2010 Acura TL 2010: Living in Canada without all-wheel drive

In Canada, vehicles equipped with all-wheel drive are very popular, and with good reason. Our winters are often unkind, leading many to wish they had better traction in the snow. However, all-wheel drive is not necessarily a remedy for all of the world’s ills. In some cases, it leads to a false sense of security, which pushes people to drive faster without taking road conditions into account. There’s a reason why you see so many 4x4s and AWDs in the ditch after the first storm of the season!

What’s more, in many cases, a front-wheel drive or rear-wheel drive version of an all-wheel drive model could do just as good a job. Unless you frequently have to climb snowy or icy hills, a front- or rear-wheel drive car will get you where you’re going without problems. At Acura, the star model is the TL, less expensive than the very luxurious RL and offering the same (excellent) SH-AWD. Moreover, the TL is also offered in a front-wheel drive version, and unfortunately, people tend to forget about it.

A basic TL

The TL that Acura recently allowed us to use was a base model without any options, which doesn’t necessarily mean that it was uninteresting. Six airbags, ABS brakes, lateral stability and traction systems, acoustic windshield, sun roof, ten-way adjustable driver’s seat (eight-way for the passenger seat), Bluetooth, height-adjustable and telescopic steering column, etc.... And for about $3,500, you can opt for the Navigation Package, which includes the navigation system, a 440-watt audio system, keyless entry, and more.
The TL that we test drove, Mayan bronze metallic in colour (plum, if you prefer) was rather easy on the eyes, although the massive, “bottle-opener shaped” (to borrow the words of my colleague Lachapelle) front grille receives mixed reviews. If you can get past the stylistic elements, the TL offers some pleasant surprises.

76 buttons!

At first glance, the passenger compartment is plush, but the dashboard has too many buttons to be user-friendly. Our base model TL had no less than 76! (But that includes those on the driver’s side door and the steering wheel, so maybe I’m being a little unfair). The front seats, despite their ordinary look, are comfortable and hold well in turns but they would be better if they had more than two seat heat settings, especially for an Acura. Also, there would have been no argument from me if the top of the central console had been extended to form an armrest. The driver’s seat can be moved back a lot, which should make the very tall happy. As for the back seats, despite the limited space, they’re comfortable, except for the middle seat where the leather that covers it seems to be there only to hide a flat piece of metal. If there’s a weakness in the TL, it’s the trunk. The rear seat backs cannot be lowered to make it bigger and all there is for transporting long items is a trunk pass-through. The trunk loading height is high, the opening isn’t very large and worst of all, the floor isn’t flat. Some might even call it distorted.

Calm and violence

The TL without all-wheel drive has a 3.5-litre, 280 horsepower V6, unlike the SH-AWD version, which has a 3.7-litre, 305 horsepower V6. Both engines run on super. Regardless of the version, there’s a five-speed automatic transmission, which seems a little underwhelming in a segment where six- and seven-speed gearboxes are the norm. But since its handling is generally irreproachable, we won’t mention it. However, you should know that this transmission has a sport mode, and although everything in the Acura TL suggests a calm ride, moving the stick shift into this mode radically changes the car’s character. In sport mode, the gearbox downshifts by two gears. For example, at 100 km/hr in “Drive”, the engine revs at 1,700 rpm. By pushing the shifter to “Sport”, it immediately climbs to 3,700, which is almost scary the first time! Thanks to the shifters behind the wheel, you almost feel like you’re driving a sports car. But it’s only an illusion, although the TL handles admirably. The lateral stability and traction control system intervenes too soon and you have to deactivate it in order to have a little fun. In curves, you’ll feel a little roll but the handling is excellent. Not as good as the SH-AWD version of course, but to if you wanted to push to your limits to that extent, why on earth would you choose an Acura?

In the complaint category, we can’t ignore the engine torque effect in the steering wheel during sharp accelerations. Indeed, when you accelerate to top speed, the weight of the vehicle transfers to the back. As the TL is a front-wheel drive, this leads to a loss of traction that confuses the steering to the point that it doesn’t know where to go and the steering wheel pulls every which way. The more powerful the car, the more pronounced this torque effect. This situation, more annoying than dangerous, generally sorts itself out when you ease up a little on the accelerator.

On the road, the silence of the passenger compartment, broken only by a wind noise that seemed to come from the left side window in our test car, is impressive. The steering, a tad heavy at low speed, is very, very average and the brakes are powerful, although in emergencies the pedal has to travel a little far for my liking. The ABS is more or less subdued, but curiously, it’s even more subdued than on an RL test driven a few days before!

All things considered…

Basically, the TL base model isn’t inferior to the TL SH-AWD. Yes, it’s less comfortable in a foot of snow, but it won’t have any trouble keeping up with any other front-wheel drive. Its relative resale value, however, could be less than that of the SH-AWD. But you must also consider that the TL base model weighs 114 kilos less than its counterpart, consumes about one and a half litres less fuel per hundred kilometres, has 17-inch tires instead of 18-inch tires (245/50R17 versus 245/45R18) which means less $$$ for replacements and finally, it costs $5,000 less to purchase...