Hi all, I bought a 2009 TL tech/sport pckg, with 9000miles.

Fairly new right?

I noticed on a highway the ride is a lot smoother. 60+ mph, im sure because the cars suspension lowers due to speed. However, if im going 60-80mph and im curving, i feel like the front of the car is not very stable to the ground. As if if i hit a bump or uneven land the front tires will relocate or move/slide. Its a very wierd feeling, because i also owned a 2010 mdx and now a 2011 MDX fully loaded. I have never felt that kind of drive.

IS it that the TL is a nice car, but still limited to some performance flaws? Or do i have a problem with alignment or something else.

I have taken both hands off the wheel in a straight highway at 60mph and the wheel didnt budge left nor right nor steer the car at a slant. Id say i did this test with a friend for about 20 seconds, and straight as a knife. Then i thought it might be because im alone in the car or with one more person and it was the light weight factor that made it feel clumsy. So one day i was coming back from the beach i had to to drive my girlfriends home. There were 5 people in my TL. It felt great that it still moved quick and handled great with 5 people under 60mph. However, at 55-65mph. Again the front wheels / car felt clumsy even more!! I slowed down a bit, because curves or turn or hitting bumps felt the front slide or jumped around.. I may be crazy, please advise.

Overall, i kinda of feel scared at 60-80mph to drive with a higher demand on this vehicle thinking it may crash or something.

 

If by curving you mean you are cornering and you are still accelerating, you are probably experiencing torque steer. Does it feel like a tug in the wheel as your 'curving'?

 

More details: OEM wheels? What kind of tires and wear on them?

I have a 2009 TL SH-AWD/TECH. Very stable when cornering , I'm not even sure my modded 2011 G37xS surpass it. I used it well over the speed limits and it fells great. However, when cornering, if you step on uneven pavement or holes/bumps, the chassis becomes upset so it might be just that.

Also, please note that with 5 people inside, the driving experience will be much less fun because of the added weight.

Some fuel for thoughts...

 

Actually, now that you mention it, i do believe i feel it only when i accelerate on a light to medium corner, i feel like the car wont handle the corner and the front tires or car will slide left or flip over left or some shit bad lol.....

I don't think i remember feeling any tug or problem with the steering wheel, it feels fine. Just the tires feel weird or the axle or something.
That is why maybe i slowed down and only accelerated on straight road and let loose of the gas on corners.

 

All OEM, Stock wheels and tires. No mods when i purchased.

 

Yeti, ok i understand the cornering and handling. The TL is amazing under 60mph.. Only on the highway i get this feeling. :/ 60-80

 

OP, this is definately not an SH-AWD TL, right? I have to assume it is FWD because I can't imagine an SH having this issue unless something went mechanically and/or electronically wrong. I would have experienced this by now with the way I drive my SH and I have experienced this described sensation many times with FWD vehicles.

What you are likely experiencing is simply torque steer. It's unfortunately a common issue with high powered FWD vehicles. Much harder to detect with the new measures these cars take nowadays in the steering to prevent this and Acura's electric steering makes this almost a none issue as far as experiencing any odd sensations through the steering wheel so it can be very hard to detect this way. I used to experience that all the time with the 3G TL's but because of the hydraulic steering, the wheel would turn and steer, even jerk at times while this was going on so you just knew that's what it was.

Two instances when it usually occurs, over bumps and uneven surfaces during spirited driving and when trying to take turns in a way that heavy, high powered FWD cars are not supposed to be taken, unfortunately they are dynamically limited compared other drivetrains. Like if you try to floor through a turn before the apex. Cars like this usually can't effectively handle that (not stock anyway) but what you can do is floor through the turn after the apex instead or if you insist on doing so, try turning the wheel gradually and not too suddenly or quickly. That is likely why you experience such a difference even compared to an MDX SUV but with SH-AWD.

It can be managed though by overinflating your tires a bit or looking into a different much sportier tire. Perhaps an LSD would help but I don't know many who would go that far or who makes one for the car. Maybe turn VSA off but with caution that is, to see if it makes a difference. Then there is suspension mods if you want to go that way.

 

Get new tires. Honestly the stock HXM4's aren't great for spirited driving. A set of HP all seasons would fulfill your need for speed(drive safe obviously)

 

No complaints about the m4s actually; until the treadwear gets down to about the 1/3 life left area anyway.

I've not driven the FWD TL, but my 07 Type S is extremely well planted at highway speeds compared to the rentals I drive when I'm travelling. I imagine you're feeling the transition from a heavier AWD vehicle's ride giving less response to suspension travel on the roads, and the AWD keeping you planted. FWD cars will get away from you on bumps through corners.

 

I feel bad for you that you didn't figure this one out before you got your 09. its the reason I moved away from Acura sports sedans (Legends and TL's) and went to the Infiniti M35. When the 2012 TL was revealed, and I could have 6 speed, 305 HP, SH-AWD I knew I'd be back in a TL (since the RL still can't figure out who she wants to be when she grows up).

 

Don't expect to drive a high-power FWD sedan the same way as a RWD or AWD sedan.

 

Lol.... I clearly wrote its a tech/sport package. Meaning navy/awd.

One guy assumes it to be FWD, and the conversation is aloof.

My tire pressure for the front two tires is 37-36, my back two tires are 37-36.

With 9000, i dont think that the tires are worn. However, for more performance needed you suggest HP tires. Okay, noted.

When cleaning/waxing/spraying shine on your tires, does that prove to have bad side-effects on sportier driving? I assume so, cant the tires lose traction?

One last thing. Sometimes when i park i hear a squeaky light rubbing coming from the front. As if i werent on pavement but on a shop body floor or a marble flooring.

Anyways, thanks for all the input on this crazy discussion.

 

Ok OP so it is an SH, good to get that established because I don't think you will find that many experience what you are describing on an SH unless something is wrong with the system's distribution (where it would be mostly FWD all the time and you would experience torque steer) or you are lifting the throttle mid turn. The SH system diverts back to a 90/10 power distribution when you get off the throttle but I have only experienced a slight fish tail not like the torque steer symptoms you describe so that might not be it but I thought I should get that out there.

Otherwise, there may be something up with the tires. Sounds like they could be too overinflated and you are only getting a marginal portion of the tire for traction. That might contribute to the squeaky noise as well but it could also be the tire shine or dressing but it also may be the surface where you park or any combination of them. What size rims are they and what tires specifically are on it? Also check the thread level yourself.

Make sure you are only putting that stuff on the sidewall and not on the contact portions. It could also be a local car wash that you may frequent, they tend to get tire shine products all over the floor and people drive over them constantly and the car tends to drive like you described above until the stuff wears off but naturally if you go every few days or so, it might not.

 

My 2010 FWD Tech should be the same and I get none of that feeling. It is very stable and you can throw it into curves at any speed (within reason) and it is stable with no hint of torque steer. I suspect tires or possibly wheel alignment.

 

too much shine on the tires - rough up the tires with some sandpaper

ck the tire pressure sticker for the correct pressure
the HP option is 37F and 32 R
otherwise my SH-AWD is very stable at speed in a turn
that's the big selling point of the SH-AWD

 

Holy cow. I'm biting my tongue on this thread.

 

Does this happen consistently at a particular point in your drive? For example, on a ramp I tend to take at fairly high speeds, there's a joint at just the right point that the car will, for a microsecond, get airborne. That causes the car to slide outward a tiny bit due to the inertia and all. It's a little disconcerting if you aren't expecting it, but it's also completely normal and has affected all of my cars. I expect, with a heavier/squishier SUV it might not be as noticeable, but it's definitely obvious in coupes and sport sedans and the like.

If we're talking strictly about steering and cornering, I've noticed that while torque steer was very noticeable on my CL-S, the SH-AWD TL is almost the opposite. Steering is stiff and almost numb when accelerating while turning (most obvious when accelerating sharply while changing lanes). It is absolutely a "new" feeling for me (I've always driven FWD cars before this), but it also does feel more controlled and definitely safer to not have the vehicle jumping away from me unpredictably as the CL-S did when torque steering took effect under the same circumstances.

 

yep^ I think what the OP is referring to is the feeling you get when you hit a gap in the pavement at cornering speed and the tire comes up off the pavement a little. This is an issue with the road and not the car. Anyone drive the 505 between I-5 and 80 in CenCal? You know what I mean.

 

The tires sound a bit overinflated (if you're on stock 18's)

I would decrease them to OEM recommended 32 front and rear. See if that helps.

 

You know the initial feeling, i felt like the front was airborne. But i did not want to sound like a complete idiot, because i am not very smart with car mechanics. ;( I felt the springs/shocks were there to handle that.

Okay. I will decrease the air pressure on my tires from 37 to 32-33. See if that helps. Maybe the over inflated tires cause them to be bouncy..

But after a long scooby doo investigation, i feel like the front does get airborne on uneven or after a slight wedge/bump.

So its its the design, pretty much.

 

It shouldn't go airborne. That just sounds odd.

Out of curiosity what was your last car? The 2009's (being the 1st version out) did have an uncertain center when going at highway speeds, they tweaked the electric steering in the 2010, and even more in the 2010 6MT.

 

1991 Lexus LS, then 2010 Acura Mdx, now i have both 2011 Mdx and 09 TL

 

The LS and the pair of MDX's are all much heavier vehicles than the TL. Lighter vehicles tend to react more nervously to road irregularities.