Article: New Acura's bolder look matches performance
10-30-2003, 11:37 PM
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Article: New Acura's bolder look matches performance
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/03304/235407.stm
New Acura's bolder look matches performance
Friday, October 31, 2003
By Ann M. Job, The Associated Press
After years of pleasant-looking but conservative styling, Acura is finally designing boldly. And there's no better car to receive compelling, even emotional exterior styling than Acura's best-selling model, the TL sedan.
Matching the TL's new, edgier looks are these impressive features: new engineering that gives the sedan the highest horsepower and torque of any TL ever; new, DVD-Audio surround sound -- a first in the auto industry; and standard Bluetooth communications technology.
"Our concept for this car is a sophisticated sports sedan," said Robert Bienenfeld, Acura's senior manager of product planning.
Starting manufacturer's retail price, for the third-generation, 2004 TL is $33,195, including destination charge. That's $3,715 more than the base 2003 TL's starting price and $1,365 more than the performance version of the 2003 TL -- the Type S model.
Competing 2004 Lexus ES 330 starts at $32,350, including destination charge. Another competitor, the base BMW 3-series, the 2004 325i, starts at $28,495.
Acura doesn't have a 2004 Type S. But every TL now comes with performance that's notched up even from last year's Type S.
I found I had to keep a close watch on the speedometer. It's easy to go over speed limits in the new TL, whose 3.2-liter, single overhead cam V-6 with Acura's Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control (VTEC) now provides 270 horsepower, better than 260 of last year's Type S. The 270-horse V-6 is the new TL's only engine.
Torque is 238 foot-pounds at 5,000 rpm now, compared with 232 foot-pounds at 3,500 to 5,500 rpm in the old Type S.
The Lexus ES 330's 225-horse, V-6 engine generates 240 foot-pounds of torque at 3,600 rpm. In the inline six-cylinder-powered BMW 3-Series, the 184-horse 325i model generates 175 foot-pounds of torque at 3,500 rpm, and the 225-horse 330i model, 214 foot-pounds of torque at 3,500 rpm. The BMW 3-Series does not come with V6 engines.
The TL sedan's engine power comes on readily and steadily, especially with the six-speed manual transmission. It's a fun, short-throw shifter, complete with multi-cone synchronizers on the first through fourth gears.
A five-speed automatic also is offered and can be shifted manually without the clutch pedal.
Only TLs with the six-speed manual get a limited slip differential and four-piston Brembo front brakes. The six-speed models also are the only TLs that offer optional high-performance summer tires that were on the test car.
The TL's ride is less noisy and busy in the five-speed automatic than in the sportier six-speed manual version which has different stabilizer bars. The performance tires on the six-speed model add extra road noise, too.
The new TL appears to take the front-wheel-drive platform right up to its performance limits. Fitted with standard four-wheel vehicle stability control with traction control, the TL works hard to control understeer and to minimize torque steer.
The suspension is more capable now, and the overall rigidity of the car is noticeable.
Ergonomics inside the TL are some of the best around. Perforated leather seats are quite accommodating for someone my size -- 5 feet 4 -- or someone who's 6 feet tall.
All controls are within easy reach and easy to understand. The gauges' blue LED-illuminated numbers and letters, and the bright red needles, which seem to float inside these gauges, are distinctive and jazzy looking.
Positioned below the larger Acura RL sedan, which starts at $46,100, the TL comes with equipment that even the RL and many other higher-priced cars don't have.
A new, 225-watt audio system with in-dashboard, six-disc changer and 5.1 surround sound is a prime example.
The Acura/ELS Premium 8-speaker Surround Sound System was developed with the help of electronics giant Panasonic and Elliot Scheiner, Grammy-winning music producer and engineer who produced albums for Steely Dan and Fleetwood Mac. (The "ELS" part of the system's name stand for the music producer's initials.)
This system uses six channels (surround sound), rather than the usual two (stereo), found in premium sound systems to deliver digital surround sound that has 500 times the resolution of CD audio.
As a result, it can play the latest DVD-A disks to deliver amazingly clear, detailed sounds that made me feel as if I were inside a recording studio, rather than the inside of a car. The sounds were that good.
An additional benefit to this DVD-Audio system, at least to the recording industry: The new DVD-A medium will be difficult to pirate.
The downside right now, though, is that current DVD-A selections are limited.
Not to worry. The TL's audio system also can play regular, two-channel CDs in stereo as well as DTS CDs in surround sound. It doesn't play the MP3 format, though it can play CD-Rs and CD-RWs.
The DVD-Audio sound system is standard in the TL. Also found in every 2004 TL: A cassette player for drivers who listen to books on tape and a free, three-month subscription to XM Satellite radio that provides some 100 specialty radio channels, many of them commercial-free.
There's a lot of attention to detail in the new TL.
The keyless remote entry not only adjusts the position of seat and outside mirrors, it can automatically go to a personal, preset heating/cooling temperature.
The Bluetooth technology allows someone with a Bluetooth-enabled phone to use the car's voice recognition and audio systems to conduct calls hands-free. In fact, the phone doesn't even have to be docked. It can be in the glovebox or even a suitcase and still be operational.
The downside: Bluetooth cellular phones tend to be the pricier models on the market.
The TL's navigation system, expected to be on 25 percent of the models sold, is upgraded from its predecessor for quicker route calculation and additional information.
The nav system also is integrated into the air conditioning since its global positioning system can tell the direction the car is traveling and where the sun is positioned. As a result, the cooling system can add extra cooling to the passenger area of the car that's getting the sun's direct rays.
Because the 2004 TL is a new model, there's no reliability rating by Consumer Reports magazine. The 2003 TL was a Consumer Reports recommended buy.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports no crash test results and no safety recalls of the new TL.
Women accounted for 51 percent of the buyers of the 2003 TL and 41 percent of the buyers of the 2003 TL Type S, Acura officials said.
These are well-to-do buyers, with annual household income of $104,000. Some two-thirds have college degrees and median age is in the 45- to 50-year range. Most are married.
Annual sales for the new TL are expected to be 65,000
New Acura's bolder look matches performance
Friday, October 31, 2003
By Ann M. Job, The Associated Press
After years of pleasant-looking but conservative styling, Acura is finally designing boldly. And there's no better car to receive compelling, even emotional exterior styling than Acura's best-selling model, the TL sedan.
Matching the TL's new, edgier looks are these impressive features: new engineering that gives the sedan the highest horsepower and torque of any TL ever; new, DVD-Audio surround sound -- a first in the auto industry; and standard Bluetooth communications technology.
"Our concept for this car is a sophisticated sports sedan," said Robert Bienenfeld, Acura's senior manager of product planning.
Starting manufacturer's retail price, for the third-generation, 2004 TL is $33,195, including destination charge. That's $3,715 more than the base 2003 TL's starting price and $1,365 more than the performance version of the 2003 TL -- the Type S model.
Competing 2004 Lexus ES 330 starts at $32,350, including destination charge. Another competitor, the base BMW 3-series, the 2004 325i, starts at $28,495.
Acura doesn't have a 2004 Type S. But every TL now comes with performance that's notched up even from last year's Type S.
I found I had to keep a close watch on the speedometer. It's easy to go over speed limits in the new TL, whose 3.2-liter, single overhead cam V-6 with Acura's Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control (VTEC) now provides 270 horsepower, better than 260 of last year's Type S. The 270-horse V-6 is the new TL's only engine.
Torque is 238 foot-pounds at 5,000 rpm now, compared with 232 foot-pounds at 3,500 to 5,500 rpm in the old Type S.
The Lexus ES 330's 225-horse, V-6 engine generates 240 foot-pounds of torque at 3,600 rpm. In the inline six-cylinder-powered BMW 3-Series, the 184-horse 325i model generates 175 foot-pounds of torque at 3,500 rpm, and the 225-horse 330i model, 214 foot-pounds of torque at 3,500 rpm. The BMW 3-Series does not come with V6 engines.
The TL sedan's engine power comes on readily and steadily, especially with the six-speed manual transmission. It's a fun, short-throw shifter, complete with multi-cone synchronizers on the first through fourth gears.
A five-speed automatic also is offered and can be shifted manually without the clutch pedal.
Only TLs with the six-speed manual get a limited slip differential and four-piston Brembo front brakes. The six-speed models also are the only TLs that offer optional high-performance summer tires that were on the test car.
The TL's ride is less noisy and busy in the five-speed automatic than in the sportier six-speed manual version which has different stabilizer bars. The performance tires on the six-speed model add extra road noise, too.
The new TL appears to take the front-wheel-drive platform right up to its performance limits. Fitted with standard four-wheel vehicle stability control with traction control, the TL works hard to control understeer and to minimize torque steer.
The suspension is more capable now, and the overall rigidity of the car is noticeable.
Ergonomics inside the TL are some of the best around. Perforated leather seats are quite accommodating for someone my size -- 5 feet 4 -- or someone who's 6 feet tall.
All controls are within easy reach and easy to understand. The gauges' blue LED-illuminated numbers and letters, and the bright red needles, which seem to float inside these gauges, are distinctive and jazzy looking.
Positioned below the larger Acura RL sedan, which starts at $46,100, the TL comes with equipment that even the RL and many other higher-priced cars don't have.
A new, 225-watt audio system with in-dashboard, six-disc changer and 5.1 surround sound is a prime example.
The Acura/ELS Premium 8-speaker Surround Sound System was developed with the help of electronics giant Panasonic and Elliot Scheiner, Grammy-winning music producer and engineer who produced albums for Steely Dan and Fleetwood Mac. (The "ELS" part of the system's name stand for the music producer's initials.)
This system uses six channels (surround sound), rather than the usual two (stereo), found in premium sound systems to deliver digital surround sound that has 500 times the resolution of CD audio.
As a result, it can play the latest DVD-A disks to deliver amazingly clear, detailed sounds that made me feel as if I were inside a recording studio, rather than the inside of a car. The sounds were that good.
An additional benefit to this DVD-Audio system, at least to the recording industry: The new DVD-A medium will be difficult to pirate.
The downside right now, though, is that current DVD-A selections are limited.
Not to worry. The TL's audio system also can play regular, two-channel CDs in stereo as well as DTS CDs in surround sound. It doesn't play the MP3 format, though it can play CD-Rs and CD-RWs.
The DVD-Audio sound system is standard in the TL. Also found in every 2004 TL: A cassette player for drivers who listen to books on tape and a free, three-month subscription to XM Satellite radio that provides some 100 specialty radio channels, many of them commercial-free.
There's a lot of attention to detail in the new TL.
The keyless remote entry not only adjusts the position of seat and outside mirrors, it can automatically go to a personal, preset heating/cooling temperature.
The Bluetooth technology allows someone with a Bluetooth-enabled phone to use the car's voice recognition and audio systems to conduct calls hands-free. In fact, the phone doesn't even have to be docked. It can be in the glovebox or even a suitcase and still be operational.
The downside: Bluetooth cellular phones tend to be the pricier models on the market.
The TL's navigation system, expected to be on 25 percent of the models sold, is upgraded from its predecessor for quicker route calculation and additional information.
The nav system also is integrated into the air conditioning since its global positioning system can tell the direction the car is traveling and where the sun is positioned. As a result, the cooling system can add extra cooling to the passenger area of the car that's getting the sun's direct rays.
Because the 2004 TL is a new model, there's no reliability rating by Consumer Reports magazine. The 2003 TL was a Consumer Reports recommended buy.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports no crash test results and no safety recalls of the new TL.
Women accounted for 51 percent of the buyers of the 2003 TL and 41 percent of the buyers of the 2003 TL Type S, Acura officials said.
These are well-to-do buyers, with annual household income of $104,000. Some two-thirds have college degrees and median age is in the 45- to 50-year range. Most are married.
Annual sales for the new TL are expected to be 65,000
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