First off, I love the TL (mine is a 6MT, AM, ebony, 18" OEM alloys). So far (2 weeks / 400 miles) it rides great, looks sharp, an is loaded.

Two issues (one minor, the other unknown):

1. I was surprised by the road / wind noise when I took it out on the highway this weekend. I would have thought the cabin would have been quieter.

2. I do have butt prints (as they are called in this forum) on the driver's seat but that seems to me a natural characteristic of the leather. I used Zaino Leather in a Bottle as soon as I got the car. My issue is something I should have caught during delivery. The edge of the seating surface (rear seat on the passenger side) has a bubbled appearance and where two panels meet the leather has a lot of wrinkles. Not wrinkles in the traditionl sense it looks as if they did not smooth out the leather before they stitched the panels. Looks pretty crappy so I'll take it to my dealer to see what he says (they are awesome to work with).

Other than that, my TL is nice. No rattles, headliner, memory seat issues, vibrations, etc...

 

Guess you got it at Acura of the Lehigh Valley (vinart)???
I have been looking at the TL for over a year now, just waiting for the '06. It is a money issue for me at the moment. Let me know of your dealer experiences if Vinart.

 

LV Acura was GREAT once the deal was done, delivery, prep, working with me on other issues. The sale process was a bit painful...you really have to move to get them down on price.

I have been going there for service for over 10 years and I must say they have a great service dept.

 

Ah yes the wind noise...I notice it to be excessive as well. Can anything be done to lessen it? or is that just the way it is?

 

Back in Oct of 2003 I went there and took out the demo auto, told them when they got the 6speed in to call me and drive that one. After taking out the 6sp, went and sat in one with Navi. The system didn't work properly and the car had to be shut off and back on in order for things to start functioning correctly.
That is when I made up my mind to wait. My sales guy was new and young very push to BUY BUY BUY. :fingerfawk:
After reading all the minor problems, it was in my best interest to wait anyway. So I will go and bother them when they get the 05 RL in and take that for a spin to see how the SH AWD is and pray that the 06 TL brings AWD to the table. If not I will be looking elsewhere. You know how it gets around here in the winter time. I wander if PENDOT actually watches the weather channel at all.

 

wind noise is excessive ?? wow.. first time I've heard that one. I thought it pleasantly quiet. Unless someone is comparing it to an LS430 or something.

I hear more road noise than wind noise on the car.

 

Yeah, I have no wind noise at all... theres two possible reasons this could be a complaint:
1) You have a faulty vehicle (who knows what windnoise could be like if a seal or glass was installed improperly)
2) You are used to driving a space ship or something. (Which from what i've heard, I suppose some high end Lexus' fit that category)

 

Wind noise? I go at least 80 MPH almost every day on a stretch of highway going home, and I think the car is pretty quiet. I traded in a Lexus GS300 for it and I notice very little difference... plus it feels a lot more stable on the road.

 

I do not want to sound like Mr Obvious but ... If you hold the unlock key down a bit to long it will start to open the windows a bit. The wind noise then is terrible then. Did it myself once or twice. FWIW this is a feature in the manual.
ATB,
Tom

 

i guess I've never had that cuz I don't hold the unlock buttons.. one click and let go. It will transmit for a specified length of time and then stop. if you watch the light it comes on for one burst. If you hold it, it comes on for one burst, then stops, then comes on again for the window signal. So just click it cuz holdin it doesn't get ya any more signal send time.

 

Try going back to the dealer and taking out another car for a test drive...that way you will have a reference to compare to if your car has more noise than the demo. Sometimes after you buy a car you might imagine lots of things that really are not a problem..it's happened to me more often than I care to admit....driving the demo again really seemed to stem my anxiety about the particular car I purchased.

 

i think there is a tsb where you are supposed to roll up the windows. lol. go eagles.

 

The only wind noise I've heard was during a stiff (30 mph) cross-wind on the downwind side, otherwise very quiet. The stock 17" -42 Bridgestones are very quiet for 45 series tires, the HP tires are not as quiet (and stiffer) per my test drives.

Your 18" wheels could be the culprit. I swapped OEM alloys for lightweight BBS alloys on another car and noticed a ~2X increase in road noise with the same tires. Acura may have lightened the accessory 18" wheels to keep the suspension in tune.

 

I did a spectrum analysis of the noise the other day - the cabin is well-isolated, and my readings were in the low 70's dB level, other than the huge rise at subsonic frequencies, which is typical. Compared to other cars I have indexed (same speed, road, sensitivity), the TL was 1-8 dB lower - that is a lot. It is about 3 dB quieter than my Type-S was.

The S2000 is a rididulous comparison, as is the Outback, which is really a little truck. But the TL is quieter than my wife's mid-90 or so Camry, and that car is a marshmallow in terms of ride and handling, so I would expect it to be the non plus ultra. I am sure an ES300 or an LS430 is quieter, but as others have said, the TL is plenty quiet compared to any other sedan having some semblance of performance and handling. They could make the mirrors small like the E36 M3 I had, but that is cheating since those mirrors were ineffective. Mirros are one of the greatest sources of noise and aero drag on a modern car, and hte one's on a TL look like wide-screen plasma TV's. You canh pick up the equivaolent of 10 HP, by foldiung them in for a 1/4 mile run.
\
In case you are interested, here is the portable device I use for various acoustic analyses:
http://www.terrasonde.com/products/atb.php

 

My main issue is the backseat leather - pretty bad. No one has at in the backseat. Dealer will take pics and send to Acura for resolution.