[BMWDAD]

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...hotopanel..1.*

[Stronie]

We are obviously bias but.....come on edmunds.....I'll wait for a real comparison not one sponsored by Honda.

"3rd Place: The BMW 335i maintains its composure even when driven extremely hard, yet it feels surprisingly slow and out of place compared to the TL and S4. Of course, putting power down with just the rear wheels means the front wheels almost needed to be straight before the throttle could go all the way to the floor. The throttle response from its twin-turbo 300-hp inline-6 is only happy and snappy in the upper rpm range, and the steering feels indirect and slow in comparison. Great brakes, but this wasn't enough to make up the 2.7-second gap to the TL. It's just too slow to react."

[742]

"...all the test cars supplied and prepped by Acura R&D"

[TheAcAvenger]

Hahahaa, good job Acura... even if you did cheat. I guess I should sell this slow 3 series and head back to Acurazine.com

[slick101]

3rd Place: "The BMW 335i maintains its composure even when driven extremely hard, yet it feels surprisingly slow and out of place compared to the TL and S4." get the f#@# outta here....the bmw 335 put audi S5 to shame on the track then how the hell does it loose to the s4??? what bothers me the most is that when the hell did acura come off beating a BMW in a track... i hate it when tests like these get published....

[TheAcAvenger]

Originally Posted by slick101

3rd Place: "The BMW 335i maintains its composure even when driven extremely hard, yet it feels surprisingly slow and out of place compared to the TL and S4." get the f#@# outta here....the bmw 335 put audi S5 to shame on the track then how the hell does it loose to the s4??? what bothers me the most is that when the hell did acura come off beating a BMW in a track... i hate it when tests like these get published....

1) the 335i never put the S5 to shame around a track (there's a thread about this, they're always within a half second of each other).

2) An S4 isn't going to be slower than an S5. They're practically the same, and it wouldn't surprise me if the S4 was slightly lighter.

3) There's a thread covering that whole argument

4) I'd say invalid stuff too if I just read that statement, so we'll let it slide. Edmunds needs to take off the acura goggles.

[quest556]

That TL could have the speed and handling of a cruise missle but would never grace my driveway, i's just tooooo freaking ugly.

[roadkillrob]

I have no doubt the Acura is a fabulous car, but I am a bit suspicous of the Manufacturer sponsered event and the the Acura had the optional PS2's on it, where the rest of the cars had their default worn rubber, that alone could make the time difference. I have also never ever in my life heard someone refer to the twin turbo engine as not being responsive (maybe it was a 29.2 car) and the steering is slow and unresponsive - BMW has had the best steering for decades and if nothing else, the steering is always raved about as being direct and precise, either it had active steering or the tires where totally shagged.

Test seems suspect at best!

[TheAcAvenger]

Originally Posted by roadkillrob

I have no doubt the Acura is a fabulous car, but I am a bit suspicous of the Manufacturer sponsered event and the the Acura had the optional PS2's on it, where the rest of the cars had their default worn rubber, that alone could make the time difference. I have also never ever in my life heard someone refer to the twin turbo engine as not being responsive (maybe it was a 29.2 car) and the steering is slow and unresponsive - BMW has had the best steering for decades and if nothing else, the steering is always raved about as being direct and precise, either it had active steering or the tires where totally shagged.

Test seems suspect at best!

All great points... However, it probably WAS a 29.2 car and its not Acura's fault BMW decided to come up with such repulsive software revisions. And its also not Acura's fault that BMW doesn't have tire optiions like Acura does when you go to order the car. So in Acura's defense, that's pretty fair. While I think there is absolutely no way in hell that the TL is faster or more responsive, maybe BMW will take some notes and give us all PS2s

[Rando]

I agree, I pray it was a 29.2 car... that should help get some attention to this thread:
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...147781&page=85

If anyone actually retests the 335i with the new software on a track (especially with many slow corners), they will see remarkably different results. That seems to be exactly what happened here.

[Raja Ventureshield]

THE acura is Ugggggggggggggggggggggly.
i love honda/acura products but this one is really really uglyyyyyyyyyyyyy.
doesn't matter what it can do, but would be embrassed to take it out of the garage.

[noro]

This is the beauty of the free market.. you should be excited about this car, otherwise what incentive would BMW have to make better cars? SH-AWD is a great concept. It existed in theory for a long time and kudos to Honda for making it real.

[Couch]

Acura can keep their snaggle-tooth, butt ugly car.

[continentalg5]

It is a very homely looking car. Nuff said.

[DenverJayhawk]

It's not unreasonable at all to expect a brand new car with more hp and the latest technology and suspension to outperform at 335 that was basically designed in 2005. I still think it's ugly as sin, but the outcome shouldn't be surprising.

[BK]

It is a fugly car, but I'm all for competition. Hell, I think it would be great if the new AWD TL is as good as suggested in this article. Maybe they'll follow it up with a TL-S that is a world-beater yet still reliable and comfortable. Bring on the competition! It makes everyone better.

[DenverJayhawk]

Originally Posted by BK

It is a fugly car, but I'm all for competition. Hell, I think it would be great if the new AWD TL is as good as suggested in this article. Maybe they'll follow it up with a TL-S that is a world-beater yet still reliable and comfortable. Bring on the competition! It makes everyone better.

Completely agree. I'm curious though. If the boys and girls at Honda's engineering team really put their heads together, I'd think they could make a rwd only TL that would be a better track car. I understand the benefits of AWD, but for pure driving pleasure, rwd is the only way to go. That and you don't have to deal with added weight of awd.

[F32Fleet]

Maybe the 335's were suffering heatsoak ?

[Rodrigo]

Originally Posted by BK

It is a fugly car, but I'm all for competition. Hell, I think it would be great if the new AWD TL is as good as suggested in this article. Maybe they'll follow it up with a TL-S that is a world-beater yet still reliable and comfortable. Bring on the competition! It makes everyone better.

+1

I'd like to see a new CL Type S.

[Tim2189]

silly acura,TL's for chicks

[Nikolas]

I know it is ugly, but I will bet my XI that it won't have a failed fuel pump, software updates 3 times a year, ipod integration that suddenly changes to the radio, wastegates ticking etc.

My wife has an MDX and that car in 100,000 miles has had nothing required for maintenance except for a new set of shocks and brakes at 90,000 miles.

SHAWD is an awesome concept that even BMW engineers are employing into the new X drive on the X6. One of the past BMW magazines even sited that acura's system was currently the most advanced.

So while it is ugly, I'll bet it is a great performer and one that will be infinately more reliable than our beloved BMW's.

[clubspec330i]

I don't know where Acura went wrong. NSX and Integra GSR (especially Type-R) was a great car. I came from an Acura line and will still pickup NSX or Type-R anyday but not this fuuugly TL.

The cure for these type of columns is to go out and drive your car. Sometime I even think my wife's 335i is stronger than my M3.

Well, to each his own. The people who like TL can enjoy their TL and I will enjoy my wife's 3rd place 335i.