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New Models
DRIVEN: Acura TSX Keeps Its Edge
The compact sedan in Honda’s premium-division lineup offers sharp performance with luxury flair and high-tech features.
The 2012 Acura TSX has maintained its sporty road manners while most Honda products have taken a softer approach. (Photo: Acrua)
Honda and its Acura premium division have taken a lot of heat in recent years for wandering away from the sharply focused, more-with-less, driver-enthusiast cars on which they built their reputation.
I won’t go into the litany of complaints, but having enjoyed a recent week with a 2012 Acura TSX Tech sedan, I can say with some assuredness, all is not lost.
The compact sedan has now been added to my short list of sporty premium cars that do what they’re supposed to do: provide an engaging driver experience with all the trimmings.
The TSX was fun to drive, agile and responsive, and the test car did it all with a minimum of bulk. Power was provided by the “lesser” 201-horsepower, 2.4-liter four-banger rather than the more-powerful 3.5-liter V6, but despite the vagaries of an aged five-speed automatic, the Acura showed off lively performance that reminded me of Honda’s longstanding expertise with hot four-cylinder engines.
The engine runs smoothly, and it revs happily to its 7,000 rpm power peak with a nicely raspy exhaust sound. Acceleration is brisk though hardly aggressive.
Sure, the 280 horses generated by the V6 would make for a faster TSX, but I doubt that it would have the same sort of edginess. I would love to sample the four-cylinder setup with the available six-speed manual, but that’s not what Acura sent for me to drive. Oh, well.
That is, however, an issue when you want a TSX Tech because Acura does not offer the desirable Tech Package with stickshift. You can’t have both, for some mysterious reason. Starting with the 2012 model year, only the sport-oriented Special Edition versions come with manual transmissions, which makes little to no sense to me. I’m sure the marketing geniuses have it all figured out.
As it was, the TSX proved to be a good place to go for someone who wants a fairly luxurious compact sedan that’s still a kick to drive. It’s also a place to move up for people who love their Civics but want a little more.
TSX showed few of the handling issues often found with a nose-heavy front-wheel-drive sedan; cornering is nimble, balanced and poised. The ride is pretty stiff, occasionally turning harsh on rough surfaces, but it’s a fair tradeoff for the handling response. The steering is highly responsive, which takes a bit of getting used to but well worth it.
The Tech Package adds a layer of electronic goodness to the TSX’s already nicely equipped interior, which includes leather sport seats and a wealth of standard features. The technology group adds about $3,000 to the base price of a TSX, in Honda’s usual way of bundling optional features.
For that, you get a navigation system with voice command (“Home, James “), Acuralink real-time traffic and weather, rearview camera, computer system and a few other items. But the real star of the show is the superb Acura/ELS 10-speaker surround-sound audio system.
This is the kind of sound system that gets you driving around aimlessly just listening to the music. Add to that a satellite-radio system plus MP3 and USB ports, and you’re good to go on that lengthy road trip.
I won’t go into the litany of complaints, but having enjoyed a recent week with a 2012 Acura TSX Tech sedan, I can say with some assuredness, all is not lost.
The compact sedan has now been added to my short list of sporty premium cars that do what they’re supposed to do: provide an engaging driver experience with all the trimmings.
The TSX was fun to drive, agile and responsive, and the test car did it all with a minimum of bulk. Power was provided by the “lesser” 201-horsepower, 2.4-liter four-banger rather than the more-powerful 3.5-liter V6, but despite the vagaries of an aged five-speed automatic, the Acura showed off lively performance that reminded me of Honda’s longstanding expertise with hot four-cylinder engines.
The engine runs smoothly, and it revs happily to its 7,000 rpm power peak with a nicely raspy exhaust sound. Acceleration is brisk though hardly aggressive.
Sure, the 280 horses generated by the V6 would make for a faster TSX, but I doubt that it would have the same sort of edginess. I would love to sample the four-cylinder setup with the available six-speed manual, but that’s not what Acura sent for me to drive. Oh, well.
That is, however, an issue when you want a TSX Tech because Acura does not offer the desirable Tech Package with stickshift. You can’t have both, for some mysterious reason. Starting with the 2012 model year, only the sport-oriented Special Edition versions come with manual transmissions, which makes little to no sense to me. I’m sure the marketing geniuses have it all figured out.
As it was, the TSX proved to be a good place to go for someone who wants a fairly luxurious compact sedan that’s still a kick to drive. It’s also a place to move up for people who love their Civics but want a little more.
TSX showed few of the handling issues often found with a nose-heavy front-wheel-drive sedan; cornering is nimble, balanced and poised. The ride is pretty stiff, occasionally turning harsh on rough surfaces, but it’s a fair tradeoff for the handling response. The steering is highly responsive, which takes a bit of getting used to but well worth it.
The Tech Package adds a layer of electronic goodness to the TSX’s already nicely equipped interior, which includes leather sport seats and a wealth of standard features. The technology group adds about $3,000 to the base price of a TSX, in Honda’s usual way of bundling optional features.
For that, you get a navigation system with voice command (“Home, James “), Acuralink real-time traffic and weather, rearview camera, computer system and a few other items. But the real star of the show is the superb Acura/ELS 10-speaker surround-sound audio system.
This is the kind of sound system that gets you driving around aimlessly just listening to the music. Add to that a satellite-radio system plus MP3 and USB ports, and you’re good to go on that lengthy road trip.
2014 Cadillac CTS
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