Acura TL Type S review

Acura TL Type S reviewed by Edmunds.com. This Acura gets the 3.5l V-6 engine pushing out 286 hp and comes with a 6-speed manual transmission. This is Acura's bread and butter and sells around 80k units a year, so adding some excitement in the lineup before a redesign was needed. The Acura faces stiff competition as its major competitors, BMW 3-series and Lexus IS, were just redesigned. "Acura sharpens its TooL" lets see how it does.
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webguy - 9/8/2006 12:50:01 PM

+2 Boost

I like the TL... but this year, I have to agree with Edmunds with its "4th place" assessment. This is some botox and a trip to the gym for the aging competitor.

The good thing though, besides that its still the largest car among its competitors, will be the deep discounts likely to be offered this year... they'll be needed to retain this car's "great car for a great price" status.

mstangpny07 - 9/8/2006 4:55:39 PM

+2 Boost

nice....

AUDIMAN4 - 9/9/2006 3:19:39 AM

+1 Boost

Not interested in a FWD car with that much power. Acura really has no appeal, I still wonder why people even buy them. They also have a poor image in the US...the only Acura I'd buy is the CRV...I mean, RDX (yeah right!).

golfer38 - 9/9/2006 9:59:54 AM

+2 Boost

Last year in a multi car comparison, Oct. Car and Driver, the TL had the best cornering ability. The best braking and the second best acceleration tied with the G35. Curiously, that is a 258 hp TL tying a 298 hp G35 with a 30 lbs. weight disadvantage. And a fwd setup acheiving a better cornering force than a IS350, BMW330 and a G35, all with rwd. Whether you are a fan of the Acura product or not you have to appreciate that kind of engineering. And yes, Honda and Acura due share some underpinnings between their respective lineups, but only to help reduce costs and to able to offer such incredible cars and more affordable prices. Keep in mind that Acura has to re-engineer the chassis, so that the vehicle reach a much higher performance threshold in general dynamics as well as feel.

BMW530i - 9/9/2006 3:53:29 PM

+1 Boost

It's a very nice car, but I'd never get it.

Why?

So much power and FWD? What are they thinking?

BMW530i - 9/9/2006 3:53:31 PM

+1 Boost

It's a very nice car, but I'd never get it.

Why?

So much power and FWD? What are they thinking?

Dante - 9/9/2006 5:23:58 PM

+1 Boost

What's wrong with FWD and alot of power?

silverarrow2 - 9/9/2006 7:26:22 PM

+1 Boost

Hey! Audimana4
Remember when Audis were nothing, but just piece of Sh#t? Not even that long ago the only people who were buying Audis were those who drove enough VWs and now wanted to improve their image, but could not afford Benz or Bimmer so they stick to what they know, which is a Jetta with more Appeal=Audi A4 or from the Passat to the electrical bugged A6.
I know people who still can't forgive Audi because for their reputation of the past two decades of unreliability.
By the way, their resale value is still bad.

speedracer54 - 9/9/2006 8:06:08 PM

+1 Boost

I think its nice, i like it...a lot

BMW530i - 9/10/2006 7:14:24 AM

+1 Boost

Dante,

What's wrong with FWD and alot of power?
----------------------------------------

TORQUE STEER. The front wheels can only take so much power (generally, 200-220-hp is seen as the limit). Worse, it's the torque which really affects the front wheels. Launching the car is difficult because the front wheels can't put the power down on the ground and begin to slip causing the car to either veer to the right or left.

When I drove a FWD Audi A4 2.0 TDI a few months ago in Europe (rental), I noticed that this 150-hp (??) car had so much torque and the front wheels were incapable of transmitting the torque effectively to the front wheels in rainy weather. Dry roads were fine, but launching was still a bit tricky in some situations.

Bottom line: for massive power, AWD or RWD is preferred. FWD just doesn't mix well with an abundance of power.