Acura begins testing the replacement for its bestselling TL.
BY ERIK JOHNSON, PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRENDA PRIDDY & CO. AND DAVID DEWHURST
August 2007
The TL —arguably the most handsome Acura—has been on sale since the 2004 model year, so it’s clearly due for a change. I mean, when the pants I’m wearing went out of style fifteen minutes before I even tried them on, how behind the times is a four-year-old car?
A lot, some would argue, so it’s probably good that Acura has been spotted testing the TL’s replacement, which is expected to go on sale as a 2009 model. The current TL is Acura’s top-selling model, with more than 71,000 sold last year—the next bestselling Acura, the MDX crossover, sold just over 54,000 copies—so the all-new TL clearly represents an important car for the company.
Even covered with layers and layers of camouflage, the styling appears to take some cues from Acura’s 2006 Advanced Sedan Concept, including the MDX-style, wide-slat grille clearly visible through the disguise. We’d advise Acura, however, to keep the resemblance subtle, as the armadillo/mole styling of the concept wasn’t exactly well-received.
In the past, many Acuras, including the TL and MDX, were designed by Honda R&D types in the U.S. But in May, Acura opened a new $15 million design studio in Torrance, California, to separate Honda and Acura design in the future. We’ll see what a $15 million wall does for future Acura design.
In the meantime, four exhaust tips hint at the performance capabilities of the next front-wheel-drive TL, which we expect will be available with some form of Acura’s fine Super Handling All-Wheel Drive, or SH-AWD. Our spies reported witnessing surprisingly agile moves from this mule, so we’re crossing our fingers. SH-AWD, which can be found on the RL sedan as well as the MDX and RDX SUVs, can shunt power front to rear and side to side in the interest of maintaining a cornering line.
As for powertrains, the outgoing model offered a 258-hp, 3.2-liter V-6 and added the 286-hp, 3.5-liter V-6 for the TL Type-S. Both got 20 mpg city and 29 mpg highway mileage. We would not be surprised to see 3.5-liters all around for the new TL, maybe pulling in the 3.5-liter from the ’08 Honda Accord, which is more efficient (19/29 mpg) than the 3.0-liter it replaces.
BY ERIK JOHNSON, PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRENDA PRIDDY & CO. AND DAVID DEWHURST
August 2007
The TL —arguably the most handsome Acura—has been on sale since the 2004 model year, so it’s clearly due for a change. I mean, when the pants I’m wearing went out of style fifteen minutes before I even tried them on, how behind the times is a four-year-old car?
A lot, some would argue, so it’s probably good that Acura has been spotted testing the TL’s replacement, which is expected to go on sale as a 2009 model. The current TL is Acura’s top-selling model, with more than 71,000 sold last year—the next bestselling Acura, the MDX crossover, sold just over 54,000 copies—so the all-new TL clearly represents an important car for the company.
Even covered with layers and layers of camouflage, the styling appears to take some cues from Acura’s 2006 Advanced Sedan Concept, including the MDX-style, wide-slat grille clearly visible through the disguise. We’d advise Acura, however, to keep the resemblance subtle, as the armadillo/mole styling of the concept wasn’t exactly well-received.
In the past, many Acuras, including the TL and MDX, were designed by Honda R&D types in the U.S. But in May, Acura opened a new $15 million design studio in Torrance, California, to separate Honda and Acura design in the future. We’ll see what a $15 million wall does for future Acura design.
In the meantime, four exhaust tips hint at the performance capabilities of the next front-wheel-drive TL, which we expect will be available with some form of Acura’s fine Super Handling All-Wheel Drive, or SH-AWD. Our spies reported witnessing surprisingly agile moves from this mule, so we’re crossing our fingers. SH-AWD, which can be found on the RL sedan as well as the MDX and RDX SUVs, can shunt power front to rear and side to side in the interest of maintaining a cornering line.
As for powertrains, the outgoing model offered a 258-hp, 3.2-liter V-6 and added the 286-hp, 3.5-liter V-6 for the TL Type-S. Both got 20 mpg city and 29 mpg highway mileage. We would not be surprised to see 3.5-liters all around for the new TL, maybe pulling in the 3.5-liter from the ’08 Honda Accord, which is more efficient (19/29 mpg) than the 3.0-liter it replaces.
No comments:
Post a Comment