2009 Acura TL
Since its debut in 1996, the Acura TL has been based on the Honda Accord. With the Accord’s 2008 redesign, it’s no surprise that the TL is redesigned for 2009. The 2009 TL continues with front-wheel drive and V-6 power. It gets new styling in line with a new corporate look that includes what Acura calls a “dynamic power plenum” front grille. The 2009 TL is bigger than the outgoing model and is now almost as big as the line-topping RL. New technology features include XM NavWeather and a hard drive to hold navigation map information, music files and pictures for the navigation screen.
The 2009 Acura TL is offered in base front-wheel-drive TL trim and as the TL SH-AWD, the sportier, more powerful model equipped with all-wheel drive. The 2009 TL has a 280-hp, 3.5-liter V-6 engine, up from a 258-hp, 3.2-liter V-6 engine on the last base model. The TL SH-AWD has a 3.7-liter V-6 engine. With 305 horsepower, it is the most powerful Acura engine ever. Both engines use a 5-speed automatic transmission with a manual shiftgate and standard steering-wheel shift paddles. A 6-speed manual transmission will return for 2010, the company says.
In addition to a more powerful engine and AWD, the TL SH-AWD includes lower gear ratios, a sport steering wheel, sport front bucket seats, and 18-inch wheels instead of 17s. Acura’s Super Handling All-Wheel-Drive system is front biased, but can send power to the rear wheels and the rear differential can apportion power between the rear wheels to help rotate the car through a turn, Acura says.
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