ntljr

WHERE'S THE INTERIOR SHOT AT???

jwaters943

I don't know about the rest of you, but if Acura says it plans on adding AWD to the TL within the next couple years I will have to wait until the 2005/2006 model year. Plus, it will give Acura time to work out all the bugs. I'm not as confindent in Japanese cars assembled outside of Japan as I am those assembled in Japan.

RJC RSX

ntljr

Jason, what do you mean? Sorry if i asked a question you have no interest in.

justinjsw

I think we should just delete this whole thread and start over.

ntljr

That's the interior shot? I thought you had something from the dash.... this one's way old. Thanks though.

RJC RSX

Yeah it's old, but it's a shot of the interior nevertheless, and since you asked... :P

need4spd_RENAMED

Agreed, start it with the spy shots and the facts as we know them, what we would like to see in it, and start guessing the rest all over again -

The summary would be worth it alone!

Raheel

I would love to be that guy peeking inside! :p

justinjsw

Somebody ask me this before but I don't have the time to dig through all these posts to find out who. Question was what color is the bronze metallic replacing on the 04MDX...answer is Havasu Blue.

04MDX...

Nighthawk Black Pearl
Starlight Silver Metallic
Sandstone Metallic
Sage Brush Pearl
Redrock Pearl
Midnight Blue Pearl
Taffeta White...early 04 models only
Aspen White Pearl
Bronze Metallic

acura_driver

I hope they leave it on the center console. Or since all it takes are electrical switches, they could put up/down shift controls both places.

I test drove several cars recently with sequential automatics. They were all different in their operation! For the console located controls, shift up was either forward, backward, or to the right! Gear selection limitations are also different between manufacturers. It would be nice if there were a standard. Imagine manual transmission cars where some models have first gear on the upper left like most do now, and some are on the upper right, or lower right, or...

-r

Jason

Actually, I was serious. Nobody is talking much about the interior, which I am very much interested in. Space for cell-phone? Good point. I'm thinking it should have some sort of universal cradle. Steering wheel controls? It's been mentioned whether they'd be lit or not, but not necessarily what they'll control.

justinjsw

Provench save us...I vote we delete thread....start new! I mean its only July...and look what happened.

Maybe I should just go back to some of this posts edit it and hide the new info in there and not tell you guys which posts it is in. That will be FUN.

Jason

Don't delete it, close it if you must.

RJC RSX

Nooooo the saga must go on!

Jason

This ain't Star Wars kid.

jwaters943

I vote that we leave this thread as is with the exception of changing it from a sticky to a regular thread and start a new TL thread entitled something similar to the following: 2004 TL FACTS, SPECIFICATIONS & PICTURES

justinjsw

I vote we take the next 100 or so posts to discuss this matter.

Alex

I do not think Acura will ever introduce AWD on any of sedans / coupes here in US (I'm talking about upcoming models spin).

If Honda can sell enough FWD cars and make profit without changing anything why would they bother and invest in something else???
After all profit is the only real measure - isn't it?
Honda is pretty small and still independent company (unlike others like Nissan, Mazda, Subary etc - nearly all companies except huge Toyota corp. belongs to Big3 in one or another way) and they simply can not afford to make any mistakes, so choosing old proved FWD might seems a good way to go for Honda executives.

I did some research in last few days trying to get some data about AWD Civics and Accords being sold in Europe and Japan.
One thing for sure - AWD is very very rare and not popular option, so now I'm wondering if it is any good for performance cars (such as TSX and especially TL can be). As it was already mentioned many times here the weakness of AWD (VT-4) installed on our Pilot and MDX is an additional proof of my point.

Honda makes most of money here in States.
Europen market pretty much ignores Honda models because of it's lack of image, high price and most important failure to provide diesel engines (more than 60% of European cars comes with diesel engines this days). Other part is pretty tide competition form Europeans - Hodna can not hold against their performance (European Ford, Alfa Romeo, Renault, VW - all of them have cars which runs faster, look nicer and cost less then Honda, not to mention BMW, Audi and others) or luxery or price. Honda has pretty nice _combination_ of all factors I mentioned before but again there's no image behind it (unlike US). So Honda realised that sad fact and during few last years was busy bringing diesels to Europe - but it is not going very well and will probably take awhile to cath-up with competition.

N/A situation is pretty much the same - Honda quality as low as it never been before and there's no performance models either.
Nissan nailed Acura in top segment and 2002 Civic Si is such a joke . The only real performer is RSX but again for the same price you can get WRX or SRT-4 - that cars will kill RSX at no time. Not to forget new Mazda6, and RX-8.

So if Honda (Acura TL in this case) wants to keep strong positions in N/A they MUST put more accents on luxery and some hi-tech features like variable displacement and gudgets / toys - this will at least make potential customers go and buy new models. Otherwise why not spend same money on Lexus or even Nissan - they have higher relability and it is a real performance cars.
TSX is very good example in this regards - nicely looking car loaded with options and with modest price.

So folks let's be realistic and stick with FWD - it is not that bad especially then it designed by Honda and all that AWD hype was for nothing.

justinjsw

I guess the DN-X concept was just a mirage.

The company's racing heritage and legendary engine technology is evident in the DN-X. The mid-engine, all-wheel-drive DN-X concept is equipped with a unique 400 horsepower hybrid powertrain that combines a high-output, 3.5-liter, DOHC, i-VTEC V-6 engine powering the rear wheels and an advanced electric Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) system that provides additional power to all four wheels. Not only does this system provide outstanding performance, but also achieves an environmentally conscious 42 miles to the gallon.

jwaters943

Wow, long post. Not sure where to start. Hondas new leader has already stated that he wants to make Hondas more sporty (I'm assuming he is referring to Acura as well) and for that Honda/Acura will need to use AWD or RWD. FWD will never feel as balanced or sporty as RWD or AWD. I could go on and on (and we all have our opinions so what's the point), but I'd be willing to bet you that we will see an AWD Acura within the next year or 2 in the form of the RL. Whether it be IMA or VTM-4 I'm not sure.

And by the way, Honda/Acura is worried about losing sales to Audi/VW. They must have mentioned benchmarking the Passat (in terms of driver appeal/fit and finsh) 3-4 times in their press releases for the new Accord. They also know they are losing business to VW/Audi by not offering AWD, but as usual they are slow to react. I mean look at how long it took them to release an SUV that was Honda made and engineered.

Alex

DN-X is just a concept
Unfortunately
I have huge collection of DN-X related links since it's very first presentation in 2001 in Tokyo and I would LOVE to see it in productions but ther's no sins of anything like that happening
As you would probably agree IMA Civic is very far from that DN-X promises

justinjsw

I totally disagree. What do you think a concept is for in the first place? The RD-X is a concept but we will see a production version of it in the near future.

IMA is Hondas answer to the other companies V8s and RWD platforms.

Alex

Well RL is a total mystery for me and quite frankly simply out of my league
Check for example Subary 2004/5 models - they all over European magazines (start from EVO).
And they coming to US soon so I was wondering why should I go for TSX./TL if for about same amount of money I can get Subi loaded as Acura with famous Subary AWD and 280hp?
Which is why I decided to go deeper and check what's actually going on outside of US.
Being hardcore fan and proud owner of several cars I just hate to see how others tearing Honda territory apart.
I'm also just a consumer and my _peronal_ experience says me that the recent Honda quality is not good as it was and there's other cars which possibly better than mine

100% agree with you.
My worries and concerns is that it might be just too late.
Current Honda/Acura model line cannot be claimed as hi-performance anymore nor it can be named as best in relability.
And I do not see any signs of changes in near future
2003 Accord is quite good (I would say the best in his segment) but with all due respect it is has nothing to do with true performance.
Sometimes I think that Honda busy squeezing money from customers but one day they might turn they heads to other direction

Alex

I will agree with that statement right after I see one.

So far Honda/Acura AWD rumours was around for year but still nothing like that in production.

Speaking of V8 vs V6+IMA:
Let's say I'm looking to buy TL and hoping it will come with 3.5L + AWD + 280-290hp - now it is very clear that TL comes with no AWD but with 3.2(3,4?)L 270hp engine - why would I pay 35K for TL if I can spend it on 1-2years old used GS 400 with is RWD with V8 300hp and has all luxery which '04 TL might have?

What I want to say (and most afraid of) that the price gap between '04 TL and it's competitors becomes really small - and that's not good at all.

Stash

18" only for hpt---no 19"s

17" on everything else

justinjsw

Why wouldn't you want to pay 35K for a NEW TL and want to pay 35K+ for a used GS400? You are comparing an apple to an orange. At least compare the TL to something in its segment like a NEW G35, ES300, Audi A6.

It looks like you have E-Class taste on a 30K budget.

Iceman

Honda can't stand still, nor can any other manufacturer. Honda promised a performance hybrid car with the DualNote, and that promise will be realized in a couple years with the new NSX (OK, this is off-topic). Performance hybrids are the bomb, because you get way more horsepower than is good for you to have, along with better gas mileage than any current gasoline-powered car sold in the US. So please don't relegate Honda to what it's done in the past.

CK03RSX-S

Damn Alex, what the heck are you talking about? I don't even know where to begin. Comparing the TSX/TL with a Suby STi or the new Legacy perhaps, then the TL with a used GS400, Honda having the worst reliability ever, no performance offerings from Honda, Nissan killing Honda.... Do you work for Subaru or Nissan...or for that matter Dodge.

Hey, I have some issues with Honda/Acura too, but you are all over the place.

Not to be too harsh, but I think you may need to do some more research. Start with Marketing 101 first.



Now, back to that TL thingy!!!

larchmont

What will tell us way more about the car than further pinning down of all this stuff is THE DIMENSIONS. We have a basic picture of all the other factoids, but almost none about the size. Most of the buzz says it'll be somewhere between 185" and 190", but that's a huge range; those would be very, very different kinds of cars, in terms of how they would act and feel -- even if other specs were basically the same. Some sources have even said it'll be BIGGER than the current TL. The main part of the gap between what we know about the car and what kind of car it will really be, is its size. So:

THIS THREAD IS WORTHLESS WITHOUT DIMENSIONS!

EmuMessenger

Navi went to DVD in 00 also.

What were the new wheels for 03?

--------------------------------------


Someone mentioned illuminating on the new TL, my wife has the 03 Accord EX-V6 Navi and there are several buttons and none illuminated.

It would be a great idea.

A friend has a 95 or 6 Explorer with illuminated steering wheel controls.

need4spd_RENAMED

Larch - The TL Concept I saw at the NY Auto Show appeared to be smaller than the current TL, but it is true I did not have a ruler with me. Looked about the size of my current Maxima which is around 188"

Unfortunately, looks can be deceiving, take for instance the BMW 5 series which looks the size of the 3 series.

Alex

CK03RSX-S and others,
Sorry for my mixed posts (please take it easy ), I'll try to stay on topic next time
I'll start with Marketing 101 first (as you suggested)

larchmont

Thanks -- but, as you say, very deceiving indeed.
Besides, it's far from a slam dunk that the production car will be the same size as the concept.

I agree about the BMW's. I'm constantly almost mistaking 5's for 3's, and feeling pretty dumb about it.

need4spd_RENAMED

Don't forget A6's and A4's, too much inbreading there, must have southern roots (southern germany that is )

need4spd_RENAMED

So far the TSX and 04 TL have similarities, but front, side and rear all have enough differences not to confuse the two.

Colin

The concept car was supposed to be around 190 or about 2 inches shorter than the current TL. This was supposed to be "90%" acurate to what the production car would have. I'll go out on a limb and vote for 190 inches overall length. Maybe someone will measure the 18" wheels in the prototype and extrapolate out the exact length.......

Raheel

Man The concept's trunk looks so small, it almost makes it look ugly, Seriously Its so damn SMALL!

larchmont

Good. Let's see....that means it'll be somewhere between 171" and 209".

need4spd_RENAMED

That’s what gives it the athletic sports coupe look. Many are going that way to give it a sporty look. Won’t compare it to the others though.

It may even be proportionally the same as the TSX for Hood to Trunk (HOT) ratio.

BTW - Aloha Colin