Rx

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1X83Z

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What is the auto industry's obsession with the letters "R" and "X" together? Have a look at my brilliant examples and tell me this is a bit more than coincidence here:

- Acura RS-X
- Cadillac SRX
- Cadillac XLR
- Lexus RX330
- Mazda RX-8
- Mercury Cougar XR-7
- Nissan Xterra
- Subaru Impreza WRX
- Subaru Liberty RX

I only know about the Subaru Liberty RX 'cos of vat_man - wouldn't be too surprised if there was a Forester RX in Australia too. So what's going on here?
 
I'd like to see an XC90 T6-R.

Not the point.
 
Hmm. Fast Fords in the UK in the 1980s were called "XR" - XR2 for the Fiesta-based one, XR3 for the Escort-based one and XR4 for the Sierra-based one.

1990's Citroens usually had an "X" in there somewhere - Saxo, Xsara, Xantia and XM (following on from the 1980s AX, BX, CX and ZX)...

I think they just like the letter "X" in the industry - as Terry Pratchett wrote "X stands for 'someone who wants a really cool and exciting middle initial'."

Jaguar? XK180, XJ220, X-Type
Hyundai? CliX concept...

Lordy the motor industry is shallow. Shock horror.
 
Originally posted by M5Power
I only know about the Subaru Liberty RX 'cos of vat_man - wouldn't be too surprised if there was a Forester RX in Australia too. So what's going on here?
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No - but there is an Impreza RX (imagine a 2 litre non-turbo WRX on 15 inch alloys). With the new Legacy/Liberty the RX designation has been dropped, and it is simply the 2.5i.

I think it means different things for different manufacturers. In Subaru's instance I would think the R would be some vague reference to the rally program - e.g. WRX, W perhaps referring to World.

Maybe there 'arrr' a lot of pirates in the world of automotive naming?
 
Originally posted by Super-Supra
You forgot Mazda RX-8.
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Hard to see why they make fun of you.

I think they just like the letter "X" in the industry - as Terry Pratchett wrote "X stands for 'someone who wants a really cool and exciting middle initial'."
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I'd been working a theory that anytime the letter "X" or the number "4" appeared on an import (European or Asian) car, then the car had all- or four-wheel drive. I mentioned the theory to a member here and he could only find a few solid examples to shoot it down. Because of this, I'd have to say "X" has come to symbolise utility and capability, which is why it's so popular - I'd say it's either in the name of or a trim of a quarter of all import cars.
 
Originally posted by vat_man
No - but there is an Impreza RX (imagine a 2 litre non-turbo WRX on 15 inch alloys). With the new Legacy/Liberty the RX designation has been dropped, and it is simply the 2.5i.
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I figured they did "WRX," "RX," and maybe something basic like "X" or "R," which isn't too far from what a few makes have done here.

Maybe there 'arrr' a lot of pirates in the world of automotive naming?
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Nice. 👍
 
Of ALL the cars I mentioned, only 2 have 4WD as an option - the X-Type, and a special version of the XR4 called the "XR4x4". Not a single one of the other 12 road cars (excluding the CliX concept, 'cos I know sod all about it) has 4WD anywhere in the range...

Strange, but true.
 
Originally posted by Famine
Of ALL the cars I mentioned, only 2 have 4WD as an option - the X-Type, and a special version of the XR4 called the "XR4x4". Not a single one of the other 12 road cars (excluding the CliX concept, 'cos I know sod all about it) has 4WD anywhere in the range...
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Out here, the X-Type is AWD only - they don't sell FWD versions. Other examples are BMW's X5, 325Xi, and 330Xi, Mercedes 4Matic AWD (exercising the '4' angle), the Impreza WRX, Infiniti QX4 and FX, Lexus RX330, etc. Point is, the theory is brilliant. Too bad Jaguar uses "X" to name everything under the sun - that makes me a sad panda.
 
Originally posted by M5Power
QX
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Lots of talent going on in the Infiniti names department.
 
what about a:
jaguaR X type?
 
How could you forget the X-men?

X for the Japanese stands for power, usually.

RX stands for Rotary power
WRX stands for World Rally Power
FCX stands for Fuel Cell power

etc.

But what's with 240SX and 300ZX
 
what about (aussie) Ford Falcon XR6, XR8
 
R and X just look and sound good next to each other. I'm sure its one of those subconcious association things that marketing people spend a lot of time and energy on. Some combinations, for whatever reason, always put a subtle mental suggestion into the minds of the perspective buyer.

"R" is most often associated with "Race", so it makes sense on a sporting model. "X" has an excellent association with the word "eXperimental". People love the idea of the experimental prototype, because its always a leap ahead of what came before. Its new, its eXciting. Add the two together and you have a potent combination.

The letter "S" is an often used letter because it suggests both the word "sport" and "special". S seems to be a powerful letter in marketingland, especially to Germans. Consider that Porsche uses the S to denote "super", and Porsches with the S tag always make more power than the non-S cars. S is also the letter Mercedes chose to begin the name of their flagship car. When used in combination with another powerful letter like "R" to denote "Renn Sport", you have the legendary "RS" Porsche and Audi models.

I'm also of the notion that the later letters in the alphabet carry more weight than the earlier ones. I'm not sure why, but I think it has something to do with the notion that the later you go, the better.

"Z" is an excellent example of this. The Zed is used in a lot of cars; 350Z, Z4, Z28... etc. I guess its because Z, by virtue of being at the end of the alphabet, feels like the ultimate. I mean, after Z, there's nowhere left to go... so anything carrying a Z has to have an imposing sense of finality to it.

You can probably analyize everything letter to death --and I'm sure marketing types already have.


///M-Spec
 
Best X/R car of all time is the Merkur XR4Ti! Same as the Ford Sierra. Shares a lot of stuff from cars such as the Ford RS200 and RS500.
 
or the RX-3.....or the 240SX = 240 Super power?
300zx....300....zuper power..

I'll be here all week!
:lol::lol::lol:
 
Originally posted by Super-Supra
It was a inside joke.
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Do you realise in order for that to have happened, it has to actually involve people other than yourself?

Best X/R car of all time is the Merkur XR4Ti! Same as the Ford Sierra. Shares a lot of stuff from cars such as the Ford RS200 and RS500.
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Yeah - I realised that this morning or last night.

How could you exclude the CRX?
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Sorry. :(

Re the RX7 - I thought the RX8 pretty well covered the whole Mazda RX line. :)
 
CRX stands for Civic Renaissance, model X.

edit: I was wrong, I guess CRV means something else.
 
The R in all of honda's cars (Type-R, RSX-S, etc) comes from racing. I think I remember it being somethign like havign to race so many times or win so many times to use certain letters and colors (same reason why integra Type-R's come in only yellow,white, red, and black(more?))

Dont bite my head off, thats just what ive heard

Other cars, I think its just easier to manage, like Acura, they purposly do it so they dont have to waste time comming up with names, they just give it a model name, and it being all the same letter I think is just a coincedence (come on, would someone name a car the GQW? or who about BBL? names like Rsx and mX-6 just sound better to me).
 
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