Acura TL SH-AWD

Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman, www.car-data.com

We were blown away by the looks of the 2004 Acura TL when we first encountered it in 2003. The clean exterior design that moved away from the cookie-cutter look of so many mid-sized sedans in the early part of the decade, including the previous iteration of the TL, came with a load of new fangled technology, outstanding performance, a knock-’em-dead sound system and wonderfulday-to-day livability.

The 2004 TL with its distinctive character line flowing through the door handles upward into therear fender grabbed us by the neck and said, ‘love me.’ It was love at first sight and then love atfirst drive.

Since then that once rather unique styling application has been copied dozens of times withvarying degrees of success. It had, in fact, become somewhat dated.

But some folks back then thought the ’04-’08 generation TL was, well, bland. Styling likeeconomics brings loads of opinions. In this case we must point out that the last generation TL wasAcura’s runaway best seller.

And that brings us to the all-new TL. Acura is betting the farm on keeping it in thebest-selling category. But for us, love for the exterior package is harder to conjure up this timearound.

Specifically, we can’t get our mind around the snowplow front end. The dominant grille with a’jack-o-lantern’ smile has been called everything from a vegetable slicer to a gladiator shield.The V-shaped rear decklid is also a puzzler. From the side, the design is handsomely conservativerising above the ordinary with muscular wheel arches and interesting character lines. And the TLpresents a wide, solid stance.

Acura officials say they wanted to steer clear of conventional design. We say they succeeded,but to what cost?

Our ambivalence over the front and rear styling is not shared by everyone, however. We stoppedoff to pay a bill (yes we pay our bills) and two people who had never seen a new TL offered usunsolicited, complimentary opinions of the big-blade nose. ‘I like the front, it’s pretty cool,’said one.

‘I could easily live with this car,’ one spouse offered, also unsolicited as we cruised down theinterstate. ‘I could own this car.’

What about the front end? ‘I’ve got no problem with that.’ Beauty is indeed it the eye of thebeholder.

While some of the TL’s styling exercises may be controversial, they are probably the onlyaspects of the new TL that won’t draw rave reviews.

The TL is another standout sedan from Acura, and we hope the polarizing front end treatmentdoesn’t turn prospective buyers away.

The TL is available in two versions ‘ TL and TL SH-AWD.

The TL in SH-AWD guise is a marvelous driving machine. Acceleration is strong if not cuttingedge, the suspension provides just the right amount of ride comfort while performing class-leadinghandling duties. The electronic steering offers excellent feedback, and the five-speed automatictransmission with paddle shifters goes about its duties with the adeptness of six-speed shiftersfound in most entry-level luxury cars these days.

All-wheel drive is a first for the TL and there’s a reason it’s called SH-AWD (Super Handling ‘All-Wheel Drive). The all-wheel system is rather sophisticated normally allotting 90 percent of thetorque to the front wheels, but quickly moving as much as 70 percent rearward in aggressive drivingand then sending as much as 100 percent to either rear wheel to keep the car moving in the properdirection.

Running hard and fast on our usual winding road test route proved smile inducting. The oldtorque steer problem ‘ actually, it wasn’t much of an issue in the last TL ‘ has been wiped away ifyou opt for the AWD model.

There are two engine choices, a 3.5-liter V-6 generating 280 horsepower and 254 pound-feet oftorque in the TL and a 3.7-liter V-6 making 306 horsepower and 275 pound-feet of torque in theSH-AWD.

Because of the all-wheel drive system, the SH-AWD is more athletic, a true sports sedan. The TLis more in the image of the Lexus ES 350, less entertaining than the SH-AWD but no less a veryacceptable entry-level luxury sedan.

The SH-AWD is one of those cars that fit into the category, ‘feels better than the numbers.’It’s been measured from 0-to-60 in 6.3 seconds and 14.8 seconds at 97 mph in the quarter mile.While this falls a bit short of a couple of key competitors including the BMW 335i, the TL respondsflawlessly whether driven leisurely or aggressively.

Add in the wonderfully designed interior and its wide array of comfort features (great seats,for example) and modern technology (an unequaled navigation system and state-of-the art soundsystem) and the big neon sign in your head lights up, ‘winner.’

The leather-clad driver’s seat, nicely bolstered for wide bodies, proved extraordinarilycomfortable even on long drives. The dual- cockpit design is striking, bluish-white LED lightingelegantly illuminates gauges and controls, and the eight-inch navigation screen is as good as itgets in 2009.

But the most striking feature that comes with the technology package is a 440-watt DVD audiosystem that is simply unrivaled. A demonstration audio DVD produced by Grammy-winning recordproducer and recording engineer Elliott Scheiner is provided by Acura to prove the point.

Scheiner helped develop the Acura ELS Surround Premium Audio System and he shows on the DVD thedifference between two-channel stereo and 5-to-1 surround sound.

If you are an audiophile the sound system alone will sell you this car.

As in all Acura products, there are virtually no options. In the case of the TL, you purchasepackages with the base TL starting at $35,715 and the base SH-AWD starting at $39,265.

We highly recommend adding the technology package for $3,690 whether you opt for the base or theSH-AWD. It includes a hard-drive based navigation with voice recognition, real-time traffic,real-time weather forecasts, GPS-linked and a solar-sensing adaptive climate control system,keyless ignition, a rearview camera and the DVD audio system with 12.7 GB of digital music storage.

Summer tires and 19-inch wheels can be added for another grand.

Our SH-AWD test car with technology package came in at $42,995 including destination charge.

If you can get past the controversial front end as many do, you will find a rewarding drivingexperience worth a serious look.