It’s that time of the week again where we take two cars and put the head-to-head (or face-to-face). This week we decided to see what Japan had in store for the ultimate luxury sedans. We picked the 2007 Acura RL and the Infiniti M35x since they are in the same price bracket and both have a 3.5 liter engine with all-wheel-drive. For these two, we’ll take a look at power, luxury/technology, and price.
Power: The Acura RL has a 3.5 liter V6 engine that produces 290 horsepower giving it the ability to do 0-60 mph in 6.1 seconds. The Infiniti M35x also has a 3.5 liter V6 engine, but produces 15 horsepower less at 275 horsepower. That gives the Infiniti M35x a 0-60 mph time of 6.4 seconds. While that’s not much of a difference its still a surprise since the Acura RL weighs 4,104 lbs while the Infiniti M35 weighs 272 lbs less at 3,832 lbs.
As mentioned above, both the Acura RL and the Infiniti M35x have all-wheel-drive. In either case, both of these cars weren’t designed to be powerhouse sedans, rather they were meant to be a comfortable luxury sedans packed with technology.
Luxury/Technology: Both the Acura RL and the Infiniti M35x come with numerous high-level luxury and technology features. Both come with standard features such as Bluetooth, intelligent keyless access (that’s the feature where you just touch the door handle and it unlocks the car and allows you to start the car without inserting the key), multi-zone climate control, heated seats, onboard computer displaying things such as outside weather and important vehicle information, mp3 playback capability and Bose audio system with 6-disc CD changer.
One thing we’d definitely like to point out is that the Infiniti M35x has a lot of Packages including Journey Package, Technology Package, Advanced Technology Package which requires the Technology Package first, and then the Premium Package which requires the Journey package. Confusing right?
Well, Acura makes it plain and simple with just two packages including the Technology Package and the Technology Package with CMBS/PAX (which basically adds the Collision Mitigation Braking System, Active Cruise Control and Michelin PAX Run-Flat tires to the technology package).
Price: We’ll continue telling you more about the packages here, but let’s start of with the MSRP. The MSRP on the 2007 Acura RL is $45,780 while the MSRP on the 2007 Infiniti M35x is $41,450. Both base models start at this price and don’t give you a navigation system. If you want a navigation system you have to upgrade to the Technology Packages on each car.
Adding the Technology Package to the 2007 Acura RL will increase your price to $49,400. The Technology Package basically gives you a Navigation System, rearview camera and AcuraLink with satellite communication system with real-time traffic. Adding the CMBS/PAX package will increase your price to $53,200. All other features are standard.
With the 2007 Infiniti M35x the Journey Package, which costs an extra $1,350, gives you features such as Adaptive Front lighting System and climate-controlled front seats with internal ventilation providing both cooling and heating functions. The Technology Package, which costs an extra $2,950, gives you the Navigation System, rearview camera. Those two packages are usually what buyers opt for. The Advanced Technology Package costs an extra $2,500 while the Premium Package costs an extra $8,900. If you want to learn more about the confusing packages go to http://www.infiniti.com/m/packages.html.
Overall, both the 2007 Acura RL and the Infiniti M35x provide a comfortable and luxurious ride but the Acura RL definitely gives you less confusion and more for your money. We were especially fond of the interior design and the AcuraLink with real-time traffic data which reroutes your planned route in case of a traffic jam or other obstruction. However, we thought the exterior styling on the Infiniti M35x was sleeker and more appealing than the Acura RL. You can go for the Infiniti M35x if you wish, but we’d recommend the Acura RL.
Read Article