The wife and I attended a coming-out party this afternoon for the new TL.
Having been an owner of the outgoing generation car (mine was an '06), I have a good grip on how much the car has changed. Without going into gross detail, the things that jumped out at me were:
EXTERIOR- Styling is generally good, but of course the first thing you have to get past is the 'shield" grille. Ouch. Otherwise, I find it inoffensive and actually nice-looking from the rear.
- That rear-end styling, though, makes for a high lift-over for the trunk, and a fairly narrow slot to shove things into it.
- On the plus side, the trunk is said to be a little bigger than the outgoing model, at 17.2 cu. ft.
- Moving on to the wheels, I consider them okay styling-wise, but they're only 17's (on the FWD model). The SH-AWD model is coming in November and will run 18's and lower-profile rubber. Even so, the overall diameter of the wheel/tire combo will be the same and it ain't quite large enough to suit me. You guys who care about stuff like this will no doubt find some wheel gap.
- The styling leans more toward the long-hood, short-deck idiom, making the car take on the silhouette somewhat akin to a Lexus GS.
- I find that the distance from the front wheel to the nose of the car is too long, just as it was in the outgoing model, although that's probably a function of the FWD architecture. It makes the body of the car look kinda like it's been scooted forward on the wheels.
- The keyless unlock works like God intended ... just walk up, slip your hand into the loop of the handle and the doors unlock. Ahhh ... very Lexus-like. No need to push any silly little black rubber buttons to unlock the doors. (Fob stays in pocket, of course.)
INTERIOR- The overall sense you get when sitting in the driver's seat is that this is a luxurious car. It has a cozy and secure feeling and the visibility out the front, rear and sides is good. Driver position is adjustable in every direction, and it's easy to find a sweet spot.
- I was a little disappointed to find the steering wheel (at least on the one I drove) wasn't power-adjustable. It had the old-school manual lever-under-the-column adjuster, but it did adjust for both reach and rake. Not being powered, it also doesn't swing up out of your way to get in and out, either.
- The dash and center stack will strike many as being "busy", with lots of knobs and controls and hoods and swoops. In my own opinion, though, that's not a bad thing, since you don't have to resort to menus to get things done. And the things you are likely to fiddle with on a regular basis you will learn quickly. The hoods address complaints the Nav and instruments can be hard to see in some conditions.
- I personally don't care for the textured aluminum trim that wraps around the driver and passenger in a long arc. It just makes for too many hard surfaces ... and potential buzzes and squeaks. A little wood would make me happier, as long as it wasn't overdone. I'm generally in the minority there, though.
- The car is wider and longer than the outgoing TL, and it sure shows. there is lots of knee room in the back seats, and shoulder room is even up noticeably. This car feels almost as roomy inside as my LS.
COMFORT- The seats felt good to my buttocks, and they offered plenty of support and bolstering without squeezing you like, say, the G35's Sport seats do. They are of course heated, but I saw no indication cooled seats are on the menu. Bummer.
- The steering wheel is appropriately small in diameter and is thick. It is covered in leather and has a great feel.
- Armrests were right about where they should be.
CONTROLS- The gauges are far superior to the ones in my '06 (which looked like something from the toy store). They're bright and clear and legible.
- The pushbutton start operates like most others - push the brake pedal, hit the start button and she starts up.
- The steering wheel is studded with buttons, but it's a better system that manyothers. there isa dedicated button, for instance, for the phone, so you don't have to push it, then say phone, then dial. All the other normal controls are there, too.
- The Voice Recognition in Acuras is nothing short of awesome. You can't even fool it ... say something in a very low voice and she'll still understand you. Ditto for slurring words, or speaking when there's other noise in or around the car. I always had about a 98-99% success ratio with the VR in my Acuras, whereas my experience with Infiniti and Lexus systems hasn't been anywhere near as good.
- The stereo system and nav are HDD-based, so you can copy CD's to it. No MP3's, though, although the CD player plays them. There is an iPod hookup.
- The backup camera has the guidlines that the Infinitis have - a good feature.
- The navigation system in the TL is beyond cutting edge. The display has been amped up to the point the display looks almost like HDTV.
It's also bright and pretty, and it gives you much more info than many other systems. It's no longer touchscreen, but it has the great controller knob pioneered in the RL, which actually is easier to use than touch. For example, when you need to spell something out, the letters (and numbers, for that matter) are arrayed in an arc rather than a grid, and twisting the knob fans your cursor over the letters and numbers. When you pass over one, it pops up a larger version of itself for easy viewing. And when one or more letters are greyed out (because they don't apply), placing the cursor on the first greyed-out letter brings up the next non-greyed letter, allowing you quicker access.
The nav system has the world's first live doppler radar overlay. Talk about cool. There was no weather in our area, so I zoomed out to see the whole U.S., then picked an area where there were thunderstorms and zoomed back in. Just like the 10:00 weather. It also shows weather warnings, like tornado warning, flash flood warning, etc.
Did you know there was freezing rain and a little area of snow outside of Billings, Montana this afternoon?
This is something I have been begging for for years now, and I WANT IT!!! It would be SO helpful when traveling.
RIDE & HANDLING- I found no torque steer at all, but admittedly I drove the car for only a few miles and it might show up under circumstances I didn't subject it to. I did jump down on it, though, and the wheel didn't tug. Needless to say, the SH-AWD version will have zero tq steer.
- The ride was good, but a little lumpy over sharp pavement breaks. I looked at the TPMS display, though, and saw 39-37-38-38, so bleeding a little pressure could make a big difference there. I know my old TL was very sensitive to tire pressure. The car did not, however, have the heavy, truck-like feel of my '06, and that's a good thing.
- Turn-in seemed good at street speeds, and the car didn't exhibit the usual nose-heaviness I expect in FWD cars. Don't know if it was the steering setup or the longer wheelbase or what, but it felt a lot more balanced than my '06.
PERFORMANCE - Power was good, if not exhilarating, and the car stepped out nicely from a stop with good tip-in. HP is up about 31 horses, so it should run better than my old car.
- The engine note is there, especially when you get into the power, but otherwise it's a quiet car inside.
- Passing gear engagement was quick and snappy, and upshifts were slick and smooth. I wish it had a 6-speed AT, but at least the Acura 5-speed is a good piece.
- I was a little disappointed that the 3.5-liter engine (same as in my old RL, but detuned 10hp) idled with a little light vibration. In the RL it is smooth as glass, and I hoped it would be in the TL as well. But it buzzed slightly like my old TL did, and that makes a car seem a little unrefined-feeling to me. It's called get some better motor mounts or balance your engines better.
- The SH-AWD version, with 3.7 liters, will have another 25 horses, so it should run a little better than the FWD one.
CLIFF NOTESSo, we have a slightly bigger car that runs a little better, handles a little nicer, has far superior electronics and displays, and has an ugly snout. I might just be able to ignore the snout if I were in the market for a <$40k car.
