The interior is the typical high-tech look popular with sporty cars - dark interior with the ubiquitous titanium accents. Maybe the young bucks intuitively know how to configure and select their radio stations, but I don’t. The downside is that the audio system no longer has station pre-sets. The optional navigation system features a large screen mounted on the centre stack with good, clear graphics. Plus, I’ve reached an age where blasting away from stoplights with chirping tires and speed shifts holds limited appeal.įor the base TSX’s $34,900 price tag, a full list of standard items is included: xenon high-intensity-discharge headlights, power front seats with heat, power windows, door locks and mirrors, leather interior, dual-zone climate control, cruise control, sunroof, 360-watt premium audio system with a six-disc CD player and eight speakers and more. The new VW Jetta GLI and its turbocharged 2.0L four (also 200 hp) I drove recently will blow the TSX into the weeds. Eighty-to-120-km/h passing manoeuvres in fourth gear aren’t much better - 7.9 seconds.
On the other hand, it takes eight seconds to hit 100 kilometres an hour, not super-quick for a sedan with sporting intentions. Upshifts and downshifts are knocked off cleanly, with precise mechanical clicks as the lever slices through the gates. And, though I cringe at the thought of a near-7,000-rpm upshift, the engine doesn’t - in fact, it positively sings at those speeds. Hooked up to the standard six-speed manual (a five-speed manumatic is also offered), the TSX accelerates cleanly, even at low rpm. Not that the four is any particular hardship. Most of the TSX’s competitors have at least a couple of choices, including six-cylinder or turbocharged engines. Honda, in its inimitable wisdom, offers no optional engine (the same applies to the TL and TSX). Indeed, the 2.4-litre i-VTEC (intelligent-Variable valve Timing and lift Electronic Control) puts out a respectable 200 horsepower at a high 6,800 rpm and a peak torque of 166 pound-feet at 4,500 rpm. Again, as anyone even remotely familiar with Honda/Acura products will know, a high-revving, DOHC four is to be expected. Yes, it eventually understeers as all front-drive cars are wont to do, but only when the speeds are, shall we say, “sporting.” If you are going to play silly bugger, electronic driver aids such as Vehicle Stability Assist with traction control will step in to try to bail you out.Īs to whether there’s the zip under the hood to match the TSX’s impressive handling, the answer is yes … sort of. It corners flat and the P215/50VR17 Michelins retain good contact with the road. The Acura has a light, agile feel (it tips the scales at 1,465 kilograms and its weight distribution is 60/40 front-to-rear) that is immediately noticeable, with an ideal weight to the rack-and-pinion steering. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
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