The car: Premium White Pearl w/ Parchment interior; 5AT w/ Tech package

Exterior: I really don't understand what people are talking about when they say you have to see the car in person. The pictures I have seen on here are very true to the actual image. The one thing I will note is the wheels are even more hideous in person. I didn't think they were that bad from the photos but they are that bad ! The PWP color is nice. It blends with the shield very well. And the shield is growing on me a bit. I think it is the cheap plastic elements of the front end that I have the biggest problem with (the actual grille, the dimpled bezels around the foglights and the "connector" from the fog lights to the lower grille). Wasn't too impressed with the headlight set up but it would not be a deal-breaker. The back end was pretty impressive but I have always thought that is the best quality of the exterior.

Interior: Let's start at the rear of the vehicle. You have to see the trunk to believe how small it actually is. Wider opening is a welcome change but this thing is extremely shallow. I do like the "upscaled" lever to release the rear seats from the trunk. Interior room in the back seemed comparable to my '04, especially the leg room. Up front the legroom seemed somewhat more spacious while all the controls and center console take a big step up toward the driver. All in all it seemed a little more spacious. I am not a fan of multi-colored interiors so Parchment would not be my 1st choice. Ebony would be the way for me but I still might have a problem with the headliner and rear deck being a light color. All the gadgets are great and I agree with the salesman that Acura is at the top of the "tech" heap. But all of this helped me understand that I am more of a driver's driver, if that makes any sense. Sure the gadgets are nice to have but I want the car to perform. Liked the size and feel of the steering wheel. Also liked the floating needles and the look of the dash. Seats were comfy but they should be given they are brand new. Not a great difference from when I bought my car new in '04.

Performance: Not much good to say here. If you are a fan of this car...stop reading now! This car has little to no more power than my '04 (unmodded). It is still sluggish out of the gate and below VTEC it still takes awhile to get going. The handling was another problem. I found oversteer to be an issue because I actually tried to drive the car rather than it drive me. The steering is very sensitive. I did not feel comfortable with it. Electronic steering aside it handled slightly worse than my car. I wish my dealer was closer to my home because I have an awesome road that is about 12 miles long and nothing but curves. I love driving my car on it and it would have made for an awesome test of handling for this vehicle. Stopping power was adequate.

At the dealership: They had about 5 '09s. Thought it was interesting, they had the car I drove parked right next to an '08 directly in front of the doors to the dealership. Made the '08 look small and not as aggressive. They did not have Basque Red Pearl which I really want to see in person. 2 PWPs, 1 Black and a few shades of gray.

Interesting note: The voice recognition would not respond to the salesman sitting in the passenger seat. We swapped seats and it worked fine. Must be the location of the mic.?.

All in all: If you are not a huge fan of gadgets/tech features and you currently own a TSX, you have no reason to buy this car. Other than some ammenities and new features, you get nothing more than what your current car is giving you. This drive just confirmed that this will not be my next car and I would prefer a lot more power than what the TSX has to offer. I have a feeling if you were a fan of the car once the stats and photos were released, then you will probably end up buying one. But if you were nowhere near the fence on this car back then, you will definitely not end up with one.

 

Forgot one major element (no pun intended!). The paddle shifters = !!! I hate the sportshift set up! Of course you know the shifter is a push button straight gate...so you have to push the button and pull the shifter down into S. I found using the paddle shifters to be problematic given their small size and the close proximity to the windshield wiper controls and the turn signal controls. I also found shifting back into D to be an issue. I went too far and was in neutral for a split second. All in all I much prefer my '04 sportshift set up compared to this one!

 

I have to agree, the paddle shifter implementation is extremely awkward, when I test drove the 09 TSX I had to really pay attention and make sure I didn't shift into neutral when exiting sport shift mode. I currently drive a 99TL and much prefer the gate shifter setup, just a simple slide left or right

 

Is there still a sport shift function on the shifter itself or it's just the paddles? On the TL-S they have both, paddle shifters and the regular ss on the gear shift.

I guess the car for us current TSX owners to move next to if you still are a fan of Acura/Honda is the 09 TL. There was a sketch of the supposed 09 TL in car and driver and is posted in the automotive news section and in the TL board. I saw it and thought Acura.

Of course now our 04-08 TSX is outdated, but I think the styling will age better than the 09-13 TSX.

 

No shifting can be done with the actual gearshifter.

BTW, no electronic control for the lumbar support??? What is this, 1999?

 

No TL for me. It's just too big of a car. Right now a 335i coupe is at the top of my list and the G37 is 2nd.

 

good choices!

sucks that you don't have any option to shift on the gear shift thing. i also think i would look stupid using 2 hands on the wheel with the paddle shifters.

 

You certain? I don't recall seeing it when I was looking at the TSX the other day, but I didn't look. Check here...




Acura says it does.

 

No, theres no power lumbar

 

knew it was too good to be true!

 

False advertising ftl. Whoops! It's just in the interactive showroom though, weird..


BTW The video you're throwing together looks like it'll be pretty good.