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Video: 2012 Acura TL

02:08 min
By Cars.com Editors
February 11, 2011

About the video

From the 2011 Chicago Auto Show, Cars.com's Joe Wiesenfelder takes a look at the 2012 Acura TL.

Transcript

<v Narrator>cars.com Auto Review. Hi, I'm Joe Wiesenfelder with cars.com. We're taking our first look at the 2012 Acura TL midsize sedan. There are a few changes this year. It's a refresh, not a complete redesign.
One of the things you'll get is a new six speed automatic transmission, optional, and a higher highway fuel economy of 29. That's three miles per gallon, better than the previous version. Now the last complete redesign was in 2009. And at that time we really found that we liked the car. We liked the way it rides. We liked the handling, especially with the optional all wheel drive. The interior quality is good. There was a problem though, and that was the styling. Not well received in the market. Even Acura acknowledged that they needed to make it less bold. And they've done so. For one thing, that Acura grille which was a big silver shield much bigger than this, has been toned down. Now, this looks like it might be pretty big, but on balance with some changes to the horizontal creases and such, it really blends in much better. Also some dark treatments in the bezels around the headlights. They've also kind of toned it down, shaved it down, it's about an inch and a half shorter overall. Now there are changes in the back as well. Acura has really toned down the backup lights. It's a little bit more frosted, as opposed to that clear glass over chrome look, which really stood out, especially in the darker colors. Find an Acura TL commercial that had anything about a silver car, by the way, you're not going to probably find one. Other changes as they shaved some of the mass out here and then added some more crease lines, changed the license plate placement. And it really took a lot of the mass out. It makes it look a lot sleeker, but they did keep this one silver element. So they haven't abandoned it entirely similar to the front grille. Overall, I think the car looks a lot better. It might be hard to tell from looking at the elements. This might be enough plus the better mileage and a few small changes on the inside to make it a much more successful model as it probably should be. <v Narrator>For more car related news, go to cars.com or our blog, kickingtires.net.

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