Driven: 2009 Acura TSX Tech, Mr. Smooth

The boat we’re talking about is that the “premium sports sedan” description somehow misses the fact that the Acura TSX is smooth. Smooth as velour pavement. Smooth as cream on strawberries. Smooth as that guy your daughter brought home from college. Though with the TSX you do not have to spend the evening checking the function of your shotgun.

 

JUST KIDDING! Please, no letters.

 

But yes, the TSX handles well, but there are those that handle better, mostly those with rear wheel drive. Let’s take it out for a drive:

 

The 2009 TSX is powered by a 2.4- liter double overhead cam four with variable timing on the intake and exhaust valves. The engine has direct injection, meaning the fuel is spritzed directly into the combustion chamber rather than the intake manifold for better power and emissions control, as well as a horsepower rating of 201 at a lofty 7000 rpm, and torque peaks at 172 lb-ft @ 4400 rpm with the six-speed manual transmission, or 170 lb-ft @ 4300 rpm with the automatic.

 

Computer my co-pilot It also has “drive-by-wire” throttle control. That means there’s an electronic intermediary between the driver’s right foot and the engine, and it tells the engine what it thinks the driver thinks the driver wants. Our foot didn’t always agree with the engine’s computer. At least with the six-speed manual transmission, advanced drivers who have mastered the fine art of heel-and-toeing (a way with a manual transmission of matching engine revs to vehicle speed with the right side of the right foot while braking with the left side of the right foot and using the left foot to operate the clutch and is just as hard as it sounds so most drivers don’t do it, even if they know what it is) may find that the engine control computer of the TSX doesn’t recognize what the driver is doing. At least that’s our excuse for our downshifts not being as smooth as we think they should have been.

 

That said, the engine is as smooth—did we mention that word before—as any from the Honda-slash-Acura camp and will run all day in the upper rev ranges without a word of complaint—if engines could talk. And while the Acura TSX engine is happiest flexing its muscles in the upper rev range, it also has a relatively broad torque range, at least for this class of car, and it makes fabulous noises, some of the best in the business. It’s what a sports sedan engine should be.

 

While other sports sedans make do with MacPherson strut type front suspension, the Acura TSX has racer-like double-wishbone front suspension and at the rear, a five-link setup, all combined with a chassis that is solid as a chunk of teak. It all conspires to make the Acura TSX really smooth over the rough stuff. Smooth. There’s that word again.

 

That supple suspension means that it can maintain its grip over the roughest pavement. The limit, however, is the front drive. The front tires are asked too much to do, both steering and putting down power, and there’s only so much proper geometry can do before the wheel starts tugging at the driver’s hands when the pavement is less than perfect or power needs to be put down when the road is less than straight.

 

So that aside, we really like the way the TSX drives. Unless it’s compared to cars from a certain car company with a name comprised of three letters—sorry, but they’re the generally accepted benchmark—the Acura TSX will make the vast majority of near-premium sports sedan owners very happy with its performance.

 

Roomy interior But it’s a sedan, too, so let’s consider those aspects, starting with the trunk, which is roomy and fully usable, with a rear deck and trunk lid long enough to make loading easier than some.

 

The back seat is a tad snug in the legroom department but par for this size class of cars, and roomier, for example, than an Audi A4, thanks to dimensions that have increased from the previous edition of the Acura TSX: 3.0-inches greater width and 2.6-inches wider track, the 2009 TSX has a 1.3-inches longer wheelbase and 2.4 inches more overall length

The front seat is where one truly should wish to be. While the buckets are fully supportive, they’re soft as a bunny’s tummy and yes, smooth.

 

By the way, speaking of benchmarks, we’ll nominate the Acura TSX as one for interiors. Again, smooth, and typical for Acura, there are no options. Bluetooth, a 360-watt premium sound system, a jack in the console for auxiliary audio input, a USB port, power seats for driver and passenger, the driver’s seat with memory. And of the TSX has all the usual power stuff, plus leather seats and a sunroof are standard equipment.

 

Just one option  Actually there is only one factory-installed option, Technology Package, which includes Acura’s impressive navigation system. It’s one of the best, easy and intuitive to use. Who needs an owner’s manual? But it also includes “incident reporting” which reports accidents and congested traffic at work zones. How it does this we’re not sure, but it’s not limited to urban areas as we had it tell us of a construction zone and an accident on Interstate I-80 and I-81, both in rural Pennsylvania.

 

We’re not sure of the timeliness of the information, but having sat in construction zone backups for more than an hour, we can see how using the nav system to detour around such tie-ups could be worth the expense, just in the portion of one’s lifetime saved. The navigation system even tells weather along the route, and drivers will even be able to tell the Acura to find dinner using voice recognition and programmed in Zagat restaurant information.

 

We also liked Acura’s presentation of trip and fuel consumption data. The Technology Package also includes a calculator, calendar including service reminders and a backup camera that has benefited by others going first. It has a wide-angle lens and the color rendition is excellent. So what is this, a videocam review?

 

Fuel Economy We were surprised to see numbers above thirty on the fuel consumption computer, and not just for highway driving but rather all-around use. Only with a regimen of stop-and-go traffic with some really going were we able to push the number down to a high twenty eight. We’re particularly impressed because the EPA fuel economy estimates are 20/28 for city/highway respectively.

 

For being equipped like an Acura, the pricing on the 2008 Acura TSX is reasonable. A “base” TSX—meaning the six-speed manual transmission and no navigation system—has a price of $28,960. Adding the Technology Package raises the price to $32,060. There is no premium for the optional five-speed automatic.

 

That latter is pretty smooth, considering that most buyers specify an automatic. But what else would one expect from the 2009 Acura TSX but, well, smooth.

 

P.S.: Compared to BMW models on which everything seems to be optional, even floor mats, Acura has a philosophy of including everything in a take-it-or-leave it price. It’s a gutsy move, if only because it means that other carmakers can prepare low-ball cars, not expecting to sell many but the price will look good on advertising. It’s when the dealer starts reeling the customer in does visions of reality set in, but by then it’s likely too late.

 

With the 2009 Acura TSX, what you see is what you pay, though as most makes do, it adds a destination fee. For our test vehicle, this was $715, and resulted in a total recommended price of $32,775. That’s wholly in line with the competition, especially competitive when—remember—the Acura TSX comes fully equipped. There’s a benchmark BMW will be hard pressed to match.

 

A word about styling: Linus van Pelt, one of Charles Shultz’s Peanuts gang, said, “I love mankind. It’s people I can’t stand.” We’re sort of that way with the shape—or shapes—of the Acura TSX. The details don’t always delight us, but they seem to go together well. It’s not that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It’s like the parts added are negative but the sum still comes up with a positive. Surely there’s a mathematics that makes it possible. Something’s certainly going on with the Acura TSX. The grille looks like it’s from a tropical fish that chips off pieces of coral to make a living. The fenders look like their allergic to rubber and have swollen up. The wedge-shaped profile charts no new territory and the rump is indistinguishable from that of a Subaru Legacy. Yet somehow, at least for us, it works. Go figure.

 

 

For more new car reviews on the 2009 Acura TSX,  go to carbuzzard.com.