how right you are tsx-mdxman .

You enjoy your 4 banger and all that money you save on gas. Oh wait, you spent 28 grand on a 4 banger with HIDs and an Acura badge. I'm sure you feel like you got an excellent deal.

Grow up kid.

 

I'm already all grown up, guy. And I also currently own a car with a Honda V6 in it. That's how come I know the TSX engine surpasses it in refinement. I got a great deal - you might take some time to research the difference in standard equipment levels, specifications and interior appointments and so forth or maybe that stuff doesn't interest you. No need to waste your time or breath here with "you got a 4 banger" barbs. If BMW made a 4 cylinder engine this smooth (priced reasonably), people would be all over it like cops on a donut.

 

I will stick to what i've said all along. Great car, but overpriced.

 

It is the least expensive car in its class and a great value. The Audi A4 and Saab 93 come close to the same price with the options. The IS300, BMW 325i and any C-Class is much higher with the same options. Even the Accord EX V6 cost the about the same and it is no where in the class of the TSX.

 

Well, you're half right anyway.

If it's overpriced, how come it's selling so well? And how come the car is commanding so close to MSRP almost everywhere? Not to mention, how come there are quite a few people who would pick it over cars that cost more even if the prices were the same?

Sounds to me like if anything it's underpriced.

 

Larch, don't say that. I haven't bought mine yet.

 

\


With incentives, you would pay a lot less for a Pontiac Grand Prix GTP than you would for a Accord V6. Yet, the Pontiac absolutely kills the Accord in terms of power (260HP/280ft-lbs torque). So, I assume you'll be willing to admit that a Pontiac is a better buy than your Accord? The Pontiac is also bigger, has more headroom, a larger trunk, and more features.

 

Domestic

 

Comparing a Pontiac to an Accord is alot different than Accord to TSX. You say the TSX is so much more "classy".. tell me why? Because it has HIDs? Why else? Oh, because it "looks" classier right? Sure thing.

Personally I think the class of "sport-lux sedan's" is overpriced in itself. Yes, the TSX is the least expensive of the group but they are all for people who must not care to much about value for their dollar. I personally do and performance is very important to me. Yea i've heard all about how the TSX handles. I test drove one and yes it was impressive but it has no power. The car is almost as heavy as an Accord and it's got a underpowered 4 cyl pushing it. You do the math. You bring up the comparison of a Grand Prix to an Accord. Comparing any domestic to an import is a no-no and we all know this. Any GM vehicles interior is about as cheaply made as you can find although some dont mind this. I personally wouldn't purchase one but I know many who have and dont mind. Some prefer to spend almost 30k on an underpowered, overweight "lux" sedan.

I'm done on this topic.

 

You miss the point.
Accord, camry, pontiac, altima, malibu, saturn l series, MASS PRODUCED CARS!!!!!
TSX gives you exclusivity! It give syou a better warranty, better resale value. You continue to compare apples and oranges. People don't need a TSX, they want one. The accord and pontiac are ugly run of the mill cars. Remember the story about everyman?
Honda has gone to great extent to build a better handling, better driving more involving car. If all you care about is HP then buy HP. If you want a car thats fun to drive, looks great, you don't see on every corner (hello beige accord), then get a TSX. Its that easy!

 

With equivalent features, the TSX appears to be more expensive than the Accord but....I think the new Accord looks like it has had one facelift too many (Michael Jacksonesque) and I do think the Acura service is a step above the Honda service plus it is cool to have a car that isn't as prevalent as the everyday Accord. Is it heavy and underpowered? Maybe in your humble opinion, not mine.

 

stupid point considering no one is comparing the TSX with a Neon but the TL, which is alot nicer car than the Dodge...

 

No, because the guy was making out like hp is all that matters, and 6 cyl. is automatically a better car than 4 cyl.

 

So your saying because the Accord is one of the best selling cars in America then it's not up to TSX standards?

The TSX will be a mass produced car sooner than you think. Take the RSX for instance. When it first came out, it wasn't very widespread. Now, everwhere I look I see those things. The TSX will be the same. It is in first year production so of course your "exclusive" by owning one but just give it time. Judging a car by how many are sold of it each year isn't very good.

It doesn't have good resale value because it's a TSX it has good resale value because its a Honda/Acura automobile.

As i've said before, and this is my opinion only, I have test drove the TSX and it seemed very underpowered for what it was. It's a smooth ride and handling was great, but for 27 grand I want a car that i'm going to be able to push and not here the buzz of a 4 cyl. I've test drove an A4 1.8T and it felt much more smooth and crisp then the TSX. Again this is my opinion. I'm sure your going to jump down my back about my opinion again but it's how I feel. I'm not saying you guys are idiots for buying one i'm just giving reasons why I didn't purchase one.

 

Thought you were done.

 

You're done on topic, eh? If only that was true. Here you are again! And, you also get to make up the rules in any comparison, eh? The Accord is a better deal than a TSX because of the lower cost and increased HP, but the same logic doesn't apply in other comparisons? Could you be more hypocritical?

I personally don't think there is a huge difference between the TSX and Accord. One of my closet friends has an Accord Coupe and I'm in it several times a week. The Accord handles well for its class, although not nearly as agile as the TSX. I think it rides a lot better than the TSX. So, in terms of overall performance, they're fairly similar. And, yeah, the V6 is a lot quicker, but the V6 coupe is probably the worst handling of all the Accords. To me, it felt nose heavy and ungainly.


IMO, the interior is a notch below in terms of materials and layout. THe leather is not as nice, and there are more joints between panels, and the woodgrain is a bit cheap looking (as is the faux metal panels on the ebony interior). There is also less headroom in the coupe than in the TSX.

As far as styling , the USDM Accord sedan is just plain ugly. The Coupe is nicer, but some of us need four doors on our vehicle and the coupe is not an option.

Other than that, I'd say the cars are on close par.

As for the comparison between the Accord 4-cyl and the TSX that you keep wanting to make, that is frankly ridiculous. The TSX has all the features that are on the V6 and more (VSA, Hids, perforated leather, better stereo). The comparison in price should be between the V6 EX and the TSX. In that comparison, you give up power for better handling, better looks, and a classier interior. You also get a more exclusive vehicle (I used to hate pulling up to a light in my Accord and seeing eight other cars exactly like it). And, yeah, you pay more for the TSX, but for some enthusiasts the price is worth it. Our money - our choice. We don't have to convince you.

You may not think the TSX is worth the extra $, but so what? That is an individual choice and I personally respect that others feel differently. Nobody here wants to impress you.

The problem here is that you are so insecure about your own purchase that you feel this twisted need to keep coming back to this forum trying to start flames wars. I'm willing to bet that you have buyers remorse about the bland vehicle your purchased and that is why you keeping coming back here. You really wish you had bought something a bit more fun.

As for the comparison with the Audi 1.8T, as it so happens my family owns one of those as well. The interior is much nicer than the TSX , IMO (at least in terms of interior quality and little details). It doesn't handle any better though and the engine is not as smooth. The 1.8T tends to stumble off the line and doensn't really feel like it has any real power until it gets going.

 

BTW, if you go to the Audi web site and add on all the options that you get standard with your 28k TSX you will be pushing well over 35k. Is it really fair to be comparing these two anyway, you can get a TL for that price, when you do that your HP issue goes out the window. An even uglier example is the BMW 3 series comparison, now you will be pushing 40k once you add all the options. It is cool to me that the TSX is still compared to these two regularly even though the maxed out price is well south of 30k.

 

Really? Is that because the A4's not a 4-cyl?

You know the TSX has 30 more HP than the 1.8T, right?.

 

You guys are all wasting your time. As they say down here in Kentucky, this guy doesn't know his from a hole in the ground.

He will never get it. Let him buy an Accord or worse and live with mediocrity and the mundane.

 

First a little background. I'm currently driving an 03 Accord Coupe (5spd) with Navi and 17" wheels that my wife and I are both very happy with, but with two exceptions:

1. visibility: this is our first coupe and I thought we might get used to the poor visibility (an issue in any coupe), but we haven't.

2. lack of hid: we recently moved from Chicago to Oregon and, though it wasn't an issue in Chi-town, with the amount of rain we get here, we would really like HIDs.

I'd been following the progress of the TL with keen interest as it seemed to be everything we were looking for. Power, luxury, cool gadgets -- plus, I really like its looks (except for the Acura stamp on the front bumper, though that gets covered by the front plate anyway).

We finally had a chance to go out to an Acura dealer and take a test drive, and I was very surprised by my experience.

I went in certain that I was going to prefer the TL. The only reason I decided to test drive the TSX at all was that I was curious to see how different (if at all) it would be from our Accord.

I absolute LOVED the TL's interior (having owned an Audi allroad, I know how good an interior can be). I thought the instrumentation was a little tacky, but overall, the cabin was a stunner.

The drive itself left me a little disappointed, though. The TL was certainly better in all aspects than our Accord, but not as much better as I had expected. I'm willing to bet that if I drove a manual I would have liked it more, but that's just not an option for us.

Then I drove the TSX and I was honestly blown away. I pretty much expected the TSX to feel like an underpowered version of our Accord, but that wasn't the case at all. In terms of handling and driving dynamics the TSX was everything that I hoped the TL would be. It was noticeably rougher at idle, but on the road, it was just a blast to drive. I cannot believe that so much performance can be squeezed out of such a small engine.

So, for me, if I had to choose right now, I'd pick the TSX over the TL. If I did a lot of highway driving or if we had kids my choice might be different, but for the type of driving we do, the TSX is the better fit.

Still, all that being said, I'm a bit disappointed by the unavailability of certain technologies in both the TSX and TL. I know it's frivolous, but I really want a car with truly keyless entry (the kind where you never have to take the key or key fob out of your pocket/bag/purse). This is available as an option on the $19K Toyota Prius, it should be available on all Acuras as well.

Also, after having had this on my Audi, I really want a car with a reversing alert indicator (i.e. beeps more frequently as you approach an object while backing up). Even in a car the size of the TSX it would be useful.

And, finally, I would have been willing to pay extra for the option of adding heated side-view mirrors to the TSX.

So, for now, I think we're going to hold off and hope that the Acura RD-X will be released sooner rather than later. The utter competence of the Accord gives us the luxury of waiting.

 

I don't think anyone who reads the above post can still doubt that someone could flat-out prefer the TSX to the TL. Yeah, neither car made him completely happy, but he's pretty vivid and clear on the TSX/TL comparison. It's a minority opinion, but truly there are a bunch of us who see the cars that way.

 

Honestly, I have to say that I'd be happy in any of the Accord variants. I love my TSX, but could have been happy in a Accord V6 or TL.

 

So for the 42 or more of you who voted in this thread you would still be willing to buy the TSX if the TL was priced at 27K. That is very interesting. Most of you said its because the TSX handled better than the TL. So you guys are all willing to choose handling over added features and comfort?

 

I would pick the TSX because I think it looks better. The TL rear looks too much like the grand am IMO. But I think the TL would be really fun to drive as well. For me the TL is a little too big also and I really don't need all that room.

 

Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely.

Absolutely!

What's your point, Justin? I guess you mean this surprises you. But I can't understand why this would surprise you.

LOTS of people value handling over most other things. And when you're comparing different cars that are all pretty good (or real good) on everything else, handling can be the factor that totally decides the issue.

Actually for me the slightly smaller size of the TSX is an even more important advantage. But part of the reason for that is how it affects the handling.

 

Of course it surprises me...because if it was truly handling that everybody craves for than most of you would have just purchased a 3 Series. But thats not the case because most of you purchased the TSX over the others for it value...its feature content. But now 42 of you are saying features are not that important...handling is. That to me is very interesting.

And if its handling that is the deciding factor...the 6sp TL will be a better handling car than the AT TL due to larger front/rear stabilizer bars, stiffer springs, LSD and high-perf. tires.

I don't think your question was would you buy the 27K TSX or 33K TL...your question was would you still buy the TSX if the TL was the same price. Either 27K for the TL or 33K for the TSX.

 

This thread is insane... TL hands down.

Ok new question... for the same price:

TSX or MBZ S600

"OH OH OH MBZ RELIABILITY HAS GONE DOWN SINCE..."

no.

I like how one person said that a big factor in choosing the TSX was that the TSX was Japanese built and the TL is American built... somehow Japanese built connotes better quality. Perhaps this clown missed all the "baby-rattle on wheels" threads?

I swear if the TL had come out a few months earlier I would be in a TL right now.

 

The 3-series cost too much for what you get. If I didn't live in a State were it snows. I would get the 3-series if it costs the same for the same options over the TSX and TL.

Now to the TL, I don't like the way it handles. I have test driven the 6MT TL and it doesn't come anywhere close to handling like the TSX. Even with LSD there still is torque steer. All the car magazine are saying that as well. Read the new MotorTrend. I also don't like the gear ratios on the TL tranny. I stalled the car twice on the test drive and I drive a manual every day.

The TSX is about the best combination of performance, style, beauty, features and value I have ever seen in a FWD car.

 

Thats all great. But the question was not which car is better or which car would you buy given the difference in price. The question was IF THEY WERE THE SAME PRICE which would you buy. So using that logic...if the TL was 27K it will have better performance, more features and be of better value than the TSX...right? Style and looks are subjective.

The car has to have torque to have TS. With an extra 72ft-lbs of torque in the TL over the TSX its impossible not to have some TS. I never said the TL can out handle the TSX...so there is no need for me to read MT.

 

A lot of exageration here. I buy the possibility that the TSX might handle a bit better, but the TL is also nimble.

Handling doesn't make a car. And if handling was really so important, you would have been better with a G35 or 3-series anyway.

 

I disagree. Nothing makes or breaks a car any more than the handling.

(I voted TL anyway)

 

If thats the case the Accords and Camrys of the world have no leg to stand on.

 

Again a LOT of exageration. The importance people will give to a car's handling at 10/10 is overdone and most of the time ridiculous. We re talking about sedans here, not sport cars.

I value much more driving position, outward visibility, interaction with controls and general poise.

In such a car, am I interested in lateral acceleration being 0.03g lower than a G35 (supposition)? You gotta be kidding, right?

 

First off, I could easily afford either car so price was not a factor. After driving both cars twice it was clear to me that the TSX was simply more fun to drive. Nothing complicated, just that the TSX would was the car I would look forward to driving each day over the TL. But that's me. Different strokes and all that.

 

That is exactly what I am saying. I still would buy the TSX if both were the same price.

Until somebody else test drives both a TL 6MT and a TSX 6MT and comes up with a vastly different opinion than me on the handling, I am completely sticking by with what I wrote.

Justin, offer the 04 TL 6MT w/ Navi to me for $29K. I will still buy the TSX instead. You might get some other takers here however.

 

The sound system is the only thing that really tempted me about the TL. Other than that it really doesn't suit me. It is a fine car and I am sure it would suit other people, but I prefer the TSX.

 

No exageration at all. Drive it, you will see!!!!!

 

I did. A few of each. Both are great.

 

Justin, you and a couple of others here are being a bit rigid. It seems you're not allowing enough for differences of view, and you're not enough taking into account the multiple dimensions involved in car decisions.

About the 3-series: For a lot of us, the 3-series isn't even in the ballgame, because we want better reliability. (Please let's not get back into a debate about BMW reliability. Suffice to say that it's a completely respectable and defensible view to regard 3-series reliability as not top-notch.)

About the G35: Many of us just don't want an RWD car. And that also applies to most BMW's too. (I know, I know, there are AWD's in the 3-series. But that still leaves the reliability issue, not to mention the MUCH greater cost.)

With regard to the TL/TSX comparison, those other things don't come into play. But as soon as you mention other brands, you open all kinds of Pandora's boxes which are completely besides the point at hand here.

 

I don't get it then. Idon't see how any could think the TL can handle like the TSX. It can't even out handle my present car, 1993 Vigor GS. I guess we are just going to agree to disagree.