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Sedans Acura TSX 2009 Acura TSX
364 messages, Last post on Sep 21, 2009 at 9:27 AM
You are in the Acura TSX Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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Replying to: hpmctorque (Jul 26, 2008 7:24 pm) |
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...you pass on the '09 TL because you don't like the styling, or because it's grown too big, too heavy, and too balky, but you still like the Acura brand, you can simply buy a TSX, right? Not so fast. Before you buy a TSX, try out the back seat. Is it just me (and I'm not a big person), or is the leg room too tight for a mid size car? Also, access in and out of the back seat is difficult, if your shoe size is anything larger than, say, a (men's size) 8. So, as I see it, the '09 TSX isn't a good substitute for someone trading a TL. The '09 TSX is wider than the previous generation, but the back seet leg and foot room is virtually unchanged.
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Replying to: hpmctorque (Aug 13, 2008 4:29 am) |
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The difficulty an average size or larger adult has in getting his/her shoes into the back, and the limited foot, leg, and knee room would be a deal breaker for me too. I don't understand what the designers were thinking, since the TSX is a mid-size car from a length, width, and height standpoint. |
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Replying to: hpmctorque (Aug 13, 2008 4:29 am) |
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Okay, How are they paddleshifters in the new TSX? Does it add more fun? Let me know |
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Our criteria is an entry level luxury sedan that is fuel efficient, reliable, and offers good comfort for daily commute. Powerful engine is not needed. Fuel efficiency is more important than power for us. My wifevwants to get a Lexus, so I took her to the Lexus dealership. Lexus are nice cars, but the IS 250 is too small inside, with less interior room than the Civic. However, my wife like the chic and elegant look of the exterior. The next bigger car in Lexus's line up is the ES 350, which is too large to maneuver in tight garage, and cost a lot more. I think it does not worth the money because it is an old man's car, and it is a lux-up Toyota Camry. This leaves us to the only other choice, which is the 2009 Acura TSX. TSX is basically a European Honda Accord built in Japan. Europe Accord has to be made smaller than American Accord because of the tight roads. The 2009 Acura TSX is the second generation just arrived to the dealership floor 2 months ago. The TSX offers the best value in entry level luxury sedan segment. It cost the least, offers largest interior, and offers the best fuel economy. In order to achieve this, Acura chooses a 4-cylinder 2.4-liter gasoline engine that outputs 201 horsepower and 170 lbs-ft of torque. The engine output cannot match the power on the Lexus IS 250, BMW 328i, or Mercedes C-series sedans. A lot of people think the power train is the weakest point of the TSX, but 200 horse power is good enough for us. More horses just means more cost. Who really uses that much power on day-to-day driving anyway, not to mention aggressive driving brings more wear and tear. The transmission is a 5-speed automatic transmission, which is probably the weakest point of the car, while other Luxury sedans all have 6-speed automatic transmissions. The power train is the reason why TSX costs less than its competitors. I have seen a lot of bad reviews on the 2009 TSX, that is because whoever writes reviews are "car enthusiasts", and they do not have to pay for the car, gas, or maintenance cost from their pockets. They are suckers to BMW and pony cars. Acura uses EPS (Electric Power Steering) on the TSX. It replaces the traditional hydraulic power steering. The steering wheel is no linked to a complex hydraulic system. The advantage is the simplicity, reduce weight, and improves fuel economy. The disadvantage is that it provides less steering wheel feeling to the driver. My wife cannot tell the difference, but I can tell. After driving it for a while, I get used to it. The gas throttle is also electric instead of the mechanical system, aka drive by wire. It also feels strange at first, but I got used to it after a couple days. The overall drive and ride quality is good. The ride is quiet yet I feel connected to the road. Even though the car is quite large, the suspension is comfortable but does not give me the floating ship feeling of a Toyota Camry. Acura puts in a lot of improvement on insulation and aerodynamic to reduce the noise in the cabin. The Michelin tires sticks to the road well, and there is only little body roll on quick cornering. The braking is good for me, but I heard it is not as good as its competitors. The 2009 TSX is bigger than the previous generation in every dimension. It offers a lot of room and comfort inside, but it also drives like a big car. This means when maneuvering in tight space, I have to be careful to make sure I have enough room for the car. I am used to the high driving position of my Honda CR-V. In this car, I feel like I do not have enough visibility to see every corner of the car. The TSX has a long list of standard safety features. It has Advanced Compatibility Engineering (ACE) body structure, together with the 6 air bags/curtains it earns 5-star ratings for each of the NHTSA's front and side impact testing. We know we buy one of the safest cars in the market. There are also a lot of people who hates the look of the car. I have to say the exterior style is quite polarizing. I am a guy who like flashes and bling bling on cars, so I like the style a lot. I think it looks sharp, aggressive, and energetic from most angles. It looks sporty, and it definitely has a funky European look. I do not like the Toyota-Lexus styling, it is just boring and their cars just blend in so well with most of other cars on the road. My wife, however, prefers the subtle and anonymous styling of Lexus. She thinks the car looks like a "devil". Regardless you like the style or not, one thing is for sure. You cannot ignore this car on the road, because it just looks so different. Most people do not like the style because of the new "Power Platinum" grille. It looks like a shield or some people say it looks like a bird's beak. This is the new look of the Acura family of sedans. All other Acura sedans will share the same look in the 2009 model lineup. The interior of the car is the highlight of the car. Even in the base model, it has perforated leather seat, heated seat, 2 memory seat positions, auto dim rear view mirror, sun roof, Bluetooth, home link garage door opener, XM Satellite radio, MP3/WAM USB port, trip computer, and many other features. Other manufacturers will nickel and dime you for these features, but they are all included in an Acura. The seat is wrapped with soft leather, and it is supportive. I prefer the seat can be less firm, but I am now used to it. The interior material is soft and high quality. The driver and passengers can feel pampered inside the cabin. The steering wheel, gear shifter, and arm rests are also wrapped in leather. There is a lot of room inside for my arms and legs. I actually feel it got too much shoulder room, because I am having hard time resting my elbow on both left and right armrest. It is probably better fit for a larger person. I find the rear passenger leg room can be tight if I push the front seat back. However, it still offers more room and comfort for the rear passengers than Lexus IS 250. The backseat can only have 2 comfortable passengers. A third passenger at the back will feel the sitting position very awkward. This is because the shape of the back seats is like a bucket to make sure 2 passengers feel supportive. The center storage lid has an auxiliary port for MP3 players, and it also has a USB port for any USB storage device and iPod. I connect a 4GB USB thumb drive to the car, and the audio system is able to read all the files on it. Many other luxury sedans has built-in hard drive for storing music. For the TSX, I can just plug in my own hard drive. The audio system has fully-integrated iPod interface if you plug an iPod. I found this system does not work with Zune. (to be continued) |
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The Bluetooth system works well. The microphone is located next to the sunglasses storage bin on the roof. There is a blue LED light indicating it is working. As soon as the car is turned on, it will connect to my phone. When there is an incoming call, the music will stop, and the speaker will sound the ring tone, which is just a regular telephone ring. The call quality is no better or worse than a regular Bluetooth headset. The car has voice recognition capability, and it can store phone numbers for voice dialing. Some other features and settings are also driven by the voice system. I found myself talking to the car the first day I got it. The voice system can be used for GSP navigation input if the technology package is chosen. The trip computer can show MPG gas mileage, outside temperature, tire pressure, and engine oil life. It has built-in maintenance service reminder. The trip computer display is inside the speedometer, and the needle for the speedometer looks like floating on the gauge, which looks very cool. There is a lot of technology built into this car. Technology is a strong point for Acura cars, and gadget freaks like me will definitely like this car. Some people are intimidated by the number of buttons in the cabin. I joke to my wife the inside is like a space shuttle cockpit. However, I find all the features very easy to use. The fuel economy is very good. Combine highway and local driving can have 26 to 27 MPG. Highway driving should be 32 MPG or even higher. This is as efficient as our Honda Civic. It is hard to find such a fuel efficient car in the luxury sedan segment. However, the manufacturer says premium gas is required to achieve the indicated performance. I do not think gas with lower octane level will hurt. The car we get is the base model of the TSX. It does not have the Technology package, because we do not really need it. Because it is a new model, some Acura dealership do not even want to sell it below the MSRP of $29600 (including $715 destination charge). We cannot negotiate much, so finally we get it for $28700 with free tinted windows ($300 option at the dealership) plus $300 anti-theft option then plus taxes and title. The dealer says the manufacturer is not giving incentives at this moment for them. It is not a bad deal, but next year it probably has a better deal. Overall, I am very satisfied with the purchase of this car. It meets all of our requirements, offers the comfort and performance we need, and it costs thousands of dollars less than its competitors. This car is a great value offered by Acura. It only costs $2000 over a similar configuration Honda Accord, but it packs a lot more quality material, technology, and style. The design looks cool and sharp both inside and out. I like this car more and more, and eagerly wait for the weekend every week for my turn to drive it. |
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I just went through Edmunds article Confession of a Car Salesman. It is so good. It is a 3-hour reading, but it can probably save you thousands. After owning the car for 3 weeks, I like the TSX more and more. In some other Edmunds member's words, this car is growing on me. In order to find out how the 2009 TSX compares to a BMW 328i, I went to a BMW dealership to test drive it. BMW 3-series is the car all magazines saying it defines the entry-level sports car category. So I want to find out what if I get a barebone basic BMW 3 no-thrills instead of an Acura. There is no comparison. This is my first time driving a German car, and it is sooooooo bad   . The interior design of BMW is so outdated, looks like an aged VW car. The leather feels so cheap (hard and rough), I feel like being in a low cost car. I cannot tell the car accelerates faster or handles better than the TSX, maybe only testing device can tell. I feel like I don't know how to drive a German car after driving Japanese cars for 10 years (and some American rental cars). And the sticker price is $39,000 with same equipment and feature of a basic TSX without navigation. I never know you have to pay $800 for a silver paint on a BMW, or you have to pay a $3000+ premium package just for leather seats and other things that are standard in an Acura. Even the iPod adaptor cost $400, a lot more than the iPod itself. I finally know what nickel and dime means  . After some negotiation it is probably still $10k more than what I pay for the TSX. Yes, BMW gives you 4 years of free maintenance, the exterior style is cool, and it is a smaller and more nimble car, and people will fantasize a BMW owner, but give me a break for paying 10k more for a car I don't like. BMW lovers, I am prepared for your hatred comments to my post. You guys just have too much money to spend. I wish my TSX can have the benefit of roominess and comfort of a mid-size car and still have a small car exterior package, but I cannot be too greedy. After test driving a BMW 328i, I go back to the TSX  cuddle in the comfortable leather. The TSX never feels so comfortable and smooth. 
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Replying to: haidongh (Aug 31, 2008 4:14 am) BMW simply cannot beat the value TSX offers, when compared to price. |
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