GTP Cool Wall: 2007-2008 Acura TL Type-S
- Thread starter White & Nerdy
- 162 comments
- 8,194 views
Seriously Uncool.
It's so freaking bland. Hide that grill and the badging/name imprint on the bumper, and it could be anything, by any company. It's like the designers didn't even try. Sure, 286 hp sounds nice, but once you see what it's in, any hint of mild interest vanishes. Plus it doesn't even really have a name...TL? Is that even supposed to mean anything? Had someone just been eating alphabet soup when they realized they still hadn't named this utterly generic car? It might be some amazing engineering marvel or a technological wonder under all that weight of elemental blandness, but this car is about as uncool as Acura gets, which is really saying something.
A 4 door sedan can be interesting without much effort; many car companies have proven it. It doesn't have to be, well, this.
It's so freaking bland. Hide that grill and the badging/name imprint on the bumper, and it could be anything, by any company. It's like the designers didn't even try. Sure, 286 hp sounds nice, but once you see what it's in, any hint of mild interest vanishes. Plus it doesn't even really have a name...TL? Is that even supposed to mean anything? Had someone just been eating alphabet soup when they realized they still hadn't named this utterly generic car? It might be some amazing engineering marvel or a technological wonder under all that weight of elemental blandness, but this car is about as uncool as Acura gets, which is really saying something.
A 4 door sedan can be interesting without much effort; many car companies have proven it. It doesn't have to be, well, this.
- 4,543
- Bay Area, CA
- Zenith113
- 3,155
- 49°16'43.22"N 81°37'50.21W
- mikeybc
Well I nominated this car because I like it, sure it's looks are a little understated by today's standards but I think it looks quite nice and I love the interior.
With decent performance numbers too (0-60 in 5.5 seconds) I still vote it a regular cool.
I thought rebadged Euro/Japanese Accords of that era were the Acura TSX and not the TL. Though the TL is based on the North American Accord platform.
With decent performance numbers too (0-60 in 5.5 seconds) I still vote it a regular cool.
I thought rebadged Euro/Japanese Accords of that era were the Acura TSX and not the TL. Though the TL is based on the North American Accord platform.
- 89
- Texas
Uncool? Hardly.
The 3rd gen TL is easily one of the best looking and performing luxury FWD sedans ever made. The interior is typical for that era Acura...sporty, yet comfortable. The Type-S is just more of the above. I've seen many of them out at a local track and they really hold their own. I mean, it isn't really meant for that, but the car handles very well for what it is. Acura lost it's way after the Type-S...really after the 3rd gen TL. Yes it's main downfall is the FWD thing, but I'd much rather be behind the wheel of a TL than a G35 or 3 series. Acura is no stranger to making FWD cars handle well.
For those saying its a glorified Accord haven't ever been in one or driven one.
The 3rd gen TL is easily one of the best looking and performing luxury FWD sedans ever made. The interior is typical for that era Acura...sporty, yet comfortable. The Type-S is just more of the above. I've seen many of them out at a local track and they really hold their own. I mean, it isn't really meant for that, but the car handles very well for what it is. Acura lost it's way after the Type-S...really after the 3rd gen TL. Yes it's main downfall is the FWD thing, but I'd much rather be behind the wheel of a TL than a G35 or 3 series. Acura is no stranger to making FWD cars handle well.
For those saying its a glorified Accord haven't ever been in one or driven one.
- 22,549
- Arizona
- HamiltonMP427
We've been over this though like =/= cool, and no one is going to think less of you because you nominated this car and it ended up not being cool.
Then again you never know I might, "Hey look there's the guy that nominated the TL, eww." I kid of course
. I think most business executive esque cars are uncool.Oh the irony....
If your depth is that shallow then yes, lord have mercy on your sole indeed.
- 4,543
- Bay Area, CA
- Zenith113
Your reading comprehension failed when you thought that people were saying the Acura TL's track time had anything to do with coolness.
My spelling failed when I used "sole" instead of "soul."
There is nothing ironic there. If I was chastising you for a spelling mistake, then it would be ironic. Irony isn't that difficult, but for some reason I need to explain it to you.
- 1,591
- Under the Hood
Looks like Mr. Reading Comprehension needs to brush up on his reading comprehension skills. I never stated nor inferred in any way that the Acura's lap time had any connection whatsoever to its coolness. I was simply satirizing your point that a single lap time is all you need when judging a car's performance ability. At Willows a Viper is nearly 4 seconds faster than a ZR1 while at Laguna Seca they are nearly identical. Simply citing one lap time and using that to justify the superiority of one car over another is misleading and inaccurate. Cite multiple lap times from different tracks and now you have a solid basis to judge the engineers that designed a car.
A stickler who is fanatical about grammar and harps on and on about other people's comprehension skills makes a very obvious spelling mistake. Even someone as illiterate as me finds that somewhat funny and ironic. Shoot me.
- 40,422
Except that's not why it was brought up, and Zenith wasn't even the one to first raise it. The charge was that Honda was lazy when engineering the TL, because they didn't make it RWD like its competitors; and that the car was therefore deficient compared to those competitors on that basis alone. Showing an avenue where the car outperforms said competitors, combined with the other posts that point out that not being RWD doesn't mean anything for 8/10 drivers, kinda suggests that the initial concept was ill-informed.
So apparently your ability to satirize isn't any better than your ability to be sarcastic or your ability to detect irony.
- 4,209
- Wasilla, AK
I still don't care. FWD is wrong on principle no matter what typs of vehicle it's used in.
- 8,100
- Guelph, Ontario
Apart from when you want a compact design, (Which is what 99% of road cars need.) then yes.
Because there is a pressing need for every econo car to have a 300hp V8 with RWD and be made of the lightest materials so that hen it crashes it just crumples up into a little ball.
McLaren
Premium
- 44,475
- Texas
Cliffs: Car was better FWD than AWD or RWD.
I'm going to shoot myself when I read it, but what is this principle that makes FWD wrong?
@CarBastard: He's already been shown that Mini once as an example to prove why underpowered cars are just as capable. Love that you used it again to prove another point. Bravo, sir.
- 4,741
- Bogota,Colombia
- GTP_ARP93
With that sentence you've just made clear, to any of us who had a doubt, that you've got no idea of what you're talking about.
And just to graphically demonstrate you why, because I can't be bothered to do so verbally:
EDIT: Coming to think of it, I'm in the mood for kicking someone when he's down, specially when it serves as an excuse to post MOARRR FWD PORN GOODNESS!!! Behold Jean Ragnotti and his Clio Maxi!!!
I'll defend the genius of Sir Alec Issigonis' work with the same zeal W&N attacks "My Little Pony"!
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As much as I agree with the personal preference behind W&N's ever-clumsy attempt to masquerade an opinion as an all-encompassing fact, such a broadly definitive statement is wrong no matter how you rationalize it. In any case, he'll continue repeating it no matter what anyone says, so why argue with this?:
- 4,209
- Wasilla, AK
Cliffs: Car was better FWD than AWD or RWD.
I'm going to shoot myself when I read it, but what is this principle that makes FWD wrong?
@CarBastard: He's already been shown that Mini once as an example to prove why underpowered cars are just as capable. Love that you used it again to prove another point. Bravo, sir.
They mention kickback, bump steer, and torque steer, but what about plain old understeer? You give a car 60% or more of its weight on the nose, then ask the front tires to handle both steering and acceleration, the results might be hard to work around. Someone who knows how to deal with it might be able to get a fast time (though that's the first place I've ever heard of FWD being anything but useless for performance driving), but in the end it's the boring choice (except when the back finally does let go, then you're dead) and it has physics working against it.
The principle is, FWD is the drivetrain setup for people who'd rather not drive if they can help it. It's boring and, unless you are actually a Lotus chassis engineer, it's good for nothing except endless understeer (right up until it flips out and sends you straight over the nearest cliff). I'm actually inclined to doubt those test results, unless the test driver who obtained them was someone like me, with fists of ham, feet of lead, and a generally n00by driving style. Everything I've ever read on the subject indicates that RWD has an innate advantage simply because of how physics work.
- 9,890
- Carthage, TN
- race_emhard
Small language warning.
All I have to say.
Although, I do have to do the rear-tires-on-a-tray donuts thing with my car.
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- 22,549
- Arizona
- HamiltonMP427
- 4,741
- Bogota,Colombia
- GTP_ARP93
McLaren
Premium
- 44,475
- Texas
- 4,741
- Bogota,Colombia
- GTP_ARP93
Joey D
Premium
- 46,710
- Boyne Falls, MI
- GTP_Joey
- GTP Joey
You have a FWD car and talk about it's performance all the time. Also, given your second statement, it can only be assumed that you would rather not drive and therefore forfeit you manliness.
