From the very first, Acura TLs have been terrific – comfortable, pretty good mpg, quick enough and dead reliable. It’s just that they were so, well… dowdy. The 2004 TL fixes that. It still has all the good things (well, most anyway) but now they’re packaged with Italian-like flare. This one is flat gorgeous from every angle. But it’s not perfect: I don’t like the passenger seats and I think the engine’s too powerful for a family-type front-drive sedan. MSRP: $32,650; Warranty: 4yrs/50,000mi.
First Glance
In the late 80’s, Toyota, Nissan and Honda simultaneously launched upscale automobile divisions to directly challenge German luxury car dominance in North America. Toyota and Nissan came out with the Lexus and Infiniti brands; Honda countered with its near-luxury Acura brand. Acuras were superbly engineered and executed but their styling was boring in the extreme. Acura’s parent company, Honda Motors, is many things but stupid it’s not. It knows most people buy a car based on an emotional response; it also noticed few people were getting all that revved up about Honda’s out-of-step Japanese styling. To help remedy this, Honda set up design studios in places like Southern California and Milan, twin ground zeros for design. In Italy, Honda has used the Segno Milano design studio. Although Segno is an independent studio, Honda is its only client. Now when Honda’s corporate designers want a second opinion before stepping off the curb, they can get it on the QT. (I owe this little tidbit to Detroit’s Car Design News, April 2001.) Click here to read more.. »