Rumormill: 2009 Acura TL coming in 2 flavors, gets AWD
by Alex Nunez on Apr 12th 2008 at 10:41PM 
Honda/Acura had its 2009 dealer meeting in New Orleans last week, and a little birdie that claims to have attended has whispered some details about the 2009 Acura TL in our ears. According to our anonymous tipster, the '09 TL range will consist of two models. The front-wheel-drive car will be powered by a 3.5L V6 delivering 280 horsepower. The step-up version will feature SH AWD and have a 3.7L, 300-horsepower V6 underhood (presumably the same one used in the MDX). We're told the latter car is not a Type-S, by the way -- that trim level goes back into hibernation with the arrival of the '09. Word is, the car "looks amazing." The TL in its current state is Acura's best-looking vehicle, so our curiosity is definitely piqued.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Alex Nunez 10:47PM (4/12/2008)
Yes, that's a photo of the 2008 TL, not the upcoming '09.
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Sean Flanagan 11:31PM (4/12/2008)
Alex, do you have a source on this rumor? The default is TOV, but there's nothing new over there.
Alex Nunez 11:43PM (4/12/2008)
Sean, this one was a direct email to us from a supposed attendee of the dealer meeting. I did some poking around and saw that there's some chatter starting to pop up at the Edmunds Car Space forums that seems to back this up, for what its worth. (I also checked TOV and found nothing. I'm sure that'll change.)
Craig 5:49AM (4/13/2008)
Looks like the rear end of the now finished Mitsubishi 380 in Australia.
Kumail 10:50PM (4/12/2008)
they better not screw this up. the TL has the potential to be the best in its class.
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416Hammy 11:16PM (4/12/2008)
They're going to have a tough time beating the current G35 and 335i on all fronts. Hopefully Acura isn't going down the same road to Dullsville as they did with the new TSX.
Dan 3:18AM (4/13/2008)
No RWD? I don't see how they have the potential to even be competitive in the fun to drive class.
It's more than competitive in the computer gadget/feature overload class, but that's a class of one that they already own.
Scott 5:19PM (4/14/2008)
Have you never driven any of the other cars in this class?
reddogg 5:35PM (4/14/2008)
I think the real competitors are VW, Audi, Volvo who are other FWD/AWD manufacturers. BMW, Lexus, Infinity and MB are RWD primarily.
Cameron 10:50PM (4/12/2008)
Let's hope they don't pull a TSX!
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Franz 10:52PM (4/12/2008)
Let's hope they don't beat it to death with the ugly stick. Honda's designs lately have been questionable at best.
Torrent 3:54AM (4/13/2008)
The new RL and TSX have the ugly parakeet-ish grille, but who knows, it could look better on the TL. Ford made the best 3 bar chrome grille out of the '10 Taurus, who says Acura can't fix a flaw? Anyways, that's besides the point- we'll just hope, because after seeing the 09 Pilot, I cannot take Honda seriously.
Torrent 9:41PM (7/12/2008)
I was saving this thread for 3 months so that I can finally say:
ALL OF ACURA'S SEDANS ARE DEAD!
idkalf 11:01PM (4/12/2008)
cant wait till they release some pics of it
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Andy 11:09PM (4/12/2008)
Acura... Please please please do not put on that stupid grille that is on the new TSX and RL. PLEASE.
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In2uition 11:37PM (4/12/2008)
You know it's going to happen.
Ford Wannup 6:45PM (4/13/2008)
or the MDX. If you re-do the whole grill thing, we'll forgive and forget this whole episode...promise!!! (well, that is if you come up with an actually sane, hot looking grill).
iQuack 11:25PM (4/12/2008)
If the TL's FWD's V6 has 280 HP and takes premium gas, that would be a bit silly. The Accord's 268 V6 probably accelerates nearly the same but would run fine on regular gas. A premium gas requirement with so little to show for it could be a deal-killer in these days of costly fuel.
I hope the new Acura looks good--hard to beat the current TL IMO.
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Dan 3:35AM (4/13/2008)
Do people buying $35,000 luxury toys - ie. an $800 a month car note - really make their decision over $3 extra for a tank of premium?
Most posters here here have a reverence for fuel economy that's completely out of touch with the real world.
Matches the out of touch reverence for performance cars, but that at least makes some sense because 400hp toys are actually fun to aspire towards.
MikeW 4:49PM (4/13/2008)
The TL already takes premium.
Honda does little sh*t like take out the variable resonance intake manifold on the Accord, and denies the driver a manumatic interface. So you can't access the low-mid range torque, even if Honda allowed you to have it (the 6 speed stick accord has the variable resonance intake manifold)
The compression ratio is only 10.5 on the Accord, 11 on the TL
More than likely the power/drive trains are carryover.
So same old 5 speed automatic, while the G35, hopefully, will get the 7 speed automatic for '09 (and the 3.7 vvel V6)
With the price of gas being so high, I would want a premium fuel engine. The cost differential between regular and premium is less than 6%, if you can get 6% better mileage AND better response, torque, power, smoothness then it is worth it.
And you'd probably get over 6% better mileage in the real world.