I just got a TSX loaner and wanted to give a strong review on its pros and cons. Im coming from a highly modified TLS so for this thing to impress me, well, i guess it says alot.
Power (6.5): Though i may be biased since i rarely drive a car with such a weak torque range, i feel that the HP is pretty damn good when it finally reaches 6k rpm. The power is consistent and smooth, and you cant feel vtec engage. After 6k rpm, despite all the sound deadining practice done on the engine bay, the true character of the motor comes out. It gets a little raspy and starts to show the true power of this little 4 cylinder. Kudos to honda/acura for such fine tuning of a motor.
I still feel that this car could benefit from a bit more uumph, but for the price and overall package, its adequate enough.

Steering (9.5): Compared to my car, the steering is much stiffer. This gives a feel of being more tied down to the road, and allows you to be more precise with steering angle inputs. It goes precisely where you tell it. I feel that the weighting of the steering is somewhat heavy and road communication is also mediocre. Still, having driven the G's, i think this is a perfect balance; not too much effort is needed during low speed manuevers.

Handling (9): This thing is quite nimble as the magazine articles have noted. Its definately a 3 series challenger in this dept. It has the perfect compromise of ride quality and stiffness. The suspension really goes to work on our local twisting going towards the valley. I have the basic suspension work on my car but it still cant hide its front weight bias and overall more weight. I think that with summer tires such as the PS2's on my car would make this car nearly good of a handler as my car. However, during quick transitions, it does show feel a little unstable, where as my car turns in without any fuss. Still though, for a stock car, i would say this thing is pretty damn good! The tires are the main thing holding this car back right now, and with some better tires i think the mag. testers would rate it much higher, though they do seem to realize the suspension is really good.

Ergonomics (8): I expected more from this dept., but the overally quality feel is up, and everything feels tighter built. Since the steering and brakes are sensitive and firm, the whole car begins to feel solid. The interior setup is great and easy to access and use without the need to glance over. Your hand reaches over and it knows exactly where the control your looking for is. Much better interior than the TLS.

Brakes (6): I know i am biased here but so what? I really wanted better clamping force especially on a car with less weight than my own. Then again i am comparing a BBK to a stock acura car. These brakes bit like oem should, soft and progressive. They fade REALLY easy however, something i was disappointed in. You definately can not track this car without some better pads. My stock rotors with hawk pads felt better! Give this car some better rotors and pads and we should be good to go as far as street driving goes.

Transmission (9.5): It has all the good ole functions of my car, but its much smoother (im guessing this car has the electronic throttle, which really helps). Every shift is seamless and beautiful, where as my car jerks a bit more. Definately a nice slushbox. Comparing it to the TL i realize that over 100 hp more to the wheels would make shifts alot harsher, but still i think the trannies on the newer generation accord, tsx, tl, etc.. are much smoother.

Overall i was impressed by the handling, fit, and quality of this car. I now understand the point of this car. Give it some better brakes, better tires, and another 30 tq/40 hp and this car should really ROCK!

 

I get a TSX all the time too. However, I would rate the tranny around a 4. The tranny was worse than my CLS. That could be just that one car though.

 

you have to keep in mind that it is a loaner car so the tend to get ragged out like rental cars. so if you have high miage one you can bet it has been threw some stuff. but great review. i was really less than impressed when i drove a tsx but i think it was due to the whp. on the other hand a 6 speed tsx would be wuite nice andf fun to drive

 

I had a CL-S and after an accident got a TSX for an overnight test drive before I bought one. The TSX I got to test drivewas shifting hard, and going down a hill the instrument cluster lit up like what I had read the CL's did when the tranny went. I turned it off and let it sit a few minutes and it reset itself. The TSX I bought hasn't shown any problems with the tranny.
Point is, these loaners are beat up pretty bad by drivers.

 

What, no mention of the guages?

Those blue ones in the TSX are really slick looking.

Nice review. I had a TSX as a loaner a few months back as well. Great car, and it handled great, but like you said, the power just wasn't there.

 

I never get Tsx's for loaners.

I always get 2nd gen TL's.

 

the best thing about the car is the guages.

 

I did forget the gauges, but thats because i havent driven the car at night. It looks like it would be more appreciated when its dark out.
One last thing to note, the car had 22k miles; its probably gotten its fair share of abuse!

 

jon = beckar.

 

TSX

heh...the Brakes part isn't far off... had mine replaced allready once because of warpage