost

I agree with you, but I would argue the 2 most important names - Legend and Integra - both lost to stupid letters. I always wanted a Legend, the 2nd gen coupe was a thing of beauty, I wanted one with the manual transmission. To this day, I always take a second glance when I see a 1st or 2nd gen Legend.

And the Integra - even though we know it was a spec'd up Civic, it was just cool. The 2nd gen didn't have the impact the first and third did, but still cool cars overall. There is an old lady in my town driving a 2nd gen ALL ORIGINAL Integra manual, my guess is she probably bought it brand new. I've always thought about approaching her and asking her if she'd be interested in selling it, but my wife would cringe with another car in the driveway.

-00J

MDarringer - 8/3/2020 10:03:58 AM

0 Boost

You clearly don't read to comprehend.

Agent00J - 8/3/2020 11:12:11 AM

0 Boost

Not sure how agreeing with, and adding to your comments, somehow suggests I don't read to comprehend, but oh well. Your take is always appreciated.

-00J

MDarringer - 8/3/2020 11:17:42 AM

0 Boost

If you comprehended what I said, you would have realized that "but I would argue the 2 most important names - Legend and Integra..." was embedded in the commentary. I clearly made the point that the Legend and the Integra were the scapegoats for Honda being unable to admit to themselves that the Vigor was a piece of shit. Namaste

dumpsty - 8/3/2020 12:33:43 PM

+3 Boost

Always wondered why I would see Vigor's in very limited numbers. And then it was suddenly gone as the RL & TL came in.

MDarringer - 8/3/2020 12:48:02 PM

+1 Boost

The Vigor had a complicated drivetrain that was designed specifically to be complicated and it was extremely problematic. People could see that the Vigor was an Accord with inches spliced in ahead of the windshield along with a massive price increase. People bought the Legend. For whatever reason Honda thought the Vigor was brilliant when it was shit. That same thinking produced a line of terrible RLs with each generation being worse than the one before. The last one was a crudely elongated Accord for double the price.

qwertyfla1 - 8/3/2020 9:42:22 AM

+1 Boost

The Legend(s) (and Integra) were legend. Dumbest mistake was to drop them. Lexus had them beat (and the Germans) on the luxury front so the smart move would have been to make the Acura product line more sportier then Lexus in a "more affordable & reliable alternative" to BMW and let Lexus nibble at the Benz customers.

The Vigour was a total shit show and subsequent models not much better. The current and former MY RDX and MDX are nice products but Acura should of kept the V6 option for the RDX as a turbo 4 banger will never be as good or satisfying to drive.

dumpsty - 8/3/2020 12:42:26 PM

+3 Boost

In '98 I bought a '90 Acura Integra 5sp 5-door. Only manual I've owned. Had a shit clutch but after I replaced it, that car accelerated like a bat-outta-hell! i couldn't tell you the fastest I drove it - the speedo was busted.

it was a 2nd car & basically a bucket to learn how to drive 'stick' better. Sold it to a buddy who - 6 months later - sold it for 2x what he paid me.

mre30 - 8/3/2020 10:07:57 AM

+1 Boost

My first new car in 1990 was an Acura Integra, 5-speed (living/working in North Jersey).

Sold it in 1994 when I moved to NYC and then didn't own a car for the next 3 years. What a sweet ride it was, though at the end of 3 years there was rust bubbling up in the panels in front of the rear wheel wells. Engine/trans were sweetest of the era.

MDarringer - 8/3/2020 2:56:08 PM

+2 Boost

Equally dumb are the MDX/RDX names.

Section_31_JTK - 8/3/2020 3:45:19 PM

+1 Boost

Their biggest mistake was not moving all the way into the luxury space with their top end vehicles. Stylistically and functionally the RL was never "enough". Everyone of their vehicles needed to be either a half-step lower in price or a half to full step higher in luxury. The result is they made boring tweener cars.

TomM - 8/3/2020 5:44:33 PM

+2 Boost

I agree - Remember - Acura was originally not meant to be a Top Tier Luxury Brand but higher power and V6 powered versions of the existing Hondas. The Legend was originally a V6 Accord(When you could not get a V6 in an accord) - with a higher end interior too. But it never approached being a Mercedes competitor.

THeir largest 4 door (THe "R" series) - car was a 6 cylinder as well - they never actually produced a V-8 or V-12 - and that was their downfall. They never adequately defined their target - and attacked it.

Dr550 - 8/3/2020 11:16:57 PM

+2 Boost

Outsourcing early SUV's to Isuzu. Instead of designing from the ground up, like the X5, Honda/Acura went for the quick fix.

arrowmg - 8/3/2020 11:25:49 PM

+2 Boost

Acura was supposed to be like Audi, precise looking boxes, with little flair and understated luxury. Legend name or not once Lexus hit and Infiniti tried on the wannabe beemer mantle, they lost their mojo. They should've just built on their success from the Legend Coupe and the NSX and ignored the other 2 japanese brands.

BimmersNme - 8/5/2020 12:09:13 AM

+1 Boost

Certainly, dumping the Legend and Integra nameplates were their biggest mistakes.