2010 Acura TL SH-AWD

Pros: When equipped with a manual transmission and SH-AWD, this car has been tuned to be a great daily driver for someone who loves performance sedans. It has a luxurious interior with well integrated technology, including a class-leading audio system.

Cons: Steering slightly numb/overboosted at low speeds. Bluetooth voice dialing not intuitive to set up/use. Takes a while to master the center stack. Polarizing styling.

Summary: As an owner of a 2006 TSX with a manual transmission, I had driven the new TL in both regular and SH-AWD trim with an automatic as loaners, and was left non-plussed - it had seemed that Acura had abandoned their enthusiast base and gone off to build "sporty" luxury cars.

When Acura released the TL with a manual, they made changes to the chassis, steering and suspension, all with enthusiasts in mind. They let a bunch of automotive journalists loose with it and other vehicles in it's competitive set (and slightly above, if you ask me.) They included cars such as the BMW 335ix, the Infiniti G37x and the Audi S4, and let the journalists lap the track for the best times. The TL got high marks in drivability from the various journalists and consistently had some of the lowest lap times, which got my attention. I continued to pay attention as Road and Track added one to their long term ters fleet (with glowing reviews), Automobile Magazine compared the vehicle favorably with an S4 in a comparison test and Autoweek and Edmunds gave thorough and favorable reviews. Finally, I figured out after seeing some TLs on the road, if you build the car in black or silver, the schnoz isn't that objectionable.

After an extended test drive, I bought a black SH-AWD MT about a month ago and couldn't be happier. I highly recommend cross-shopping this car if you are in its target market.