It became obvious that the styling taste of these bunch of "statistically chosen group of individuals" didn't quite truly represent the real styling taste of the general public and of course the potential TL buyers.

 

Don't feel too bad about it. Its happening in the 3G section as I type this. Base owners vs. Type-S owners getting butt hurt about which one is better

Oh- IMHO 12> 09-11 TL.

 

I'm sure people will be painting/modifying the grille on their 2012's as well. I'll bet on it!!!

 

Ummm... a few already have... including me

 

Human psychology is hard to predict. I speculate if Acura were considered by the general population as "Tier 1 leader in sports luxury who sells cars to people who are leaders in society", the image oriented would have lined up for the TL styling to stay on the cutting edge as "early adopters". If Acura had introduced a big black grill like Audi's before Audi ever did, I bet it would have been rejected just the same as the "beak"; and had Audi introduced a "beak" instead of its big black grill, it would have probably been accepted.

As a "tier 2", Acura is a "follower" brand, and it's attempt at taking a lead in styling was rejected.

I tend to wonder if Acura's market research showed the TL to a random sampling of "non car people" without badging; and those people oo'ed and ahh'd thinking it could have been the next direction for a Tier 1 brand. They may have even made comments along those lines; and Acura marketing executives who wanted to move the brand to Tier 1 at the time ate it up.

I also wonder what Acura's volume goals were for the 4g. They definitely went up in price, especially with the SH-AWD. I think that contributed to the sales drop as well. Current generation V6 TSX volume plus fwd TL compared to the total 3G TL might be a fairer comparison.

 

Redmond isn't that far from Seattle!

I saw a live 2012 this evening in traffic. It's an odd looking duck. My 2010 was overly aggressive, but the lines did fit together. So I guess I'm torn.

 

^says an owner of a car with a HUGE open mouth

 

I love my 2010. Still think its the best looking car out...even better than other people's 2010 TL's haha. At one time, I wanted to change the grille because I visited these forums and everyone was talking about it....then I saw some pics, and even though they looked good, I go to the garage and look at how naturally beautiful my 2010 is, give it a big hug, and tell her I wouldnt change a thing. (except I think the OEM and RonJon body kits are awesome...just cant bring myself to do it...and change the look).

BTW, I do get a lot of compliments, and I make sure I tell my girlfriend about it each time ahha. "did you hear that? He likes my car".....to be fair, some cousins responded when I showed them proudly a pic of my car "whats with the grill". so I say shut up you dont know good styling if it hit you in the face and my dad can beat up your dad.

 

I was going to stay out of this and I did not read ALL the opinions. I did not like the 4g when it came out. My salesmen convinced me to take a test drive and as you all know, the Tl is an excellent car. The ride sold me, even though I had a scratch free 2006 tsx that I LOVED! MY 4G came to life when I ordered it with the chrome wheels and appearance package, and painted the beak and rear. Now that the refresh has come forward, I like my 2009 even MORE! I like a car that says hey, as you can tell by my Mazda( and it say and everyone else says hey). The refresh is bland looking to me. WE all have opinions and thats my 1 cent worth. Lets just hope the 5G is something we will ALL like. I think we all can agree the 3G was an awesome design. Hopefully we can get back to that and talk cars and not looks.

 

I prefer the '09-'11 TL. Only good thing about the '12 is the blacked out bezel headlights and the 6 speed auto tranny.

 

I almost completely agree...another good example is the hideous first gen Porsche Cayenne...think about the comments if it were made by Hyundai or Pontiac...same for the BMW X6....some people (me included) find questionable at best thew "barbeque style" of some Audi grilles....however many think is "cool"...

I cannot remember where I did read it many years ago of an experiment made showing some random merchandise to a group of people where some of the objects were labeled by famous brands and others were not....consistently the "acceptance" of the branded items did run much higher...

However in order to gain their entry as tier 1 luxury brand (which by the way Honda corporate admittedly is not pursuing) Acura needs to add more higher end models... big displacement V8 engines, bringing back the S2000, the NSX, etc...

BMW or MB and even to a lesser extent Audi have the cachet because of their hyper luxurious and powerful models which helps "elevate the status" of their more mundane offering....do you think that Audi would be that sought after if they did not make the W12 A8, R8 and RS models???

Even Infiniti and Lexus somewhat suffer from this high end deficit compared to the Germans....this is because they all concentrate on profitability and component commonality...unfortunately the other side of the coin for this strategy is a somewhat lack of brand prestige......offering statospheric models put the Germans in the position to charge a brand premium on cars comparable to everybody else....end of the story....

 

I still prefer the 09-11 over the 2012 model, however I do think the 12 looks much better with an underbody kit as Stew has on his. Can't go wrong either way! We all drive awesome cars!

 

^^^ Jason, welcome to Acurazine. The 2012 models are part of the 4th Generation family....just an FYI.




.

 

Thanks for the welcome Steven! Correction to my post - I prefer the 4G over the 4.5G! LoL

 

chill guys, let's see what the sales numbers show in the next few months....it's a win-win for situation for both sets of owners the way I see it.

 

While I like the headlights of the new TL, I think the car is way too tame. I especially feel this way about the rear of the car. I wouldn't trade my quad outlet exhaust and sportier wheels for the 6-speed and the headlights.

 

I hate the new acura tl ill stick to the 3gs

 

Agreed. But the headlights are tight, that's why I put them on my 2010. Also, Acura should have kept the partial chrome door handles. They also need to do something with the rear underbody kit. Everytime I see it in either a pic or in person the first thing that comes to mind is the look of a "baby's diaper." They should have come up with a better way to blend it in.

 

Not a diaper .. they are like shoulder pads... to protect from rear-side impacts...

Yes, they are not pretty but not so ugly as for me to hate them. As soon as RonJon can get to it and makes something, I will change out mine.

 

Didn't think of shoulder pads, but a better fit. Stew, as long as you like it that's all that matters, cuz it's your ride.

 

Wow, interesting inner debate on the 4G original look vs the touted MMC...interesting.

 

Very interesting and ultimately pointless.

 

Exactly!.. created to stir up da chit.. and it did a bit.. I guess discussing 0-60 and misc other things was boring...

It's obvious that the 09-11 owners prefer the look of their car, as they should.. but many sure seem to not like the FACT that Acura changed the looks.

On the flip side, those of us that picked up the MMC like the looks of our rides and seem to like the changes... it is what it is

 

Like someone else said, our cars are mechanically perfect. Since we don't have our "breakdown" stories, we need to find other things to talk about

 

Agree.

How about engine mods, header and exhaust choices, suspension tuning, bigger and lighter wheels, stickier tires, etc., for the 4G TL ?

 

Now you're on to something!

 

I like my 2009 TL just the way it is. Nobody forced me to buy it; I saw it, I drove it, and I loved it. And I test-drove all the competitors. I don't care if others dislike the guillotine grill. I like a car that stands out, even if some think it's ugly. It has personality. The 2012 TL raises less eyebrows and generates less sarcastic comments, but it's also much more bland.

 

And we don't care that you think the new TL is bland

 

Case in point....this is the absolutely hideous (not only my opinion) front end of the new BMW 1 Series soon to be introduced....I bet many will think "oh it is beautiful and original"....as many think that the current 1 Coupe' is beautiful.....to me it looks like a Hot Wheels model...
Take the Bimmer badge off of that thing and slap a Hyundai logo.....and you'll see the change in music....




Even the back and the interiors are not that much better....

 

I always thought that the BMW grille looks like a pig snout...but it doesn't matter, it's a BMW, so it's got to be cool. Oink!

 

this thread is about .00000000000000000001 posts away from going full retarded

 

I still don't buy the 3G being a great design from day one. I wasn't feeling it and re-reading old car magazine reviews many weren't either. The 3G had a fFord washed bar of soap BMW look to it.