007TL-S

NO......please say it's not true!

007TL-S

that's a CB antenna !

gurneyeagle

I don't know guys; I'm thinking MDX grill with a Maxima/Lexus GS rear profile. My wife has an '07 MDX and I'm still have not warmed up to the grill. I even thought of painting it dark grey, but was threatened with castration if I touched her car!

As far as SH-AWD, it's the real thing. The confidence it inspires in my MDX is incredible, especially on interstate on/off ramps. That and 300 hp make a nice combination.

I'm waivering here, though. The new G37 is looking awfully nice. I love my TL, but it's not the same as the '01 CL Type-S it replaced. I want another coupe.

With BMW and Infiniti marketing high-end coupes, I can't figure out why Acura abandoned the market, even if it was more of a "halo" car.

I was seriously considering ordering a G37-Sport, but maybe I will wait and see what the '09 TL turns out to be. 300 hp and SH-AWD may just keep me in the fold.

gurney

kappa821

its to hard to tell, if its nice or not

how do u know about the 300 hp and AWD or are you just hoping thats what its going to have

fish008

If Audi, BMW, Mitsubishi, Subaru and many more can make a high powered AWD car with a MT I sure the heck hope that Acura can. If not, in a few years I won't be in an Acura.

lilvinnyb

is the big black shroud an option.

chill_dog

Not bad...I'm looking forward to seeing less camo-ed shots. It definitely is taking cues from the other recent designs/redesigns...common sense says it would, so it should be no surprise. As for 300+ hp and AWD...again, it's common sense...Acura is going AWD and 300+ hp is what the segment the TL is in now demands.

Tripnbeats

I have a good feeling about the 4th gen......... I just hope the camo is covering upthe beauty

03TL_S

i like how it is more aggressive, but the didnt pull totally away from the current 3rd gen. The rear looks like a melting pot of several japanese/european sedans out there. It will look awesome and we all will fall in love with it. Acura will not let us down, (except for the ugly, slow selling 96-98 TL's uggggh!!)
.02

robbie82

WWTTFFF!!!???? Are those drums on the back wheels!!??? Oh I hope to god not, and es mentioned those brakes are tiny!

lembowski

iTrader: (1)

I dunno I love the MDX grill.......so this grill does look very sinister!!

Netcub

Lots of times, when im driving and see a new MDX. I somehow immediately think 09 TL. If you can picture it lower, thats what i think it will look like, and i think the New MDX would look great as a car.

KC-Dub

I'm hoping for an evolutionary design from the current model with the aforementioned performance boosts. The spy shots seem to evoke an aggressive feel, which is my favorite part of the car's current design theme. The camo seems to be standing off the rear window a bit which could be giving it the 'maxima' feel that's been mentioned in this thread.

My biggest concern with the spy shots is size. This car seems to be fairly large, especially in the front. Size begets weight which decreases performance, handling and fuel economy. Lets hope they keep the package tight and the curb weight down. But then again, how often does a new generation car actually LOOSE weight?

Kennedy

iTrader: (2)

Especially projecting SH-AWD... The TL will never loose weight given these predictions, in fact it's well on it's way of replacing the current RL.

You want small, quick, and nimble, you need a Civic Si, RSX, or TSX.

rockyfeller

iTrader: (6)

That is most definitely a TL and not a TSX. Too big to be a TSX; and it looks a bit bigger than a 3GTL in fact. I give credit to those that masked that car. They did a damn good job, can hardly see anything! I told you guys I think Acura is going to mess this redesign up. If Honda and some other "leading" makers are any indicator, they seem to be following suit and going into the "weirdo" design mentality a lot of car designers have been doing lately. (It all started with that Bangle fellow!) It'll probably be a 5-10 yr phase before they wake up. This sucks!

It looks like they're going to go with a more aggressive take. Acura has long been critsized with bland styling. Looks like they are going to do some high angles by looking at the "V" in the grille. It worries me that they may in fact have tried an MDX style grille on this. Look at the way it bubbles up and comes up high on the hood. Hope not, yuck! Here's the key: You can look at the front hood-line as a guide and recognize that the hood and headlight will come at least to this level. So much for thin headlamps.... That black tape has masked well to make it look thin like a TSX or 3GTL but look close, you can see they are about double as bigger. The lower grilles are larger and has a more rakish fish-bone appearance. They're supersizing all the details on the car, I'm telling you, it dosen't look good guys!

From what I see it definitely has a Maxima profile in the rear. (Maxima rear end is a sorta like it/don't like it thing. I don't know what to say about it.) Good call, that rear tail-light area most definitely looks like it was masked to look deceptively G35ish and probably looks nothing like that. Those are rear disc brakes by the way, lol, you can see the rotors if you look close. The hats are just big and look like drums like on a 3GTL. As for more weight, you can bet on it that it will be heavier! It will be as fast or faster too. Why? 300hp is most definitely a given to stay competitive. And those Honda engine gurus will find a way to keep the fuel economy and emissions the same.

That's funny how they caught that dude yawning! LOL! I hope that dosen't mean the car is boring! Maybe he was trying to catch flies in the desert? Well at least I know that he woke up REAL quick because that flash must have been blinding and bright as HELL...And they took 2 pics, those guys must have been pissed! I bet they're even reading this thread thinking "Aww man, it's all over the internet now". Those spies should have had a CB radio on the them, they could have listened in. It looks like that's what they were using with that big wand antenna.

Mokos23

I wonder if the person who took these pics, how did they know exactly at what time of night they were testing this next gen Acura sedan?

the person probably took these pics and sped away quickly and probably turned off his headlights to avoid being seen by Honda personal.

Shalooby

The grill on that spy shot definately looks like it has a point to it. Almost a V shape. If they're going for a more aggressive look then that's one way to do it. The lower intakes are most definately going to become more elliptical in shape. The current shape of them is too vanilla, they were designed with evolution in mind. As for the rest of the body styling who knows. I'm more interested in the tecnological evolution myself.

drdamian

i hate the MDX grill, i hope the next gen TL dosn't go that route.

andytsai

The new generation M3 actually shed a few lbs off even with a bigger engine - from V6 to V8 ! I hope 4-gen won't grow a lot in weight. 3-gen is heavy enough.

tidus888

ok guys.... ACURA GUYS...

TL or TSX?

IMO i think itz a TL since TL is designed by the team in Cali. where the TSX is JDM!!!

but in some ways.. it looks like the sports 4 concept...

tidus888

but i seriously dun think itz TL.... LOOK AT THE BRAKES!!! lol... or maybe they are just trying for styling right now..

kappa821

i hope it looks like that

bluenoise

Yes, just like on pretty much any car these days. The main brakes are disc, as seen in the pictures, and there is a drum brake, too, for the parking brake.

micwiltay

I do think the greenhouse will look similar to the sports 4 concept car above. You can see the silhouette under the camo. One the plus side, no more big blind spot. Downside is that the C pillar on the 3G gives it a distinctive look.

2003BlizAkTL

The shape of the tails looks some what like the g35 tails...not so much a maxima

planman

No kidding. It's hard to tell the real shape there.

It does suggest a Maxima, but it also looks like a Lexus GS... one sweet sedan.

ReWritable

That has to be the Sport 4 Concept (next TSX). designed in Japan (look at the right side driver, has the "H"onda emblem and its from a Japanese magazine (Nihon=Japan). The TL is a domestic car.

SteveP66

TSX I think.......looks similar to this which I found on the TSX page

sonytl

I think that is the next gen TSX not TL. Look at the brake package and you can see they are smaller than the current TL. No need for big brakes for a small motor

FL3.2TL

Hmmm, shaved door handles from the factory? No way

And honestly Acura is trying to go too advance, they need to chill, I like all of their line up as of now..

phambam

TSX looks a little more agressive than the current model. Of course that's still speculation if that is actually going to be the new 09' release.

I hope the 09' TL won't look like their other Japanese counter parts.

icenoir

looks like the tsx to me. not that much bigger than the current one. the passenger looks caucasion. also consistent with recent focus groups conducted by honda recently on tsx.
matches the sports4 concept almost exactly except for the mdx shield.

dampfnudel

I think the only thing we all can agree on with confidence is that it's a 2009 Acura sedan. It also looks like for better or for worse (for me, worse) that we're getting the MDX grille. I know or at least I hope that the Accord won't look better. Some people on this board have said that it may be very difficult for Acura to top the 3G, maybe they're right. Well, it's too early to say for sure so we wait...and hope they didn't screw up the styling...too much.

Ikko

Remember the Sports Concept 4? Tail lights looks just like G35's too!

VelfarreClubber

I can picture the sports 4 conecept headlights on there, and the grille looks like it might have the floating A that most of us likes.

OR even better the best grille on any TL





concept

ultimate_ed

I'm glad we're at least starting to see something on the 2009. I had pretty well narrowed my list down to the 2009 TL, the G35 and the new CTS. Cadillac just shot themselves in the foot pricing the CTS like a BMW. I'm hopeful that Acura won't blow this new car out of the water on pricing.

From what I can see of the grill in this picture, I think it will turn out better than that rather gaudy shield that the new MDX sports. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Worst case, I get a really good deal on a 3G TL next year, which wouldn't be too bad at all.

ecliptics

maxima?? thats one of the last things i'd like to relate a TL to.. i was thinking more of a GS from the first picture.. then when i saw the back, the lights kind of remind me of a G35... not a maxima though.. i like it. its a nice redesign from the looks of it so far. if anything, i'd say this car has gotten closer to the lexus GS

All Mine

I kinda like it thus far. The tail lights look similar to a G35 to me.

sandiegodrive

omg! guys! It's freakn' covered up with bulges, cuts of fake tail lights, and so on.

Search for what everyone was saying back in 03' on this forum about our current 3G when it was first spotted.

Our 3G was hated on MUCH worse then this car, but when they saw the real deal in person everybody loved it all of a sudden.

So don't judge a covered up car and just wait for the uncovered product.

All you saying "I hate this, and it looks like this, they are copying *blank*"...Come on, you haven't even seen it yet!

My

Shalooby

I agree, it's all speculation at this point. Apart from the obvious exterior design changes that are coming and the possibility of SH-AWD + 300 HP, what I'm really curious to see is what they will do to the interior. Every generation change up to this point has had a completely new layout. I'm hoping for some truly innovative features (and by that I don't mean hot and cold cup holders), like being able to display all the CD metadata.