docboy

It's been about 3 years since I've owned my 2010 TL 6MT; since I have sometime today at the office, thought I share my nonbiased reviews of the car:

Performance - 8.5/10 where a 911 Turbo is a 10 and a Pinto is a 1; Probably not enough low end torque driving around town, which I suspect is characteristic of Honda engines. Nonetheless a smooth engine, and likes to rev. The power really comes when the rpms hit 4k and over. MT transmission is a bit notchy, though I wouldn't mind if the transmission was more like Audi's "swiss clock feel." Clutch has absolutely no feel, which I dislike but then again I get no left leg cramps. The EPS is too "electronic and artificial;" there really is no steering feel unless I really rev up the engine to 4-5K rpms and I'm driving with anger. IMHO; I much prefer the steering in my 1G TSX. Overall performance is excellent, though I have to admit unless I'm driving like an a$$hole there is a somewhat "neutered and isolated luxury feel" and it's lacking a "visceral feeling" one gets from a 911 or S2000.

AWD Peformance - 9/10. IMHO SH-AWD is one of the best all around AWD systems out there. For dry performance, it's #1 bar none. For snow/winter traction, it's allowed me to go in absolute treacherous snow/ice conditions on hills/passes where I pass vehicles stuck in ditches/side of the road. Is it the very best AWD for winter? From a technical standpoint, probably not, as Subaru's, Audi's, and Landrover's I'm sure can also hold their own. But from a practical standpoint, the AWD system is awesome in the winter (though it does take some time for the system to transfer torque to the rear wheels when slippage occurs). If someone can develop a software to reflash the default 90:10 torque split to say 50:50, it would definitely be #1 Still SH-AWD is pretty awesome and should have been a primary marketing angle for Acura.

Nav/Electronics - 9/10. Nice and sharp nav screen, easy to use. The fact that the nav is useable while the car is in motion is great. I don't mind or see what the all the media hyped button fuss is about. Now that I hear Acura and other members are taking away nav useability when moving, it's a likely deal breaker for me unless someone can find a hack. ELS is natural and smooth, though unless I'm listening to a very high bit recorded MP3 or DVD-A, it's hard to appreciate ELS. Still wished the nav was a touch screen, and that the clock is mounted higher at eye level.

Exterior Design - 7/10. Still IMHO a polarizing design. Some angles it looks awesome; other angles, it's questionable. Nonetheless, despite all the s*** cartalk members mock about the 4G TL's preMMC design, to this day, I still get compliments on the car. The preMMC design is a bit bold; the MMC design looks neutered. FWIW, I never got this many compliments when I had my 1G TSX or IS250AWD. I forsee the TL's exterior standing the test of time very well, and will not "age" or "look old." For comparison, the 2010 A4 is already looking dated IMHO.

Interior Design - 10/10. Well executed, professional, and a "cool/office" like cockpit feel. IMHO, Acura's interiors are among the very best.

Comfort - 9.5/10. For the driver and 3 passengers, seating comfort is excellent; active front restraints don't bother me. Lots of leg, elbow, shoulder, and hip room. The middle hump in the rear seat effectively renders the rear for 2 passengers, though once I did manage to seat 3 toddler car seats in the back.

Gas Mileage - 7/10. When I was commuting 50miles/day, I was averaging 23-24 mpg on premium. Now that my commute is all city, I'm getting 17mpg, which is horrendous. Though not bad for a 300HP, V6, AWD, 2 ton car. But not great.

Utility - 2.5/10 (where a convertible is a 1 and a Suburban is a 10). IMHO the TL's weakest point. For such a large car, there is only 12.5 cubic ft in the trunk; trunk floor is not flat, does not make loading Costco goods easily. Plus the seats do not fold back. Also for some reason the rear passenger doors, when they open, the access is not great for packages. My old 1991 Integra LS coupe had more utility than the TL; even my wife's old 1990 Camry could haul a big screen while the TL cannot. WTH? Even with 1 child, hauling a few things here and there, and suddenly space becomes sparse. I severely underestimated the lack of utility when I bought the TL. For such a long car (194+ inches) where is all the room??? Not sure where the 194" is being put to use, for crash/safety ratings maybe, or for style??

Reliability - 9.5/10. Aside from the dealership replacing the rear head seats, no real problems. Though I still have the 3rd gear occasional pop out, which the stealership cannot duplicate. Maintenance per MID reminder has been otherwise routine. My friends with Audis' and BMW's (esp the latter) have pretty much been hit by the German garage plague. Cartalk members will have you thinking those own German cars should be held on a totem pole, and that German cars these days are just as reliable as Japanese makes... but my experience has suggested otherwise (I'm still monitoring my friends with recent Porsches and Mercedes to see how they fare, but BMW by far seems to be the worst).

Summary - Solid, reliable, all weather performance vehicle, esp rare manual transmission V6 AWD vehicle. Poor on utility, great on performance and overall seating comfort. A "thinking man's" car...

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

Great review!
i liked how you scored the performance aspects of it; highly.

Mr Marco

Utility - 2.5/10???
Sure the seats could fold down, that would help on the trip to Home Depot. But what are you expecting here? If you can't get what you need out of a sport sedan. maybe it's time to start looking at an MDX.

CerberusKy

iTrader: (1)

My first car was a 76 Pinto Pony, that car drifted like no ones business.

JM2010 SH-AWD

Thanks for your thoughts. I mostly agree with your points, especially the high performance envelope of this car when it's equipped with SH-AWD. (I recall the one test that said "the way this car corners will drain the blood from your brain.")

I don't quite agree with your assessment of the car's utility. I guess I don't haul a lot of large items, and I'm coming from a coupe. While I do agree the trunk is not as large as I'd expect of a car this size, it's easily big enough to meet my needs.

I do a mix of highway/urban/suburban driving. My car averages 25.5+ in warm weather, a little lower when it gets cold and winter gas is in circulation. I'm satisfied with that given the size/performance of the car. I have noticed that relentless stop/go driving does start driving those mpgs down pretty quickly.

shurik74

Nice review, you probably been bored at work to make such a detailed summary ;-)

What is your current mileage so far? Assuming you bought it brand new...

Thanks

Mr Marco

Randy? Is that you?

SFarrow11

Excellent review Docboy. Fully agree with most things you've said, especially regarding the performance and AWD performance aspects. I live in TX so I haven't experienced the AWD system in severely inclimate weather, but it's great on dry roads. I can't wait until I get to change out the OEM tires for something better. The Michelin MXM4's don't do the car justice. I plan to get Potenza RE970AS when the time comes.

Yumcha

Nice write-up.

silkysmooth_96

You ever seen this video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJZxVefta68 Some say it's biased, and possibly so. However, seeing as the SH-AWD has been around since 2005 (I think on the RL) it's almost 8 years old and still kicks butt over most. The others are simply trying to catch up. I wish Honda was still like this with the development of the engines (we won't touch the automatic transmission disasters they build) like they were in the early days!

Hapa DC5

Not a fan of cartalk members? LOL, sans all of that nonsense, good review and glad you're still enjoying your car.

lji

Now, that you're mentioning anniversaries, it'll be 2 years in a week since I've bought mine Even got an early anniversary card from Acura ... lol I agree about the utility of the car for the most part, and I use the '05 Camry in the household for the heavy lifting... the Acura is babied...

HeartTLs

iTrader: (5)

Lololol quattro my ass. How is it bias?

MugenSi08

Agreed on the Utility part, I think it needs fold down seats. I had my Mugen Si and feel like it has more space and especially my old 06 RSX could hold a 42" TV in the box flat down 0.o

docboy

Yes I bought the car brand new. In fact, I bought it when it first came out and paid dearly for it. Per stealership there were 4 shipments of the TL 6MT, 2 were already paid for.

Currently at 36,000 miles.

Next time I know, wait a few months for the hype to die down.

LOL, IMHO many (though absolutely not all) cartalk members can be a little clicky and very much anti 4G TL, and for some reason hostile against 4G TL owners. They are probably just very passionate about vehicles; nothing wrong with that, as long as things don't get personal

I actually looked at the MDX and RDX a few years ago after I bought the TL. MDX: I didn't want to drive such a large car after test driving it extensively, definitely awesome on utility on though and super comfy for a family on trips. However, now that I think about it, the TL is just about as long as the MDX. Hmm.....

RDX: I actually like the 1G RDX a lot, though I also discovered the RDX after buying the TL. Only thing stopping me from trading in the TL for the RDX is the super jarring ride and poor gas mileage.

I guess the utility factor is just a matter of personal taste and use.

I might add that another reason for my low score of the utility aspect is the glove box. The glove box is very small; with 2 separate thin compartments, it can't hold my wallet unless I open it, and can basically just hold my car's registration, insurance cards, and a tire pressure gauge (in case the TPMS malfunctions).

B/c I often travel with the wife and kid, space becomes more and more of a necessity.

Totally agree that stop/go driving causes the mpg to go down VERY fast.

LawnPro

Excellent write up doc - agree with all of it. The shawd TL is great!

bowldog

Awesome write up. I agree about the glove box it can barely hold the owners manual

cbaldwin629

I've had this same car for about 3 months now and have the same problem with it occasionally popping out of third gear. Is that something that Acura has denied is an issue?

JM2010 SH-AWD

"I might add that another reason for my low score of the utility aspect is the glove box. The glove box is very small; with 2 separate thin compartments, it can't hold my wallet unless I open it, and can basically just hold my car's registration, insurance cards, and a tire pressure gauge (in case the TPMS malfunctions)."

Yes, I forgot about that. Given the bible that is (are?) the manuals, the glove box is small.

shurik74

I don't know if it's been discussed already... Does your gear popping out on high RPMs or normal driving?

Thanks

CerberusKy

iTrader: (1)

No, not Randy... but there was so little weight in the back that it would just slide out and hang out wide, on a lot of turns. The car was very controllable in a slide. If it was wet out, you were definitely going sideways around corners. Also, my tires were always bald, because I never had any money to buy new ones, which definitely contributed. I loved that car, right up to the day it caught on fire.

George Knighton

I guess you could always just take out the centre shelf and leave it out if you have to carry bulkier things.

012TL-GLM

Well thought out review. I agree with everything. The performance aspects of the TL are amazing given its size.

The utility rating would be a lot higher if the rear seats folded down. The trunk isn't much smaller than any of my previous sedans, but due to the layout usefulness dropped. Seats folding would allow much needed space for random trips to the hardware store for lumber and PVC. Also the width of the trunk has been an issue for me when transporting firearms - long shotguns/rifles require a tetris-like approach to get them to fit without causing any damage.

I accept the TL for what it is, and plan on buying a used Tacoma soon to fill the utility need in our family

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

10/10 on your writeup!

terdonal

Nice write. Up.

saturno_v

I pretty much agree on everything with very little difference.

My gearbox is absolutely fabulous, nothing to say against it, I would rank it the best in the business for the segment.

I would have not been as harsh under the "Utility" category.....do not get me wrong still it would not get a pass in my book.....let's say 4 or 5 out of 10

I would not assign any points the exterior design...just too polarizing...for me is still one of the most original and nice looking car in its segment (let's say my score would be 9 or 9.5)...others would strongly disagree.


ahahah this is one of the most baffling thing for me....this is the only car where people went out of their way to congratulate me...the first time the day after I bought it!!!

By the way in October my car did cross the 2 years ownership mark.

By the way, not all of the haters but I recall in particular a couple of cartalk members that "hate" the 4G where I strongly suspect they are simply jelaous because they just cannot afford a car in that segment currently....something I could see from the way they talk and the style of their messages....

winstrolvtec

^I'm pretty much in this boat, would give the TL about a 6-7 out of 10 in the utility factor for a mid size luxury sedan, although a 2.5 on a much larger scale is not necessarily uncalled for. Also, no issues with the shifter, some notchiness 1st to 2nd at times but otherwise excellent.

I also sensed many people in Car Talk and internet forums simply writing the car off for the wrong reasons and blaming it on other factors. More than anything when the top of the line 3G TL in it's peak went from $35k to $43k for the 4G during an economic recession and an automotive meltdown, despite that it wasn't really apples to oranges with all the upgrades, people got really irritated probably because the TL was a good luxury vehicle at high end mainstream price points and really only had one trim with or without navi but the added higher priced trims now pushed it out of reach where many said at that point I can explore other options or I don't want to settle on a "lower" TL and so I'll stick with an Accord and TSX, or in other cases, the Maxima and LaCrosse (and to a much lesser extent the VW CC) who clearly went after the 3G TL market while the TL may have been trying to move slightly away from it, at least in perception.

I believe a much bigger inferiority complex began to exist within the TL line that never really existed much before with the addition of the SH model. I do not believe this is a reflection of many actual TL buyers however, just those who shopped the car in the early 4G years and either got something else, waited, or stuck with what they have/had.

While I do think the style was responsible for even as much as 20% of the sales issues and maybe 50% of the negative perception, it was a lot easier to say it's ugly or they hate it as opposed to I can't get one.