2005 HONDA Legend wins Awards

2005's 10 Best Cars - Car and Driver magazine USA

2005 Best Luxury Sedan: Acura RL (Honda Legend)
HONDA: "... For the RL to be recognized in the highly competitive luxury sedan category means Acura has hit its mark in terms of performance, world-class safety and leading-edge technology."
CAR & DRIVER: "... .there's no doubt ... the new flagship is ready for the major leagues"

HONDA AUSTRALIA PREE RELEASE: DEC 2004

New Honda Legend Earns Highest Ratings in NHTSA Crash Tests

Honda’s award-winning new Legend – badged the Acura RL in North America – earned the highest possible ratings awarded during the most recent frontal and side crash tests for all seating positions and rollover tests conducted by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Among the 18 vehicles tested, the Acura RL was the only vehicle to earn the top rating of “five stars” in all three categories. The RL is only the third vehicle in the history of the program to receive such high honors.

American Honda Executive Vice President of Sales Dick Colliver said the company is extremely pleased that the RL is being recognised for its outstanding safety features.

“The scores from NHTSA are an acknowledgement of our continuing commitment to safety through technology in all Acura vehicles.”

The all-new 2005 RL luxury performance sedan is equipped with a comprehensive array of the latest technologies to enhance safety including dual-stage driver’s and passenger airbags, driver’s and passenger side airbags, side curtain airbags, Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) and ABS. The RL is also the first Acura to feature the innovative Advanced Compatibility Engineering body structure, which enhances protection of occupants during a frontal collision while reducing impact to other vehicles.

HONDA AUSTRALIA PRESS RELEASE:

All-New Honda Legend Wins Another Award

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. has announced that the world’s first Super Handling All-Wheel-Drive (SH-AWD) system in its new Legend has won the Automotive Researchers’ and Journalists’ Conference of Japan (RJC) 2005 Technology of the Year Award.

The SH-AWD system, combines front-rear torque distribution control with independently regulated torque distribution to the left and right rear wheels to freely distribute the optimum torque to all four wheels in accordance with driving conditions. Front-rear torque distribution varies between ratios of 30:70 and 70:30, and lateral torque distribution in the rear wheels varies between ratios of 100:0 and 0:100. Torque is used not only for propulsion, but for cornering as well, resulting in a significant enhancement in vehicle maneuverability. The system’s torque control logic operates primarily on active feed-forward control based on driver output. This is combined with feedback control based on vehicle behavior to achieve highly precise control that respects the driver’s intent.

The new Legend also recently received the Japan Car of the Year Award 2004-2005 and Most Advanced Technology Award conferred by the Japan Car of the Year Executive Committee.

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