friend had a TSX loaner car while his RSX was in the shop. took it for a short spin down the road to wendy's and back.

car is impressively quiet. leather is very nice, almost as nice as acura's german competition. cockpit layout is standard, nothing exciting, but that also means easy to read and figure out. seats are very supportive, kinda stiff for a sedan in that class. even mazda6 seats are softer and little wider (i guess for more american rear ends) -- TSX has decent side & hip bolsters.

i would have loved to take it out on an extended drive, but from my limited engagement with it: power comes later...not much to deliver in the lower RPM. sport shifting is precise & refined, although you still feel the car lunge forward a bit. the new 2004.5/2005 s40 i test drove a while back lunged a bit more, and was less responsive. but those early models had some minor issues with the geartronic transmission.

one thing i would have liked is the ability to unlock all doors with a 3-second key turn in the driver's door. its convenient when you dont have remote keyless entry. felt tight in the corner, almost like a mazda6, but couldnt get away with a good exit speed. but i didnt try again cuz the car only had 40 miles on it and didnt want to put an unbroken-in car through its paces too soon.

comparably priced mazda6 is just as fun to drive, feels roomier, you get 18" wheels, although not as refined as the TSX. plus for those on budgets, mazda6 offers more price-points, whereas acura only offers with Nav or w/o Nav. hmm...i think i would defect to acura if given the opportunity hehe especially with the dealer support that mazda can't match.

 

They are definitely nice cars. And power does come later....way later. The 06's are better (revised throttle body and other stuff=13hp gain). I would assume you found the sound system to be good? I'll agree that the seats are a bit stiff at first, especially the lumbar support. TSXs will knock out highway miles like nothing, so you won't be disappointed if you were to take it on a trip...especially with the XM radio. And yes, if I sound a little too familiar with these cars, I wash cars at an Acura dealership so I get to drive those things around a lot.

The 6 should have a V6 at the $28.5k price point right? If so, that torque would be appreciated over the TSXs 4 cylinder, because it's a little slow (though not nearly as slow as the 04-05 ones). Anyways, I'd have to drive a Mazda 6 to see which I'd like better...

Good review, Sir Grimlock.

 

my friend likes the sound system that comes with them. steering wheel controls are hard to give up when you turn the loaner back in. yea i thought the lumbar was a bit stiff too, but im sure its adjustable and will settle in over time. i would like to try the manual, im smitten with the RSX's manual transmission, quite smooth and precise.