'04 Acura TL test drive impressions

[iceman]

Took a 6 speed out for a spin today with Matt and Rob. Black on black leather. First of all, this is one of few sedans that I would actually own.. I'm a two door person. the TL looks great. Everything closes snug, feels nice and solid inside. Lots of trunk space, even the bottom of the rear deck is carpeted / covered. Engine bay has a nice amount of plastic in it but what doesn't nowadays. Front brake calipers look reaaal nice. The IP is gorgeous... white backlit, red needles, blue hash marks. The center console had carbon fiber like accents that looked nice, the cup holders and storage areas were nice. Seats were very comfortable, even plenty of space sittin behind my fat ass with the seat back pretty far. HIDs, bi-xenons, projectors,

As far as drivin it.. Acceleration was nice and quick altho I really didn't mash the pedal to the floor much except once in third gear... The clutch grabs real high, higher than any other manual car I've driven so it took more than a couple shifts to get used to, coupled with the fact that I'm not the best manual driver in the first place. The gas pedal is weird, it swivels from the bottom not the top like a GA, that reaaaly took some getting used to. It's drive by wire so the pedal feel is a lot different. It handled like it was on rails, on a corner I take every day, it took it better than my GA with full suspension did. The brakes really stop the car good as well.

The one thing I don't like, and might ultimately keep me from picking up this car... is the stereo. Yeah I know, might seem trivial to many, but I want my mp3 head unit, satellite radio, amps, etc... to be in my next car. I've been looking around and so far there are no dash kits or anything to get an aftermarket radio in there Other than that... I'd get one in a heartbeat. blue w/ charcoal interior

It also has bluetooth in the car, if you have a bluetooth enabled phone, it links up with somethin in the car for speakerphone etc.. kinda neat I suppose.

[UNCTYPE-S]

sweet seth. did u take out an a-spec.

my buddy has an 04. everything is as described, but i dont know how u dont like the stereo system. it comes with a sub in the trunk and it is satelite ready cause my buddy has it. it is also dvd/audio capable.

check out www.acura-tl.com if ur interested for more info.

i know some places who have the blue interior light kit which matches the gauge cluster (im sure u will like)

they have different interior pieces as well.

as far as performance goes, all they have injen intake system. Comptech is coming out with the s/c in Dec.

if you need any help or anything lemme know.

[mr_eh]

*chants softly*
gto... gto

[hotgt]

sweet!!

my sis's ex boyfriend looked at the TL, he actually got the price down to $29k for one (although it must of had some miles on it)...still a sweet deal on a sweet car

bluetooth is nice, isnt it for Motorola phones?? it expensive for the regular bluetooth...the headsets start at like $60 or so, the car kit is almost $200 i think...

[Irate]

Originally Posted by mr_eh

*chants softly*
gto... gto

woot

[iceman]

Jim.. no aspec's on lot. if I buy the car, I'd def work on the body kit.. but either way I really like the way the spoiler looks and would end up on the car. I read acura-tl.com thoroughly the other day, all they talk about in the subforum is their cell phones, watchin movies through the navigation, and how crappy the xm reception is sometimes . I don't like the stereo because I don't want XM, could care less about playin DVDs, and I want to reuse my stereo components here, they'll smoke any stock stereo - plus get the mp3 functionality and sirius without havin to have my bigass standalone player dock up to a stock head unit. I dunno, the car is effin sweet, but I'd really hafta think twice about what to do w/ teh stereo before signing anything.

GTO test drive monday @ 12:30. the first round of numbers my pontiac dealer gave me today were rediculous.. they want mad loot down and only give me 5k for my GA wtf no way I'm gettin burned 5k on this car, I may just go stick a for sale sign on it

btw, stock exhaust on ga today

[UNCTYPE-S]

Seth-I dont know what kind of price ur looking for but i would def get the 6spd a-spec if manual is what u want. Im sure u already know what the a-spec comes with.

I see though how u have to work around what the TL has as far as the sounds go, but thats everycar, just this one is a little more high tech.

A-TL is kind of boring. They are not very productive when it comes to finding info. They have alot of good stuff on there to read up when buying this car, but alot of your questions might not be answered, cause this car is still fairly new.

[Nikki]

You already know what I think

[2002GT]

get a custom dash kit at your local stero shop or hook up with someone that can fiberglass

[RAZE]

Don't get an acura you puss

[Coop]

If GM doesn't soon make something with a V6 and a manual transmission that's actually what I was looking at. You may have even talked me into it I'd never buy a brand new one. But till the Celeb dies there will be plenty of moderately used ones out there.

[UNCTYPE-S]

actually seth, if u search a little more u will find that the 04 owners are having lots of little probs with the car. not trying to scare you, but as we all know the first year model made cars have probs, and then the plant works out the kinks for the next years to come.

But i guess thats what a warranty is for, but i would wait for an 05 unless u dont wanna spend the loot.

[iceman]

Well the lease price they gave me with 0 down for an '05 smokes what pontiac gave me for a GTO with 6k down...

I have the week off of work, plan is to have a new car by thursday, so I'll let everyone know whats up with the other test drives I take this week I wann go check out a pimped out yukon

[jaketuff]

Acura TL...

Entry lux car no doubt, will get decent resale, and should have many many many trouble free miles.

-Pretty much the exact opposite of the 99-04 GAGT!!! But for speed the car is not what it seems to be cracked up to be. I have driven aside many of them, er, aggressively, and absolutely walked them.

The GTO is ideal for speed, should have a decent maintenance record, and with it's luxo looks inside and conservative outside, should get good resale. MPG will hurt and insurance, but the fun ratio should be a 10/10, rather than a 6/10 for the Acura..... GTO's seem to be in high demand still, and the dealers don't have lots of 04 inventory (didn't have it). I have seen only ONE on the road around my area (NY/CT) in the last 6 mo's. Next year should be a cheaper time (winter) to get the GTO, especially any 04's that are left.

.05
OUT

[mr_eh]

the pontiac dealer i bought my car offered me 5700$ for mine.... like 3 months ago...

[GregFarz78]

Def get the TL you can work around the stereo issue...

The acura you can actually drive in the snow, its gonna have much better resale than any pontiac, sure it doesnt have as much power as the GTO but its more pimp in terms of luxury than the GTO. I cant believe they only offered you 5k for your car I thought my trade in was bad

[DumpsterDamon]

[Nikki]

Get the TL!!!!!!!!!!!














That way I can drive it in Ohio this weekend hehehehe

[GregFarz78]

I cant imagine its that hard to make a dash kit for this...



You wouldnt be getting the NAV would you?

[UNCTYPE-S]

colors of the dash came out wrong