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| '09 Acura TL: Can looks really kill? |
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There's no middle ground with the redesigned Acura TL sedan. With a chrome-shrouded grille and a rear end that defies summary description, the exterior of the new TLs (there are two: the base model and the SH-AWD, which replaces the Type-S) is bound to be polarizing.
But Acura clearly thinks the risk is worth the potential reward.
Through the first half of this year, sales of the once category-leading TL were running at a rate of about 48,000 units per year, down almost 38 percent from the peak of 78,218 in 2005. The radical new look is designed (literally) to draw conquest buyers under the TL tent.
Still, the TL is Acura's best-selling model, and it has a loyal customer base that the company is reluctant to lose. In fact, the team responsible for the new TL relied heavily on feedback from current owners before taking CAD/CAM mice in hand. It dutifully (and beautifully) responded to focus-group-generated technical wish-list items such as more power, better handling and "mine-is-cooler-than-yours" electronics.
But its response to "make it look more distinctive" may result in the baby being thrown out with the bath water.
And that would be a shame: The mechanical improvements are so extensive, just about the only components carried over from the current model are the lug nuts.
For starters, the TL is longer and wider than the '08 car. It's heavier, too. But despite the weight gain and bigger engines, fuel economy remains the same as the outgoing model, thanks to better aerodynamics and smart gas-saving ideas such as switching from hydraulic to electronic power steering.
The frame rails have been relocated inside the floor pan for improved safety, and a laundry list of suspension tweaks and handling aids (brake assist, stability control, antilock brakes, electronic brake force distribution, etc.) all combine for markedly improved handling.
There are changes under the hood, too. In the base model, an all-new aluminum 3.5-liter (up from 3.2-liter) V6 puts out 280 hp and delivers 254 lb-ft of torque to the front wheels via the five-speed automatic, now equipped with the requisite steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters. Given all of the other engineering changes, it's hard to attribute the crisper performance solely to the 8.5 percent power increase, but it definitely feels livelier, even though it's still undeniably a front-drive vehicle.
The bigger (and better) news is the Super Handling All-Wheel Drive version, a.k.a. the SH-AWD. Mindful that AWD is one of the top purchase considerations in the entry-premium segment, Acura armed the Type-S replacement with a powerful new weapon for doing battle in this increasingly competitive arena. While it was at it, Acura gave the TL SH-AWD an all-new 3.7-liter aluminum V6 with a nifty VTEC control system that manages both exhaust and intake valves and churns out 305 hp. By using torque vectoring and sensors that read rear-wheel input as well as front-tire steering angle, the SH-AWD feeds a steady, healthy dose of torque (up to 275 lb-ft) to all four 18-inch Michelin Pilots, even under heavy cornering.
Vis-à-vis its 2008 model-year competition, these changes elevate the new TL to best in class in a number of categories. But it's naive to assume that BMW, Mercedes, Audi and Acura's Japanese rivals won't unleash arsenals of their own in the super-competitive entry-level performance luxury sedan market (witness BMW's new diesel-powered 3-series set to debut this November).
Bottom line? For the price of a fully loaded SH-AWD, the TL's target audience can choose from a wide range of similarly equipped vehicles. And when performance and pricing approach parity, styling becomes even more important.
This brings us back to the car's radical new exterior. Will it grow the franchise with conquest sales as hoped, or will current TL owners defect to something less extreme?
It all depends on how they look at it.
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| Date : 2008-08-24 |
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