[next_milenium]

My GF just got a 2010 Acura TL with tech pkg. Just took a ride in it and wanted to write a comparison between the TL and my 2008 Accord.

1) I noticed the TL is HUGE. It is long and tall. Seemed the rear seats have good space.

2) The navigation screen is same size as accord's but it is much clearer due to higher resolution. It has traffic and weather and it is HDD based.

3) The TL comes with USB interface and the Navi's HDD can store up to 3000 songs ripped from CD's you insert into the system.

4) The dimpled silver dash and door accent trims are nicer than our silver trims.

5) Other than perforated, I didn't notice much difference in the leather quality (even though TL supposedly has premium leather while ours is barely better than pleather aranoid

6) TL has 9 more horses than accord but I didn't notice any difference performance wise (TL is probably heavier than accord).

7) Some, if not majority of the dash material in TL is the same as ours.

8) No glove box misalignment in TL.

9) The map lights are white LED's and I really liked them. I might upgrade my map lights to LED soon.

10) The tires on TL are the exact same ones on accord v6 coupe, which led me to thinking maybe it's not the tires that make our cars so much louder than TL. The TL was noticeably quieter than my accord in stock trim.

All in all, based on my short observation, I'm not so convinced TL is worth the $8-10k premium it carries over v6 accords. But I'll probably go for a 2-door acura if and when it comes out.

 

[Danielc409]

Yea the TL is nice, but like you said, the price is pretty steep.

 

[nextcar]

My GF just got a 2010 Acura TL with tech pkg. Just took a ride in it and wanted to write a comparison between the TL and my 2008 Accord.

1) I noticed the TL is HUGE. It is long and tall. Seemed the rear seats have good space.

2) The navigation screen is same size as accord's but it is much clearer due to higher resolution. It has traffic and weather and it is not HDD based.

3) The TL comes with USB interface and the Navi's HDD can store up to 3000 songs ripped from CD's you insert into the system.

4) The dimpled silver dash and door accent trims are nicer than our silver trims.

5) Other than perforated, I didn't notice much difference in the leather quality (even though TL supposedly has premium leather while ours is barely better than pleather aranoid

6) TL has 9 more horses than accord but I didn't notice any difference performance wise (TL is probably heavier than accord).

7) Some, if not majority of the dash material in TL is the same as ours.

8) No glove box misalignment in TL.

9) The map lights are white LED's and I really liked them. I might upgrade my map lights to LED soon.

10) The tires on TL are the exact same ones on accord v6 coupe, which led me to thinking maybe it's not the tires that make our cars so much louder than TL. The TL was noticeably quieter than my accord in stock trim.

All in all, based on my short observation, I'm not so convinced TL is worth the $8-10k premium it carries over v6 accords. But I'll probably go for a 2-door acura if and when it comes out.

very nice observations, especially about the tires being the same. now i'm convinced that the TL just has more sound insulation materials than the Hondas. this also means changing my tires probably won't make a big difference. except for the higher noise compared to, say, a camry, or luxury brands, the accord is a fine car.

 

[xJoeMama78]

very nice observations, especially about the tires being the same. now i'm convinced that the TL just has more sound insulation materials than the Hondas. this also means changing my tires probably won't make a big difference. except for the higher noise compared to, say, a camry, or luxury brands, the accord is a fine car.

Acuras do have better sound insulation than Accords. I still think it is worth it to change out the tires. The OEM tires are noisy and do not excel at dry traction, wet traction, or stopping performance. You can get much better tires for much less than anyone wants for OEM replacements. Swapping my tires from the OEM Michelin grand touring tires to Goodyear Eagle GT ultra-high performance all-season tires much a huge difference in noise, handling, and braking.

 

[Xenologics]

The TL uses a 3.7L engine with SHAWD and a 3.5L 280 hp. I'm not sure which model you were comparing it. Im gonna take a stab and guess she has the 3.5? The 3.7 is a different beast. It's the Flagship

 

[L's TLS]

The TL uses a 3.7L engine with SHAWD and a 3.5L 280 hp. I'm not sure which model you were comparing it. Im gonna take a stab and guess she has the 3.5? The 3.7 is a different beast. It's the Flagship

RL is the flagship but its the 3.5 because he said it had 9 more horses than the Accord. :thmsup:

The 3.7 SHAWD 6MT is a fawkin awesome car.

 

[BPearl2010]

Nice write up.. Still like my Accord

 

[Throwdown]

RL is the flagship but its the 3.5 because he said it had 9 more horses than the Accord. :thmsup:

The 3.7 SHAWD 6MT is a fawkin awesome car.

Nice writeup.

A lot of the engine components for the 3.5 and 3.7 are actually shared with the 3.5L V6 Accord. For example, just found out the other day the ported intake runners are interchangeable from P2R

 

[next_milenium]

RL is the flagship but its the 3.5 because he said it had 9 more horses than the Accord. :thmsup:

The 3.7 SHAWD 6MT is a fawkin awesome car.

Hope they bring back the CL with the 3.7 SHAWD. I'll be trading in my accord for it. :nuts:

 

[GoLowDrew]

A TL is a few hundred lbs heavier depending on model. So there is the extra insolation.

 

[krazyfiend]

Hope they bring back the CL with the 3.7 SHAWD. I'll be trading in my accord for it. :nuts:

As long as it follows the aesthetics of 'old' rather than what seems to be the 'new' trend from Acura.. I'm all aboard the same bandwagon.

 

[Osiris_x11]

A few cans of latex-foam insulator, a few cans of rubberized fender/bed liner, and a few rolls of self-adhesive foil-lined asphalt roof-insulation can make the Accord as quiet as a Lexus LS (the benchmark for quietness). Basically, that's all what premium luxury sedans have, relative to their down-market economical counterparts. The aforementioned materials are inserted into the doorshells, A/B/C pillars, lower cowls, between the floorboard & carpets, wheelwells, etc'.

Nowadays, all vehicles have more-or-less the same slippery Cd's and that exterior shape/design is more-so for downforce & styling, compared to years ago. So, cabin-isolation is the approach via "insulating" the passengers.

 

[A&Fbro28]

I traded my 08 Accord coupe for 08TL non-Type S and i must say the 3.2liter 258hp motor feels so much stronger than the Accords 3.5 liter v6. Then i remember that the Accord other than 6spd doesnt have 3 lobe vte like the TL does. You'd think my car had the 3.5 liter and accord by comparison had a 3.0 liter. The torque steer is down right scary...lol. The leather is a tad softer and more surfaces actually are leather vs. leatherette. 1 other thing ive noticed is that the navi screen is way less "grainy" than my accord. The screen isn't vga like 09+ so i don't understand other than it on the dvd itself. The chassis is rediculous. you'd never know it was a generation behind as its so much firmer/responsive than my coupe was.

 

[next_milenium]

I traded my 08 Accord coupe for 08TL non-Type S and i must say the 3.2liter 258hp motor feels so much stronger than the Accords 3.5 liter v6. Then i remember that the Accord other than 6spd doesnt have 3 lobe vte like the TL does. You'd think my car had the 3.5 liter and accord by comparison had a 3.0 liter. The torque steer is down right scary...lol. The leather is a tad softer and more surfaces actually are leather vs. leatherette. 1 other thing ive noticed is that the navi screen is way less "grainy" than my accord. The screen isn't vga like 09+ so i don't understand other than it on the dvd itself. The chassis is rediculous. you'd never know it was a generation behind as its so much firmer/responsive than my coupe was.

Did you have the v6 accord? I thought you had the I4. I think the 3.5L accord is about the same as the 3.2L TL based on my experience. There are many variables like the gearing and such but the HP doesn't lie. I know I can easily pull on the 3.0 CL's so I know the 3.2 ain't gonna spank me.

 

[matracy68]

My only comment would be that the Accord uses 87 octane instead of the 93 premium. That was one of my major sticking points to buying the Accord over pretty much any other vehicle out there. Yes, the TL is a great car but spending the extra $8-10K mentioned above just for the vehicle and THEN paying more per fill up is not worth it to me. My Accord EX-L V6 with navi is plenty luxurious for me.

 

[A&Fbro28]

Did you have the v6 accord? I thought you had the I4. I think the 3.5L accord is about the same as the 3.2L TL based on my experience. There are many variables like the gearing and such but the HP doesn't lie. I know I can easily pull on the 3.0 CL's so I know the 3.2 ain't gonna spank me.

funny yes i had i4 but i drove v6. Funny an auto v6 accord on most mags ran 7.5sec 0-60. Auto tl run 6.4 sec 5.9 6spd. Im just explaining and not rubbing in as i love accords. The reason is the accords 3.5l i-vtec doesnt have 3 lobe vtec live the accord 6spd and acura v6's. I know the power delivery is different because i noticed no tq steer on the accord v6 like i do in the tl. the tq steer is down right near dangerous in tl.

 

[A&Fbro28]

My only comment would be that the Accord uses 87 octane instead of the 93 premium. That was one of my major sticking points to buying the Accord over pretty much any other vehicle out there. Yes, the TL is a great car but spending the extra $8-10K mentioned above just for the vehicle and THEN paying more per fill up is not worth it to me. My Accord EX-L V6 with navi is plenty luxurious for me.

You are right the accord is luxurious in the ex-l/navi i-4 i had. I was just offered the tl for 4.00 more/mo than my accord and i couldn't pass it up. More passenger room for me even with my wheelchair. If i didnt want to move my chair. they could sit in back.

Another thing that flipped me out. I drove from Wilmington to Camp Lejune (50miles) and the car got 35mpg avg speed 60-65mph. I've seen as high as 37 if going 55mph. I think Honda should focus on gearing of tranny and adding more gears vs. cylinder deactivation.

 

[iflooritlotz]

The last generation TL-S is an amazing car, I'd probably convert over just like you did. Nice choice.

Nice write-up, interesting about the wheels. I'd save my money for the SHWD if I went that route, or whatever its called, that is a sweet car. However, I would probably be swayed by the 335i at that price point... who knows.