KmoTsX

That front lip spoiler is crazy lookin, under build, makes it look mean

otokoyama

I'm not too crazy about the front/rear bumper and wheels but I still like the car. The wheels look different from the ones they showed at the Frankfurt Auto Show:



I think those wheels look better. They should have given you the option for 18-inchers though. I also think if they went to the trouble of incorporating an aux-in jack for your MP3 player, they should have also included MP3 CD playback as standard.

Nikki

I give up.
Instead of being proud of what you have and admitting that your car has flaws,
You're extremely combative when anyone tries to say something bad about it.
Just accept the fact that yes, the TSX is cheaper than other cars,
but you get what you pay for.
And if you are happy with what you paid for, then fine,
But don't try to convince other people that your opinion is the only one.
Everyone has different tastes.
Some people prefer performance, others prefer quality, some prefer safety,
It's about trying to find a car that has the right balance of the things you want,
and you can't tell anyone else what it is that they want.

acn684

Aux jack..pennies? MP3 CD standards....couple of bucks...+issues with compatibility -> which leads to people complaining -> which means in order to maintain a high quality image, they must accomodate everyone -> since not all mp3's are encoded the same + R&D money to solve the wide formatts of MP3 files -> very expensive -> they leave you to an option of putting in your own mp3 player, or buying their MP3 cd player - which at that point if it doesn't work with your mp3's they'll remove it and give you back your money, rather than taking back your car...

GIBSON6594

Touche

acn684

^^ agree with Nikki - I'm gonna be happy with my TSX because i was close to ending up with an accord instead and im sure she's happy with her 3 series because despite the fact that is costs a bit more, it has the qualities she was looking for (stronger engine, look, and obviously (and a huge factor too) the name that BMW carries vs the name Acura carries). And if i had a less restrictive budget, i'd probably consider other cars as well.

NJTSXMan

I'm very interested to hear the driving impressions for both the 6MT and 5AT...and how it compares to stock/reflashed 04/05's.

otokoyama

I disagree. The AUX jack itself may only cost pennies, but the R&D costs are more. If they were going to spend that much on R&D, might as well have added MP3 CD playback. If you look at aftermarket and other car companies, MP3 CD playback is becoming a standard. Hell, even $50 DVD players and $99 boomboxes have incorporated it....so with scales of economy, the part itself would have only costed Honda a few bucks.

Plus, if you buy the factory MP3 CD player and it doesn't work on all your CDs, they will NOT give you refund on the part or labor unless the CD player is defective.

excited

Your just trying to make me jealous!!!

Congrats.



Excited

acn684

The RD for the aux isn't that much as there was already a built in aux inside the system, all they probably had to do was add another line that was there already. As for aftermarket parts, they can obviously supply their technology for much cheaper as it is their primary market. However, Acura's market is not those that want to listen to MP3 cd's, but rather those that want the type of car acura presents. And always going by the rule of thumb - businesses that are still alive know what they're doing. If its not done, its for a good reason - probably because the gains won't justify costs. It was probably smarter to add the aux jack as people now can say "oh wait I have an MP3 player, this might work for me" rather than "oh wait, i have a burner, and i know how to sort music and burn cds, this could be of use to me." Face it, there is a higher market for those that own mp3 players and know how to use it, rather than those that know how to rip a cd full of mp3 files.

acn684

plus the fact that the aux jack is more versitile

acn684

New Site Is Up!

excited

Can you actually get into the site. I get stuck at the opening page.



Excited

narci

The R&D must be more for us NAVI owners.

otokoyama

Dude, they spent all this R&D money on upgrading the Navi, AUX in, bluetooth, and XM Sat radio, you think adding MP3 is really going to cost that much more? First off, adding MP3 decoding ability is basically a software upgrade so it wouldn't cost much. Many consumer companies add extra codecs like WMV, OGG in firmware upgrades to their products for FREE.

Second of all, if you want to talk about "markets", competitors like BMW and Infiniti give you MP3 playback as standard. And generally people who own MP3 players or get Navi are tech saavy enough to rip a CD full of MP3 files. Burning 10 hours of music onto a CD is a pretty handy feature if you ask me.

acn684

BMW's don't come mp3 standard...im willing to bet more people here have mp3 players than have burnt a cd full of mp3's. I'm not saying its not a useful feature, its just something most people won't use.

Irfo

It's the opposite of last night for me -- I can get in with IE but not Firefox tonight (with popup-blocking off on both).

Very cool... the Interactive Showroom is working for the TSX on the new site. The massage music is a little weird, though...

feliz

New site is awesome, best automotive site I've seen.

hans007

they would have to get a new head unit probably to play mp3s on the cd changer as even on nav models they would need a decoder etc.

scions and infiniti g35s (2005 and up model) have it. but the scion is just a standard stereo size pioneer unit. the g35 unit well sucks, at least the mp3 portion.

the other posters are right about people wanting the addon mp3 player. hopefully it goes in the bottom accessory thing, and we can add it to 04/05 cars (since 04/05/06 will have the same cd head unit). seriously if this were available i might even buy an ipod.

otokoyama

The 2006 3-series does. And if it isn't something a lot of people wouldn't use, then why do practically all DVD players, home audio systems, and aftermarket car stereos have them? Besides, it wouldn't have cost much if anything with all those other upgrades.

Nikki

Yes they do and it is so much better than a 6-CD player.
It's faster, so since don't have to wait for the CDs to shuffle around.
It's easier because you don't have to stock a bunch of CDs in your car.
And depending on how long your CDs are, you can fit about 6-10 CDs on one CD.

acn684

You said it yourself - if its something people wouldn't use why do the put it on DVD players, Home Audio, Aftermarket, we're buying a car, not a home stereo system. Most people buying these things buy it for a specific reason, especially aftermarket audio systems. Your argument is as good as, why don't they make the navi even faster by putting even more ram now, since ram is only pennies a mb these days. Yes, its something some people can use, but for one person it doesn't justify the add-on. Which is also why the mp3 player acura supplies is so expensive - going back to econ 101, its the price that the very last person is willing to pay for something like that.

Most people carry mp3 players now a days, not mp3 cd players. The aux jack is a clear example of mainstream technologies. Remember, acura really has no control what goes into the cars, its the consumers that demand it that create the benefit. If we were in the age where we all used mp3 cds instead of mp3 players, i would bet you that it would've been an mp3 cd player instead of the aux jack. This also explains why theres going to be an IPOD connectivity accessory, and not a samsung or rio, or iriver accessory. Granted some argue that those are the better MP3 devices compared to an IPod, I myself including - theres just no market for it.

Yes, it does cost only a few dollars for the company to add, but thats only going to satisfy a few customers. And they probably thought about the trouble if people can't get it to work, then they'll have to handle their complaints and arguments how their cd doesn't work, and they tried this and that. Acura is NOT a car audio company, acura is NOT an electronics specialist, they are just Auto manufacturers that happen to create entry luxo cars. Im pretty sure they're going to be worried about all those people coming in complaining they can't get their bluetooth phone to connect. But unlike MP3 CD's, bluetooth is mainstream now, and its not that hard to use. Plus they even have a mini site telling you what phones you can use and what phones you cannot. But for MP3's CD's you have formatt issues.

So if you were acura - throw in an addon thats only going to suit maybe 2 percent of our customers, and for those other x number of customers that decide to try it and is having to deal with all their problems, and you must because you have to hold your image. Then you gotta create software for the users so that they can encode the MP3's with a decoder that is compatible with their system, then you have to worry about piracy issues, then you gotta worry about what happens when the software screws up their computers, and then you factor in the fact that the user might have to go through the hassle of reencoding all their files - then you gotta help those taht eon't even know how to burn a cd, then those that thought they burnt it but didn't, then those that tried to rip a encrypted cd and failed, etc etc etc - do you realize how much damage to acura's image it? People will look at it and say, omg its such a confusing system - acura sucks with technology etc (don't believe me - look at BMW's internal computer, to me (someone whos tech savvy) understand is easily and it doesn't bother me, to my dad - he spend 50k on a X5 and he gets confused and fustrating trying to change stations etc. Then you have all the huge negative reviews from all these magazines saying how bad the system is. Can acura afford that? "Oh yea, as for that mp3 cd player, is absolute crap because it works with some file and not with others."

However, keeping it a seperate device, allows those that really want it can buy it, and those that have trouble with it will be an isolated case. Better to deal with the 5 percent who buy it and try it and then not get it to work rather than the entire population of TSX owners who tried it and failed to get it to work.

With that said - back to the aux input and the ipod jack. Aux input - its just a sound plug in, you plug it in, it comes out. whoever plugged in the mp3 knows how to use it - simple done. IPod Jack - only ipod users can use it. IPOD not working well, okay you can talk with apple and sort it out. Or well help you because it just might be an isolated issue. No need to worry about the compatibility of everythings thats out there. Do you understand why they don't have mp3 cd players in there standard now? America, face it, is just not that tech savvy. How do you know? look around the street and realize how many things people have on them, that they won't use fully. MP3 players with equalizers, phones with bluetooth, PDA's with tons and tons of features, people will not know how to use. As a car company, be smart - make it simple to use, and avoid dealing with issues that you really shouldn't have to encounter. and often times, the mp3 cd players cause that - just ask those that have it right now, they'll tell you that theres compatibility issues - as acura u just can't afford to give everyone the opportunity to complain about how it doesn't work for this or that, etc.

Nikki

As far as your arguement to people having mp3 players and not mp3 CD players-

Why does that matter? How hard is it to make an mp3 CD?
I had no idea what I was doing and I made one with roxio in less than 5 minutes,
I popped it into my car and have had music for a month now-
I haven't even gotten past the third CD.

It's also much better to have it intergrated than to have to hook up an iPod to your stereo.

Yui

I just wanted to point out that the door locks are still up by the windows. Sorry to whoever was jumping on them being moved out of elbow's reach earlier in this thread =| There is no one touch sun/moon roof either, but I found the thread on modding it.

Irfo

Man, that Interactive Showrooms' got birds singing and falling leaves and seagulls and ocean waves and I think I heard some ducks, and butterflies and howling wind and snow and rain and thunder and then toward the end what sounds like wolves being whipped, followed by spaceships taking off, then crickets.

It's a little scary in there. People should check it out. Acura's gone a little Goth on us.

Not much about MP3 players, though. And not nearly enough cowbell. It's gotta have more cowbell...

acn684

1. Its not something peopley use now, so they're not used to is. Same argument goes for - its not that hard to turn on your tv, and its not difficult to rig a home theater system either. But I assure you that many people cannot and are "afraid" to. Remember that difficulty is relative not defined.

Ipod integration is the result that there are just insane number of users of the ipod right now. I'm not a fan of it myself, but since its become a part of an enormous amount of people's lives, its easier to ahve something people know how to use, than to teach them something new.

MP3 CDs albeit aren't a new technology, if introduced and enforced its going to take effort to teach people how to use them. Ipods used to be that case but since that stage is past, people know how to use them. There is more risk in failure involved when introducing a new method rather than just following the trend. This risk is simply too high for such a small demand.

mg7726

best car site EVAR!!

greendestiny

wowzers...the 06 TSX is freakin' nice... i'm jealous.

so far the things i like:

1. memory seats.
2. blue tooth
3. the new dash gauge colors (blue!)
4. the new Cobra-looking rims ?

Jason

That music on the interactive site rocks! I'm gonna leave it in my background when I work it's so soothing.

Newplay1

OMG greeeeeennnnn nooooooo!!!! grandpa colour!!!


j/k

dom

Irfo

I think it means the spokes look like nine cobras holding out the wheel.

I may paint little eyes on mine...

STL

Not everyone agrees with you dom! Case in point, see Colin's last post in the leather vs. pleather poll.

dj Dozhe

I've reserved a black on black manual that's going to arrive in early December. The dealer has offered me 3% over invoice before destination charge. Due to the painful rarity of this combo and the demand I think it's a pretty good deal. What's everybody else getting?

dom

I'm not making reference to him liking the wheels or even suggesting their ugly. (this time)

I'm wondering if he's suggesting the wheels look like Mustang Cobra wheels? In which case I can't ever recall Cobra wheels looking like that.

Maybe Irfo is right?

And STL I don't expect everyone to agree with me, what fun would that be. But Colin having an opinion doesn't make him right. As you see there are several other people who disagree with Colin.

narci

What sucks is if you want to add 1 song to a MP3 disc.

markcoburn

Black on Black Navi Manual: Invoice + $700 + Destination.

markcoburn

Actually, it's no problem. Modern MP3 capable head units can read rewritable CDs, they are no harder to update than a MP3 player. Also, for <$0.05 per CDR, just burn annother one with the added song(s).

I wish the TSX played MP3 CDs. If not, I wish that automanufacturers would incorporate a standard interface like Bluetooth Audio. That way you wouldn't have to buy the overpriced Apple to get integrated control and you wouldn't have to pay the dealership to install the cables.

Mark

dj Dozhe

Nice job Mark. Congratulations. Good color choices.

acn684

=T black on black at close to msrp.....Sucks when its the best dealer in the area. i mean they're really good, Rallye, and all they carry are luxo brands (mercedes, lexus, bmw, etc) and the other ones near me are hillside and paragon which have horrible reviews, so i'd rather shell out a bit more cash for more professionalism.