Falling in Love with the 2011 Acura TL and I Only Took a Test Drive

The Acura brand car line has enjoyed a strong following with a very loyal customer base. Their reputation for high quality is well deserved as these cars are exceptionally luxurious cars for the money. The Acura Tl was at the top of the sales charts before the body was redesigned for the 2010 model year, and according to the sales report at "Honda News" the sales of this model had dropped off significantly but has recently regained some ground putting it second in Acura sedan sales for February 2011, showing an increase of 1.5% Test driving the 2011 Acura was a very pleasant experience as the salesperson was more than happy to get out of the showroom for a nice long drive.

What you notice first when you get in this car is how absolutely plush and solid everything in it feels. The seats are so comfortable that I can see where some folks may sleep in this car the first week they own one. One of the main selling points of the Acura TL for me is the incredibly smooth and quiet ride, and the ease with which this car cruises up to the speed limit. For a car with a fairly average sized six cylinder engine it has no problem propelling you to a safe passing speed on the highway without sounding like you are straining the engine at all. In fact you have to actually look at the dash board for confirmation that the super quiet engine is running when you stop for a traffic light. This power improves when you opt for the larger V-6 engine and larger diameter tires.

The base power plant is a 3.5 Liter V-6 gasoline engine with single overhead cam and 4 valves per cylinder. One of the main reasons this engine is both efficient and powerful is that it utilizes one of the newer engine control technologies called "Variable Valve Timing" which is a very effective improvement to use on any gasoline engine.

What this does to the engine is optimize the way each cylinder gets fuel and how it exhausts the spent byproducts. The valves lift and duration can be fine tuned on the fly by the engine control computer which can yield impressive results in terms of performance and fuel economy. With impressive performance and fuel economy numbers of 18 mpg in the city, and 26 mpg on the highway owners will be pleased with the 280 horsepower that this base V-6 engine delivers.

The base sedan tends to cost close to or just over $35,000 and for the high quality car you get for this money most owners will be exceptionally pleased with this car for a long time to come. One of the biggest complaints I have heard from friends is that the body styling is not as nice looking as this model was before a recent styling redesign. What I can say is that it really depends on the color paint you choose. For example the darker colors work well with the curves in the body, and also these will accentuate the bright chrome front grille. I personally loved the color called "Mayan Bronze Metallic" which only comes with the Parchment Leather interior, and as my second choice the "Basque Red Pearl" which only comes with the Taupe Leather interior color. These color schemes have changed slightly for the 2012 model year.

As with a lot of newer car models you can option this car to an unbelievable level of features and cost including 18 inch wheels up from 17, a 3.7 Liter 305 horsepower VTEC engine up from the standard 3.5 Liter 280 horsepower engine, even all wheel drive is an optional upgrade. Of course these upgrades will raise the cost significantly going from around $35K on base model up to over $43,500 on the most optioned out model.

If I had the money to spend right now on a mid sized luxury sedan then I would definitely have the all wheel drive version of this car with the 305 horsepower engine at the top of my wish list!

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Sources:

www.edmunds.com/

www.acura.com/ModelLanding.aspx