Thanks, 4TehNuygen...appreciate it. Those interior shots are excellent.

Not having a digital camera (or the knowledge/ability to download one), I searched the Goggle image sites for good 2009 TL shots, and posted the very few I could find with the review.....1SICKLEX provided the shot of the white TL. The Goggle labelling, on their image search, is awful.......most of them are mislabelled 2009 TSX/RL or 2008 RL shots.

 

I had a older body TL back in the day. I think it was a 2003??? Anyway, I liked it for the money I paid. However, it was a very bland car as I recall. After owning a Lexus IS350 and BMW 335i it really gets lost in the shuffle of cars. The FWD thing really kills acura. You just can't put too much in the way of torque and hp in a FWD car like that. I used to think my TL was fast. I was wrong after driving other cars.

 

Audi, Nissan, Chevy, Pontiac, and Cadillac have all done pretty well putting rather large amounts of power in FWD platforms. There's no real reason why it can't be done. True, it can sometimes cause torque steer, but automakers have come a long way in snubbing that tendency (mostly with precise matching of the two front driveshafts), and most of the time, you aren't using power to the max anyway. FWD can also, of course, make the car nose-heavy and cut down on steering respinsiveness, but you wouldn't know it with the new TL and Nissan Maxima at most legal speeds. The new 2009 Maxima (see my review),with its quick, darty steering, outdoes some RWD steering systems I've tried, at least at moderate, legal speeds.....I don't drive at triple digit speeds or try any extreme stuff with the cars I review.

 

Any chance of a Subaru Legacy 3.0R Limited review?

 

OK...you got it. I'll do the 2009, for now.

2009 will be the last year for this-generation Legacy/Outback. They are going to redesign it for 2010, and, probably, screw it up like they did the new Forester. ....though a high-mileage, flat-boxer diesel is rumored to be coming with it as an option. I'm looking (strongly) at a new 2009 Legacy or Outback for a purchase myself, before they're gone.

 

I used to own a 2000 Acura Tl and I agree with you it's rather bland. I have now trade it to an RX350 but that is also bland .. so freaking many on the road but what am I expecting, it's a mass production car. No one I know would even blink when I drove up in it. Same goes for my friends 335I and IS350. Just too many on the road .The only one I would drool over nowaday is the new A5. It might not outhandle or outrun the IS350/335I but it's look is just timeless.

 

Yes but Audi's Quattro is a 60/40 torque split so it's rear-bias, unlike Acura's system.

 

Thanks I appreciate it Personally, I won't be in the market for a car for a while, but there is just something about that car that I like a lot. The only thing that I can say I don't like about it is that there isn't any bluetooth integration and I think all of those headsets are really uncomfortable. But, with the redesign around the corner, I suppose there isn't a point in adding it to the car so late in it's lifecycle.

 

How is 60/40 rear biased?

I believe TL SH-AWD default split is 90/10 with the ability to transfer up to 70 to rear wheels under heavy acceleration or cornering.

 

Acura like Lincoln and Audi uses FWD cars with AWD optional (A4 for the Audi).

Acura/Lincoln use 70/30 under normal driving, which is what will be done 99% of the time.

Audi uses 50/50 systems in the past and is moving to 40/60 to compete more with BMW for driving feel and sport. (I think FKL had a typo)

Lexus/Infiniti/Benz use 30/70 systems.

Of course all these systems vary when AWD is needed.

 

It has the ability to transfer up to 70% to the rear and 100% side to side I believe when it is NEEDED. Not just under heavy acceleration. That is a big difference in words. The beauty of the SH-AWD system is that when you don't need a RWD bias, it doesn't have it. When you need it, it has it, and anything in between.

 

The chestnut wood is only standard in a NON-tech TL, both in FWD and SH-AWD models.

When you get the tech package in both models, it is replaced with the metallic trim.

Even as an imitation - i think the chestnut wood trim looks real nice

 

I was refering to the Audi's FWD platform, not the Quattro.

 

I mean't 40/60, my mistake. My only point was, Audi's Quattro system IS in fact RWD bias, the Japanese version ain't.

 

Mmarshall,

Thanks for this great review. I know there was a lot of anticipation for this one, well done!

I’m trying really hard to like this car as I did the last gen TL. Trying to the point that I wanted to see the car in person before I responded to your review.

As you pointed out, and I agree, the interior design looks good and I’m certain the handling and drivability is exactly as you described. But I just can’t seem to get past the front end of the car.

I find the front overhang (as others have mentioned) to be too long for a newly redesigned car. Even Audi with its new A4 and A5 architecture has shortened the overhang for both styling and performance reasons. Add to this the front grill that you and others have mentioned and it’s just not possible for me at this time to say this is a car I would buy.

At the dealership the 09 was parked next to the 08 and it just made the 09 look bulky. Not big but bulky which is not what I was expecting for the 09. I snapped a picture of the 2 cars (sorry it’s a cell phone pic) and pasted it below.



To me it looks like the Acura designers said, hmmmm, if the 2008 TL was allergic to bee stings, ‘what would it look like if it actually got stung?’ Viola! The 2009 TL j/k

Thanks again Mmarshall.

TripleL

PS I see you’ve met John Davis, too cool! I’ve been watching him on TV for more years they he’d probably care to have me remember.