Better than stock That front end could work for a Green Hornet movie sedan . . .

 

Horror show. Rated "R" by ClubLexus for offensive design language. Unsuitable for drivers of any age.

It looks like a TSX had an allergic reaction to something and swell up. Does anyone have some Benadryl?

 

I like it!



















No, I'm not really serious. It looks like crap like all other similarly "grilled" models in their increasingly pathetic lineup

 

hahahahahhaa

 

Doesn't look as bad as I expected.

Edit: Anyone noticed they're not using silver to display their car anymore? They're using dark grey metallic. Sort of the new silver.

 

lexus still has the best looking mirror blinkers.

 

That thing just looks awful

 

its all relative..i dont think it looks hideous...only compared to the current gen ..pretty sure there will be an array of aftermarket grills out there..it'll be a gold mine of a business =)

 

Funny to hear all the praise for the outgoing TL design, becasue I remember the same outcry ON THIS BOARD when that design was unveiled. It was deemed ugly, a disaster, "another failure", etc.

I personally don't like either design, prefer the outgoing one, but have to point out that the "design dissonance" theme with all the seemingly jarring curves, lines, and bumps has not seemed to hurt BMW's sales one bit.

 

Damn looks pretty good. The grill has grown on me. It's hard to be too original nowadays.

 

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...=acura+tl+2004
Acura TL spy photo thread from 2004

 

to be fair though those pics do make it look awful.

But I will eat my share of humble pie; it turned out to be much better than we anticipated.

 

Care to back up your statement with some links Iceman? In the thread tuan92129 posted about the 2004 TL, most people seemed to have a decent opinion of that TL back then in 2003. Compare those opinions to the opinions in this thread, and clearly a lot more people on CL hate/don't like this new TL compared to opinion of the previous-gen TL.

Are you honestly comparing BMW's styling theme with this new TL? It's not even close. While I will openly admit I'm not a big fan of BMW's styling, in general I think it's okay-to-decent. Style-wise, I have no strong hate or dislike for anything in BMW's lineup (although the 1 Series comes a little close). In general BMW's styling doesn't do much for me, in terms of like or hate. Furthermore, BMW's styling for the most part has some sort of uniformity or design consistency. BMW's styling theme is far less jarring, and has far less conflicting and contradictory elements compared to Acura's new styling theme.

But now with Acura, it's a different story. Ever since I saw the Advanced Sedan Concept, I had a very strong hate for it. In fact I found the styling downright offensive. The Advanced Sedan Concept was greatly ridiculed at autoshows by consumers, as well as by many enthusiasts online.

So WHY would Acura continue with that styling theme and utilize it on so many of their future vehicles?

The new TSX I find to be awkward and ugly, but it looks decent compared to this new TL. This new TL style-wise is worse than the TSX and IMHO it's styling is downright offensive. It's as if Honda's stubborn corporate attitude has been translated into their styling now.

With the TSX at least the fender flares on all four corners match each other for the most part. The front fender flares on the new TL are COMPLETELY different than the rear fender flares. That in itself would not be so bad if the fender flares match the styling of the rest of the car, but they do not.

I also wonder about the shield grill's effect on cooling. The shield covers up a large part of the grill that would otherwise be used for air intake. In general compared to the 3G TL, this 4G TL seems to have less air intake capacity and possibly less cooling capability for the engine. On a very hot day, when the car will be driven hard with A/C being used I wonder how well the cooling for the engine bay will work.

 

Looks like a Saturn to me....

 

^ +3 TRDFantasy. When Acura redesigned the 1G TL after only 2 years on the market, I loved the overall "VIP" look of the car, especially the interior and color choices. So when the 3G TL came out, the things that I really disliked were the big, matte silver 5-star grille on the front (instead of all-chrome like the TSX and 2G TL) and the overall loss of "VIP" more for sport.

The 2G TL had pretty nice seats that were pleated leather and seemed very high quality. The 3G TL, while having a nice interior, had cheaper-quality leather that looked much better (in design/shape) than they actually weared (they don't forgive as easily - meaning when you get up and out of the seat your buttprint is still there). I also didn't like how the TL looked pretty much like a blown up TSX and for a while got the 2 cars mixed up. But at least the TSX was good looking and the bigger TL was very good looking. And with the '07 refresh, especially in Type-S form, the TL was pretty much the best looking car Acura ever produced (that and the NSX).

This design is pretty much hideous. And I drive an '05 TL 6-spd. At certain angles the car doesn't look that bad but the front grille and the whole rear of the car are absolute deal killers. At least with the grille you could always go aftermarket. I don't know how you could go "aftermarket" with the entire rear end. And yeah, the rear just screams "Civic Coupe Si." It's like Acura sent the current 3G TL away for the summer and the TL got all fat. Kinda like seeing your formerly hot ex that you broke up with last spring so she got all depressed and sat down and ate her a.ss off, gained a 100 lbs. then you see her for the first time in the fall semester and you're like, "What the f-- happened to you?!"

I've been looking to replace my '05 with an '08 TL-S but the car being FWD and "only" 286hp and no push-button start, iPhone integration, etc. has fallen too far behind the times to be a replacement. I'm looking at anything between a G37 to an ISF or M3 (undecided on the E90 or E92) as a replacement.

I'll agree that the new TSX is much better looking in person than in the photos, and while I'll say that there are some pretty nice angles about this car the grille and the entire rear of the car are just too damn offensive for my taste. I think Acura's sales are about to plummet even more. And there's no way in hell I'm ever going to consider this thing.

And I agree, if it came down to it, I'd get a Genesis over this thing anyday. With their bloated, offensive designs and higher prices, there's simply no financial sense to choose this car over any other competitor. Esp. since a 4.6L Genesis with 375 hp is expected to cost roughly the same as an '08 TL Type-S (~$38K - $40K-ish).

At the end of the day this thing is *only* slightly better looking than the uglified '09 RL refresh. But that's kind of like saying having a 300 lb. gf is better than having a 350 lb. gf. But why would you want either?