UA6

potmilkz

you do know that it takes alot to reach those speeds.. i dont think our engines are even built to withstand it..

saturno_v

It has nothing to do with the "engine withstanding the speed"....all it takes is power, aerodynamic and the right gearing.


300 HP+ in a midsize sedan decently profiled (you average 0.30 drag coefficent, common today) should get you to 260-270 km/h

I personally done that kind of speed with a 315 HP BMW M5 E34 with no governor back in the day in Europe.

My Alfa 164 (a midsize sport sedan from the early 90's) Turbo V6 5 speed manual with 210 HP was good for 242 km/h (150+ mph)

The 4th gen Maxima 3.0 4 speed automatic in Europe (mid 1990s) had a declared top speed of 230 km/h (144 mph) with 200 HP.

Now I don't know how about details of the gearing in the TL....if the 5th would be too short and the 6th too tall....

My speedometer reads about 60 mph at 2000 rpm in 6th if I recall correctly (checking as soon as I get out), so theoretically it would mean 180 mph indicated at 6000 rpm (6300 rpm max power output, redline starts at 6700 rpm)

So the power can definitely get you there, it all depends on the gearing too.

I repeat, the Honda Legend (our Acura RL) is sold in Europe with a top speed of 155 electronically limited.

The 260 HP 2G TL, according to C&D, had an electronically limited top speed of 150 mph.

pimpin-tl

Correction only the 6mt. The 5AT will only do 128mph and will not go over that. I had mine topped out at that speed for a while on a rural road in Texas.

pimpin-tl

Take my 350Z NISMO over the S2k. Way quieter and had way more life at 160 mph ecu limited at the time. Probably could have hit 170 or more.

NwTSXmt

And I'll take my 08 Vette over your 350Z...and I'm sure there are faster car owners on the forum...some one is always faster...just sayin Enjoy what you got...

George Knighton

The US cars won't do that.

At the radar station they had me at 137 around one of the points where I thought I felt the limiter. It might really be limited slightly higher, but it can't be more than a couple of MPH higher.

George Knighton

I'm a little worried about some of the comments that I am reading here.

I am an experienced track driver. I'm seat time qualified at a number of tracks and qualified for NASA Group 4 (California Group 5).

In my opinion, the 4G TL 6-6 SH-AWD is an aerodynamic-difficult and alignment-difficult car to drive at high speeds.

It can feel, especially in higher speed corners, like a track car with an aggressive alignment.

Although it'll get around tracks at a very decent clip, especially bigger tracks like VIR, it might be more of a handful at high speeds on public roads than you are anticipating.

Frankly...and only personally speaking...I would not drive this car at very high speeds on public roads. Even at regular highway speeds, it's not a car that you can ignore and go into automatic zone-out mode.

It takes some attention.

It's fast...but it takes attention.

So, please, please be careful and know what you are doing.

zovinger

Hi George,

I'm a complete layman when it comes to dynamics of high-speed driving - dont do it myself. If you have some time ( and inclination) can you please expand your above post to detail a bit about the aerodynamics/alignment of the TL and why, as you put it, it 'needs some attention'.
My goal here is NOT to flame/troll, only trying to be better informed.

Thanks in advance

saturno_v

I totally agree about not speeding on public roads with ANY car.

But frankly I disagree completely on the TL aerodynamic and alignment high speed stability...I think is quite the contrary....


Look at this video where the TL is driven on the track (Nashville Superspeedway) by Dario Franchitti (4 times Indycar champion) and Tommy Kendall (4 times Trans Am champion)


...and listen to their opinion and comments...

The car has been only praised by the media for its handling capabilities and more so the ease how you can exploit them...one axpect of this car where pretty much everybody agree unanimously.

I did push the car a bit only once in a literally deserted road (yes in the middle of a desert like environment) and I found its high speed stability quite excellent.


Are there better track cars?? Obviously, the TL is not a track car by any stretch of imagination...

Now if you say that the SH-AWD may take some time to get used to for people with traditional car track experience (a comment I heard already from other track pilots) is another story....it is a feeling thing.

George Knighton

I don't know. I'm used to driving a fairly aggressively set up track car at up to 150 or so...but I'm not comfortable thinking about the TL at 150.

I think they picked a logical limiter speed.

We can both agree that the car's a blast, eh? :-)

pimpin-tl

Yep, and my nismo 350z with all its downforce body kit was very stable at 160. And I tracked that car and well experienced red group when I use to go. I would not take the Tl to those speeds though.

saturno_v

I don't know...we agree to disagree....I do not feel the TL less stable than any other sport sedan of the same size that I driven....A6, 5 Series, CTS, and so on.....

George Knighton

I apologize for the evident fact that the imprecision of my expression has caused people (including people at Honda) to believe that I was being critical of the 4G TL suspension, handling or aerodynamics.

It's a part of the nature of the beast, including the nature of SH-AWD, that the car reacts very quickly to minor movements of the steering wheel. No SH-AWD vehicle is one that you can ignore while you're driving one handed with a cigarette in one hand and your cell phone in the other hand.

But...this is the way it should be, and this is a part of the reason why I have been a Honda aficionado since 1989. For 23 years, I have liked where Honda and Acura have taken me and I fully expect that my next car is going to be the hybrid electric AWD RLX with its automated manual transmission.

:-)

There's nothing *wrong* with the way the 4G 6-6 SH-AWD handles at high speed.

However, it can seem to a novice to be twitchy. Although the steering is progressive, the combination of the native alignment and SH-AWD can cause the car when driving at 10/10 to be something other than what a novice should be driving at 140 miles per hour.

But then the argument from the other side will be that a novice shouldn't be alone on the track at 140 anyway.

I understand.

And I am sorry that the imprecision of my speech caused people to believe that I was being critical of something basic to the car's design or specifications as delivered.

There's seldom a week that goes by that I don't catch myself thinking, "What a nice car" as I'm using it for my normal 120 miles/day that I use it.

I've owned this car since December 2009. I didn't buy the 2009 model because I was waiting for the 6-6 to hit in the 2010 model year. :-)

The car is awesome on the track and will get you around a road course much quicker than you would think. You'll want better tyres on it, and you'll want to be careful of the brakes because they're a little weak for constant 10/10 driving. Two laps at 10/10 around VIR and you're going to want to slow down.

Where I am afraid that someone who doesn't know the car very well can make a mistake is over the hill on the back straight at VIR, or in the kink on the front straight at VIR. The car responds to the slightest input, and it responds decisively and aggressively.

This is awesome...except that I'd think it might surprise some people and cause them to make a mistake.

If you're at Summit Point in the car, you will notice that it gets through T4 and down the chute and then through T5 faster than you'd have thought, precisely because it does *not* understeer and because it responds very quickly to these inputs.

But these same inputs can cause someone experimenting with the car to spin down the chute and into the Legends shortcut instead of entering T5 where he'd normally want to enter it.

It's not as good at Summit as it is at VIR, because Summit's just too tight in some places for a big car like the 4G TL.

It'll still be a riot, but you won't be keeping up with the same kinds of cars you'll be keeping up with at VIR.

George Knighton

I prefer the SH-AWD TL to the 5 Series BMW and the CTS.

I don't think the current A6 line includes the sports differential even as an option, so although I haven't driven the current A6 it would be easy to speculate that I'd still prefer my TL to the A6.

I am just so terribly embarrassed that my cautionary comments have caused people to think that there's something about the TL that I do not like. I just meant to caution people not to drive it like a typical big sedan...because it's not the typical big sedan.

The governed speed is right where it should be, IMHO. I wouldn't want to go through the kink on the front straight at 155 in the TL, as people were speculating.

You said "less stable" in your comments. Maybe we should take a moment to talk about the fact that a really good handling vehicle will be, by definition, less stable. Fast cars always respond quickly, and fast cars tend to understeer less. And that's a part of what SH-AWD is about, right?

:-)

aspecallday

I have to disagree my friend.


With my 06 5 speed AT i reached 145mph. Granted it was on a nice downhill stretch i still reached it. There are many clips on youtube with 3g being max out.

JustinTL

well you are right. I remembered before I got roll 5 times and my TL drop down to 200 feet rock bottom. and my body was jelly, and died. I did 170 mph with it. lol. kidding.

truth is I did 135mph. at wendover Nevada. bonneville should ring the bell?

JustinTL

yeah yeah, you remind me the time when I came visit my uncle in France. he took me to visit Germany. and geeez, his BMW hit around 200 kmh. and a red Ferrari passed us like a bullet.

pimpin-tl

Well you had a 06. We were talking about the type-S when I responded and no the TYPE-S will not go more than 128mph like I said. It is electronically limited.

saturno_v

Here I absolutely agree......the cars "fun" to drive are often the ones that take skills to be driven the proper way....something common people with not much driving experience often misunderstand....they often confuse "the best handling", "the most fun" when they read magazines with the most safe or easy to drive....it is quite the opposite....

A lot of folks that fill their mouth with "RWD are better than FWD" often have no business in driving a RWD car especially around the wet twisties of western WA...

Many experts consider the GT-R a car not very "fun" to drive and with a "disconcerting" handling behavior...that still means that the GT-R has exceptional handling characteristics and out of this world limits.....it take times to get used to.

My wife STI could be considered under certain metrics not as fun as a 1 Series coupe or as a 3 Series coupe to drive....still it will spank one very badly on the right road and in the right hands....

saturno_v

.....different markets, different limits.....in Euroland the modest Accord 2.4 automatic (200 hp) which is nothing else than our Acura TSX 2.4, so with the base engine, has an officially declared top speed of 227 km/h (143 mph)


From an Italian car magazine Honda official specs and pricing:

http://www.quattroruote.it/listino/h...c-exclusive-at

aspecallday

I see,my bad

kinda sucks for type s drivers because that means a regular 5 AT could beat them in the long run.

greggw2gs

I agree the Belt Parkway has to be the worst!