Hello all,

Just got rid of my 99 Mazda 626 LX-V6 6MT and got an 08 TSX. I've had my eye on the TSX for a long time. Because I have 2 small kids I was initially leaning towards a TL, but living in the city where parking is at a premium and also wanting decent around town milage, I figured the TSX to be more suitable. A very competitive price with lots of standard features and favourable reviews from C&D, consumer reports and owners confirmed that I was on the right track. I had owned a Honda Civic and was looking to go back to a Honda product. My Mazda was good value for the money, but the fit and finish, reliability and fun to drive factors were not quite up to Honda standards. On my last visit to Europe a few years ago I had seen the Accord Euro type-R and since I tend to gravitate to sportier Euro or Japanese cars I figured the TSX represented both worlds.
I had been waiting for the 09 to make an appearance. I knew the TSX was due for a change. However, once the initial pictures and reports on the car were out both my wife and I decided that the 09's look was not for us. I can't say how disappointed I was that Acura decided to style the 09 to look like a Camry. I was looking to buy a sporty entry level luxury vehicle, not something that looks like Japan's Buick. What finally tipped the scale for me was that when I went to the dealership to see what they were offering on the 08's, the salesperson told me that the 08's had $6K in discount incentives and 0.9% financing and lease rates.
Because my wife is self-employed, we decide to lease (I have always bought, but tax reasons make the lease attractive).
Now that I have had the car for about a month, the only thing I can say is that I beg my wife to send me on chores around town. The manual tranmission is pure joy... easy short throws. The suspension feels very European, tight and sporty in nature without being too harsh. The interior is outstanding... everything is intuitively laid out. The engine, well, as I expected it does lack the low end torque and doesn't have the smoothness of my old V6, but once you row through the gears the I-Vtec is a thing of beauty. Most impressively, the car has little if any torque steer... I love accelarating into the turns as I release the clutch... everything is so well behaved.
I do have one major criticism: the tires are extremely disappointing. I can already feel them struggling when the car is pushed hard on the turns. Acura really blew it when they put these Michellins on the car. At least it is an easy fix.
So, I'm glad to have pulled the trigger on the 08. It's a great car.
Finally one moment that defines this car for me: I invite my father out for a drive. We go on a long turning highway on ramp and tell my father is accelarating too slow. He pushes the car a little bit more and I say, "no, you can push it more". He continues to accelarate with his mouth wide open... priceless! That is the thing I like about this car, you don't have to drive it fast to enjoy it, you just need some twistys and tight corners.

 

Smart choice, the 09 TSX "Sucks Balls" as Eric Cartman would put it.

 

Many people think the 09 TSX looks like a Camry. You are not the only one my friend.

Nevertheless, smart choice on getting the 08. I think you will have a lot of fun as well since the TSX handles exceptionally! The casual drive to the bank or grocery store for me becomes fun trip where I carve turns.

 

congrats and safe driving. Hope you enjoy your 08 tsx as much I do my 06 6MT tsx, bought new 11/17/06. It has almost 48,000 miles with the original michelin tires. they still have alot of thread. I get them rotated and balanced every 6,000 miles and check the tire pressure on a regular basis.

 

I like the handles too on my 07 TSX. I like to zip through on a 2 lane overpass on the freeway going on the outer lanes at high speed (but not too high) and pass the cars on the inner lanes. The TSX has the F1 inspired double wishbone suspension that makes the turns a breeze (I wish it had a little more juice in the engine).

 

Wow. It is hard to find a 6MT with Navi. Were you able to get the color you wanted at this time of the year since the 09 TSXs are out? I have a 6MT without Navi. That is fine. I like my garmin nuvi. It works well. As for tires, get the Bridgestones pole position tires. I put those puppies on and I am loving it since it rains here a lot.

 

Here are threads for the Bridgestones.

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42712

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...ht=bridgestone

 

I insisted with the salesperson that I wanted the manual. I had no choice but to take the Navi… they only had Navi for ’08 and even though I hated having to pay extra for something I didn’t want, Acura was throwing in an extra $1K in incentives on the Navi, meaning that I only paid an extra $1K for the Navi option. She basically said that the MTs were hard to find and that we may not get the colour we wanted, black. In the end we ended up getting the silver with black leather, which was OK with us since both my wife and I prefer manual. I understand from her that they had to ship the car from somewhere else, but I don’t know and didn’t care where from, no MT, no sale.