I was excited to find a 04 TL with only 19K miles on it so I decided to take it for a test drive. Mind you I have never been in a TL before and my other rides are 07 Oddysey and 04 I4 Accord. So I was expecting the TL to be fun. I was so surprised to find that it was so slow to start with, now I am not talking raw MPH, more of the typical driving situations at low speeds. Seemed to lack torque. It seemed to have a slight resistance at gain momentum at low speeds, say around the parking lot, or rolling at traffic light, or city traffic. I almost felt like I had to go WOT to gain some momemntum. My Ody seemed to roll more happuly in all of those situtations.

So anyone else who owns and rides 05+ Odyssey & 04+ TL can provide some input as to whether the TL seems slower than ODY at speeds upto 40 - 50 miles. or the one that I drove was a turd

 

Ive never noticed a problem with what you descirbe in my 04 w/73k miles..maybe there was a issue with THAT car. Go drive another one and see if you have the same issue.

 

i have driven an 03 I4, i think it was an 03, but somewhere between 02 and 04, but anywho. no, the TL beat it hands down, no contest. now this is comparing it to an 06 TL, but i dont think there is that much a difference between an 04 and an 06. i think it was the vehicle you drove, maybe it is in dire need of a tuneup or something. i would search for another and try it out. i have also driven the TSX, which has a much improved I4 over the Accord, and again, the TL blows that away.

 

We own an '04 Ody LX (which is slightly faster than the '05 Ody, IIRC- same engine, less weight)-- my '05 TL will leave the Ody for dead from 0-*.

Two things to keep in mind: the TL has adaptive electronics and transmission, so if the owner was a slow, gradual driver, the TL likely adapted to that style of driving (and will readapt a different style of driving).

Also, the TL has a stiffer throttle pedal than many vehicles I've had/driven, but I don't know if that compares with the '07 Ody, which I think is also drive-by-wire.

Try driving another '04-'06 TL to compare. G/L!

 

Also, not sure if it applies, but does the '04 have the Drive-by-Wire thottle? Others have noticed a slight lag between throttle input and engagement.

Another possible factor, from a roll. The car in full Auto will upshift to the highest possible gear as soon as acceleration stabilizes.

If you apply only modest throttle, from a roll, the car may stay in the higher gear, which will have low torque at low rpm. A little more throttle input will drop the gear selection down for better acceleration.

 

I may sound ignorant by saying this but the TL is not powerful enough in my eyes. I own one because its aggressive looking and luxury wise its nice inside.....BUT yea the TL does lack ALOT of Torque!

To actually feel real speed in this car you would have to do alot of modifications under the hood.......just my 2cents..

Also i never drove the TYPE S but i hear it is a totally different car so you should look at that

 

i think the key thing he is looking for is used, not brand new. anywho, i have actually heard the type-s isnt that much faster. either way, i still think the TL is faster than either the accord or the minivan. but i agree that it should be faster.

 

4 years old, low mileage = most likely it was never broken in properly and has poor maintence history. Cars get better as they are driven daily, and mainted accordingly.

Go drive an 04 TL with 60 thousand maintained miles.

 

Buy a 6 speed. Totally different car, although neither will ever have that low rpm "shove you back in the seat torque"; it's a Honda engine, after all.

 

These are the exact 2 things that first came to my mind. To negate the transmission effect I shifted it over to the the manual mode to try hold the car in gear for a longer while, still I wan't Impressed. And moreover this was a used car @ the dealership that was preped up for sale, so I am sure it was cured of any obvious issues. However who knows, this particular unit may have some ECU or other issue which could be stopping it from performing well.

 

I guess I will go and drive a M5 to satisfy my craving for Torque


Almost forgot I am too broke to afford it

 

I had someone drive my 04TL the other day and he was "being kind" and didn't floor it. As such, it didn't really "take off" like it would have under my direction. Now, that being stated, the TL isn't a "torque monster" at all so if you were looking for torque....nope, you won't find it.

 

Say what? I have never, ever heard this about the TL. I'm not saying it isn't true, but I guess I'm not even familiar with the term. Are there many cars out there that do this? (When I bought my TL used, I noticed no difference from then unit now, when the car has supposedly "adapted" to my style).

Oh yeah, and the 6MT makes a world of difference.

 

!!!! 6mt Ftw !!!!

 

Yes, the 6 speed version is a TOTALLY different car in terms of acceleration. The 6MT version also provides stiffer ride and better cornering. There are a lot of things going on under the skin of the car in the 6MT version.


Try the 6MT version. The gears are close-ratio so you will have the immediate punch even at fairly low/med rpm. 1st gear punches upto about 37 mph, second gear at 60 mph, third at 92, 4th at 125, 5th at 152mph(governed). 6th gear if you want to save some gas.

The 6MT will crush 5AT in every gear, in all range of speed, start to finish. With my 4th gear I get upto 125 mph very quickly....... it will also stop faster too, larger discs with Brembo brakes? Uh huh, yup, uh huh,

The shocks are different parts, spring rates are different, and use thicker anti-roll bar on the 6MT. Open up that hood and you'll see how thick that *thang* is... yikes.

Uh huh.... yea it's the lightest too, 3487 lbs. The 5AT version weighs 3650+.

And yup, the gas pedal is VERY precise and is soft, not stiff like the AUTO version. The precision is so good that you can take off exactly how you would want.

The other day I drove the '07 TL AUTO (loaner) and that thing was a turd!! I've got so used to my 6MT TL and drive the AUTO it doesn't take off.. like a turtle. The car rolls more too in the turns.

if you want descent acceleration out of the AUTO you need to launch it with higher RPM and disable VSA.

 

i have a 06 odyssey and i have a 07 tl-s. it feels slow if u put alittle gas. the vans throttle is alot more sensative. but if u give her on the TL u will feel the power =)

 

very true. an 04 with 19k? something is wrong with the car.