Acura CL
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Acura CL | |
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| Manufacturer | Acura |
| Parent company | Honda |
| Production | 1997–2003 |
| Assembly | Marysville, Ohio |
| Class | Mid-size luxury car |
| Body style | 2-door coupe |
| Similar | Audi A4 Cadillac Eldorado Volvo C70 |
| First generation | |
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| Production | 1997–1999 |
| Engine | 2.2 L or 2.3 L I4; J30 V6 |
| Transmission | 4-speed automatic 5-speed manual |
| Wheelbase | 106.9 in |
| Length | 190.0 in |
| Width | 70.1 in |
| Height | 54.7 in |
| Related | Acura TL Honda Accord Isuzu Aska Honda Odyssey Isuzu Oasis |
| Second generation | |
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| Production | 2001–2003 |
| Engine | 3.2 L SOHC VTEC J-series V6 |
| Transmission | 5-speed automatic 6-speed manual (2003 only) |
| Wheelbase | 106.9 in. |
| Length | 192.0 in. |
| Width | 70.6 in. |
| Height | 55.5 in. |
| Related | Acura TL Honda Accord Honda Pilot Honda Odyssey |
The Acura CL is a model of automobile manufactured by Honda between 1997 and 2003 and was designed to replace the Acura Legend coupe.
Following the end of the 1995 model year, The Acura Legend coupe disappeared from Acura's line-up when the sedan version was renamed the Acura RL. The coupe was replaced by the Acura CL for the 1997 model year, following Acura's transition to alphanumeric naming of all of its vehicles except for the Integra, which continued until the 2001 model year.
[edit] First generation (1997-1999)
For the 1997 model year, the CL was initially offered with either a 3.0 L J30 V6 or a 2.2 L (F22B1) I4 engine, which was later bumped up to 2.3 L for the 1998 and 1999 models. Also, there were four different versions of the CL known as the 2.x Base, 2.x Premium, 3.0 Base, and finally the 3.0 Premium. The Premium models had numerous extra features such heated leather seats as well as a premium Bose stereo system. For the non-premium CLs, interior choices were either cloth or leather (the premium version had heated leather). All Acura CLs were built at Honda's plant in Marysville, Ohio alongside the TL and the Honda Accord upon which the Acuras were based. Also, the CL is the first Acura to be built in the United States.
SPECIFICATIONS
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[edit] Second generation (2001-2003)
For the 2000 model year, the Acura CL's sibling, the TL, was redesigned. The CL, however, was never produced as a 2000 model and instead in March of 2000 the completely redesigned Acura CL was released as a 2001 model featuring a 3.2 L SOHC VTEC J-series V6. A navigation system was also available along with the Type-S model, denoting Acura's 'Sport' edition. While the regular CL featured a 225 horsepower V6, the Type-S boasted a 260 horsepower V6 with 17" wheels, a firmer suspension, slightly larger brakes, and firmer seats.
In 2002, the CL Type-S was offered, as a 2003 model, with a close-ratio 6-speed manual transmission with a limited-slip differential. One of the main criticisms of the CL was that a manual transmission had been dropped when the car was redesigned for the 2001 model year. Very few manual transmission models were built; there were 2,691 without navigation and 820 with navigation for a total of 3511. Despite such small numbers of manual transmissions there was still a greater demand than Acura had expected. However, with the CL's sister car, the TL, coming up on a redesign for the 2004 model year, the CL was dropped from Acura's lineup due to declining sales, and Acura currently has no mid-size luxury coupe replacement. Total Acura CL sales from 2000 until 2003, when the last new model was sold, totaled less than 31,000 units. The CL's manual transmission survives in the TL.
[edit] Transmission Concerns
The 3.2 CL shares much with the 3.2 TL, including its 5 speed automatic transmission. Over time, it has become obvious that there were design issues with many of these transmissions. Some owners who have experienced transmission failures could suffer sudden downshifts from 5th gear to 2nd gear, which caused a tire-screeching sudden loss of speed and a loss of control when at regular freeway speeds. Slipping, flaring and not shifting also occur. One main cause is excessive wear of the 3rd gear clutch pack, resulting in large amounts of debris blocking the flow of transmission fluid. Unfortunately, there are failures with replacement transmissions as well. Transmission-related issues exist in the Honda Accord, Acura MDX as well as the Honda Odyssey.
Due to frequent failures, the manufacturer extended the warranty on the automatic transmission on some CL's and TL's for 7 years, 100,000 miles. Many replacement rebuilt units had problems. Currently, there is a pending class action lawsuit which may extend the warranty to 93 months or 109,000 miles.
In addition, there was an unrelated transmission recall for safety reasons. One gear tended to overheat, break and cause the transmission to lock up. Since this failure would cause the car to come to a sudden stop, this might cause accidents.
For further information on the transmission issue you may try here.
Manual transmissions were rare and never affected by the same issues that the automatic transmissions were and thus Honda has not extended the warranty on them.
| Acura, a division of Honda — road car timeline, 1986-present - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Type | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | |||
| Compact | 1.6EL | 1.7EL | CSX | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport compact | Coupé | Integra G1 | Integra G2 | Integra G3 | RSX | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Sedan | TSX | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mid-size | Coupé | CL | CL | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sedan | Vigor | TL | TL | TL | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full-size | Legend | Legend | RL | RL | RL | RL | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Crossover | RDX | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MDX | MDX | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SUV | SLX | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sports | NSX | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
