ggesq

iTrader: (1)

Welcome to the wonderful world of Honda.

ugajoshnic

There is a gigantic thread on Temple of VTEC on Acura shooting for Audi status. What do you guys think. To me it is cross between Infinity power, lexus luxury, and their signature tech. I guess the biggest similarity to audi is the refusal to go rear wheel drive and moving to all wheel drive. The real wheel drive issue is big now, but in a few years I wouldnt be surprised to see almost all cars in all wheel drive. Acura seems to have a good sport luxury combo with a focus on tech and reliability. Infinity gets terrible milage and resale, but is faster. Lexus is luxurius, but the IS350 is much smaller and not as tech laden, but also a little faster. BMW handles better and is faster, but the interior sucks. Acura seems pretty middle of the road on most things. Think they'll ever have a BMW M, Audi RS, Lexus F, Mercedes AMG or similar super sport model - Type -s is nice, but not nearly the jump you see in the M, RS, or F. I'd really like to see them do something like the Mercedes C63 AMG these look very similar and seem to have a similar feel and style but as fast as a base model Vette!

007TL-S

Lets just "HOPE"HONDA" makes the right"PROGRESSIVE" moves!..... with the ACURA TL and the entire line up, as I see the HONDA line is moving MORE towards the Vanilla side of Toyota and trying to apease the masses!..as for fuel tecnologies go, Bio-fuel cells and Diesel look like the direction of the future and conventional gasoline will still be around!....i'll take the gasoline any day!

JeffNY

Not to start a flame war, but can anyone explain the love of "gasoline" to me? I like gasoline too..had great affection for it since it powered my Kawasaki dirt bikes (some 35 years ago now!). I remember walking to the gas station with my gas can and paying .32 cents a gallon. But this is a different world, even from when I bought my TL in '99. The cost of gasoline has DOUBLED in just three years and shows no sign of of going down. Exxon and Mobil have merged, apperantly killing a lot of competition driving prices high. China and Inda are adding MILLIONS of gasoline powered cars a year. The days of cheap gas are over.

Consider this, if you drive 18,000 miles a year and get an average 22MPG, that is 818 gallons of gas. At $1.50 that used to cost you $1227 a year. At $3.25 a gallon it now cost you $2659 a year. And those are after tax dollars, so you really have to make about $4000 a year just to put "gas" in your car. Over 5 years that's $20,000! The cost of some nice cars! I don't know about you guys but I don't want to work that many extra hours just to put "gas" in my car.

Issue 2: Performance. Some of these electrics out there have far superior acceleration than gas powered cars. Electrics or hybrids or fuel cells do not have to be poor performers. Until last year I owned several Hyster electric forklifts.....I'm sold. Cheaper to operate, no pollution in the work place, and far more reliable....consider an internal combustion engine has a few thousand parts, compared to a hand full in an electric motor. I think we will see an electric motor at each wheel eventually, but the idea that simpler or more eco-friendly vehicles can't deliver performance is bunk.

Issue 3: The environment. I was pretty skeptical of this whole "global warming" thing. But I think it is clear to all now "something" is going on and we can't keep burning fossil fuels the way we have, especially with other developing countries now wanting to enjoy driving and adding so many cars to the world.

Issue 4: Security. I don't know about you guys, but I am fed up with us having to rely on getting oil from other countries around the world....like the middle east and that clown Chavez in Venezuela....all of who would be nobodies with out our money financing them. You guys can do what you want, but from here out when I but a new vehicle I am going to do every thing I can to reduce my fuel bill and sending American money abroad or to Exxon/Mobil and support American farmers or other technology that helps get us off this need for oil we now have.

"Gasoline" has served us well....but after 120 years it's time to move on, in my opinion.

Jeff-

ugajoshnic

I second that. Fuel economy is much more important to me now than it used to be. I was a truck or suv man before last year and gave it all up for a car to save on gas. I would like a little performance though at a small fuel sacrifice. Fun is worth a little extra cost.

Xpditor

To the last posters talking about alternative energy.

This forum is about Third Generation TL and 2009 speculation.

I cannot move your posts where they belong.... in Ramblings. Feel free to copy your interesting postings over there.

In the meantime, let's keep this thread on topic.

Thanks.

Ac Man

I just hope that Acura decides to up the ante for the '09 TL. Look at what Honda did with the Accord, The Toyota Camry and Nissan Altima came out first, and what did Honda do? Instead of besting both cars, they matched them in terms of horse power, and has LESS tech features than the Altima (Push button start, etc.). Once again, the competition has showed it's hand, let's see if Acura follows big brother Honda and simply matches what the competition has, or pushes ahead of everybody and be a leader in certain categories. Acura needs everything the competition has, plus something that will create a buzz about the brand. Look at what Lexus did with the LS. That self-parking feature had everybody talking, even those who had no intentions of buying a Lexus or could even afford one.

Buzz brings potential customers to dealerships to see what the fuss is about, and if they don't buy that particular car, they could still find something else in their price range on the lot/showroom. I'm not a big fan of gimmicks, but Acura needs to have some type of gimmick to get people that are not current Acura owners interested. Somethings we can all agree SHOULD show up in the '09 TL (300 hp, better sound system, better Navi, etc). But the next TL needs to have something from out in left field, something nobody is thinking about or expecting.

JeffNY

Sorry.....I was trying to make the point the new TL's should offer SOME kind of more eco-friendly fuel-efficient power train. I want to buy a new TL...'09 or '10....just want to be able to drive it without going broke buying "gas" for it. I'll keep future posts more focused on the new TL.

Jeff

chill_dog

It's called a halo model. I wouldn't necessarily call an LS a halo, but with the auto-park feature, it's pretty close. The LF-A, or whatever they're calling it now, will be their new halo. The NSX was Acura's halo...supposedly it's coming back.

ugajoshnic

My bad - in my head it was in relation to the new TL because we dont know for sure which direction they are gonna take it - fuel efficient or gas guzzler or even potentially hybrid - though unlikely. Thats why we want a 2009 forum!

krio

Guys I'm SICK, really SICK of people that continue comparing the TL to the Camry, or Altima, or to the Fiat Cinquecento...
Let's buy the Altima, the Camry if you want. Buy it.
The push botton?? What in hell is the PUSH button in a car???

The Alfa Romeo Competizione C8 has a push button? No. A simple, stupid, old key...
And the all new Maserati GranTurismo Coupe? too!! A key! Mamma mia! A key! I was just thinking to buy one, but no push button!! Than, no Maserati of corse...

And the Audi R8? What a shame!! The best sport car of 2007 got only a key?? No push button??
And the Lamborghini Gallardo? and the Ferrari 599 GTB??? Awful, thinking of what carmakers are becoming in these days. No push buttons...
Better to buy an Altima than, of corse! What luck!!

I DON'T LIKE the Camry and the Altima (a cheaper copy of Infiniti).and whatever else like Toyota or Nissan. I don't consider Camry or Altima concurents of the TL. Thanks God that in Europe nobody sell the Camry or Altima.
What ugly car they are...
I can compare the TL to the Lexus ES. Yes.
To the Infiniti G35, too. Great car, good interiors, but so inexpressive.

It''s the same story about Hyundai. Even if next year the Hyundai Genesis, (an awful mix of Lexus LS, Mbenz, and I don't know what else) will get a V10 with 500 hp and 15 push buttons, coffee machine, and Iacuzzi incorporated, ventilated rear, front seats I will never buy one for the simple reason that is a Hyundai car.

I continue to believe, maybe I'm of the old school, naive or crazy, that Honda did, has done, do and always WILL do very good cars, even better than many european car makers too.

and the push button...???

Ac Man

Where did I compare the TL to the Camry or Altima? I said the Accord! I compared the situations, after all Acura, is under Honda's umbrella. I would never compare the TL to a Toyota or Nissan, I'll compare it to an ES or G before i'd do that, come on! I said I don't want Acura doing what Honda did, you might want to re-read my post. As far as the tech. features go, I really don't care about push button start, heated steering wheels, cooled seats, etc. But everybody doesn't think like me or want the same features that I want, so Acura has to do a good job of making everyone happy (yeah right!).

1OneLove

I'm so tired of opening this thread and not seeing any pics of the new 2009 TL. How much longer do we have to wait?

Ac Man

I don't think you'll see a proper pic or display of the '09 TL until one of the upcoming autoshows, probably the New York show. I doubt it would be on display at the Detroit show (TSX more likely), but you never know.

Evader

I would love for them to debut the TL at the NY show.. I could actually be one of the first to see it in person then. Woot!

myron

iTrader: (4)

looking at the spy photoes of the TL, it seems to me that its not gonna be looking as sporty as the previous model. in my opinion it looks something along the lines of the new maxima or altima, with a little longer trunk and the bigger gril. my 0.02$

Ac Man

I really don't think that the "REAL" TL is under all that camo, Acura is just trying to throw everybody off. Just look at the side mirrors, they don't even have the blinkers on them that was just introduced on the '07 MMC. I doubt they would abandon that feature after two years. That car in those photos is a dummy car I believe, they're just testing the engine, drivetrain, handling, etc. they don't need the actual finished model for testing. Acura would be foolish to design the next TL to look like cars that look inferior to the current model, but then again, Honda did just that with the new Accord so go figure!

ugajoshnic

I'm sure the camoed TL is missing plenty of features that make it look better. Its about testing the components not the look.
On the push button argument - I cant help it, but I want a push button ignition, but I would never pick one car over another based on it.

ugajoshnic

Thought you would appreciate this throwback to last time we speculated about this
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42171
Whats really funny is they were talking about 400hp with rear wheel drive. We dont even have those pipe dreams now 5+ years later! Then again if fuel were still 99 cents maybe we would.

ugajoshnic

I've seen some other boards talking about a totally new redesigned V6 for the TL to help separate it and "Advance" though it will trickle down to the Accord. Anyone see any proof in this? Also a 6 speed instead of 5 speed.

rksokol

I was theorizing that indeed the 2009 TL body is under all that padding & cladding, but the side mirrors seemed to be ripped off an older 3G model.

ugajoshnic

That makes sense.

TITAN3.2TL

Man, I can't wait to see some good pics of the new TL without all the camouflage!

I have been gone for quite some time. I traded in my 1999 TL in June of 2002 for a Mazda Millenia, which I have been driving ever since. Now I am ready to get another TL and will be waiting on the 2009 to arrive. I will be anixously awaiting!!!

ultimate_ed

So say we all! For now, we're left to pretty much chase our tails speculating on all that might be.

gcook

found this.. not sure if anyone already posted as it is a couple months old..
sorry if it is a repeat..

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...cleId=122779#2

spyphotos of suspected 2009 tl

BENDER08

major repost

Vanilla_Gorilla

Anybody see this yet?

http://www.autoblog.com/photos/honda...oncept/549641/

I really hope the new TL is this ugly, it'll make me feel better about buying my '07 Type-S.

mayflowerman

I spoke to a senior engineer for Honda Research and he said that the 2009 TL has smilar lines to the Cadillac CTS from the rear (angular).

He also said the AWD would be an option not standard.

BENDER08

the front looks like it will eat you

ggesq

iTrader: (1)

I think that Accord looks ok

MotionEffects

looks like an 08 accord to me...

Silver_Surfer

Aside from the protruding bubble headlights and claw like chrome grill, I think the Accord looks OK.

rksokol

Nice lighting on the interior pillar!

Hope the 4G TL doesn't look like this on the outside, though.

halfaznguy87

interesting.. Because, based on the spy photos, I don't see angular designs but more curves...

we'll see..

MIKEYDRED

I will tell you this looks way better than the US Accord!

TITAN3.2TL

I hope that is not it either. I don't like it. I am in the market for a new TL and if that is what it looks like I will consider a '08.

Mindworm

It's an accord, gents....look at the pics.

http://automobiles.honda.com/accord-...or-photos.aspx

http://www.autoblog.com/photos/honda...oncept/549644/

Silver_Surfer

Thanks but most of us already know that is an accord.

JAB00

^^I concur it's an Accord^^

trancemission

hmmm, I dont know. Ive said it before and Ill say it again. The current 3G TL has great lines. I dont see how you can improve much on something that already looks so good.

Same with the NSX