meagain

Hi. Husband's looking at becoming a new TL owner. He has a Camry XLE now and was also considering the 2007 version.

Few questions:

1. Can one play SACD's or is it just limited to standard CD & DVD-A? DTS?
1a. I wouldn't be able to hear the sound portion of a DVD concert - correct? (that would be sooo nice).

2. Is Premium fuel mandatory or just suggested? Can one use regular?

3. 2007 TL - Does anyone know anything at all about it? Even if rumor? Anyone seen it at the autoshows, etc? We have to decide if we can hold out till they hit the streets. We're semi in a crunch here, but 'might' be able to hold out depending on the changes.

Thank you. It's a very cool car. I know in the end, the stereo alone will make us buy it, but I hate to commit till we see the 2007 offerings.

kennyc

1. The stock OEM system on the TL will not play SACD. It does play DVD-A DTS disks. I don't know about regular DVD.

2. Premium fuel is STRONGLY recommended. TL will take regular gas if you can't find premium fuel.

3. There is nothing concrete about the MY07. One has to wait.

AMIC

The TL's sound system will NOT play DVD-Video discs. So if you put that concert DVD in it will spit it back out and say format error.

Jaa99pa

You can play SACD's in the TL, but it will play like a regular CD. I have Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon SACD, and it plays fine. No different then the normal CD from what i've heard in my 2005 TL.

I was using 93 octane fuel until gas prices approached $3.00 and beyond, and then i dropped to mid-grade, which is 89 octane. Not that i drive my car hard, as in flooring it, i've had no detonation occur.

And as far as thinking that the stereo alone is worth bying the car, you might want to think again. Don't get me wrong, i love my TL, but the stereo leaves a lot to be desired. They over-rated it, but under-designed it, in my opinion. I'm currently gathering info in these forums for the sole purpose of upgrading the system.

meagain

Thanks so far!

Yes, one can never ever ever have a good enough stereo. Neither one of us added an after market system so we're pretty in the dark about what's involved. We're gleaning the amp can't support better speakers?
Basically our issue lies with the fact that this would be a purchase by his company for him and they'd technically own it. Same with the old Camry. Hence, we'd be hard-pressed to invest the cash in a stereo or the cool body mods, etc. Know what I mean?

But for all we've tried (Toyota, Lexus, TL), the TL shines by far. Only the Mark Levinson option in the Lexus sounded good and the Lexus isn't probably going to fly. The ES is ugly to us and the new one coming out is probably over the $$ edge.

We're basically down to the '07 Camry & the TL and will be stuck with their systems. My guess is the '07 Camry won't have an improved stereo & the TL will likely kick it's butt.

I don't care for the look of the wheels though & it sure would be nice to add a spoiler. But it's a cool car. Love the interior look on it. Still think it would be cool to add screensavers on the nav.

Jaa99pa

If my company paid for my car, then my choice would be the TL. The Camry is a nice car, but the Acura is much more fun to drive and has such a great body.
Since the car is free, i think you can probably "suffer" with the factory system!

meagain

I know. It's just that the '07 camry is an unknown and we have to analyze everything to death. All's I know is the Avalon & Camry's stereo s*cked compared to the TL and I don't have much hopes for the '07 from the specs I'm reading. But - It wouldn't be as fun in the end if we didn't suffer a bit first about it. We both know (despite it being unsaid), he'll end up with the TL. Just have to go thru' the motions!

Oh! I have a question! You know when you put in a DVD-A disc at home - there's a video display showing the song track and a screen graphic? If said DVD-A is put in the TL - does one get that graphic on the nav screen? Or is it ignored?

Jaa99pa

I've yet to actually buy a DVD-A disc. Haven't really found much at the local Best Buy, and just haven't looked online yet to see what's out there. The demo disc that comes with the TL sounds great though. Not all my kind of music, but it's way better then stereo, in my opinion.

meagain

We got ours at Amazon. Porcupine Tree, trying Yes Fragile, I've been told the Blue Man Group has a very cool dvd-a and I might pick that up.

AMIC

There is no graphic or menu when you insert a DVD-A disc. There is a way to access the other groups on the disc by holding the scan and repeat buttons.

meagain

Thanks AMIC - I totally forgot the scan/repeat button trick when I was there today.

I test drove for the first time. Very fun to drive. Seats are certainly harder than I'm used to but maybe I could find some sort of cushion for multi-hour trips. Saw one with A-spec & new wheels. Very cool. Wish there was a quick/easy storage for sunglasses.

Questions:

1. We played with the Nav. When the voice comes on, it mutes the stereo. Is there any way to disable this besides going into the setup mode and hitting 3-4 screen buttons? One quick/easy button? I'd want the nav on, but if I have a section of town where I know where I'm going - I don't want the music interruped. I wouldn't mind much if it spoke WHILE the music was on, but I don't want it dimmed. I thought I could just hit the 'audio' button, but the sales guy says no. This could irritate me.

2. Is there any way to change the lighting on the screen at the top/center dash that shows the temp from dishwater grey to blue?

3. Can anyone tell me if the lighting for your foot area is an LED that can be changed from White to blue with just a simple bulb change?

AMIC

To answer your questions

1. I don't think there is a way to have the voice talk without muting (actually it just fades it to the back I think). The only way to not be interrupted is to turn the voice prompts off.

2. There is no way to change the color of that center display

3. There are a bunch of people here who have replaced most of the lighting in the car from white to blue. I know I've seen the footwells done. In the photograph subforum there are pictures of what everyone has done.

Jaa99pa

Ok, can someone tell me where the "footwell" lights are at? I just went out to my car and see no lights down there. The only lights i see in my car are the 2 front map, 2 rear map, glove box and center console. I even checked my owners manual and it doesn't list them either.

Newbie, here's a link for the Blue LED's. http://www.tec-toyz.com/index.html

meagain

AMIC (or anyone)... I know I can disable the voice on the Nav, but the salesman said the only way to do it was pushing the physical setup button, then tapping about 3 buttons on the nav screen. This of course is cumbersome & dangerous while driving. I don't believe him. Surely there is a physical? hit one button way to do this? Yes? This is bothering me immensely.

Jaa - Yes, I've read about Tec-Toyz and saw his Ebay kit, etc. I've emailed him to ask if he has anything to tweak the lights at the foot area for driver/passenger. I'm unclear if they are LEDs or not. But when I test drove an '06 yesterday, there were lights down there.

I'm also trying hard to resist the concept of adding the DVD dealie. It would be so fun, but I don't know what system to go with. Very confusing! And I see nothing on Ebay.

Rant: Am I the only one who finds the TL having a cassette player a ridiculous concept? Makes the console look bad and is a total waste of space. Almost makes me want to hold out for the '07 to see if it's excluded. Like on the new SUV coming out.

AMIC

Sorry, but there is no button that you can push to disable the voice without going into the setup.

Some general consensus about the tape deck was that it was possibly put in for cassette adapters for ipods or other music players. I use it for just that purpose. But with the new Music Link adapter they might get rid of it in the '07s.

meagain

AMIC - Thanks for the info. I must say I'm utterly shocked! They didn't think that through.

I'll have to go figure out what you're talking about re the cassette deck being used for other purposes.

chill_dog

Uh, the cassette deck is useful for cassette tapes...some of us still have some laying around that we enjoy listening to from time to time.

Jaa99pa

The 06 must have lights in the footwells, but my 05 doesn't.

I wouldn't worry too much about the voice on the navi. I used to leave it on, but it was pretty annoying and i also didn't like it cutting out my tunes. Now i leave it off though, but i can still follow the "blue" line to know where i'm going. I'll have to try this later, but there is a button for "voice" on the screen while you have a destination mapped out. I'll try to remember to hit that button while the voice is turned off to see if it talks only at that time.

AMIC

I think the voice button just repeats the last thing it said. It does not toggle between voice prompt/no voice prompts.

leedogg

I'm willing to bet they implement a lot of the features they've put in the other vehicle lines. (i.e. the ones that dont sell as well as the TL). specifically, mp3 input, metallic highlights on the door handles, foglights in the bumper, perhaps even awd.

I used to use the tape deck with a tape adapter for my mp3 player in my last car...may have to try the radio frequency based adapters now...

Jaa99pa

meagain: I just went out to my car to check out the voice deal for that navi. My voice volume was set to "off", but when i hit the voice button (once i set a destination), it told me what to do for where i was along the route. When i went into setup and turned the volume up once notch from the off position, you could hear the voice, but just barely. The way i would recommend using it would be to leave the voice off, but just hit the voice button when you want to hear the current info. And it's easier then what the salesman told you regarding how to turn off the voice. All you do its hit the setup button, and the voice volume is right there. And keep in mind, you can probably accomplish most of this using the voice commands. If you want more info, let me know and i'll run back out to the car for you.

meagain

Jaa - Thanks. This makes sense, and sounds like it'll work ok.

It's looking like we're definitely getting a TL. The only issue now is color. Before it was Black or Silver. Black was eliminated and White added (by me, due to all the pics here) so now it's Silver or White. I doubt he'll go for white though. I never liked white cars, but for some reason the pics here are really turning me on to it.

We're also trying to decide if we can hold off the 8 months or so till the '07's come out. I sure wish I knew someone at Acura corporate with info!

Jaa99pa

Have you considered Anthricite? I originally wanted silver, but my girlfriend talked me into anthricite, and now i'm glad she did. Looks really sharp!