New Car Review
1996 ACURA TL 2.5 FOUR-DOOR SEDAN

by: CAREY and BILL RUSS
Acura was the first Japanese luxury marque. It is the upscale division of Honda, and its first offering, the Legend sedan, was introduced in 1986. The V6-powered Legend was soon followed by an entry-level series of four-cylinder sedans and coupes, the Integra. An exotic, high-performance sports car, the NSX, became available in 1991. As the Legend increased in price, the gap between it and the Integra became wide enough to receive the five-cylinder Vigor in 1992, and the original Acura lineup was complete.

With the exception of the NSX sports car, all Acura automobiles have previously received names. In a major philosophical change of direction, new Acura products will have alphanumeric designations in order to better emphasize the Acura nameplate. The first model for this new era of Acura cars is the TL, a mid-size four-door sedan positioned in the highly competitive entry-level luxury-car market. TL stands for touring luxury. It replaces the Vigor and is available in forms: the 2.5 TL, powered by a 2.5 liter inline 5-cylinder engine, and the 3.2 TL, which uses a 3.2 liter V6 powerplant.

We tested a 2.5TL for a week and found it to be a solid and luxurious automobile.

APPEARANCE: The 2.5TL displays contemporary luxury styling. It bears a strong family resemblance to the Legend. With a monochrome paint finish and a modest amount of brightwork for highlights, it is subtle and conservative. The front-end is dominated by a trapezoidal grille and large wrap-around light clusters. Its sides are slightly rounded and protected by body-colored side rub strips. Distinctive alloy wheels and touring tires, plus a glass sunroof add to the sportiness of the 2.5 TL.

COMFORT: Our 2.5 TL was fitted with the Premium Package, that adds a higher level of equipment including leather upholstery, a sunroof and more. Standard equipment consists of power steering, windows, locks and side mirrors, an adjustable leather covered steering wheel with cruise controls, and a wood-trimmed dashboard. The seats are firm and supportive. The climate control system is easy to operate and it quietly distributes hot or cold air as needed throughout the cabin due in part to under- seat ducting. A complete eight speaker AM/FM/CD/cassette sound system provides good audio fidelity.

SAFETY: This newest Acura is equipped with all of the modern safety features required by law and demanded by customers. Dual front airbags, four-wheel anti-lock disc brakes, front and rear crumple zones, side impact door beams, child-proof rear door locks and a theft deterrent system are all standard features. Also, all outboard seats have three-point seat belts, and those in front have adjustable shoulder strap height.

ROADABILITY: Driving the 2.5 TL is a pleasant experience. The chassis has a relatively long wheelbase, Acura's time-proven double wishbone independent suspension, and front and rear stabilizer bars to ensure a soft, well-damped, ride. The 5-cylinder engine has electronically-controlled hydraulic engine mounts for silky smoothness. Noise levels are low. All around vision is excellent. Speed-sensitive power-assisted rack and pinion steering, plus four-wheel anti-lock disc brakes enhance handling and accident avoidance.

PERFORMANCE: The 2.5TL is powered by an unusual engine, a 176 horsepower aluminum alloy five-cylinder unit with programmed fuel injection, a two-stage intake manifold, and a single overhead camshaft operating four-valves per cylinder. It is mounted longitudinally in the chassis for optimum weight distribution, and tilted 35 degrees for a lower center of gravity and lower hoodline. It drives the front wheels through a four-speed electronically-controlled automatic transmission that utilizes the Grade Logic Control system, which utilizes fuzzy logic to reduce gear hunting during uphill and downhill driving. The engine's power and torque characteristics are well-matched to the transmission's gear ratios, and the transmission shifts quickly, reasonably smoothly, and quietly.

CONCLUSION: Acura's new TL series foreshadows future offerings from the first of the Japanese luxury car makers, and bodes well for the marque. It offers excellent comfort and convenience, and purposeful performance and handling in a smooth, well-designed package.

SPECIFICATIONS:
1996 ACURA TL 2.5 FOUR-DOOR SEDAN


Base Price $ 29,950
Price As Tested $ 30,478
Engine Type I-5, sohc - 20v, mpfi
Engine Size 2.5 liter/150 cid
Horsepower 176 @ 6300
Torque (ft/lbs) 170 @ 3900
Wheelbase/Length 112"/192"
Transmission four speed automatic w/overdrive
Curb Weight 3290 lbs.
Pounds per Horsepower 18.7
Fuel Capacity 17.2 gal.
Fuel Requirement Unleaded premium (96 oct)
Tires Bridgestone Potenza P205/60HR16 m+s
Brakes vented disc/disc, ABS standard
Drive Train front engine/front drive

PERFORMANCE

EPA Economy - miles per gallon
city/highway/observed 20/25/21.4
0 to 60 mph 9.3 sec
1/4 mi (E.T.) 17.4 sec
Coefficient of Drag (Cd) 0.35

 

Or go here.

~Cheers~

 

or here

 

Haha, that's the place he copied from!!

 

Haha, yeah i know. The first thing I thought was that the article looks extremely familiar. He could have saved a little more time by just posting the link.

 

or he could have saved forum bandwidth by not posting that at all.

 

screw ya'll!

Just being helpful. It's not like I said it was original.
For crying out loud. ARE CARS ARE 11 YEARS OLD.
Not all persons are jerks like you minor sperm wastes.

 

8 speakers? I only counted six. Maybe I'm just crazy

Two subs in the back, two mids on the front doors, and two tweeters on the dash. What did I miss?

 

two mid-tweeters overhead

 

We didn't have factory subs... Full-range 6x9s in the rear, Full-range 6.5"s in the front doors, two 1.5" mids above, and two 1" tweeters under the windscreen.

~Cheers~

 

Thank you for your civilized conversations.

That mid up high thing threw me fo a loop when I got the car. When I did a aftermarket system. I finally took the cover off to see what was making the noise.
Since the remake I'm not using them. You can't balance/fade them in a aftermarket system.

 

You can as I had explained in a thread awhile ago. Basically, you need 8 Ohm inline resistors (I had provided RS part numbers and pictures) to balance out the sound, and to tap them to the front speakers. I'm at a 9 speaker system now, because I have those working with a sub, and am running dual amps.

~Cheers~

P.S. Mine are reversed (left dome plays right channel and vice versa) now, so my front passenger and I get better sound staging.

 

No one actually called you anything derogative here, so what's with the flamebait comment of "you minor sperm wastes"? We didn't understand why you would post something that most 2.5TL owners have seen already, and on top of that you could have just linked to the page instead of pasting the entire thing. You must be really over compensating for your insecurities if what you got out of desired and my posts are that we are "minor sperm wastes".

So please think before you post something like that again and ask for a civilized conversation.

 

Full-range? *me goes to wikipedia and searches*

Oh, I never knew that there were actual subs and full range speakers, I simply thought that a speaker was meant only for a certain frequency of sound. You learn something new everyday.

And I always had a feeling that those things next to the light were speakers, but I never really heard them. They arent very loud, at least mine arent.

 

do you still have the oem headunit or are you using an aftermarket one? if you are using an aftermarket one chances are the overheads aren't hooked up.

 

I am still using the oem, and I just checked. They are working, but they arent very loud or noticeable, so I had no idea if they were on or not. But no worries, all is well now.

 

I'm running aftermarket, and mine work, hehe. They're not supposed to be super noticable, but they are there for an enveloping effect, basically blanketing you with sound. Pop in some classical music, maybe some Haydn, and you'll see what I'm talking about.

~Cheers~

 

That is kind of ironic, I usually listen to classical music during the mornings, but I still dont really hear those speakers. *shrugs* It doesnt really matter to me.

 

Hmm... Maybe the connector is loose? If you ever decide to remove the stock deck for cleaning maybe, hehe, unplug the small connector and blow into it. Might solve the problem.

Oh, and I got bored last night and swapped out the rear speakers. *Technically* I have 23 speakers in the car now.

2 5-way 6x9s = 10
2 4-way 6.5s = 8
Tweeters = 2
Dome mids = 2
Sub = 1

My 1960's Japanese music sounds good!

~Cheers~

 

Damnit, I just realized that I have a busted left speaker. (The one on the front door) It sounds as if the speaker cone is broken. =(

 

^ It's the surround that's broken, not the driver. I've heard your speakers.

~Cheers~

P.S. Just kidding about hearing them but my front right was blown when I got the car last year.

 

Don't feel so bad at least ALL of your speakers didn't blow all of the surrounding off at one time. Yes that is right. I got 9 speakers, but to get technical like go90go I have 15 speakers. Just to throw this in I removed the 2 tweeters under the front windshield and replaced them with some speakers that I had laying around.

 

^ I have a spare set of tweeters and another two amps... Anyone think I should add two more speakers to the system and bring it to 25 speakers with 4 amps?

Just kidding, that's overkill since I'm not in any SPL comps or anything...

~Cheers~