2005 Acura TL Test Drives

2005 Acura TL

Honda changes the metal and adds more pedal. Is the TL a BMW beater now?

From The Driver's Seat

The cabin of the new TL straddles the stylistic line between the boardroom-wood-and-leather look of what you get in the C320 Mercedes and the furniture-as-hi-fi-audio-equipment vibe you can see in cars like the Lexus IS300 -- and the BMW 3-series that Lexus used as its template.

For instance, buttons are larger than the half-fingertip-size switches you'll get in the aforementioned BMW and that makes them easier to use, if a tad less elegant to look at. The gauges glow back (with or without the headlights on) in Technicolor blue, white and red, and the contrast is high enough to see in all light conditions (Infiniti could learn a thing or two from this gauge setup). The seats are supportive but don't look as overtly sporty as those you'll see in cars like the Infiniti G35 or the Audi A4. Ditto the steering wheel, which is right-sized for quick rowing through a slalom course of cones -- or just winding around a supermarket parking lot hunting for an open spot.

The leg and shoulder room is quite good for this class -- much better than that of the 3 series -- and the shoulder room easily bests that of the Lexus IS300 as well. Backseat passengers who've been stuffed widthwise into sports sedans will especially appreciate the roominess of the TL cabin. The TL is slightly smaller inside than the G35 and on par with the Cadillac CTS, making it among the roomier luxury cars you can get for this kind of money.

Standard features on this car are superb. The typical front passenger airbags are there of course, but you also get standard side-curtain airbags and front seatbelt pretensioners. Moreover, the excellent navigation system (easier to use, more detailed maps) is also standard, as is XM Satellite Radio and the six-disc in-dash CD changer. There are dual-climate control functions, heated front seats and heated outside mirrors. Even the Xenon headlamps are standard. Paying for this number of options from any of Acura's German rivals would cost you another $5,000, easy.

Still, what those Germans do offer standard is a more completely thought-out "mood" to their interiors. So although the TL has carbon-fiber-look inserts and metal trim on the dash, these seem like de rigueur additions of the day rather than part of an overarching design logic for this vehicle.

This lack of a clear mission unfortunately carries through the way the TL drives. It's not that there aren't plenty of reasons to like the car's behavior on the road: Our tester's five-speed automatic shifted incredibly smoothly, and in the manual mode would hold second gear right up the edge of the 7,000-rpm redline. Off the line this engine was a joy to hear spin effortlessly, and with a racing-car cleanness that you just don't often find.

The problem is that, when you're not ripping from stoplight to stoplight, the steering is supremely quick but not supremely communicative. You get there, but you don't really know what's happening at the tires. Or you don't get there because you've lost traction at the wheels thanks to torque steer. Lay off the gas and you can pilot this Acura fairly adroitly, but now you've entered a less-sporty category of car -- one that requires you to adapt to it.

One kudo we will offer is that that TL is a very smooth highway cruiser. We'd easily opt for this car for long commutes because the engine is fairly mellow (meaning it's not screaming over the audio system) at 70 mph yet keeps plenty of juice on reserve for passing. And, meanwhile, you can expect 20 city/28 highway mileage, which is very impressive for this class indeed.