2010 Acura TL SH-AWD

Luxury sedan has the heart of a sports car

By Nina Russin

2010 Acura TL SH-AWD

It took me about thirty seconds behind the wheel of the Acura TL to conclude that its development team had hit their target spot on. With its sleek styling and precision handling, the TL is a sexy, hot performer. New this year is an available six-speed manual gearbox, giving driving enthusiasts better opportunity to enjoy the TL’s wide array of talents.

All-wheel drive enhances four-season performance by automatically delivering engine power to the wheels with the best traction. It also enhances the sedan’s steering feedback on challenging roads.

The new manual gearbox is lighter than the standard five-speed automatic. A short-throw shifter makes it easy for the driver to snap between gears. While the close-ratio box is engineered for high-performance driving, the gears have plenty of range to function well in stop-and-go traffic.

A self-adjusting clutch reduces fatigue during commutes. Cars equipped with the manual gearbox come with a hill-start assist feature, which automatically applies the brakes on hills to keep the sedan from rolling backwards.

The SH-AWD grade comes with a 3.7-liter V6: the larger of two available engines. The bigger engine adds 25 horsepower and 19 foot-pounds of torque compared to the 3.5-liter engine. The manual transmission improves the bigger block’s fuel economy, making it comparable to the smaller engine with the five-speed automatic transmission. 

Standard nineteen-inch wheels give the TL a wide, stable footprint at speed. The test car comes with Z-rated summer performance tires. Buyers in four-season climates should expect to purchase a set of winter tires for the snow season. Read the rest of this entry »