acura sells trucks?

 

lulz!

 

I engage in hyperbole merely for entertainment purposes

But still, if the focus of SH-AWD is to make cars safer, then why the emphasis on its performance enhancing capability? If anything touting its performance enhancing aspects will encourage dangerous driving behaviors. After all, it's not called "Safer Handling AWD"...

But my point still stands. For you, you personally, GK, I'm guessing the idea that Acura has implemented this technology on the TL is perfect as this (for some strange reason) is exactly what you've been looking for in a car. But then again, you may be one of the few people in your demographic who road raced an ITR (not meant to be offensive, just to point out your uniqueness from a marketing standpoint). For the general public the TL SH-AWD is just another AWD entry-level luxury sedan.

And for a regular enthusiast, I'm not sure the TL SH-AWD is the best choice. The G37x comes close in price, but has a smaller footprint, weighs about 150# less, has about the same interior/trunk volume and is much better balanced. G37x (with an auto!) clears the 1/4 in 13.8 @ 104, 0-60 in 5.2s, lateral grip at .89g. I don't know the TL's stats but I don't think it's that fast even with the 6spd, and those specs are more meaningful to the average realistic enthusiast more than lap times.

Plus what cars has the TL gone up against on the track? Are cars like the 335i or G37x really THAT much slower? Whole thing seems meaningless + somewhat fishy to me.

 

RDX/MDX, I'm assuming.

 

Nah man, thats E-Rok's way of saying they're not really trucks/SUVS.

C'mon!

 

I'm curious as to side by side performance specs as well. One thing though, when comparing, there ARE other factors. Safety, Resale, and Reliability. I'm pretty confident the Acura out guns the others in at least 2 out of the 3, but probably all three.

 

There are also the factors of looks + desirability. I can't imagine the TL's looks aging well and I'm sure that will affect resale.

 

I had a chance to sit in the new TL. win! The leather is a little too soft and might not hold up well in the long term. But everything else is very nice.

I haven't had a chance to check out the new G37, which does look nicer than the G35s.

 

Touche'

 

LOL at the S2000 -75% sales drop.

 

Maybe because production ended in June?

 

Well it goes from December to December. 6 months and only 19 sold. Compared to 72.

Go away fanboi.

 

lol I'm not a fanboy, I'm just saying that I don't think they produced a full year's run. They were probably out at almost every dealership by the last few months of the year.

 

umm you sure about that

 

http://motortrend.automotive.com/928...ual/index.html

It was 2.7 seconds faster on a 1.1 mile course than a 335i

But the time was 1:42.3 or something like that, equating to a 38 MPH lap

So basically SH-AWD makes for an awesome autocross car.

Put the 15 second Acura up against the mid 13 second 335ix/G37x on a nice high speed road course, and let's see what happens.

Again though, the **** doesn't even matter as 99% of owners of these cars won't be tracking them. However I bet people will notice how much slower and computerized the TL SH-AWD is, and the fact that despite it being 5-10" longer and 100-300# heavier than the competition it's not that much roomier....

I just don't get it

 

He is sure about the BMW comment. The S4 relationship is going to depend on which of the radically different iterations of the S4 he is talking about.

I couldn't even hazard a guess. It seems to me that the best balanced S4 is going to have the older Quattro system.

I dunno.... But that'd be interesting.

Even an old man with rudimentary drag racing skills can get a 13.8 / 101 on the 245 section all seasons!

Nope, you sure don't. :-)

 

I just want to make sure you've really thought about this.

I mean, you understand that a 2.7 second advantage over 1.1 miles is really quite a bit, right?

I mean, you know that's positively awesome, right?

 

Comment from a TL owner in a forum next door.

I think that to some extent comments like this from people who've actually driven the car, count six or seven times the comments from people who aren't in the market for this kind of car.

 

The lap time argument is pretty pointless in a heavy luxury sedan...i can guarantee you a couple hot laps would toast the stock brakes.

people who want a sedan that is decent on the track buy evo's and sti's.

that being said I have driven a couple new TL's and they are nice cars. The interior is a big step up from the last generation, and they obviously dont suffer from the torque steer issues of a big v6 and fwd.

I go to school for automotive design and the new acura design language has been talked about quite a bit. They are trying to move away from the previously understated designs to a sharper more modern look(a'la bangelizing bmw a few years back). I personally am not a fan of the front end treatment, but i love the back(espec. the flying butress d-pillars).

 

The last s2000 was produced August 7th, 2009:
http://www.s2ki.com/home/2009/08/10/...2000-produced/

 

The 335i doesn't even have an LSD, I'd expect those results. No one is arguing the technology is awesome, just questioning its application.

What's a d-pillar?

 

Yea but my point is it's a slow course more suited to turns than all out speed, which would probably be helped immensely by SH-AWD

I don't think the difference would be that big on a higher speed road course

 

Well, that's fine for you. I'd argue that it's patently ridiculous to have a small 300 HP Coupe that doesn't have an LSD.

I think it's BMW's application that is ridiculous.

He's referring to the flying buttress-like design of the pillars at the back glass. On my silver car it isn't that noticeable, but on dark cars with the chrome insert it will occasionally catch your eye and you'll wonder if there's a reason for it.

It's a 3800#+ car. It doesnt' do that well, relatively, on the shorter courses. It's not a good autocross car...I mean, any car can be autocrossed, but it's not a car I'd personally elect to have at an autocross.

Acura went to VIR Full with a number of cars and with some trusted press before the 6-6 was sent to dealers.

I'm sure you won't take my word for it, but it makes a big difference anywhere that you're taking a turn, and it is a pronounced enough difference that the TL 6-6 SH-AWD came out ahead of a surprising group of cars at VIR Full.

I do not think you guys understand.

Any enthusiastic driver will notice the difference in his daily driving! The car simply does things effortlessly and in the normal course of events, things that would have caused unsettled behaviour and squeeling tyres with other cars.

It's a puzzle to me why people are speaking without consideration.

 

I can't wait for you to give me a ride George

This is true too. Although, BMW's reasoning is to separate the 335i from its halo vehicle, the M3. BMW is confident enough in its traction control system to not put an LSD on a 335i.

I can tell you though, that there's a E92 328xi who autocrossed at Fedex the last two years...and it looked and sounded pathetic.

 

I hope you mean in the car.

Now, that's not good. I'm not exactly sure what aspect of traction control you are talking about when you refer to it as a substitute for an LSD, but neither application makes sense.

If you are relying on traction control to assist the car with a hard takeoff, then the car's not going to take off as quickly with traction control. Traction control is going to feather the throttle until it senses that you have complete traction on both rear wheels, which of course means you're taking off more slowly.

If you are relying on traction control to assist the car in a corner, again, the car is going to have to slow down because the computer is going to apply the brakes to whatever wheel it needs to in order to get the car to point straight...and this could very well be at a time that you do *not* want the car to point straight.

I can't believe you said that. It's not an enthusiast's point of view. And it might be evidence that BMW have lost touch with the real enthusiast base.

The Acura's reliance on the combination of SH-AWD and VSA is excellent...and, yes, again, I have experienced it.

The VSA is tuned to come on much, much farther down the list than it'd come on with a non-SH-AWD car. VSA is not going to interfere unless the computer senses a combination of circumstances that would lead it to believe that your speed and steering wheel input indicate that the car is not rotating fast enough even using SH-AWD or that the car is rotating too quickly for it to mean a legitimate use of SH-AWD.

At that point, VSA interferes with what you are doing.

As far as a drag race goes, the computer will put 70% of the torque to the rear wheels using the acceleration device, and SH-AWD keeps both rear wheels applied equally if the steering wheel is pointed straight ahead. The 30% of the torque that continues to be applied to the two front wheels in a drag race is just about perfect for maintaining maximum traction and stability.

Also...unlike many new cars, Acura continues to allow the driver to manually switch off the VSA. This allows for better performance at the extremes, like if you really are at the track with the car, or if you're trying to get the car out of a bunch of snow or mud.