Talked to my friend that works for the Acura dealer and he said he heard that the new TL will be at least 280 HP. So whoever said it was going to stay the same HP is wrong. I'm thinking the Type S will be around 300HP.

 

IMO, no way they put that much HP in a 4 door entry level luxury cruiser. Since the Accord is 240 I would expect 260 tops. Definitely no less than the Accord. Plus they don't want a TL-P that can whip last years Type S.

Don't forget, little old ladies have to drive these things.

 

yup i dun want my one year old tl-s got smoked by a 04 tl-p either.(in term of HP).
So i'm thinking the same too as DOOPSTR.
But who knows.

 

MY GOD... when will we see a picture of this damn car! It better be so sweet. My prediction will be 245 for the regular TL, and 285 for the TL-S. When the type-S came out, it really pushed the bar up on horsepower, I hope they do it again! Has anyone confirmed RWD vs. FWD??

 

I don't see them changing to rear wheel drive.

 

Why not, gives us more interest in buying a new one. Just letting you know what he heard through the dealership. Might be 280 for Type S. Need 260 to compete with the Maxima's 265 Hp.

 

I received this info yesterday, from my friends cousin. He works at the Marysville, OH plant as a suspension engineer and has driven the 04 TL-S

280hp
6spd
Brembo brakes
And his quote of "It'll spank a CL-S 6spd"

Didn't hear anything about looks or size etc... So I don't know about that.

 

dealer told me this... 6 spd, 280 HP.. there will be no Type-S for '04... they are basically recombining the TL and TL-S into one... maybe thats why Acura didnt make a Type-S for the TSX they are limiting the Type-S to the RSX or maybe getting rid of the Type-S line and just bringing the RSX Type-R???

 

Didn't really get into the naming convention, but from what he feels from driving it and what he said I'll be waiting to see for sure. I just hope the outside is as nice sounding as the go-fast parts. Keep the fingers crossed!

 

The service manager at North East Acura told me today, that yes there is no type S, they are all coming with 260hp, and that they are going to be on sale in August. And ofcourse totaly redesigned. Also he didnt say this, but i have a feeling they are going to be more expensive than 03 down, just because of the TSX's price, i was in one of those today too, they are nice, the gauges are so bright, and the steering wheel controls are so much nicer, a lot of nice stuff in the car, even though it only has the 200hp i would never take an Accord over one.

 

You guys think there will still be a 3.2 ?????

Or will it be at least a 3.5 ????

 

Unless they depower what the engineer drove and it was only a test bed, he says it'll be 280hp. I am going to go by an engineer who was apart of the development itself, be it only the suspension, over any dealer. I have heard way to much confliction between them to not trust an insider. Well see, thumbs crossed!!!

 

Fingers crossed that is! Sorry

 

Ok this is great news on specs. But I would like to know what it looks like. In general terms ....is it nice looking like or did they F it up? I think there is a general concensus that the new Accord is not a wining design on looks (especially the rear). I would like like to hear a report on the 2004 TL looks. Also bigger, smaller, or the same size that the current TL? I've heard rumors that it will be smaller.

 

rumor is it will have similar styling to the TSX.. but again that is what it is.. a rumor, we have to wait and see

 

Kinda like how my one year old TLP could get smoked by a 04 accord v6

 

I'm wondering...
Do you think the 2004 TL will be rear wheel drive? I mean, with any more power with front wheel drive and it may suffer too much from loss of traction and torque steer. For example, take a look at the new Maxima. Even though it just got more power over the last generation, it got a worse 0-60 time because of too much wheel spin. (Or at least the test version for Motor Trend did). Wheras a car like my friend's 540i 6 speed is impossible to spin the tires on because it has rear wheel drive and big tires, so it gets an awesome acceleration time.

About the power...
Do you think that if it is 260 or 280 hp and just a TL with no TL-S, they would perhaps come out with a TL-S in 2005 or something, like how they waited on the current TL to make power upgrades and then bring out a type S afterwards... to keep the sales going? After all, Acura probably want to keep up with future Infinitis an the upcoming CTS V-series with a (probably) 300 hp v-8? Perhaps a future TL-S in 2005 0r 2006 would have a 300 hp engine?

 

Better than real wheel drive woudl be to see ALL Wheel drive !!!

 

there's no way the new TL is getting RWD...the RL doesn't even have it

 

The RL also doesn't have 260 hp Keep that in mind.

 

I dont know what percentage of tl's purchased in the North is. But there is no way you could sell many rear wheel drives where it is snowy. I had my moms Mercedes for a few days and it was terrible.

 

read in motortrend's may issue... lexus is coming out in 2005 a lexus RX 33X

it is a hybrid awd version of the new rx330... it says it should be ~300hp and 0-60 in 7seconds.. nice chunk of an article too... seems being both gas/electric increases hp now? i dunno.. gotta read article again... but its defintely heading towards production.

adding this:

also toyota wants all its vehicles to be hybrid gas/elec in 2012

 

that doesn't mean anything...they still haven't put a V8 in the RL or the NSX

 

13more days until we can click on the "world debut" button on the new york auto show's website and see what cars are listed with a sample picture.

 

i'm hoping at least 250 hp for the TL-P and 270+ for the type-s in 2005.

I don't believe that they could keep the TL-P hp less than the 240 hp accord but after what they did to the TSX it wouldn't supprise me...

There will be no RWD most of the population cant drive worth SH|T and driving RWD is a totally different animal. Not good for places that have adverse weather conditions(like the entire country this year)

Honda is not stupid they will play ball with the competitors by offering a HP increase - how much?? we will just have to see...

 

It does mean something.... it shows that just because the RL doesn't have RWD doesn't mean the TL can't have it. The TL has had more hp than the RL for quite some time now. If Acura wanted to project the RL as a true flagship, only then would it constrain what the TL can or cannot have.

 

you make a good point, but until I see a V8 and RWD on the RL, I seriously doubt the TL will get RWD any time soon

 

The TL will be priced higher than usual. The new TSX has to fit into the pricing bracket between the RSX and the TL, th The TL will have 280 hp, front wheel, possible all wheel drive in 05. Voice activated navi and climate controls as well. Sources are from Acura manager in Denver.

 

One would think that, as much fun as it would be to drive, Acura had better be either coming out with front or all-wheel drive, becuase if they don't, they are going to loose a hell of a lot of sales in the Northeast. Especially after this winter! I actually think it would be smarter and much easier to market just one type of TL. If they want to come out with a Type-S in another model year, that is all well and good. 280 sounds good for horsepower, because it is right on-par with Infinity and Lexus and ahead of the Maxima which is not even on our level.

 

Someone mentioned a electric-gasolene toyota - i hope Acura never intends on bringing out a electric gasolene car. Hydrogen is the way to go - hydrogen cars run just the same way as gasolene cars, and anyway, i talked to someone from BP and he said that there is only going to be enough oil for about another 30 years, so gasolene electric does not fix the problem.

Reading (in the same TL discussion forum) about the planned 05 RL, they plan to put AWD in it. So, I'm guessing that the new TL will eventually have AWD. Also, i don't think that the "flagship" RL will have any limit on the power of a future TL, because they are two different cars aimed at two different markets. SQUIRRELJR, is it confirmed that there will be a Type S for 04? If there isn't I wouldn't be surprised if the TL-P would have 280hp, since it is getting into the more expensive price range. I'm gonna wait until 05 when our lease runs out to get one because i'm sure that there will eventually be a 300hp TL. I'm also guessing that a six speed tranny will be standard and that an automatic transmission will be optional like the 5 series. That would really define it as a performance sedan.



trivia question of the week:
what is the world's fastest production sedan?

 

I have a few guesses

Bentley Arnage
BMW M5
Jaguar XJR

 

From what was said, there may or not be. He drove what could be considered, a parts car. It had the engine, brakes, tranny etc... that are for the new 04, but whether it'll have a TL-S or just TL name is up to some other guys at Acura. He only gets to see a little piece of the pie too and in his case all he saw was 280hp, 6spd and Brembo brakes. I'll except those for now!!!

 

Thanks squirreljr.


The Bently Arnage T is close but not the correct answer. Hint: It was produced about 10 years ago with only a small number made.


Keep guessing!

 

2004 Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG?

 

close again, but the E55 is limited to 155 mph.

keep guessing.

If no one gets the answer by sunday night ill give it away.

 

Yeah, he said fastest not quickest. But I still have no idea what it is.

 

Just came back from my Acura dealer to see the TSX, better looking than the pictures.

My saleman who sold me so far 4 cars just got off the phone with one of his people that was shown the 2004 TL.

The guy was going crazy because he said a few things I think is great:

1. Looks like a BMW 7 series,

2. 300 HP javascript:smilie('')


3. ALL WHEEL DRIVE

Price, not sure but he told me 35K, don't know if a Type S or not.

Well be at the New York Autoshow.

Hope this is all true, just wetting my pants thinking about this!

 

The answer is Toyota Supra!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

wtf is gasolene?
i don't think you know much about honda. they actually care about the environment and are working on many different types of alternative fuels.

 

He said fastest sedan!.....I never saw a Supra with 4 doors.