UDel

Very nice review mmarshal, I was looking forward to your review as a TL type S is something I will highly consider for my next car and I really like it. Overall I seemed to get the same impressions as you. I can see where someone might not be a fan of the rims because they are kind of aggressive looking and different but I like them especially on a black TL S I saw a few weeks ago. Your right about the excellent paint job, after getting a PC7424 and polishing a few cars and compairing paint quality and waxes that is one area I focus more on now and the black TL S had a smooth mirror like paint job with no orange peel that I could see and I was highly impressed. I was not able to drive the TL S but I am sure and have read it has a typical Acura powerplant (aside from the RDX) that you have to rev higher to get the most performance out of it and you most likely did not explore the higher rpm range on your test drive. Some people like higher revving performance cars, some like more torque down low, personally I don't care as I like both characteristics and feel they have their place in certain cars(who would want an S2000 not to have a screaming engine with a super high redline or an M3 not to have a high revving engine?) I was highly impressed by the interior of the newer TLs especially a type S I sat in a few months ago that had cream and black leather seats that looked really nice. Everything felt high quality and very well put together.

The next TL is pretty much confirmed to have a SHAWD version with around 310hp. The base model will have around 280hp and both models will be bigger then the current one.

The one question I have with the review is how disappointed you were with the TSX especially the interior quality which you brought up comparing it to the TL S and last TSX. I went to go check out the TSX a few weeks ago and specifically wanted to compare it to the last one and went in with fairly low expectations for the interior mainly from your review. The new TSX certainly looks and is bigger and wider then the last one and I thought it looked more upscale then the last one but not as sporty or crisp. When I sat in the interior I was surprised because it seemed very nice and nicer then I remembered the last TSX being. It certainly felt more luxurious but not as sporty or driver oriented as the last TSX. I was feeling different surfaces and pressing buttons and feeling the leather and everything felt high quality, a bit nicer then the last TSX. The one thing I did not like was the location of the NAV screen which is now farther away from the driver and not as easy to quickly access and glance at. I know the light wood trim looks nice in the older TSX and I wish the newer one had some wood trim but I did not miss it too much. The painted silver trim did not bother me much and I did not really notice it even though I highly dislike the trend of many manufactures using painted silver trim in their interiors these days. I then sat in the older TSX which was used for sale but unfortunately it did not have the wood trim and it was a black interior so I was not all that impressed and felt the newer TSX was nicer but not as driver oriented or sporty. There was one with a tan interior and wood trim that looked much nicer from looking in the window but I did not have time to ask for the key to that one.

Overall I still thought the newer TSX had a very nice high quality interior and could not really find any cheap or disappointing bits and am surprised you are so disappointed in it and thought the previous TSX interior was so much nicer. I have not read any real criticisms of interior quality in the reviews and their main criticism with the new TSX is the electric steering system and it not being as fun or communicative as the previous TSX steering system, the switch I have read was done to improve gas mileage. After working on some cars with failed/broken hood struts that will be expensive to replace I don't really care if it has a pop rod and kind of prefer pop rods now, I don't think what holds a hood up to be a big deal or all that luxurious but it may be a bigger deal to others.

Overall I enjoyed your review and it was one of the ones I was highly looking forward to.

mmarshall

Thanks.

Yes...you were not alone in waiting, and, for several reasons, I wish I could have gotten to it sooner.


I didn't base my view of the rims on an aggressive or non-aggressive factor; I just thought they were unattractive, period.....especially with the White Pearl paint on my test car. The standard rims on the base TL, for instance, were exactly the same size as the Type-S, and, IMO, much better-looking....had it been my car, I likely would have asked the dealership for a swap.



I just wish that Ford and Chrysler would paint their vehicles like this. Some of the new GM paint jobs, such as the Cadillac CTS, are more impressive than before, but Ford and Chrysler, IMO, are still lagging.



While it is true that Europeans tend to like high-revving engines, and I know that CL has readers from all over the world, I was looking at it more from an American point of view, since I was reviewing the car in its American-spec trim and primarily for use on American roads by American drivers. We Yankees, to an extent, tend to prefer higher torque at lower RPMs.....perhaps dating from the 1960s when that was the norm in American muscle-cars.

Good. AWD, despite high gas prices and its tendency to use more gas and eat up more HP than FWD or RWD, is definitely going to be one of the things expected on new upscale cars, at least as an option.

Thanks again.

I highly respect your view of the new TSX interior (you are not the type of person who forms biased opinions) , but the reason I found it a disappointment is not so much that the new interior is that poor (although I definitely did not like the painted gray/silver plastic), but that the old interior, particularly the beige/wood trim, was so NICE. The material quality, richness of appearance, trim, color integration, patterns, etc...., to my tastes, were much better done in the old one than in the new one. However, there is no doubt that the new interior is larger and roomier than the old one, and simply needs more materials inside to equip it............perhaps one of the reasons for the apparant cost-cutting in the interior materials of the new one.

mmarshall

Thanks.....and sorry, GFerg............I inadvertantly forgot to respond to your post. I wasn't trying to be rude.

I agree the TL interior and layout doesn't necessarily LOOK much different than 4 or 5 years ago, but the 2008 Type-S model I drove seemed much tighter, more rattle/squeak-free, and more carefully built than earlier ones. In addition, the interior materials, while looking much the same, felt of higher quality. The last TL I drove, for example, simply did not impress me as much as this one did.........and that is independent of the Type-S features on this one, and not taking even that into account.

LexFather

Mike, it did have a sunroof. I was with 2 ladies in the back and I didn't feel too cramped, I felt it was adequate.

The IS clearly is a much smaller car, 9 inches shorter. The ES/TL/G35/CTS are all in their own kind of niche, priced like the A4/IS/3/C but sized like the next class up. Do not try to fit 3 people in the backseat of the IS or you will want to punch the driver.

mmarshall

Yes, I know that the IS back seat is cramped. I had a 2001 for almost 5 years....and the new ones are even more cramped in back. One of the reasons I bought one is that I rarely have people in back, but, nevertheless, still like to have the rear doors...I put stuff in the back seat.

Threxx

One thing I've got to give to my friend's 05 TL's credit is its ridiculous resale value. Today he's putting his nearly 4 year old 47k mile car with some dings and scratches and stains up for sale for $19,900 on auto trader. I thought he was asking too much at first but after looking around it seems to be a reasonable asking price as long as he's a bit flexible in negotiations.

BTW... anybody notice a certain member missing entirely from this thread? The one guy that was most persistent in asking mmarshall to review a 6MT Type-S over any other TL because that's the one and only model that would give race car like handling and would take out a 335i on the track?

leedogg

You're not tripping mmarshall. They've done numerous things to improve interior quality that arent easily noticeable unless you know about them. Better quality leather, additional stitching in the seats so there are no longer butt prints. All the fixes for the rattles that plagued earlier models. Noise cancellation making the interior quieter. Upgraded suspension and rear sway bar for a tighter ride.

The TL-S is the peak, mature model of the 3rd generation. The 4th generation has big shoes to fill.

Threxx

I get the feeling that the 4th gen will not live up to the 3rd gen in terms of materials as that seems to be the direction Acura took to an extent with the TSX. The new TL doesn't really appeal to me mostly just because it's bigger than I really care for in a semi-sporty sedan... much like the Maxima, or at least like the previous version of the Maxima... not sure about the new one.

My friend's 05 has a LOT of rattles though... when did they really get the rattles under control or was it a progressive thing like a few fixes each year? It'll be interesting to see if they STAY rattle-free as they get higher up in the miles.

I personally have never been in an Acura with 50k miles or more than didn't have a lot of extra noises coming from various areas. I mean nothing terrible... nothing more than most other cars, but they've never really stood out to me as particularly well-built or any better assembled than the Accord.