As you can see from my signature I have a 2010 TL SH-AWD with Tech. I liked all aspects of this car, especially the interior except I hated the brushed chrome to the front and rear. I changed this to the Midnight chrome and to me it made all the difference especially with my black car.

Anyway I thought I liked the new styling until today when I had my 10 in for service and they gave me a 12 TL Tech with no SH-AWD. The interiors are essentially the same but the 12 seems to have a thinner steering wheel, along with it has no white stitching to the seats, steering wheel and arm rest (this is an awd feature). But what I really noticed, was the AWD is much heavier driving, but to me the power seems very close, but handling around the corners is much better in the AWD. I know a lot of you think the roughness in the AWD is bad but to me I did not really notice this to be an issue or much of a difference between the 2. Theinterior metal garnish in the 10 is much superior to the platic garnish in the 12.

Just my 2cents worth.

Bottom line, I prefer the styling of my 10. Guess it grew on me as I find the 12 boring.

 

How was the driving experience between the 2010 5AT vs the 2012 6AT ?

 

Perhaps thats why the power diffential was negligable. The tranny to me was smoother than my 10.

 

i think the differences may be attributes to non awd vs awd instead of the difference in years. i had a 09 that i took into the shop and got a 12 non-awd. and i've had similar experiences.

the silver trim of the dash in the 12 tl was just painted plastic. it LOOKED like it was perforated. the 09 tl tirm was actually perforated and much better feeling/looking.

the stitching is a AWD only feature. so are the more supportive seats. the steering wheel in the AWD is significantly heavier which i like and makes the car feel substantial. yea its alot of car for the regular base tl and even more with tech, but not a car i would personally purchase ~$36,000 - ~40,000 new as the interior is quite cheap (trim/dash). additionally, if you like spirited driving and eating corners the SHAWD would be a better choice or look elsewhere

 

The new 6 speed transmission plays a big role in that experience also.

 

i must say the 6 speed transmission is nice. much smoother than the 5 and definitely noticeable.