I agree with you on the "out of bounds" sizing. The car looks very wrong--now.
Like I said, the designer(s) should of been fired, re-hired, then fired again.

I just feel that over time people will get used to it. "Aftermarketers" will fabricate body trim kits for it to make it look somewhat appealing. Perhaps even Acura will start to hear the bellows from loyal TL owners from the many forums and may change it somewhat in the coming years--who knows.

 

I agree. I think the design (like all designs) will be tweaked in the coming years. All things considered, I still don't think it's as radical a change as when Audi came out with the drop jaw grill. All the Audi lovers were screaming then too (as I recall) and now it's an icon for Audi. Even Subaru is now using this "Audi look" with some of it's new models. I personally still think it looks like sh#@ but what do I know.

 

I've seen it up close a few times now and really don't like it. It seems like its bigger but for no reason which is what I hate about most American cars. If you look underneath at the front, the radiator is waaay back from the front of the car which means that everything in front of it is just dead space.

I had taken my 05 TL in for maintenance and saw an 09 TSX parked right next to it and was amazed at how similar the two were. Aside from the 4 banger, the TSX is only a few inches shorter in length and width and the tires are a tiny bit skinnier. My lease was running out so I switched to a TSX, I had enough difficulty parking my TL on streets as it is and the new one looks like it'll be impossible. I do miss the fun of the V6, but most of the time in L.A. driving it makes no difference and the better milage is very appreciated.




BTW, someone at the dealer mentioned that when they first saw the new TL, they couldn't tell if they were looking at the front or back of the car!

 

Well that person should not be working at a car dealership then, especially an Acura dealership! Fire that biyatch!

 

The rear view camera w/ the virtual lines makes parking my 4G much easier than my 04 TL

 

You guys will grow to like it.

 

I showed my new TL to couple of my friends yesterday, they were really wowed, and I did let them drive my ride as well. One of them own Mitsubishi Evo X I believe and another BMW M3. They really liked the new bold look and how it drives - luxury performance they've described. On the other hand this is much different class of car from the ones mentioned above.

By the way, I almost bought BMW 335, it's a nice machine but kind of boring looking from outside. In Boston area, I feel like almost every second car on the road is 3 series...

 

I know some people have complained about the fender curve over the front wheel wells. I think they should have kept the side line bend (that runs all across the car) straight through to the front as in the 5-series. Acura certainly had the right idea but they missed it by a little but at least their look is a bit more pronounced than the 5-series which I like. Also, it give the car a overall new significantly different look adding new dimension to the bullet like look.

Check the pic, I think it looks way better for a 15 min chop. Guys I need the tutorial for posting pics...TIA.

 

another shot [IMG][/IMG]


[IMG][img=http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/4151/09tlfrwheelwellcurve.th.jpg][/IMG]

 

My personal opinion, back of new TL looks REALLY good, however front sucks because of this smile face. I hope Honda will redesign this "smile", so I can get nice 2011 TL.

 

I would have rather seen the character line intersect the fender arch as in the TSX and MDX

 

One thing is interesting to me about the exterior design. In all the reviews, forums and the like, everyone critisizes the front grill, the rear silver insert and the front wheel well humps. Others add in the increase in size as a negative and others just don't like change. It all makes for good armchair reading.

Having now owned my 4G TL for one solid week, I can tell you that the reactions in public are all positive. I have had people come up to me at the gas station, the shopping mall, the office parking lot, all asking me, "wow what is this new car?" It looks cool, bad, awesome, fast, stylish, pimp (I liked that one, came from my girlfriend's 16 year-old boy) all complimentary.

While I am a fan of the car's overall looks, I personally would have made the top of the grill even with the line of the top of the headlights. I would have done away with the silver trim insert below the trunk and I would do something different with the rear bumper reflectors. That being said, overall, I think Acura has a winner in this car.

 

I agree, your suggestion would be a solid compromise. It's always the little things isn't it!

 

When I first saw it in person on the road at night, I saw the wrong color at the wrong time. Then later I saw a PMM stopped at a gas station and I was whispering to myself the same words as the 16 year old boy. It was fantastic.

Nevertheless, I would have liked a slightly less bulky and sleek design. They got it 80-90% correct which is probably what you can say for the majority of the cars out there.

 

This car is awesome regardless of what many people here say. I am starting to see it everywhere...the more I see it more I like it

 

The new Tl is the ugliest car created since the Pontiac Aztek. I highly doubt that you will see many on the road unless Acura gives them away.

 

It's beautiful!

It's ugly!

It's blah blah blah.

I get a twitch in my eye everytime I see this thread float to the top again.

LOL. Bob, did you ever think this simple question you asked back in JULY 2008 would still be getting hits. Does anyone really care what one person thinks anymore?

I have an opinion about the styling. Does anyone really care to hear my assessment? <silence> I didn't think so.

All the jokes comparing the beak to a <fill in the blank> have gotten old. We need someone with fresh material. Otherwise please let this thread die with dignity.

 

I'm shopping the car despite the smiley face front and back. The wife likes it, so it's her vehicle whether it has a smiley face or not. Now, if she'd just get a job..........

 

Interesting note. A guy asked if my car was mine at the local car wash. When I acknowledged yes, he told me that he wish he knew about this car before buying his Lexus GS 350 AWD. In his words, "the Acura [tl] is probably every bit as good of a car but at least 10K less and will most likely be worth more at trade-in."

I went home and looked up the Lexus GS 350 AWD, very similar car yet the GS is marketed against the RL.

 

I actually had a chance to finally see one of these cars on the road for the first time. Some guy in an adjacent neighborhood has one with some cheesy, ugly-azz rims that kinda poke out beyond the wheel-arch edges. Man, this car is pretty . Much like the 7th-generation Accord's mid-model butt-surgery, this car is going under the scalpel BIG TIME come refresh...

 

I agree with you. Just like anything else, everyone has their own opinion. Not everyone will agree 100%.
So in my opinion (LOL) if you like it, good for you...if you don't, good for you.

 

My opinion is that after seeing the black with umber interior awd version, I love it.
To me, there is nothing to not like. It does look much better in person. I did not have
the inclination to drive it because finances are tight and I'm in the process of buying
out my lease on an '05tl. If things were different for me right now, I'd jump on this in a minute.

 

I love the new design. Bought mine in January after driving two consecutive Infiniti I30's for the past 7 years. I like Infiniti, but the M35 - while a great car - was just too rich for my blood. I got a great car with the FWD TL, and I think it looks awesome! My younger brother calls it the "Batmobile", but I don't see the resemblence. At any rate, this is a terrific car that I like more and more as the days go by. I get lots of compliments, and that's cool too.

 

I saw a TL with Umber this weekend while shopping for mine, and I thought it was the WORST leather color on the face of the planet. The sales person, however, really loved the color. Personally I couldn't see sitting on a big pumpkin every day. I wasn't a huge fan of the black interior, but I had limited choices so I gave in and accepted it with a Palladium exterior.

 

Caught my eye right away. VERY slick.

Maybe too far from typical Acura styling for the masses, but I never considered an Acura before this TL.

 

Posted a separate thread but the I have grown to love the styling (especially when the grille is body-colored). I particularly like the side and rear views.

I would have preferred that Acura keep the size of the TSX and TL the same without making them bigger. I want the refinement and styling of the TL with the size of the TSX. The new TL will not fit in my new garage.

 

I can live with all but the hideous grille. That beak will put me in the TSX camp when the V6 hits the streets. That being said, I've got an 09 SH-AWD loaner while my RDX is in the shop. The interior is GORGEOUS. If I just look away when I'm near the front end.... being inside is very, very nice.

 

Update: The rear has now grown on me and I realize it's an awesome futuristic look unparalleled by any other design out there. It's the front that I have a problem with. Namely the front wheel well curve along with the lower portion of front fender and the infamous grill. The rear window closure is also so similar to whats already done out there and I wish they would have really given the TL something new to offer the world like the rear end.

Another item that I don't see mentioned often is the how the car's body lines are designed in the lower 6 inches of the car all around and how it closes off. They could have done a cleaner sleeker look here. The car is also noticeably larger and bulkier, maybe they wanna get rid of the RL all together. They already have a larger TSX. Things that make you go hmmmmn.

Furthermore, the lip kit is just shit terrible all around. They seem to be doing wonders on their lip kits lately because the Accord has an ugly kit also. Must be the same damn designer.

I don't know whats is possible for mid cyle refreshes but they gotta do something with the front end for sure and address a few other items.

 

That's odd, because the TSX looks just like the TL from the front. I get so excited when I see the smiley face coming towards me, but then I realize it's another TSX? It's got a nice shape to it, I dig the TSX and if a V-6 was available I might of considered it, but the inside is all TL tech package.

Also, I starting to dislike the back of the TL. It's got 4 lips in the back below the trunk. It's rather annoying to clean and keep scratch free?

 

Yes...................I like it. To me, the car was made the way it is to make a statement. I think that it has achieved that. "A bold statement!" Love it or hate it, it is unique. That's what I love about it. It is different. You know what it is when you see it because it is unlike anything else you'll see. When I first saw sneak previews of the car, the rear of it reminded me of the Lexus GS 350. I liked it when I first saw it, but I am growing to Love the look of the car. Just my

 

I find the grill looks different depending on the colors.

Grill looks good on the: Black / White / Grigio / Polished Metal / Bronze

Looks awful on the: Palladium / Blue / Blue Pearl / Red Pearl

 

Plus you have to pay three times as much to drive an equally fugly car. I'm glad I don't see a lot of the new TLs because they make me sick. If 60% of the voters here on this website, who by the way are mostly die hard acura fans, don't like the look of the car, I think that speaks volumes. But of course all the owners will say it looks sweet because what else would they say

 

It seems to me that Honda and Acura designs lately all fall short of a likeable solid timeless design. It makes me wonder if a company like Ron Jon could could come out with a superior front grill and lip kit why can't Acura with all of their money and designers finish off their cars with some general common sense...

 

I am really surprised that so many post that you don't like the way the TL looks. The statement, "But of course all the owners will say it looks sweet because what else would they say" is a statement of the obvious. Of course I think that the car looks sweet I bought one! I would not have purchased a car if I didn't like the way that the car looks. Do you regularly purchase cars that you consider to be ugly? Was your TL a business perk, given to you as a gift, you bought it because you like the interior only, your were hypnotized during the purchasing process and woke-up and hated what you bought, somebody held a gun to your head and said, "even though you hate the way this car looks you must buy it or you're dead!" I follow this thread and I'm really trying to understand it...

 

How can you be surprised that people don't like the look of your car? Have you spent any time looking at the outside of your car? Have you really been reading all the other posts? And if my statements are that obvious, why are you trying to make it even clearer? Although somehow I think you're still a little confused. I don't buy butt ugly cars. And only people who buy butt ugly cars will deny that their car is actually butt ugly. And if you've been "following" this thread you can clearly conclude that the only people who really like the new gen are the people who, surprise, ended up buying the car. And lets not forget the people who knows someone that knows someone else that drives an M3 or GS (or any other car thats better than the TL) and claim that the new TL is swwwweeeet and wish they could drive that instead. Riiiiiiiiiiiiigt.

 

Acura is making a major change in design style. It stands to reason that current Acura owners (who liked the prior conservative style) will not like this newer bold style. It also stands to reason that it will take time for the "old" Acura owners to move along to other brands as the "new" Acura owners move in to take their place.

In the meantime there will be frustration in both camps as neither understand the others definition of style and threads like this go on-and-on with nothing very useful being said.

 

What? Are you ten years old? If anybody is confused here it's you!

 

I don't agree at all. I don't think this has anything to do with a certain style, whatever that is. To like the exterior of any car, it must have certain superficial prerequisites. It's got to have a nice stance, the vehicle has to be in proportion, the lines should flow and so on. Of course beauty is subjective but when you have a poll of large numbers, a consensus can be made that trumps opinions.

And I'm not frustrated, I just think it's funny that owners are pretty much the only people to like the car and they deny the consensus of the majority. Can't we just all agree that Acura messed up with the new TL? I mean eventually the numbers will prove that this model was a failure.

 

Actually, 9 and a half. But I still seem to be smarter than you

 

Who is this majority? Did you poll every car buying adult in America and tally the results

If you mean the comments from people on Acurazine or car forums in general, then that's hardly a majority of car buyers. Maybe Acura doesn't give a hoot what you, or I, or the "majority" on Acurazine think. Maybe we are really a bad representation of their general customer base.

Even if we were a majority, we (people on forums) are notoriously bad at being a barometer for new styling. Acura is going in a dramatically different direction. That is absolutely, without question, going to piss off the majority of current owners. It doesn't mean they are making a mistake.

Do you remember when Audi introduced the drop jaw front grill several years ago? Oh my God, you'd think the sky was falling if you talked to Audi fans on their boards. I remember the same anger. People trying to get replacement front grills, etc. What happened? Those people that truly hated the new style moved on to other things. Those who liked it bought one for the first time. Eventually, that "awful" grill started becoming accepted and now it's a signature look for them. Audi is even using their distinct look in a series of new commercials to poke fun at the plain look of the RX.

I'm not trying to convince you (or anyone) that the style is good/bad/indifferent. Frankly, it doesn't matter to me what anyone thinks on that subject. I'm just trying to make two points for this thread. First, that opinions about style on this forum are useless information for anyone looking to make a decision about purchasing - it's a personal decision and very subjective. Second, new styling is usually hard to accept at first, but, time always changes that.