No, I didn't go but my my boss did. I posted his summary elsewhere but his report to us was simple:

#1 We will no longer take a back seat to Lexus when it comes to refinement and quietness.

#2 Don't worry about the looks, it looks mean and aggressive in person.

#3 The SH-AWD in this car is impressive.

A few pics:

 

 

I........hate.......that.......grill

first thing I would do is dremel it off

 

i effin love the interior haha

 

bottom line, it's still uglier than Rosie ODonnell in the morning......

 

All of the pics of the '09s that I have seen look like Acura has greatly improved the quality of the paint finish. Looks much more Lexus like, deep & rich without the orange peel that is very evident on my '08 NBP. Of course I will have to wait to see if this holds true when I see one in person.

The interior looks OK, once again I'll have to see it in person.

The grille............

 

Wonder if they got those mid-westerners to build the car better. I can say I have owned 5 different 3G TLs and non of them are put togther well, even a TSX is built better.

 

Hmmm, I'm not sure how someone should take this statement? Does this say something about the car or more about you?

 

The 09 TL only looks good with 18"+ rims and the aspec kit.

Case closed.

 

Those tiny wheels and gigantic tires make the ugly car look even worse. The car is huge with long side panels -- it needs larger wheels. So cheap and economy looking.

 

Read my review in the other thread then look for my Pros/Cons on the interior in these pictures.

You can see the diagonal Gauges with the massive circular pins and the mesh shifter. You can also see better the chrome roof trim...check out this thread for the review:

https://acurazine.com/forums/4g-tl-2009-2014-123/official-first-ever-2009-acura-tl-dealership-pictures-review-687746/

 

Thanks for posting the pics Colin.


1) Love the interior
2) Love the new tech gadets and the upcoming SH-AWD and more power



The horrible exterior design negates all the cool new interior and engine features unfortunately.


Whats the point of having quiet and refined interior when the exterior shouts unpleasant aesthetic taste?

 

#3 says the sh awd in this car is impressive....

how would you know, that car isnt an sh....

 

You took my post out of context.

The feature sh-awd is available for the upcoming TL models. I'm sure its application will be the same as in the RL.

Well lets put it this way, it will ride nice, take corners, and be comfortable inside, but IMHO, it looks horrible on the outside.

 

These gray TL pictures bought back memories of the terrible spy golf course pictures that gave us a good first glimpse of the new TL.

I think the 4G TL just does not look good in gray! The gray color makes it look even more massive!

I still like the new TL in black the best.

Colin, I noticed there is a blue TL in the background in the picture above. Did your boss take any pictures of that blue one?

I think that blue one looks way sharper than the gray one too!

 

No I put up everything he took.

 

well it looks like i'm in the minority right now...but i like it...by any chance colin do you know when it's going to be release to us in oahu...i would most likely purchase this car in the future...like in 2yrs when they release a m/t!!!

 

We're going to get ours a little late, the release date was supposed to be the 24th, but our cars aren't even at the west coast yet. We are thinking it'll be 1st week in October but hopefully sooner.

 

From where I sit, when a car is covered in chrome trim, silver seems to look good because it blends right in and dark grey seems one of the worst contrasts.

 

If the front grill chrome would have stopped at top of the headlight lens and been even with it (instead of extending a few inches) it would have looked alot better. Interior looks very nice!

 

Thanks for the pics Colin. I understand you're not a designer and have no influence over the design of this vehicle, but if you're ever asked, "hey Colin, what are the guys online saying?"...

...it seems the majority of us will probably be able to get over the little niggles here and there and appreciate the car as a whole (as probably happens with each new generation of vehicle), but having graphic design experience, I'd like to meet the head designer who signed off on this grille.

The balance of the vehicle is off. Your eye wanders around the sharp edges of the vehicle and although not perfect, the rear is relatively light and fluid...then as you approach the front, the grille promotes heaviness and much of the fluidity is gone. For whatever it's worth, this heaviness can be alleviated by removing the protrusion on the hood...much more fluid and consistent with the overall design of the vehicle (and Acura aesthetics)...

Before


After

 

Hell, yeah! Thats more like it. Now, Acura, was something like this so hard to create?

 

Wow impressive photoshopping!

Since you're so fast at it, is it possible to raise the bottom of the grill to be even with the lower corner of the headlight lens so it's even there also? That would look almost like a 3G grill!

 

wow looks like a ton of pastic on the front and rear facias!!!!

 

Now remove the overlap (where the Symbol is) Paint the Chrome from the color of the car and put the Acura logo only in the middle of the mesh. Put the A-spec kit on it...and then see how it looks.

 

That sounds similar to one of my earlier designs...



Or the better version (with the MDX grille, which they should have used - or a variation of)



Hopefully I didn't hijack this thread...back to topic...thanks Colin for the pics!

 

Type 34 it amazes me that with just a few inches you took off how much better it looks to me.

Great job. Maybe it wouldnt look all that bad body color.

 

how can you make the car look so much better with simple adjustments?!..
that looks sick, amazing, mean, aggressive, etccc...

 

The faux satin metal finish on the trunk bottom looks really bad and the grille looks bad... especially curving onto the hood. I have to say that is a car doesn't look good in a dark grey how is it ever going to look good in any other color?

At least the TL will attract a different kind of customer.

 

Type34 send these photos to Honda and hopefully they can make some changes for the 2010 model!

 

That grill was not designed by accident; whether it is pleasing or not it was put there for a purpose. A bold statement proclaiming it is the new face of Acura. In time, this grill will change too to who knows what.

 

does anyone know the exterior colors for the 09 tl?

 

your version looks much better type34!!!

 

Good job w/ the chop w/ the MDX grille. That's what the front end should look like!!

 

The full color chart is here:
http://satoauto.com/cblog/index.php?...all-Debut.html

 

...it's like a freaking SHIELD! lol not a fan here either...

 

a shield from all the high speeds it will be doing!

 

Colin, thanks for posting the color chart. It's great to see that there are now more paint colors that are exclusively for Acura cars only (and not always shared with Honda). However, Crystal Black, Polished Metal Metallic, White Diamond Pearl, Basque Red Pearl are still shared with Honda.

I think that if the body colors for Acura cars are exclusively for Acura only, and not shared with Honda at all, this would make the car much more upscale and exclusive, which is what Acura is trying to achieve, right? I know the costs will be more, but then I thought that being a real luxury manufacturer is what Acura wants???

 

lol atleast now we know that that shield is just an insert so we could remove and replace

 

Just stating that the build quailty out of the Ohio plant sucks!! I have owned 5 3G TL's and each of them is poorly assembled. Not a one has the panel gap, or fitting that I expect fomr this level car. Bumpers that are never aligned right, roof ligners that were hanging off at delivery, truck lids that are uneven. I know I am picky, but I go to Infiniti and can't find anywhere near the poor assembly I see in the TL, even the TSX is put together way better!