cammy5

Hello, fellow Acura enthusiasts! I currently drive a 2009 black TSX 6MT which I have treated like a baby as long as I've owned it. I enjoy pretty much every aspect of the car, particularly the 'fun to drive' part with the manual transmission. I just crossed over 75K miles on it and have been thinking of getting a new car but def want to retain a manual transmission so that limits me, considering the price range I want to stay in, on what I can get...particularly from Acura. I don't care much for the ILX and have been doing a great deal of research on the TL-SH AWD 6MT. I have a few questions for you folks and hopefully those that have had a TSX 6MT can chime in too!

1) How is the ride comfort for long distance trips? With my career, I travel a multi-state region so being comfortable in a car is a big thing. The TSX is pretty much as firm of a ride as I'd like to have. Is the TL SH-AWD about the same level of firmness?

2) Are the HID headlights THAT bad? I seem to remember reading a few threads here where people bemoaned how bad the 'frosted' HID lights are. How would they compare to the TSX HID lights (which I LOVE)? I'm not one to want to remove and modify the headlights in anyway so if they are truly that bad it may very well rule out the car for me entirely.

3) What are some real world highway MPGs for the TL SH-AWD 6MT? In my TSX I get 28-29 on 75-80mph road trips (calculated by hand as the trip computer seems to be 1-2 mpg optimistic)

Looking forward to hearing everyone's opinions!

cammy5

BTW, here is a pic of my almost 6 year old baby....to give you an idea of how pilly and OCD I am about my car!

carbonTSEX

To answer some of your questions since I came from a TSX as well. 04 6 speed however to a 2014 Sh AWD Auto.

1. The ride is pretty stiff for factory. You feel almost every bump but it handles like a dream. Eventually it just becomes normal. On the freeway it rides really smooth and barely has any outside noise. I took it on a road trip a couple months ago and it was very comfy to drive the long distance in.

2. The HID's don't compare to the TSX headlights. I feel the output doesn't reach as far as the TSX. The cut off is the same but the angle doesn't do much. I mean they still light up the road enough. A lot of the guys that have modded their headlights have installed the TSX-R Projectors.

3. Im averaging around 20mpg on the highway. What do you expect though. Its a heavy car and has a 3.7L V6 engine. It does have a lot more power then the TSX did which can get you into some trouble if used at the wrong time lol.

All in all, I am glad I made the purchase. I enjoy driving it after daily driving my TSX during the weekdays. Can't go wrong.

amill

1. The ride is subjective. I don't think it's that stiff. However, it will be more stiff than a TSX, but compared to other "sport sedans" I don't think it's bad at all. Highway driving is very smooth.

2. I had a 2006 TL before this car and the headlights in the 4G are not as good as that generation. Especially since the high beams are halogen based. They are still good headlights, especially compared to a lot of other vehicles. The cutoff is decently sharp and I honestly don't need the high beams very often. The beam pattern and cutoff is better than our other vehicle which is a Grand Cherokee Summit.

3. My commute is mostly suburban roads with a few lights, a stop sign and 2 miles of highway. I usually average 21.xmpg overall. I don't drive conservatively, so I'm sure if I was lighter on the pedal I'd get a little better mpg. On the highway, I average around 24-26mpg depending on speed. I just took a 200 mile round trip that was 90% highway for a bachelor party where I averaged 24.x mpg. I was driving between 75-85mph for long periods of time...so the 80+ probably hurt my average a bit.

Overall it's a great car.

ctaranto

I just traded in my '11 TL AWD manual, but here's my take:

1. The suspension is pretty stiff. So much so that it was the reason I needed to trade it in. I threw my back out (for the 3rd time) this past winter, and with the potholed roads in New England, it's pretty jarring. If you have smooth roads, it's not that bad (it's not bouncy like lowered cars). But, the car does handle very well and is flat through fast corners.

2. I didn't have an issue with the headlights. I also didn't have a TSX before this to compare it to. I thought they were fine, but I do notice that on-coming TLs tend to blind me.

3. I was getting pretty good mileage. My work commute is all back roads, which resulted in about a 22mpg average. On the highway, I hit upwards of 28. All according to the computer. Pushing the fun pedal would drop mpg to about 17 city.

The car was very reliable, had rattles that were fixed by the dealer, and upon trade in, was squeak/rattle free. The manual mated to the 3.7 is a joy to drive.

ressling

I went from an '09 TSX 6MT then to a Prelude SH 5MT, and now in a TL SH-AWD 2012 6AT. They all have their pros and cons, but all-around, the TL takes the cake in my book. Solid, well-built car that will last.

ressling

1) Ride comfort is awesome. I don't take my '12 TL SH-AWD on the highway that often, but when I do it is an absolute pleasure. Latest trip I did from ATL to Charlotte proved to be very relaxing, smooth and nice. Lane changes will but a grin on your face, no doubt. Just watch out for cops...

2) No. I think perceived problems in general with the 4th gen are overblown because of forums like this. Every car has little kinks. For 4th gen TL's mostly what you have to watch out for are things like the propeller shaft, vibration at high speeds (usually due to over-torqued rotors, etc.) but nothing major. I've not heard of HID issues except for "one-off" type cases, similar to the crow's feet in the '09-'11's only a few users have reported.

3) The TL won't match a TSX 6MT in MPGs; pure physics differences there. Having owned both nobody can really challenge me on this. I'm mostly city driving, and I average between 17-19 MPG in the TL, which was similar to what I got in the TSX. Highway was a big difference though. I've gotten up to 35 MPG in the 6MT TSX. When I'm driving 100% highway in the TL, the max I've gotten going up to 85mph is 28-29 MPGs. Even though my TL is 6AT I highly doubt anyone would get more than 1-2 MPGs more than that in a SH-AWD TL 6MT.

At the end of the day, it's a tradeoff; do you want something smaller and nimble, that still packs a little punch? Or are you going for a true performance-luxury vehicle? If the latter, then you might as well list your TSX for sale right now and start keeping your eyes peeled for a SH-AWD 6MT, because they are extremely rare. At the time I was in the market, I almost pulled the trigger on a 2010 SH-AWD but the exterior color was at the bottom of my list and they still wanted like $33k for it. Absurd. Even though it had ~20k on the odometer, I couldn't justify the cost when I could get a 2012 for less, even with higher mileage and the 6AT vs 6MT.

Good used cars are like houses right now... prices are still over-inflated because most people cannot afford to buy new.

ctaranto

Don't forget that the MT suspension is stiffer than the AT....

C8N

Is the suspensions actually stiffer on the MT or does it just feel that way because the MT is lighter?

ctaranto

It's tuned different: http://www.autoblog.com/2008/09/26/h...2010-acura-tl/

Some highlights:
The 2010 TL SH-AWD® 6MT has exclusive suspension tuning via special coil spring and shock absorber rates tuned for flatter cornering with reduced pitching motions under acceleration and braking. The front dampers incorporate 5-percent more tension damping during low piston speeds to generate improved turn-in feel. In addition, the front dampers generate 14-percent less high speed compression damping which helps improve ride quality.

The TL SH-AWD® 6MT employs firmer engine and transmission bushings that better resist engine and/or transmission movement during spirited driving. Engine side mount bushing stiffness increases by 80-percent, front mount rate increases by 17-percent, rear hydro mount firmness increases by 50-percent and the transmission upper mount is stiffened by 100-percent.

For 6-speed manual transmission applications, special heavy-duty front driveshafts are used. In addition to being 2-percent larger in diameter, the driveshafts have a larger inboard spline size and team with more heavy-duty CV joints.