SFzip

Checked out a 2004 TL at about 8pm tonight. This car was not prep'd, so the interior was covered with plastic (side panels, seats), the exterior tubular door guards were on, a few section of the car had the clear protective film adhered, and none of the electrical items inside were functional except for the dash and the blue ambient LEDs in the courtesy light/home link/sunroof switch cluster.

Deep Green Pearl/Camel
These colors are new for 2004. The DGP looked sophisticated and elegant. It looked either dark green with charcoal gray flakes or the other way around. Camel with faux wood and aluminum worked well together and gave the interior a more expensive and luxurious appearance. This exterior/interior combo went well together.

Dash/Ambient Lights
The gauges were bright, crisp and comfortable on the eyes. It was a pleasure to look at indeed. The buttons on the steering wheel were illuminated. The blue ambient LEDs above seemed to shine on the cup-holder area. With my hand on the shifter, I could see the blue on my white shirt sleeve (about 5 inches). The intensity of these LEDs were very low, barely visible, perhaps just enough to see where to grab your drinks in the dark. This is useful and non intrusive, in my opinion.

Exterior Lights
Not all LEDs. The front and rear signal lamps did not look like LEDs, but regular bulbs. The side markers, unfortunately, did not blink with the turn signals. The mirrors didn't have any kind of signaling device. Xenon headlights—what can I say?

Interior Noise
Quiet at idle, but a sporty exhaust note was heard as soon as the gas pedal was applied. I was a little surprised at this, since Acura had paid so much attention to quiet down the interior with the acoustic windshield, 1.5mm thicker glass and the 3M Thinsulate padding. This characteristic, no doubt, denotes a sports sedan.

Rear Cabin
After the short drive, with the driver seat adjusted to my 5'9" setting, I sat in the rear seat directly behind. The rear leg room was good for my height such that I could extend my legs enough to feel comfortable. Headroom was plentiful. The cup holders hidden in the center armrest were snug and didn't feel flimsy. It felt taut sliding in and out of the armrest and never felt loose fully extended.

This car is a winner.

Raheel

Is there a bump on the floor in the back?

tl4ratz

How are you guys getting these test drives? The dealer here in town is telling me absolutely no test drives until 10/6.

Raheel

your dealer is nuts or you dont have any connections

tl4ratz

Yep, the dealer here is nuts. I just called a dealer an hour away, they are doing test drives.

SFzip

I didn't pay attention to that area, but I believe there was.

BigBluu

Just got back from my test drive. Didn't really have much time but tried to squeeze it in. Mostly casual surface street driving since it's rush hour on the freeways already, so don't have much of an impression on that yet. It is definitely quiet though. The gas pedal feels a little awkward to me - not sure why. I noticed that when you get off the throttle, it still goes for a bit before decellerating.

I test drove the Blue I have a deposit for, and it is a very dark color. Looks very good with lots of metallic sparkle in the sun, but looks deep purpleish at some angles. Interior is very nicely laid out and comfortable. However, I was not that inpressed with the leather. The perforation is nice, but parts that were not were a little wrinkled. And the quartz interior is a little duller than I expected. I will need to look at the camel before buying. Yes, there is a hump in the rear floor. All windows and sunroof can be opened with the remote, but not close. I'm 6' tall and tried sitting in the back after i had driven it - knees did clear the seat w/ a couple inches to spare. So that's okay I guess. Trunk does not look small at all.

I am going back for a more thorough test drive this weekend. I want to drive the '03 and '04 back-to-back. They say I can't take delivery until Monday.

Lore

It's very interesting how perspectives change depending who you ask. On a few of the posts in ********** people were saying that the trunk looked way too small but that they loved the leather because it felt softer, more supple.

Then some people said the brakes and engine are both very responsive, but someone else said the brakes leave a little to be desired.

I'm going to need to try the car out for myself to see how the brakes perform, among other things. Which bay area dealer did you try out?