prballard

I took a test drive with an 09 5AT non-tech today at lunch at the Lexington dealer. I was expecting the drive to be very similar to my drive of the 6MT Tuesday night in Louisville.

I really don’t know what to say. The two test drives were like Jekyll and Hyde.

I took the 5AT on a course similar to many of Acura and Lexus test drives in the past, most recently with an IS 250 AWD. On the country roads the IS stuck like glue and even with its electric steering the car never felt out of control and never disconnected the road. The test drive of the 6MT in Louisville even better than the IS. The 6MT had much more steering feedback and road feel.

In the 5AT the steering was all over the place. Very disconnected! What in the hell happened to the road feel?? The acceleration was also very poor. The car seemed sluggish to me. Of course I drive a 6MT everyday, but there shouldn’t be that much difference.

Could Acura have the setup so different on the 5AT and 6MT? I am starting to question my judgement, if not my sanity.

By tomorrow they will have a 6MT ready for me to drive. We shall see!

All of this begs me to ask the question, Acura WTF are you doing???

jwaters943

Interesting. Did you check the tire pressure? Was the temperature more than 15-20 degress different than yesterday?

FWIW, I'm planning on doing a test drive of an Automatic '09 TSX this Saturday. If I have time I plan to drive it back to back with an Automatic '08 TSX. I've seen many compare the new TSX to their modified TSX which I feel is unfair. I'm curious to see how the two measure up when completely stock.

nycgay23

I'm hoping to text drive an '09 TSX Saturday as well. I've never driven a TSX before, so I will not have anything to compare it with, but I appreciate all these write ups giving me a chance to know what those who have driven the first generation TSX feel.

prballard

The Lexington dealer was rushing to get the car ready for me to drive. They have had drivers appreciation days all week and I was the first one to drive a TSX there, even though they have had them since Tuesday night.

Louisville get theirs Tuesday Afternoon and rushed to get the 6MT ready for me that night. The only reason I tested the 5AT was because of some of the comments around here that didn't jive with my impressions.

BTW - the weather has been great all week.

prballard

I didn't measure the tire pressure. I hope the techs lowered it.

MMsTSX

Okay, I don't feel so crazy or ostracized anymore.

I felt a huge difference between the 6MT and the 5AT.
Just like my review says.

If you read it, I have some nice things to say about how the 6MT drives and feels.

Yes, I'm sure they corrected the tire pressure.
The acura dealer here knows they ship over inflated to avoid flat spots.
They know to adjust the pressure before anyone drives the car.

I drove both the AT and the MT, both from the same dealer, back to back.
MT first, AT second. The MT I drove didn't have the tech.

I agree with your statements above about exactly, you are not crazy.
To me the AT seems much more numb and disconnected.
It seems slower, sluggish, and like you're in less control for sure.
Add my confusion with the paddle shifters and fat wheel and you have a very
unhappy driver (me).

The MT was much more responsive, the engine felt better, the control was better.

Like I said, as I was returning, the AT seemed a bit better, not as bad as when
I was going away from the dealer, but still very numb and floaty.
I had to go slower around the turns with the AT, I didn't feel in control of the car
nearly as much as I would like to have.

LuvMyTSX

Hmm. I hope I'm not disappointed with the AT, as that is what I'd get.

Mokos23

Well, it's not surprising to me cause the 1st gen TSX 5AT was also sluggish and slow. Even the reviewer here if you've seen this video said that the 09 TSX was sluggish and hp is too low for such a bigger car.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQ1Dtc-Z_qw

prballard

Thanks for your response. This may be a big issue. I sure would like Colin to drive both. If I am not mistaken, Jeff @ VTEC has only driven the 6MT. All of this leaves me shaking my head.

Mokos23

did you try the paddle shifters?

prballard

That may be true, but my main point is road feel and handling.

The 6MT

The 5AT

It is like they are two completely different cars.

prballard

A little, but I wasn't used to them. So I didn't use them much to my advantage on the curvy roads.

Mokos23

well the guy in the review said that he liked the handling, he just didn't like the grill and the acceleration.

MMsTSX

same here.
they'll take some getting used to, and I'm not used to them.

they don't fit my one handed driving style.
I can't stand driving with two hands, and the paddle shifters about force you to.

no good for me.

too bad my wife refuses to drive a MT.
she says it's too much work for her, all the shifting and such.

prballard

I can't seem to find you comments on the 6MT. I have read your review of the 5AT. Please help me out with a link.

MMsTSX

same review.

I drove both at the same time.

the review was for both.

I focused more on the AT, because that's what we would have bought.
Plus that's the one that had the tech package in it.

The negatives from the AT really stuck with me.
The positives from the MT weren't enough to really help my decision at all.

read all the posts I made in that thread again for clarification.

jwaters943

Did they have the same tires? I know Honda/Acura has made a habit of fitting many of their cars with two different brands of tires with little rhyme or reason (e.g. Goodyear & Michelin). Tires make a huge difference IMO.

Mokos23

And to me, Michelin tires suck!

jwaters943

No tire will ever be as bad as the Goodyear Integrity which came as standard equipment on my '06 Pilot, but don't take my word for it:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....nSpeedRating=S

Ranked 21st out of 24 Passenger All-Season Tires available at Tire Rack. Great job Goodyear!

prballard

Both cars had the same tires to best of memory. Michelin. The same as the stock 1st gen TSX, except a different size.

Mokos23

yikes, thought goodyear tires were good, guess not

prballard

I took a another 6MT out today at lunch. I had the same experience as I did Tuesday night, the car was great.

None of the problems I had yesterday with the handling and steering that I had on the 5AT.


Count me in, I sold. I am going to buy a 2009 TSX 6MT w/ tech.

Now, just to pick the color.

Mokos23

wow, prballard will be most likely the first new owner to sign in on the 2nd gen TSX owners sign in section!

great it's like dejavu, the 5AT in the 1st gen TSX was a dog, but the 6MT was smooth. Same case here again, the 2nd gen TSX the 5AT is a dog and the 6MT is better. Well, I'm not surprised.

i would pick a color that doesn't make the front grille stand out.

prballard

Back in 03 it took me months to decide on the color. I am also getting a rare combo (6MT/tech). I doubt I will be anywhere near first on the list.

The pearl white looks great, but the silver blends so with the grill. I not for sure about picking a light color. Part of me wants to go with the black and say " love it or hate it, here it is".

Most likely I will go with the Polished Metal/Taupe (which I have seen and looks great) or Vortex Blue/Taupe. I haven't even seen the Vortex Blue at all.

The car I had today was Glacier Blue/taupe. The first time I have seen it on a 09. It looked very nice.

5thTo2nd

Ok so I thought I was crazy too when I test-drove the 1st gen 5AT and 6MT and found them to be quite different in terms of driving feel.

So here's the question: is this all placebo or is there really a difference??? There aren't much differences in spec between the two so why is there so much of a difference in the driving experience?

jwaters943

prballard,

My 1st choice (based stricly on the brochure) is Polished Metal/Taupe. I can't wait to see pics of your new TSX, whatever color you decide on.

prballard

Because real men use a stick.

jwaters943

I think it has to do w/ the connection you feel with the car. With a manual you are forced to be a part of the "driving experience". With the automatic, even with the paddle-shifters, the interaction is less direct. The overall experience is just a bit more detatched as there is no engagement of the clutch with your foot and no feeling of shifting into a gear at the exact moment you want.

prballard

Good explaination. And my joke not withstanding, it really doesn't explain the experience I had yesterday. That was very strange and disconcerning. I mean the drive was really bad. I hope it was just tire pressure the tech missed. I mean I have an Accord company car from time to time and drive my wife's Outback a lot and I never get the feeling on a drive I had yesterday.

5thTo2nd

there's got to be more than that.....MT seems to be on the way out so I'm still wondering if the traditional clutch and shifter add anything tangible to the experience. I mean, if F1 is even using paddle-shifters and DSG is coming to the forefront then the days of MT are surely numbered?

prballard

On my third test drive of the 5AT, I kept the shifter set to "S" and not "D" and never used the paddle shifters. The performance and handeling was very similar the 6MT test drives. My advice to all 5AT owners, keep in "S".

jwaters943

Some of this has to be in your head. Putting the transmission into "S" will effect the feel of accleration due to the fact that gears will be held longer and should thus keep you in the "meat" of the powerband. With that said, it has no effect on the handling of the vehicle.

prballard

Any car handles better in a lower gear.

jwaters943

How does a car handle better in a lower gear? Please enlighten me.

prballard

At a lower gear the engine is transferring more torque to the wheels at the same speed of the car.

Try going around a the same curve in 3rd, then do it at 5th, both at the same speed. Or even better neutral. After you slide off the road.....

Higher RPM, more torque, better handeling.