CD tests 2010 TL 6 speed, 0-60 5.2 seconds, 13.8 quarter mile
10-19-09, 03:40 PM
#1
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
CD tests 2010 TL 6 speed, 0-60 5.2 seconds, 13.8 quarter mile
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...take_road_test
2010 Acura TL SH-AWD Manual - Short Take Road Test
Another six-speed hit from the makers of the Honda S2000 and Acura TSX.
BY JARED GALL
October 2009
Pages: 1 Photos
Photos (34)
Highs and Lows
Highs: Slick six-speed, super grip, looks good from angles that aren’t the front.
Lows: 18,000 buttons on the dash, parrotfish grille, uninspiring exhaust note.
Acura TL
Specifications
VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, 4-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan
PRICE AS TESTED: $43,195 (base price: $43,195)
ENGINE TYPE: SOHC 24-valve V-6, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection
Displacement: 223 cu in, 3664cc
Power (SAE net): 305 bhp @ 6300 rpm
Torque (SAE net): 273 lb-ft @ 5000 rpm
TRANSMISSION: 6-speed manual
DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 109.3 in Length: 195.5 in
Width: 74.0 in Height: 57.2 in
Curb weight: 3873 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 5.2 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 13.5 sec
Zero to 130 mph: 26.5 sec
Street start, 5–60 mph: 5.8 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 13.8 sec @ 101 mph
Top speed (governor limited): 134 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 171 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.88 g
FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city/highway driving: 17/25 mpg
C/D observed: 21 mpg
If there’s one thing that imbues a car with a more sporting character, it’s a manual transmission. None of this automated-manual mumbo jumbo; we’re talking about a true manual with a clutch pedal to the left of the brake and more left-right movement in the shift pattern than just sliding the shift lever into sport. The Acura TL has always been pretty agile and responsive, but the new generation launched in 2009 without a manual.
What a Stick Is Supposed to Be
The TL gets a manual transmission for 2010, however, and although we wonder why—Acura concedes that maybe five percent of buyers will opt for the manual—we welcome any transmission as satisfying as this. In our first drive of the TL manual, we relayed Acura’s boast that these are the shortest throws in class, and we have little doubt the claim is still true. In addition to the tidy throws, the effort is nearly perfect and the action crisp and clean. The clutch, too, is wonderfully tuned with a progressive, predictable takeup and a light feel that requires just enough muscle to keep it from feeling overly assisted.
The manual is only available paired with all-wheel drive—Super Handling All-Wheel Drive, or SH-AWD in Acura lingo—and a 305-hp, 3.7-liter V-6. Additionally, it only comes on cars with the Tech package—premium leather, navigation system—which boosts the manual’s base price to $43,195, or more than $7000 higher than a base TL. You want to row your own, you’re going to pay for the privilege. The only option is the addition of 19-inch wheels and high-performance summer rubber, which our car did not have.
The Perfect Shifter Makes a Car Way Faster
Although the engine and SH-AWD of this car were the same as on past testers, the performance we measured this time was anything but similar. Snicking off our own gearchanges liberated 0.8 second from the 0-to-60-mph time (5.2 seconds versus 6.0) and cleaved a full second from the quarter-mile, and we gathered an extra 4 mph on the way, for a 13.8-second pass at 101 mph.
The manual is a little lighter overall than the automatic (72 pounds), but this doesn’t much affect the TL’s fundamental dynamic balance. Skidpad grip drops some, to 0.88, from the 0.92 g we’ve reported in previous tests, but that’s the result of downgrading from the summer-only Michelin Pilot Sport PS2s on previous cars to Pilot HX MXM4s on this one. Paired with either tire, the torque-vectoring SH-AWD makes it feel from the driver’s seat as if the outside rear wheel were growing in proportion to cornering forces, helping push the car through the curve and mitigating understeer. The car just seems to lean back on that wheel and zip away. Braking likewise deteriorates from a best of 158 feet to 171, although that’s still a perfectly acceptable number.
All These Buttons Are Pushing Our Buttons
We’re not fans of the lack of on-center steering feel and the flinty ride over small, abrupt bumps, but our major complaint with this car remains the acres of buttons swarming across the steering wheel and center stack. Stare at this button crop long enough, and Homer Simpson’s workstation at the Springfield nuclear power plant comes to mind. The “twist here, push here, tilt here” Bop It!–style control ****/stalk for the navigation system doesn’t alleviate any of the stress, either.
However, the most important controls in a car are the ones that control its motion. The six-speed manual in the TL is, like Honda and Acura’s other self-shifters, an altar for those with hyperactive left feet. There are a lot of good competitors bracketing the TL—some that put up better straight-line numbers and some we’d choose over it for a day at the track—but none has a better stick than this. That should make for a very happy five percent.
0-60 in 5.2 seconds and 13.8 in the quarter mile is pretty good numbers for a large 3800lb awd sedan. With a more broken in engine I would not be surprised if it could achieve 0-60 in 5 seconds flat and even dip below 5 seconds.
2010 Acura TL SH-AWD Manual - Short Take Road Test
Another six-speed hit from the makers of the Honda S2000 and Acura TSX.
BY JARED GALL
October 2009
Pages: 1 Photos
Photos (34)
Highs and Lows
Highs: Slick six-speed, super grip, looks good from angles that aren’t the front.
Lows: 18,000 buttons on the dash, parrotfish grille, uninspiring exhaust note.
Acura TL
Specifications
VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, 4-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan
PRICE AS TESTED: $43,195 (base price: $43,195)
ENGINE TYPE: SOHC 24-valve V-6, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection
Displacement: 223 cu in, 3664cc
Power (SAE net): 305 bhp @ 6300 rpm
Torque (SAE net): 273 lb-ft @ 5000 rpm
TRANSMISSION: 6-speed manual
DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 109.3 in Length: 195.5 in
Width: 74.0 in Height: 57.2 in
Curb weight: 3873 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 5.2 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 13.5 sec
Zero to 130 mph: 26.5 sec
Street start, 5–60 mph: 5.8 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 13.8 sec @ 101 mph
Top speed (governor limited): 134 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 171 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.88 g
FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city/highway driving: 17/25 mpg
C/D observed: 21 mpg
If there’s one thing that imbues a car with a more sporting character, it’s a manual transmission. None of this automated-manual mumbo jumbo; we’re talking about a true manual with a clutch pedal to the left of the brake and more left-right movement in the shift pattern than just sliding the shift lever into sport. The Acura TL has always been pretty agile and responsive, but the new generation launched in 2009 without a manual.
What a Stick Is Supposed to Be
The TL gets a manual transmission for 2010, however, and although we wonder why—Acura concedes that maybe five percent of buyers will opt for the manual—we welcome any transmission as satisfying as this. In our first drive of the TL manual, we relayed Acura’s boast that these are the shortest throws in class, and we have little doubt the claim is still true. In addition to the tidy throws, the effort is nearly perfect and the action crisp and clean. The clutch, too, is wonderfully tuned with a progressive, predictable takeup and a light feel that requires just enough muscle to keep it from feeling overly assisted.
The manual is only available paired with all-wheel drive—Super Handling All-Wheel Drive, or SH-AWD in Acura lingo—and a 305-hp, 3.7-liter V-6. Additionally, it only comes on cars with the Tech package—premium leather, navigation system—which boosts the manual’s base price to $43,195, or more than $7000 higher than a base TL. You want to row your own, you’re going to pay for the privilege. The only option is the addition of 19-inch wheels and high-performance summer rubber, which our car did not have.
The Perfect Shifter Makes a Car Way Faster
Although the engine and SH-AWD of this car were the same as on past testers, the performance we measured this time was anything but similar. Snicking off our own gearchanges liberated 0.8 second from the 0-to-60-mph time (5.2 seconds versus 6.0) and cleaved a full second from the quarter-mile, and we gathered an extra 4 mph on the way, for a 13.8-second pass at 101 mph.
The manual is a little lighter overall than the automatic (72 pounds), but this doesn’t much affect the TL’s fundamental dynamic balance. Skidpad grip drops some, to 0.88, from the 0.92 g we’ve reported in previous tests, but that’s the result of downgrading from the summer-only Michelin Pilot Sport PS2s on previous cars to Pilot HX MXM4s on this one. Paired with either tire, the torque-vectoring SH-AWD makes it feel from the driver’s seat as if the outside rear wheel were growing in proportion to cornering forces, helping push the car through the curve and mitigating understeer. The car just seems to lean back on that wheel and zip away. Braking likewise deteriorates from a best of 158 feet to 171, although that’s still a perfectly acceptable number.
All These Buttons Are Pushing Our Buttons
We’re not fans of the lack of on-center steering feel and the flinty ride over small, abrupt bumps, but our major complaint with this car remains the acres of buttons swarming across the steering wheel and center stack. Stare at this button crop long enough, and Homer Simpson’s workstation at the Springfield nuclear power plant comes to mind. The “twist here, push here, tilt here” Bop It!–style control ****/stalk for the navigation system doesn’t alleviate any of the stress, either.
However, the most important controls in a car are the ones that control its motion. The six-speed manual in the TL is, like Honda and Acura’s other self-shifters, an altar for those with hyperactive left feet. There are a lot of good competitors bracketing the TL—some that put up better straight-line numbers and some we’d choose over it for a day at the track—but none has a better stick than this. That should make for a very happy five percent.
0-60 in 5.2 seconds and 13.8 in the quarter mile is pretty good numbers for a large 3800lb awd sedan. With a more broken in engine I would not be surprised if it could achieve 0-60 in 5 seconds flat and even dip below 5 seconds.
10-19-09, 03:46 PM
#2
Guest
Posts: n/a
lol Car and Driver.....world reknown Honda/BMW teabaggers..... its amazing how fast some of their favorite vehicles are compared to everyone else.
Glad to see them offer a manual though and kudos to them for doing it though I really wish they did when it debuted. A year later, I think its kind of late to help the TL.
A shame no manual is offered in the TSX V-6
Hey Lexus, want to slap a manual in the IS 350? Even if 9 people buy it
Glad to see them offer a manual though and kudos to them for doing it though I really wish they did when it debuted. A year later, I think its kind of late to help the TL.
A shame no manual is offered in the TSX V-6
Hey Lexus, want to slap a manual in the IS 350? Even if 9 people buy it
Last edited by LexFather; 10-19-09 at 04:48 PM.
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10-19-09, 06:02 PM
#5
Lexus Champion
lol Car and Driver.....world reknown Honda/BMW teabaggers..... its amazing how fast some of their favorite vehicles are compared to everyone else.
Glad to see them offer a manual though and kudos to them for doing it though I really wish they did when it debuted. A year later, I think its kind of late to help the TL.
A shame no manual is offered in the TSX V-6
Hey Lexus, want to slap a manual in the IS 350? Even if 9 people buy it
Glad to see them offer a manual though and kudos to them for doing it though I really wish they did when it debuted. A year later, I think its kind of late to help the TL.
A shame no manual is offered in the TSX V-6
Hey Lexus, want to slap a manual in the IS 350? Even if 9 people buy it
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10-19-09, 07:09 PM
#8
Speaks French in Russian
10-19-09, 07:58 PM
#10
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm...... looking at the quick data here:
"Zero to 100 mph: 13.5 sec
Zero to 130 mph: 26.5 sec"
Even though it's still slower than the Lexus IS350, 0-60 and quarter mile seem pretty good for an AWD TL 6MT. You can see the car starts to slow down pretty good after getting past 100 due to the nature of physics. AWD = power robbing train
I still don't see me buying this car due to ugly styling. Plus I don't rely on Car & Driver much anyway. they are pretty darn biased site too, similar to edmunds.
"Zero to 100 mph: 13.5 sec
Zero to 130 mph: 26.5 sec"
Even though it's still slower than the Lexus IS350, 0-60 and quarter mile seem pretty good for an AWD TL 6MT. You can see the car starts to slow down pretty good after getting past 100 due to the nature of physics. AWD = power robbing train
I still don't see me buying this car due to ugly styling. Plus I don't rely on Car & Driver much anyway. they are pretty darn biased site too, similar to edmunds.
10-20-09, 12:46 AM
#14
Lexus Champion
Because some of us like heel toeing and rowing the gears. It's amazing that cars can do a lot of this stuff for you nowadays (like the 370Z with rev matching downshifts), but there's a certain satisfaction you get by doing it yourself.
Btw, how many really good drivers do you know who can't drive a stick? I don't know any.
Honda manual trannies are great. Too bad they're not attached to proper sports cars.
Btw, how many really good drivers do you know who can't drive a stick? I don't know any.
Honda manual trannies are great. Too bad they're not attached to proper sports cars.
