Joe5.0

I have had a loaner from the dealership while my Cl-S6 us having a couple minor issues resolved (seat heaters, foggy headlight).

I just thought I'd give my impression of the TL, from a CLS6 owner.

- Nice ride, low road noise. Compared to my 75k mile CL-S its very quiet.
- More rattles than I expected from a car with only 10k miles.
- Manually shifted automatic is a joke, slow to respond
- Seat bottoms are too short, cant find a comfortable seating position, altho telescope wheel is very nice
- Built in XM is very nice, stereo seems a little bit 'bassy' though, the Bose in my CL-S doesnt have as much bass, but better clarity
- Great brakes compared to mine

And my biggest 'gripe', am I alone in that the car feels like the steering is kind of artificial? I mean it has much better steering response compared to my car, but its hard to tell what the car is doing through the steering wheel. I find myself making lots of little adjustments on the expressway.

I dunno, dont take it the wrong way, but I was mildly dissapointed. Maybe I'm just used to my car, but I was halfway expecting better road feel and didnt get it.

It DEFINITELY gets the styling nod over my car though.

timmahh

I love your avatar

Did you play with the sound settings? Someone probably bumped the subwoofer all the way up.. my car now has 51k miles and I really only hear minor rattles on rough roads

Joe5.0

I adjusted the audio settings. Full treble, mid bass and mid subwoofer. Even when I turned the bass all the way down I felt the music was still a little cloudy. I think it has more to do with not having tweeters, versus the Cl-S which has a-pillar tweeters but no subwoofer.

korrupted

My bro has a 2G TL-S, let me compare it to my 3G TL-S:

1. The 3G Noise Cancellation is amazing.
2. My TL-S has some rear suspension noise issues, the ride is probably a little bumpier than the 2G.
3. The cornering in the 3G is amazing, 0.91g on the skidpad, the 2G drove like any other Japanese car.
4. Rattling? besides my rear suspension, haven't heard anything.
5. The SportShift is a little slow, but if you wanted to manually shift all the time, then get a MT. The acceleration is definitely quicker than the 2G.
6. Does the steering wheel telescope? Never noticed. But the driver seats can be adjusted up and down to find your best seat height. The seats are way more comfortable than the 2G.
7. The XM volume is a bit muted, but the sound seem OK.
8. Brembro's in da front... enuf said.

I guess it's all subjective anyways.

timmahh

ehh.. ELS 8 Speaker system..

There are tweeters in the front.. the dash has 3 speakers total, the front doors have 1, and the rear has 3

Edit: Steering wheel moves up/down & in/out

Tripnbeats

Id say you also have a bose system....so it makes a diff.

Joe5.0

Like I said, it was a standard TL automatic. Comparing what I am writing about to a TL-S is not the same.

And I stand by the audio opinion. Ok so it has tweeters up front, it still didnt sound as clear as the Bose in my CL-S. I didnt try it with a cd though, which I will do today to see if that makes a difference.

timmahh

listen to a DVD-Audio disc those sound sweet

Joe5.0

LOL I'm sure, dont have any though. I forgot about that feature though, which I'm sure would make a marked difference in the sound quality the system puts out.

Privdog

if you still have the car look in the glove box for the demo DVD. play song 5 or song 20 real loud on it. other songs on there are ok, some a little strange, but you'll get the idea.

blueracer17

I don't know if the base 07' has the same steering as my 04', but I agree with the no feedback comments. Clover leaf on ramps are the worst, accelerating and turning the car feels like it's all over the place. Very sensitive to inputs and very numb feel. Glad I'm not the only one to think this.

Privdog

draw backs of current drive by wire systems?

Tvtchr222

I love my '07 TL but my '99 TL with Bose had better sound.

DVD-A is a dead format.

Joe5.0

Well I played a cd, and it def improved the sound. I cant understand it though, because the radio & cd sound very similar in my CL-S.

It didnt have the DVD-A disc in the glovebox.

And I know part of the disconnected feeling is because of the throttle by wire, but that doesnt explain the numb steering. My brother drove the car and kind of mentioned the same thing. He has a 05 Altima Se-R for comparison.

binhsterbinh

My dad has a '00 3.2 TL Navi AT and I have an '05 TL Navi AT. The differences are pretty substantial overall.

1) Looks, no question that that 3G is better looking.

2) As far as steering goes, the 3G steering is far more touchy/sensitive thanks to 2.7 turns lock to lock. The 2G definitely hid the road irregularities so that you couldn't really feel any vibrations at all (but it also had 16" wheels). BTW, the OEM tires on the 3G will definitely not compliment anything and attribute to the numb feeling. Putting stickier rubber on will dramatically change perceptions.

3) Overall driving experience - the 2G felt like a more refined 98-02 Accord that my mom has. The layout is nearly identicle. The only major difference I noticed was the variable speed sensitive steering that the 2G had over the Accord. Secondly, noise was way down between the 3.2 TL VS '99 Accord.

4) 3G Tranny is smoother and throttle by wire helps a lot for the smoother acceleration.

5) Seats in 3G are way more comfortable. I spent the first 2 months in my 3G just finding the right position that was right. Once I found it, I hope to God that no one ever changes it. The 2G seats lack lower back support and ripped easily on the edges where you enter and step out (That 1" strip of vinyl)

davejsbx

I drove my friends 2g CLs for about a week, I was going to buy it, but bought my TLs instead. Loved the CLs, but the two cars are a world apart.

* I do agree, when Acura was using the Bose system in the cars, it was a much clearer, richer sound system. I do not like the sub used in the 3g at all. Very muddy!

* I had a 3g TL loaner a couple of weeks ago, and I agree with you, while it was a much smoother ride than my S, long sweeping turns reminded me of the Buick Regal SC that I used to drive, responsive, but no "grab" feeling.

* It took me a very long time to find a seat position that was perfect in my car, then when I did we had a battery problem, and I had to start over.

* The manual shifting doesn't bother me any more. There is a delay, but as you learn the car, you adapt, and now I love it. My only problem is 1st to 2nd, If you don't hit it perfectly at the top, you hit the rev limiter to easily. But owning a MT would have made me go crazy in the So Cal trafic!!!

But overall, what an amazing car! A pure joy to drive.................when people get out of your way!!!

jaymurff25

Keep in mind that you are driving a loaner from the dealer that has 10k miles on it which were driven by people who probably drove it like they stole it just to see what it could do. When I bought my base 07 TL I test drove a used 05 and a used 06, each with 20-30k miles on them and the differences were pretty significant. I don't know if this says that these cars stay true for very long or if they were previously owned by people who drove them ragged. I have 15k on mine since February and it still drives like the day I bought it. Since day 1 it has felt strange on cloverleafs, although that might have something to do with the thin (for me) tires. I always had 275s on my Mustang GTs that I have owned for the past 10 years. I plan to upgrade my tires once I upgrade my rims, but I paid the extra money for my rims at the dealership to have the factory rims chromed and because of that it has made me more reluctant to rush out and get larger aftermarket rims and at the same time I don't want to spend money on wider tires since I plan on getting larger rims in the next few months.

As for the manual shifting I am a fan of it. If I am at a red light or looking to pass someone in a hurry and put it in manual mode and drop it down I can certainly accelerate quicker than if I had left it to shift on it's own.

The sound quality is definitely a little base heavy with certain songs. I almost exclusively listen to my iPod other than my morning radio show on the drive in to work and I am building a plan to replace most of my factory system. Again, I have always put in aftermarket systems myself and am used to a much louder sound and a much tighter base response. For a factory system though the ELS system is very impressive, especially with a DVD-A disc. The demo disk is VERY impressive if you are a doubter about the difference.

The seat bottoms feel perfect for me, but I am only 5'6 so maybe that has something to do with it. If you are taller than that then suck it up and deal with it and be glad you aren't short

I would also attribute the rattles to being a loaner car. I had the little annoying rattles in the dash when I first got the car but I brought it in and they padded the center channel speaker and it's dead quiet now. AMAZING compared to owning Mustangs (or Ford's in general).