CBS MarketWatch 2004 Acura TSX
09-28-2003, 07:13 AM
#1
HC Racer H5
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2000
Location: KCK
Posts: 4,261
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
CBS MarketWatch 2004 Acura TSX
WASHINGTON (CBS MW) -- There are a lot of messages that this new Acura sends back to you while you cruise along a back country road getting to know one another. The overwhelming one is Quality, and that capital Q is justified.
One small example is the turn signal. It moves with the solid precision of an expensive Swiss watch. The doors "thunk" when they close. The engine purrs, the leather seats feel sumptuous, and the 6-speed shifter is more like that of a sports car.
The Acura TSX is the European version of Honda's (HMC: news, chart, profile) Accord. It is 6 inches shorter than the Accord, and rides on a wheelbase that is about 3 inches shorter. And it lacks the controversial Accord rear end styling (see slideshow) that many have likened, with some justification, to a Buick.
Where the Accord can be had with a 2.4 liter 160 horsepower four cylinder engine, the 2.4 in the TSX is tweaked to crank out 200 horsepower. Both come with Honda's latest variable valve timing system -- and that means they love to rev. Not much happens until the tach touches 3,000, but from there on up the performance is such that you wonder if there aren't a couple more cylinders buried under the hood. The TSX is rated at 22-29 mpg by the EPA.
Long interstate trips are a breeze, helped by an easy-to-tune stereo, the eight-way power driver's seat, and most of all, the very quiet business-like way the TSX goes about its duties.
There's only one option -- a $2,000 navigation system with voice recognition. It was easier to program than many others in the MarketWatch test fleet, and brought us through a major construction program in Harrisburg, Pa., with ease. But we wonder how many drivers will do the safe thing and program it while still sitting in their driveways?
At $28,990 the TSX is shoe-horned in the Acura lineup between the fun-to-drive RSX and the TL. Thus it falls in one of the most hotly contested realms of the auto world -- the roughly $30,000 and under sports sedan. The field is so crowded that Mack Truck is about the only one not there.
We would be hard pressed to choose between the new TSX and our previous favorite in this beauty pageant, the Lexus IS-300. They are both wonderful cars. But the coin flip might well go to the lower priced Acura, with the extra money saved each month contributing to the purchase of some nice imported single malt Scotch. Like I said, Quality.
One small example is the turn signal. It moves with the solid precision of an expensive Swiss watch. The doors "thunk" when they close. The engine purrs, the leather seats feel sumptuous, and the 6-speed shifter is more like that of a sports car.
The Acura TSX is the European version of Honda's (HMC: news, chart, profile) Accord. It is 6 inches shorter than the Accord, and rides on a wheelbase that is about 3 inches shorter. And it lacks the controversial Accord rear end styling (see slideshow) that many have likened, with some justification, to a Buick.
Where the Accord can be had with a 2.4 liter 160 horsepower four cylinder engine, the 2.4 in the TSX is tweaked to crank out 200 horsepower. Both come with Honda's latest variable valve timing system -- and that means they love to rev. Not much happens until the tach touches 3,000, but from there on up the performance is such that you wonder if there aren't a couple more cylinders buried under the hood. The TSX is rated at 22-29 mpg by the EPA.
Long interstate trips are a breeze, helped by an easy-to-tune stereo, the eight-way power driver's seat, and most of all, the very quiet business-like way the TSX goes about its duties.
There's only one option -- a $2,000 navigation system with voice recognition. It was easier to program than many others in the MarketWatch test fleet, and brought us through a major construction program in Harrisburg, Pa., with ease. But we wonder how many drivers will do the safe thing and program it while still sitting in their driveways?
At $28,990 the TSX is shoe-horned in the Acura lineup between the fun-to-drive RSX and the TL. Thus it falls in one of the most hotly contested realms of the auto world -- the roughly $30,000 and under sports sedan. The field is so crowded that Mack Truck is about the only one not there.
We would be hard pressed to choose between the new TSX and our previous favorite in this beauty pageant, the Lexus IS-300. They are both wonderful cars. But the coin flip might well go to the lower priced Acura, with the extra money saved each month contributing to the purchase of some nice imported single malt Scotch. Like I said, Quality.
