donutchow

i like it, it looks more real than the real wood in bmw's and jag's, ironically

weeeg

Currently my deposit is for a Pearl Blue with Camel. I wonder if I should change it. Where can I find these pictures that you speak of?

Since you say you like the wood trim...
What do you think about wood steering wheels?
(They don't work for me. My hands get really sore. I probably grip the wheel too tightly without realizing it.)

RJC RSX

yeah maybe you should consider changing it, seeing as there's no blue/camel combo

weeeg

The Accord with Nav has a really nice space for aftermarket stereo gear right under the factory radio. It is a giant deep square flat vertical opening that looks like it can hold a double-din setup, and it even has a nice tall swinging garage door than can cover it up and hide your gear when you park. For people who don't want to add any aftermarket stereo gear the space can be used to store CDs *vertically*!!! Wow, beautiful job Honda!!!

Now to the TL... :- (
It looks like this is missing. The Geniuses at Acura decided to add a tape deck?!?!? WTF?!?!? Why not an 8-Track, Turntable, and Wire Recorder while they're at it? The storage area under the radio looks really small, and slanted, and with a funky door that looks like it would hit anything you might want to mount behind it. I wonder if you could even fit a single-din sized radio in there? Anyone have any idea on this? This might be a BIG problem for me...

weeeg

Are you sure? How recent is your info? The dealer (two days ago) showed me a printout of the cars that they pre-ordered for Oct delivery and they let me pick from that list. Pearl Blue with Camel was on the list and that's what I chose. If they made a mistake and that combo doesn't exist and all their other cars get reserved by other customers (which they probably will) then there will be no car for me in Oct. Do you have any suggestions for me? Has anyone else heard anything about this combo?

princed

Here are pictures of both the camel and black interiors:

http://www.acura-tsx.com/forums/show...=&threadid=955

Personally, I don't think the combination of black and beige in the camel interior with the orange wood is too flattering. The black interior has aluminum trim and either shiny black plastic or a real dark wood/granite trim and looks much better -- I'm hoping the quartz is similar. I think a darker wood would have looked better in the camel/parchment interiors...

And do you really think the TSX's audience is in the upper teens, with the TL's being in the low to mid 20s?? I'm 26, and while I think many people in my age group will buy the 04 TL, I'm guessing the majority of purchasers will be older than me.

RJC RSX

I'm almost positive justin told us Abyss Blue Pearl was available in Quartz and Ebony; you may want to search for his post.

2k4tl

My dealer tells me there's a Pearl Green with Camel. The only Blue I'm aware of is Abyss Blue, which does not come with Camel interior, and thus no wood I guess.

Does anyone have a list of color combinations they could post?

-ferg

princed

This is from Justin several weeks ago...

Color combos for the 04TL...

Desert Mist Metallic-Ebony or Parchment
Nighthawk Black Pearl-Quartz or Ebony or Camel or Parchment
Abyss Blue Pearl-Quartz or Camel
Anthracite Metallic-Ebony or camel or Quartz
Deep Green Pearl-Camel or Parchment
Redondo Red Pearl-Ebony or Camel or Parchment
White Diamond Pearl-Quartz or Parchment
Satin Silver Metallic-Quartz or Ebony

Looks like the blue does come with camel...

weeeg

Does anyone know of any pictures of the Quartz interior?

Does the Quartz interior have fake wood trim like the Camel interior, or does in have dark trim panels like the Ebony interior?

RJC RSX

we haven't seen the new TL in quartz, but looking at the quartz tsx (see wiz's pics) you'll get a pretty good idea. Aluminum trim

JeffPhx

I've seen the Deep Green Pearl on an 04 Accord and it is a cool color. It is kind of a slate green/grey and very similar to Anthracite with a green tint. It reminds me a lot of Sagebrush on the MDX, but a few shades lighter. It looks good with the Parchment, but I'm not sure how it will look with the Camel interior.

zoltan

I have owned a 99 TL and two TL Type S 2002's and loved them. At this time I have an 04 Maxima SE with 260 hp and 255 lb/fts. This Max is also a superb machine with the spectacular VQ engine. Now I'm sort of thinking of getting back into the 04 Acura TL but lack information to make the decision! Decadent eh? Help!

Iceman

All signs point to the new TL being the best new Acura since the TSX!

Raheel

Good Perception, Unfortunately It just might not be, They are using the same old engine, no AWD or RWD, no cool special features that we all would like, and its mostly got what a Accord has except Bluetooth, and DVD-A and coupe other things but thats it..

I hope that I am not disappointed when I drive it, because I have been waiting for this car for a while

larchmont

Linguistic point: "Best new Acura since the TSX" means not as good as the TSX.

I can hear Iceman laughing.

Iceman

EmuMessenger

From a feature standpoint, I think most of us are going to be disappointed, but from a performance standpoint, let's hope it will be better.

The interior, IMO, is much better. I just wish it had ventilated seats, power tilt wheel, power folding mirrors and automatic day/night side-view mirrors.

princed

For me, my disappointment over the TL's feature set has waned somewhat. I think that I had a lot of expectations given all the idle thinking we've been doing here, but I've slowly gotten used to the specs. In fact, I feel that the lack of certain features is entirely understandable...

Acura does not yet have the brand status of Audi, BMW, or Mercedes - it is therefore unable to sell cars based on the elitism factor. Acura rides on Honda's reputation for quality and overall reliablity. The German cars offer reliable powertrains, transmissions, etc. in cars that perform extremely well, but they have issues with electronics and other small stuff. Their deficiency in reliablity, however, is made up by performance and brand status. If Honda was to change course and begin to offer a host of electonic gadgets and other comfort items (power everything, ventilated seats), it would have a WHOLE LOT to lose if these items create problems in the future, as reliability and value are the company's strong points. That's why Honda always tests things in Japan first (and I believe this point has been brought up here before) -- if HiDS screws up within the next couple of years, they'll have time to fix it before they export the technology and they don't have to risk alienating the HUGE American market. I'm no engineer, but I imagine it is difficult to incorporate a host of quality, reliable electrical/mechanical equipment in a small space that travels at high speeds, gets wet, and must withstand great extremes of temperature. Therefore, overseas Hondas get the power folding mirrors, rain-sensing wipers, rear sunshades, etc. way before we do. The potential losses are much less for Honda in smaller markets.

I'm just hoping Honda feels confident enough with its sedan-based AWD overseas that we'll start to see some non-FWD cars here in the states soon.

BTW, the leather in the TSX just seems so much nicer than that in the Accord -- does anyone know if the type of leather differs in the two models? And more importantly, is the difference in quality due to where the cars are made?? I'm just worried that because our TL will be made in Ohio, we'll get the Accord leather and not the TSX leather. Maybe they use the Kobe beef cows in the TSX...

RJC RSX

excellent points, princed.

I suspect the leather in the new TL will come from the same West Virginia factory that makes the (high quality) leather on the MDX.

EmuMessenger

Well put, by the way, the main reason I am disappointed in the feature-set in the TL is because it was an industry feature leader when I bought my first one in 99. In reality, we have only gotten memory seats, right mirror tilt down, Bluetooth and a DVD-A stereo since 99. Seems kind of bland.

blkngld

There are different grades of leather that you can choose from.

My wife got me a leather chair a while back and while I got to choose the color, there were also 6 different grades. They differ based on softness, texture, longevity, scuff resistance, etc.

BMW and MB, for example, typically offer a 'standard' as well as an 'upgraded' leather.

It's far more likely to be an acura vs honda thing rather than where the cow comes from.

Peter7777

The official Acura site has 6 different perspective views of the "Concept TL".

http://www.acura.com/promo/tl/concep...ome.asp?bhcp=1

Hopefully this is a prelude to a full site upgrade within the next week or so.

RJC RSX

Yeah we'll keep checking the mini-site in case they upload it early:

http://www.acura.com/promo/tl/minisite/tl_landing.asp

AcuraDealerIL

We all know Acura is a conservative company. They are never going to add features to $30,000 car that BMW has in their $50,000+ cars. Look at the features of a 92 Legend and tell me how many new features we have seen since then! Not as many as you would expect to find in 10+ years.

dralek

Check out the first '04 TL review on www.autoweek.com. It is also attached at the TOV site.
Very favorable... but no BMW
Who cares? I'm still getting it!

EmuMessenger

Only a topical review. Sounds good so far.

Raheel

You forgot XM Radio, Voice Activated Navigation, OnStar, Many other new features.. Just the things that dont interest you I guess

EmuMessenger

They do interest me, but these are things available in the Accord, minus OnStar. But we do not know for sure the new TL has OnStar.

By the way, has anyone noticed the TL concept has the front brake calipers on the side of the wheel closest to the passenger compartment, but the production model does not.

I remember reading somewhere that having them in the same location as the concept provides better stopping ability. I have since noticed Corvettes and Mustangs, among other vehicles have the same location.

goldband

Adaptive Cruise Control?

I have heard conflicting rumors on whether 04TL will have ACC. Dealer says yes, autoweek review doesnt mention it, etc. euro/Japan accord on which TL is based has it. The spy photo has something near the rearview mirror that could be the ACC radar/camera. (see a blowup of this area on http://www.goldband.com/images/tlinteriorroof.jpg). Does anyone know more about this or have an explanation of the photo?

RJC RSX

doesn't the radar go in the grill? How does the camera work with ACC?

goldband

I found this http://communities.sae.org/automag/g...1-111-4-8b.pdf on the euro/japan accord. They clearly show a camera near the mirror in their diagram, possibly radar as well. (pg.22)

SmokeTL

does any ony know if it will have rain sensing wipers?

from the pic from the above link, i see what looks like the photo cell that is used, but i haven't heard anything about it.

Booyah

In the autoweek article it mentions the hands free phone! So they are including a wireless phone built into the car as standard equipment? Im sure there is a monthly fee for this as well!
I sure will be glad when this come out, so we can all stop guessing what the TL is all about!!

SmokeTL

THE ARTICLE SAYS IT WILL WORK W/ BLUE TOOTH ENABLED PHONES. SOME OF THE NEW PHONES HAVE THIS TECHNOLOGY BUILT IN. YOU WILL BE ABLE TO USE YOUR EXISTING BLUETOOTH PHONE WIRELESSLY IN THE CAR....NO PHONE WILL BE INCLUDED.

Skull One_RENAMED

Bluetooth. That means your phone has to speak to the car on the 2.4Ghz protocol used by the car. Long as you meet that condition, yes it is hands free. Good luck on finding a good Bluetooth phone.

Booyah

Ok, I re-read it and it says with any bluetooth phone! So you will have to supply the phone! WHO has these type of phones out now? Im sure they are a little $$$

RJC RSX

The camera is for lane assist, there is no chance of the TL having this. Since justin said no ACC, he's probably right.

SmokeTL

I know Verizon has some now....but i am not advertising.

Myrddin157

Bluetooth phones are becoming more and more common. In fact, I have a bluetooth phone that will work with the new TL. It works fine and was not expensive ($30 or so from AT&T)
It is the Sony Ericsson T68. Nokia also has some phone with bluetooth.