2010 Acura TL SH-AWD Manual - Short Take Road Test
Another six-speed hit from the makers of the Honda S2000 and Acura TSX.
Source: Jared Gall for Car and Driver
If there’s one thing that imbues a car with a more sporting character, it’s a manual transmission. None of this automated-manual mumbo jumbo; we’re talking about a true manual with a clutch pedal to the left of the brake and more left-right movement in the shift pattern than just sliding the shift lever into sport. The Acura TL has always been pretty agile and responsive, but the new generation launched in 2009 without a manual.
What a Stick Is Supposed to Be
The TL gets a manual transmission for 2010, however, and although we wonder why—Acura concedes that maybe five percent of buyers will opt for the manual—we welcome any transmission as satisfying as this. In our first drive of the TL manual, we relayed Acura’s boast that these are the shortest throws in class, and we have little doubt the claim is still true. In addition to the tidy throws, the effort is nearly perfect and the action crisp and clean. The clutch, too, is wonderfully tuned with a progressive, predictable takeup and a light feel that requires just enough muscle to keep it from feeling overly assisted.
The manual is only available paired with all-wheel drive—Super Handling All-Wheel Drive, or SH-AWD in Acura lingo—and a 305-hp, 3.7-liter V-6. Additionally, it only comes on cars with the Tech package—premium leather, navigation system—which boosts the manual’s base price to $43,195, or more than $7000 higher than a base TL. You want to row your own, you’re going to pay for the privilege. The only option is the addition of 19-inch wheels and high-performance summer rubber, which our car did not have.
The Perfect Shifter Makes a Car Way Faster
Although the engine and SH-AWD of this car were the same as on past testers, the performance we measured this time was anything but similar. Snicking off our own gearchanges liberated 0.8 second from the 0-to-60-mph time (5.2 seconds versus 6.0) and cleaved a full second from the quarter-mile, and we gathered an extra 4 mph on the way, for a 13.8-second pass at 101 mph.
The manual is a little lighter overall than the automatic (72 pounds), but this doesn’t much affect the TL’s fundamental dynamic balance. Skidpad grip drops some, to 0.88, from the 0.92 g we’ve reported in previous tests, but that’s the result of downgrading from the summer-only Michelin Pilot Sport PS2s on previous cars to Pilot HX MXM4s on this one. Paired with either tire, the torque-vectoring SH-AWD makes it feel from the driver’s seat as if the outside rear wheel were growing in proportion to cornering forces, helping push the car through the curve and mitigating understeer. The car just seems to lean back on that wheel and zip away. Braking likewise deteriorates from a best of 158 feet to 171, although that’s still a perfectly acceptable number.
All These Buttons Are Pushing Our Buttons
However, the most important controls in a car are the ones that control its motion. The six-speed manual in the TL is, like Honda and Acura’s other self-shifters, an altar for those with hyperactive left feet. There are a lot of good competitors bracketing the TL—some that put up better straight-line numbers and some we’d choose over it for a day at the track—but none has a better stick than this. That should make for a very happy five percent.
2010 Acura TL SH-AWD Manual - Short Take Road Test
Another six-speed hit from the makers of the Honda S2000 and Acura TSX.
Source: Jared Gall for Car and Driver
If there’s one thing that imbues a car with a more sporting character, it’s a manual transmission. None of this automated-manual mumbo jumbo; we’re talking about a true manual with a clutch pedal to the left of the brake and more left-right movement in the shift pattern than just sliding the shift lever into sport. The Acura TL has always been pretty agile and responsive, but the new generation launched in 2009 without a manual.
What a Stick Is Supposed to Be
The TL gets a manual transmission for 2010, however, and although we wonder why—Acura concedes that maybe five percent of buyers will opt for the manual—we welcome any transmission as satisfying as this. In our first drive of the TL manual, we relayed Acura’s boast that these are the shortest throws in class, and we have little doubt the claim is still true. In addition to the tidy throws, the effort is nearly perfect and the action crisp and clean. The clutch, too, is wonderfully tuned with a progressive, predictable takeup and a light feel that requires just enough muscle to keep it from feeling overly assisted.
The manual is only available paired with all-wheel drive—Super Handling All-Wheel Drive, or SH-AWD in Acura lingo—and a 305-hp, 3.7-liter V-6. Additionally, it only comes on cars with the Tech package—premium leather, navigation system—which boosts the manual’s base price to $43,195, or more than $7000 higher than a base TL. You want to row your own, you’re going to pay for the privilege. The only option is the addition of 19-inch wheels and high-performance summer rubber, which our car did not have.
The Perfect Shifter Makes a Car Way Faster
Although the engine and SH-AWD of this car were the same as on past testers, the performance we measured this time was anything but similar. Snicking off our own gearchanges liberated 0.8 second from the 0-to-60-mph time (5.2 seconds versus 6.0) and cleaved a full second from the quarter-mile, and we gathered an extra 4 mph on the way, for a 13.8-second pass at 101 mph.
The manual is a little lighter overall than the automatic (72 pounds), but this doesn’t much affect the TL’s fundamental dynamic balance. Skidpad grip drops some, to 0.88, from the 0.92 g we’ve reported in previous tests, but that’s the result of downgrading from the summer-only Michelin Pilot Sport PS2s on previous cars to Pilot HX MXM4s on this one. Paired with either tire, the torque-vectoring SH-AWD makes it feel from the driver’s seat as if the outside rear wheel were growing in proportion to cornering forces, helping push the car through the curve and mitigating understeer. The car just seems to lean back on that wheel and zip away. Braking likewise deteriorates from a best of 158 feet to 171, although that’s still a perfectly acceptable number.
All These Buttons Are Pushing Our Buttons
However, the most important controls in a car are the ones that control its motion. The six-speed manual in the TL is, like Honda and Acura’s other self-shifters, an altar for those with hyperactive left feet. There are a lot of good competitors bracketing the TL—some that put up better straight-line numbers and some we’d choose over it for a day at the track—but none has a better stick than this. That should make for a very happy five percent.