New grocery getter

[WRXtranceformed]

Since the IS is dead I thought I'd let that thread die too. Here are some better pics of the new ride.

07 Acura TL-Type S













Initial impressions:
I haven't had the chance to drive the car a whole lot, but I can tell that it will take some getting used to for me to make the switch to FWD. Steering is stiff and requires some muscle, but the car handles very very well. It's got a much stiffer ride than the standard TLs I test drove but it's still more comfortable than the ride was on my IS. Braking is absolutely phenomenal thanks to the front Brembos; that is one thing I really miss about my STi. The car isn't torquey by any means but it's got plenty of power for what I need and the paddle shifters allow you to stay in its powerband (VTAKK). Power delivery is very silky smooth. I think the car has awesome lines (may eventually get the A-spec kit for it) and the exhaust note is probably the best I've ever heard on any Acura.

The absolute best things about the car are the technological gadgets in it, and these were the main reasons why I went with this over the TL. Everything, I mean everything in the car is voice controlled. I ask the car what time it is, it tells me. I ask how to get to South Blvd, it takes me there. Integrated Bluetooth is going to be great for me, the navigation has Zagat 2006 ratings and average menu prices for restaurants and it gets realtime traffic updates and rerouting through XM radio.

I'll put up some more thoughts on it when I drive it some more.

[Apoc]

Automatic makes me sad.

I seriously considered one of those but the seats didn't work for my fat-man back.

[WRXtranceformed]

Yeah I could see that being a problem for a bigger person. Fortunately my 158 lb. frame fits into pretty much anything hehe. The auto is bittersweet for me; I've read that the manual version is more enjoyable and easier to keep in the powerband, but long ago I swore that I'd never own another MT daily driver. The AT was actually a requirement for me.

[Mike]

nice choice! now change out those wheels... i hate them.

[Maengelito]

very nice Lee despite that fact that you've moved from awd -> rwd -> fwd with autotragic. I've always liked the way these cars look even with those wheels.

[ScottyB]

sharp car -- i've sat in a few and they are definitely a mile-eating machine. hard to beat the extent that they are packed with features.

i'd love to see an A-spec package on there, that would finish it so nice!

[Feersty]

Very nice dude. First saw your pics in Facebook. In the past week I have had friends get an EVO X, Mazdaspeed Miata, and now TL Type S. Recession say what!

[REED]

nice choice! now change out those wheels... i hate them.

Yeah I still don't know how I feel about those wheels - either way nice car!

[D_Eclipse9916]

dude hawt shit wt fhappenedd to the is? IS is slower but man rwd is th e shith.

[WRXtranceformed]

If the wheels were 1" bigger I'd like them a lot more!

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[Mike]

dude hawt shit wt fhappenedd to the is? IS is slower but man rwd is th e shith.

ya, you're retarded.

[Chris]

I like it, good color combo

[Sijray21]

very nice selection.

i was really impressed with the TL-S at the car show when it came out in '07.

[WRXtranceformed]

Ho mang, 33mpg on my trip to and back from VA this past weekend. Not bad for a 286hp V6! Woeful mileage around town (~21) but it's a cruiser on the highway

[ScottyB]

not bad, not bad at all! did you have it on cruise or were you doing it the old fashioned way? :lol:

[WRXtranceformed]

Little of both! AC blasting the whole way, also had an overnight bag and a set of golf clubs in the trunk

[WRXtranceformed]

Bored at work trying to kill some time so I thought I'd give an update on how I feel about this car after driving it for several months.

Thoughts are in no particular order.

Gas mileage is still great on the highway and woeful around town, but that's to be expected. I averaged 30mpg on the drive to and from the Outer Banks last week with a full load of beach crap in the back so I was pretty happy about that. The car has plenty of power for me, I've found that to use it though you really have to shift into SS mode to find the gear / powerband when you need it. SS also lets you wring out each of the gears which won't really happen if you leave it in auto and mash the gas. So there's a surprising amount of skill and practice required to drive this car aggressively.

While at the beach I finally let loose; turned TSA off, SS mode and smoked tires through first and second gear :lol: You gotta have fun sometimes right??

Brakes are still phenomenal but the dusting of the stock pads is HORRENDOUS. My front wheels are caked with dust literally the next day after I wash the car. I'll likely switch to EBC pads or something similar with less dust when these are toast.

The car does not turn heads as much as my STi did obviously, but I still get thumbs up and see people rubbernecking at the car occasionally. I don't find myself using the voice commands very often, especially for the navigation because it's almost easier just to type addresses in. I DO find myself using the integrated Bluetooth a LOT though which I'm extremely happy with so far.

Overall I'm liking the car more and more everyday, and I even started to think today that I may keep this one longer than the 1.5year limit I seem to have unintentionally imposed on myself due to my ADD with cars (and unrelated, girls). I mean there's just nothing about it that I personally find lacking yet for the type of driving I need it for; it has 4 doors, fits a few sets of golf clubs in the truck, has more power than my last car, plenty of safety and convenience features, a great sound system with mp3 player support, etc.

Would I turn it into a project car? No. If I get some spare income I may do an aftermarket Jpipe and stage 1 or 2 exhaust that has actually seen some decent gains and sounds amazing. That's about it at this point though; the car even has a built in cold air element and magnesium alloy throttle body from the factory so people aren't seeing much gains with aftermarket CAIs. POSSIBLY do a RSB and wheels in teh future, but the stockers are growing on me each day... I think I'd like them more if I powdercoated them gloss black.

It will be interesting to see how the fit and finish and the gillions of electronics in the car hold up over the years.

[Sijray21]

I'll likely switch to EBC pads or something similar with less dust when these are toast.

not sure if they've improved much, but i used to have EBC pads and they dusted more than the Axxis Ultimates i had...

glad you're liking the car though!

[WRXtranceformed]

I helped a buddy who has a black TL-S bake his headlights and clear them out yesterday since I've done probably 4 or 5 sets in the past. We also spraypainted the chrome inner housings but left the chrome strip in the middle of the light. I will say that they turned out pretty good but fucking hell! Having to take the bumper off and about 2 other brackets in order to remove the headlights (or replace a burnt out bulb) for the MFL! It took us about 4.5 hours including the bumper uninstall / reinstall to do it. I'll try to post up some pics of the whole thing when I get home tonight, and we'll likely be doing it to mine within the next few weeks.

[Feersty]

Wow man that is a lot of work, but I am sure the result is money.