Steering input is set up well too, not too direct but hardly vague. Being a front-driver, not my first choice among drivetrain configurations, the steering wheel still disconcertingly tugs during aggressive acceleration.
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| Could an AWD TL be in the not-too-distant future? (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
It's worse amid turns, as is the case with all powerful FWD cars, but won't destabilize the car when dropping down a gear to make a pass. I'm actually impressed with how successful Acura has become at exorcising inherent front-wheel drive vices from its products, but then again the subtle tugging and pulling mars what could otherwise be one of the best driving experiences in the sedan category. But there may be hope for Acura fans that would prefer all-wheel drive over front. That's right, at the beginning of the story I said I hadn't heard anything about RWD or a V8, but nothing about AWD. Rumor has it that an AWD RL has been circling the old Nürburgring track in Germany, completing performance testing.
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| Acura's new 225-watt ELS DVD-audio surround sound system might just be the best I've ever heard. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
Could a TL that powers all four wheels be in the not-too-distant future? If so, then every premium automaker had better be looking over both shoulders as Acura rises up to the top echelons of the game. Speaking of top-tier competition, Acura's new 225-watt ELS DVD-audio surround sound system might just be the best I've ever heard. While it's hard to say for sure, as I've been floored by systems in Volvos and Audis regularly, not to mention the THX sound system that blows the doors off of Lincoln cars and SUVs, Acura's DVD-audio performance is probably the clearest, most detailed I've heard when playing a DVD-audio disc. That might be because it's the only one I've heard, or anyone else has heard for that matter, playing a DVD-audio disc. Sure, it's also good with regular CDs, but the spatial placement of each of its six channels allows for a separation of instrumentation creating a sensational surround sound that's more uplifting than regular two-channel stereos. Hardly a quadraphonic gimmick, the detail that filters through its speakers leaves the majority of car audio systems in the transistor radio trash heap.
