vishnus11

Hi all,

A close friend of mine has been in the market for a new car for a while, and being a longtime Acura/Honda owner (1st gen TL) I suggested he look at the TSX. The TL and RL were out of his price range, and the TSX seemed like a great fit for what he was looking for - great gas mileage, top notch reliablility and build quality, some power to boot, and an upmarket look and feel to it all. Needless to say we headed down to the Acura dealership a couple days ago, and took an 06 Non Navi 6mt for a spin...

Interior:

We spent a good half-hour exploring the innards of the interior. The guages were great - managing to look sporty and exciting while maintaining a classly look. The plastics used on the upper portions of the dash and door panels wwere all soft touch materials and panel gaps were super tight. The lower portions of the dash and door panels used some harder plastics that despite being hard, had some proper grain and texture to them, and did not at all look out of place. The 'aluminum" trim in our vehicle didn't look too convincing - might have looked better if it were brushed aluminum (maybe it was?), but the "wave" fit nicely in with the car, and added to the style of the interior. Steering wheel mounted audio controls were a plus, and we're cleanly integrated. Room both front and back was fine with me (I'm only 5' 5") but I could see someone 5' 8" and above being "snug" in the back IF there's a tall driver/passenger up front. Overall I'd give the interior an 8-8.5/10. The interior would have looked right at home in a car costing 10k more.

Driving Impressions:

I was ABSOLUTELY blown away. Bare in mind, my daily driver is an 06 S2k which is one of the most fun vehicles on the planet, but I was happily surprised at how the TSX was able to provide a lot of the similar "fun to drive" characteristics of the S2k with a more practical package. The engine was an absolute gem. When revving it in neutral when stopped, I thought I felt a bit of "excess" vibration through the wheel (almost like the characteristic 4cyl vibration I used to feel in my old Accord). But on the go, no such vibration was apparent. Engine was fantastically smooth. It also didn't feel like a "4cyl" with good pulling power apparent from 2k rpms all the way up to redline. Its tough to put into words - you know its not a 6cyl because it doesn't ahve the sheer grunt, yet it doesn't quite feel like a traditional 4cyl. Maybe a bigger 4cyl would be the right word. Furthermore the engine revved SUPER-fast - I mean it was absolutely EAGER to rev. Which brings me to the best part...

The gearbox. Oh MY GOD! They must poor some shea butter inside that thing before it leaves the factory cause it was SMOOOOOOOTH. Smooth with a capital S. Whoa. Totally blew me away. A perfect shifter befitting a luxury car. The S2k has been said to have the world's best gearbox and I believe it does befit a sports car with its "snick-snick" engagement and short throws. However, as far as luxury vehicles are concerned, the shifter in the TSX would have to be right at the top. Much better than even some of the BMW shifters I've sampled. I found myself rowing through the gears at a stop light just to enjoy it again and again.

Engine and gearbox aside, the ride was excellent. Not as softly sprung as a Lex, but just right (for me at least). Imperfections were well damped with no rebound or wallow. Based on what I'd heard and read, I'd expect to feel some "crunchiness" in the suspension over rough surfaces, but didn't encounter any such irritations. Maybe some proper Midwest pothole riddled roads might change my impression. Overall I'd say luxury with a slight bias towards firm damping. Great!

I didn't get a chance to push it too hard in the corners (too busy enjoying the engine and gearbox I guess!) but it seemed to handle tight and nimble. The steering wheel was decently weighted, but I don't recall too much feedback through the wheel. One thing though: it didn't "feel'' like a front wheel drive car, in the same sense that my old accord did, and thats a good thing.

Overall

I'm not going to comment much on the exterior of the vehicle since "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" but IMO, its a sharp looking car, thats very "Japanese" in its styling. Not quite the "class" of the TL's look, but different.

The car itself is AMAZING. And then when you figure in the price, it becomes and unbelievable steal. And to top it all off - its loaded. No options (cept Navi of course).

Last weekend I took my friend's BMW 325xi on a 3.5 hour drive to Baltimore and back. Now granted it was an all wheel drive model, but I felt no where near the same excitement or even interior ambienece or quality that I felt in the TSX. I believe he paid near 35k for it, and it had NO power seats, no heated seats, ......and NO POWER (this is definetely the extra weight of the AWD system). Up hills it was an absolute pig, and felt no where near as nimble as the TSX. Not to mention that at the end of the trip we had averaged some pretty poor gas mileage (something to the tune of 25 - 26mpg). The reason I'm comparing the 325 to the TSX is that their both supposed to be in the same class and furthermore, the FWD all weather capability of the TSX compares nicely to eh AWD capabilities of the 325xi.

If I had to have an all weather luxury daily driver with stellar gas mileage, I'd pick a TSX in a heartbeat. Its a fantastic car that definetly deserves all the accolades and praise its received. All you owners are some lucky chaps - enjoy your vehicles

jlukja

That's a nice writeup.

Savio

Nice thorough writeup dood!


and as long as you're not a Cardinal, you're alright in my book

psykotik

lol.. makes me love my care more

Yui

Nice write up =)

Sclass88

Very nice writeup. Everything you say is true (though I have never driven the 6MT, I hear its a beauty)

cibs

great write up!! exactly how i feel about my car...

JeffS

Great write up. Reminds me why I love my car too.

hahaitzskippy

thx, you had ended my dilemma between the 3series vs the tsx.

Tsx536

Great write up! It's nice to hear some positive feedback from an S2k owner

TylerIS1

Your sentiments echo why I bought my TSX

BusyShifter

It's refreshing to see a non-TSX owner to give such a high comment on the performance, luxury, ride and the overall value of TSX, especially from someone who drives TL and S2000. You sounds like you are a TSX owner in your post. The gearbox is definitely one of the overlooked feature on TSX, understandably.

CometVR4

I guess I will have to test drive a 6mt TSX b/c the 5at I drove was good in every deparment but performance. I must have punched it from a dead spot in the RPM band b/c the car would not even Rev high enough to get into VTEC and it seemed like a dog.

iamhomin

Smooth, ain't it? The shifts that is.

Going from a TSX to the S2K, it took me a while to get used to the mechanical shifts.

Still Water

It's took me about a year of driving to really understand how to truly drive the AT. I now can shift on command in normal auto mode, up & down, and once I get to 15-20 mph & second gear do whatever I want. The only thing I have left to do is the reflash which will address the bottom end hesitation and drop the VTEC threshold down to the mid 4K's. While it won't drive like a 6MT it also doesn't drive like any other 4cyl AT I've ever driven. I have no complaints...

ck123

now i want to trade in my at for mt -.-

savage

great writeup...

my only complaint is that you reminded me that i should have gotten the 6mt... at the time i was driving to school in 45 min plus of stop and go traffic, had to go AT... but now its all open highway with no traffic

hyun

driving my friends s2k to my tsx... the tsx feels like a tank


i love my car but thats me being honest ^_^

5o9

High praise indeed!

tsx wont run with a 2k.

AWD BMW is not rwd BMW.

makemoney

im with yall on that....nice write up dude........except i dont know about the shea buttered gear chifting.....im contemplating on using a recomended synchromesh oil that was on a preious post........first to 2 is kind of notchy
other than that.....feel the tsx is a great car.......cant wait till i trade it in a get a

645 ci
white on white......that's f****N ross

kboosman00

Great write up man.

vishnus11

Thanks for all the remarks. I STILL can't get over that gearbox

Yes, the S2k is an adrenaline rush, but its a 2seat, droptop with limited luggage space. Fits me like a glove and I have no problems with it - however, my buddy on the other hand (and others possibly with family and kids) was looking for something to haul family and friends and stuff in, whilst still having a great time behind the wheel - TSX does the job nicely. Of course, the TSX is down on power to the S2k - Hitting VTEC in the s2k a few minutes after I left the dealership quickly scrubbed any doubts about that. But again, the F22C suits the S2k great, but the K24 in the TSX, is an absolutely super smooth, super rev happy, REFINED motor that suits the luxury bias of the TSX.

iamhomin: yeah, the mechanical feel of the S2k gearbox suits its purpose, and does indeed take some getting used to.

hahaitzskippy: I'm glad to have ended you dillema :grin: but do definetely take both vehicles for a drive. I drove an 05 325xi (which is the previous gen). I used this car as an example off the top of my head because I'd driven it barely 2 weeks ago.

I have indeed driven the new E90 3 series - a 325i to be exact (approx. 6 months ago). This particular vehicle was optioned to the tune of 40k and off the top of my head I can't think of a single feature that it had that the TSX didn't. It didn't have active steering, and had the famed I-Drive system. I'm one to embrace new tech, but even I was getting slightly frustrated with it - I'd have to spend some extended time with it to truly guage its usefulness. The TSX navi is by far better.

With the new E90 325i, I find it tough to compare the TSX to it - I simply feel that these vehicles are in two different classes now. The 3.0 motor thats going into the new 325i is said to be underrated, and when I drove it, it sure as hell felt a lot more stronger than 215horses. But the biggest difference between the two vehicles is the price - like I said, this thing was 40k and the TSX would have come in at a shade under 30k. THe 33% increase is too much to ignore, and thus I don't believe the two do compete anymore. I'd say the TL matches the 325i/330i nicely, while the soon to arrive Type-S plays with the big dog 335.

5o9: And yes, last but not least, and AWD BMW does indeed not offer the dynamics of a RWD BMW. In addition to the vehicles listed above, I've also driven an 01 323i - I actually quite liked this vehicles' driving dynamics but again, it had many of the downfalls of the 05 325xi that I mentioned orgininally - shoddy bits here and there in the interior, a fat price with nothing to show for (32k, with no navi, no heated seats, FAKE albeit convincing leather), and a somber interior ambience. The TSX is an occasion: its interior is inviting and warm, and when you start er up and slip her into first, she just BEGS to be driven. I'm not trying to say one is better than the other, but the TSX can MORE than hold its own. Again, a great car, and a steal at its price.

EDIT: Whoops forgot to mention the most important part. My friend has indeed decided to go with the TSX, and I believe has already put a deposit on a precertified 04 NBP, with sand interior, 44k miles. He's negotiated 20,900 which I'm thinking is a fairly good price for that car. Any input on that is welcome. Just goes to show what a great impression the car made on both him and myself.

5o9

Want to see a stock tsx v 325 rwd on any race track. There are some tracks where the tsx will compete. TSX needs better brakes and tires.

drunkenbuda

read your post just made me love my TSX even more.

PittIsIt

friends and family give me a look when they find out i got the 6mt. then when they ride in it and i take an ascending sharp turn on ramp at 60 mph in 3rd gear, they flip with wonderment. My one friend says -- wow that is really really impressive when we took it! (For those in Central FLA - try the 417 N onramp from rinehart road in sanford -- awesome and so much fun!)

The car's revs sound so beautiful and the 6mt is so worth it. its worth the "convenience sacrifices" and you have BT...so you have both hands!!!

Driving is meant to be like this!!!!!

prelude358

Very nice write up.....

midorigreen

Very glad to hear your input on the tsx. I am coming from an 03 S2000, and im picking up my tsx tomorrow, so im glad to hear that you really enjoyed the car so I am hoping I will enjoy it also.

vacantlot3423

My last car was an 02 s2k. While I miss my all-red interior, I agree that the TSX is the best practical, daily driver alternative to the s2k. If the tsx only had a 9k redline and rwd, I'd be in heaven!

waTSX

Good write-up. Interesting to hear an S2000 owners perspective on the TSX. If the TSX can stand up to that scrutiny, it speaks well for the car.

Over 2.5 years and I still love mine.

vishnus11

Hopefully your enjoying your new TSX - care to add your inputs on the car?

My buddy did indeed pick up his 04 Precert NBP TSX with sand interior and Navi. He got it for $20,500 with all fees except sales tax. That price also included a 7 year. bumper to bumper warranty. I drove it back part of the way, and was FURTHER blown away by the voice activated navi that the previous vehicle I test drove didn't have. The navci with voice recg. was way too cool, and very very functional, and adds to the value and must-have-techno-gizmo nature of the car.

Didn't miss too much from the 06 we test drove - felt like the 06 might have had a shade more midrange punch. Little details on the 06 were also nice such as the updated display. A weird yet (to a crazy man) detail that I really liked on the new 06 vs. 04 was that when you lock the car, and press the lock button again the confirm, the 06 emits an upscale "beep" whereas the 04 honks it's horn like my S2k. Stupid detail to obsess over, I know, but obviously Acura knew that some freak like myself would apprecaite it.

junktionfet

Regarding the shifter--I believe the transmission does benefit from a small bit of break-in time.

When my car was brand new, I found that the shifter felt sort of goofy--a bit vague. It was difficult to "read" and spongy. I dismissed it because I just figured that's how these cars were... and besides it didn't really bother me, I knew I would get used to it.

Well now the shifter has a decidedly crisp feeling to it. It moves freely where ever you tell it to go, and it engages into each position with a solid detent.

midorigreen

Well so far, ive been driving the car for a few days and I really am quite impressed with it.

The interior of the car is just great, I love it compared to having the plain interior of the s2000. I really love having tons of compartments to put my things in instead of 1 tiny glove box. The lines of the dash, guage cluster, navigation, everything flows perfectly and just looks great. It looks sporty but yet still has a luxary feel to it also.

Exterior of the car is also great, I love going out to my garage and just looking at the lines of the car, it flows so well, and I love every aspect of it.

When you said this car was fun to drive, I was alittle skeptical at first cause you came from an s2000 like myself and imo its one of the most fun cars out there, but man was I wrong. Driving the car is just great, the handling of the car is really awesome, and I was very surprised yet impressed with it. I thought coming from the s2000, this thing was going to feel like a minivan or something of that nature but its very tight around the corners and just feels awesome.

All in all, I am very happy with this car. I was alittle afraid that coming from an s2000 to this that I was going to get bored of the car quickly and not like it much but I was wrong, and so far I really love it.

ck123

get a sway bar and youll love it even more