Ever wonder how the North American market 2009 RL would look like without that gaudy ‘armor shield’ that Acura likes to call a front grille? Then check out the European market Honda Legend facelift that was unveiled at the Moscow International Auto Show. The new grille fits nicely to the revised front-end giving the luxury sedan a more classy appearance. Other than that, the Legend is nothing more than a rebadged 2009 Acura RL. On the outside, the most noticeable changes of the facelifted version are the new lights, bonnet, front wings, boot lid, bumpers and the adoption of standard 18" wheels.
Mechanical changes include the new 3.7-liter V6 VTEC engine that replaces the previous 3.5-liter V6 unit and is coupled to an all-new 5-speed gearbox with revised steerin
g wheel mounted paddle-shifters and new gearbox software. According to Honda, the new Legend can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 7.1 seconds, 0.2 seconds quicker than before. Fuel economy and CO2 figures have also been improved over the previous model. In terms of chassis upgrades, while the Legend’s SH-AWD system remains unchanged, the settings for the suspension have been altered to improve the ride and handling.