Well we have a couple TL's in the shop getting wheels put on today and one has a painted grill. Note this is not my car it belongs to a dealer. I just wanted to post because I thought some of you would be interested in what this may look like. I think it makes the front look a lot more attractive. I will get some full body shots when the car is done. Enjoy

 

I think it's an improvement. I would put 3M clear bra material over it to protect it from rock chips.

 

I don't like it. Maybe semi gloss black like the honeycomb area under the blade. Then you'd have the penta frame in brushed aluminum, and the chrome caliper logo on a black background.

 

that def flows a lot better with the front. i like it

 

Take some pics while vehicle is outside please.

BTW- welcome to the forums and great first post!

 

It looks promising. That may be a worthwhile mod to get.

 

:ibPetesaysheispaintinghisgrille:

 

I have to say that I like it, too. I think there are lots of options with the new grille.

 

Much much better !!!

 

I think that is a solution I can live with. Wait I am looking at a silver TL.

 

Outside photos!! Dealer picked the wheels, go easy on me please

 

Didn't know dealerships do that kind of stuff. Was this going to the showroom?

 

They'll try anything to drive business and if the public is not liking Acura's styling direction it's worth a shot. Especially in times like this..

A lot of dealers do some type of aftermarket appearance mods.

 

MUGEN KID thanks for the awesome pictures. what size tire & rims ? thanks

 

would love to see how it would look with the brushed aluminum looking trim around the grill was painted as well... it is an improvement though

fortunately at least the front end is growing on me a tad.

 

I am not a fan of the chrome-look wheels, but that paint-mod front...I like a lot.

 

Well here in Arizona every dealer here has to compete with each other and its a big demand for aftermarket parts from the factory. It's too bad most dealers go the wrong direction when it comes to fixing their cars up. Plus we have the weather for nice rides all year long(Summers a hot one, but after that its all great)

 

No problem, the wheels are 20x8.5 with a +35 offset. Its too bad they went with a 5x120 bolt pattern. Not sure the tire size I will find out.

 

man, I think it is terrible looking.

 

Different Look but not bad. Kind of like changing the color of your phone. Only with the TL you can change it once...

 

I thought I liked it better, until I saw the first pic of it outside. Don't like that so much. It's just too damn BIG.

I'd rather have Ronjon's grille in the second pic of his 'possible kits' thread.

 

Definitely looks worse...

 

methinks they shouldda just painted the entire grill instead.

 

Should have done it the opposite way. Painted the outside silver to match the car and left the inside silver.

 

it looks nice and all, but the grille is to big as stated. they should have gone with a smaller grill to show off the look of the new TL...

 

I was at Keyes Acura in Van Nuys today getting my car serviced. They had a gray (what used to be anthracite) TL with the front grill painted the opposite of these photos. It looked better. They also painted the "strip" on the backside, that looked WAY better.

I took photos with my cellphone, but I dont know how to upload them to this site.

They had done the same with a black RL, painted around the center portion of the grill. It too looked much better.

They also put 20" chrome wheels on the TL. I saw a rendition (an inhouse photo shop) of a TL with a new grill, all mesh with the "floating logo"...and with the lower lights blacked out on the bottom of the grill. That looked okay too.

The sales manager was very interested in my opinion of the car and this is what I told him...it is too big. He said they are targeting the Lexus "GS" model, especially with the SH-AWD model.

There is WAY too much chrome. The top half of the door handles are chrome for crying out loud! He said they are going for a more upscale luxurious look.

I told him the 3G had a nice balance of sportiness and luxury and you could mod it in either direction. He agreed. The new one, not sporty at all. Too many shapes and sizes and angles and lines and the nose is too long..and the car is bigger than an RL!! He said that will change when the new RL comes out next year. It will finally grow larger than the TL.

I also told him the tail lights had too much going on and the portion that is not the lenses should be blacked out. They are some plastic silver looking color that matches nothing else on the car.

Other than that, it looks better in person than in the photos, but it is a big wide car now. Looks aggressive, but doesn't look nimble or capable of being nimble. Apparently they are getting a preview of the AWD model next Tuesday. He invited me to come back and check it out. (I'm not going, I got to make money, not spend it!)

He said they were going to play around with different looks on the grill to make it more appealing, including painting the entire thing leaving only the logo silver/chrome.

I also told him that "divot tool" looking center armrest wasn't going to last and the sunroof shade and the sun shades are clearly lighter and of lesser quality than on my 04'.

My last comment to him, was a repeat, TOO MUCH CHROME!

 

I like it! I would clear bra it to prevent rock chips.

 

Upload your photos to www.tinypic.com Will be interested to see this grill option as I think it will possibly be better than the OP's pics. Thanks

 

It's the "lipstick on the pig" thing. The TL has lost it's sportiness. I'll wait for the 5G TL

 

I just cannot come to terms with the fact that someone who is apparently getting paid to design cars, actually came up with that grille. Moreover, that at subsequent meetings on the new TL a group of people who work at Acura actually looked at the front of that car and said "Now THAT'S exactly what we were looking for......"

I guess if the Pontiac Azztek and the original Subaru Tribeca that looked like an Edsel mini-van made it to the street, then the TL is not the most FUBARED redesign ever.

To me, thaer is not much anyone could do to the stock grille to make it any worse.

 

Looks different. If outer trim was painted too, it would look better too IMO. But good looks tho.

 

Thanks, mugen, for your pics and welcome to the forum. I, too, would really like to see an 09 with the WHOLE front end painted body-color. If someone stumble across somebody who has done this, please let us know and post pics.

 

I hope this worked.

 

This looked good on the computer screen, but I could not see how it took into account the fact shield sticks out from the hood/bumper area.

 

Dunno...I prefer the painted beak (original post) instead. The painted surround trim still leaves a huge beak.

Overall, I must say that the 4GTL is hardly a photogenic car. After seeing one at my local dealer, I felt that it looked better in real life (not great, but simply ok or 'acceptable') than in photos. So, it may be difficult to judge these paint mods in photos.

I wonder what could be done to improve the lower half of the front?

 

i think the original red car would look a lot better if the center was black. body matching just doesn't look right because it's such a large part.

now i want to see someone body match the surround and flat black the middle.

 

I like the paint job on the original red TL posted here. If someone would paint the top strip of the grill to match the color of the car and the hood, all 2009 TL's could be saved!

Where are our AcuraZine PhotoShoppers????

 

I agree that the red one looks better. I just think both look better than the original. The black RL they had in the dealership looked good, but its entire lower front is out of place in my opinion. Of course on the RL, the shield stops at the hood line, unlike the TL.

I asked the guy about painting the top of the shield (I thought I saw a photoshop on this board to that effect), and he said it would be too difficult because the edge is not sharp (where the shield bends), but they managed to put chrome on the top half of the door handles!

We'll see how difficult it is if they can't sell this car to enthusiasts, or if they care. I am so disappointed in the 4G right now, but I must admit, after looking at it for a couple of hours, I am getting used to it, even if it has not yet grown on me.

Then I saw a TSX on my way home, parked on a residential street and all I was drawn to was the "baby beak" on that one. Bummer.

 

The grille in the OP is better. I just wish the rest of the aluminum was even with the top of the headlights.

 

From post #2154 on the thread with over 44 pages!