Acura TSX sports sedan: reaching the lost customer

Derived from the European version of Honda’s Accord but with upgraded power and handling for American tastes.

By: Bob Hall

"image"
TSX’s
interior appointments are first rate with a variety of controls, including
the voice command button for audio, climate control and navigation functions
if the NAV system is ordered.

   LAURENS, S.C. — "Outflow of customers" is a phrase you’d
expect to hear from a domestic manufacturer describing its loss of market share
to European or Japanese competitors. You certainly wouldn’t expect to hear it
from American Honda, whose ever-increasing numbers of Honda and Acura models continue
to capture share across the board.
   Despite American Honda’s 1 million total sales in the 1999 model
year, 50,000 drivers were "disposers of our products," according to Acura Product
Planner Jay Joseph. The data showed most of these folks were under 30 and moving
out of Honda Civics or Acura Integras (replaced by the RSX) into Audi A4s, BMW
3-Series, Volvo S40s or Lexus IS 300s.
   "Basically they were saying, ‘The Accord is nice, but not what
I’m looking for, and the (Acura) TL is for people older than me,’" Mr. Joseph
told us. "That was our target customer and it helped us hone in and set the parameters
for TSX."
   The Acura TSX is a real sports sedan derived from the European
version of Honda’s Accord but with upgraded power and handling for American tastes.
It’s aimed at the 60-percent-male, 33-year-old, 55-percent-married, college-educated
target customer that has an $80,000 household income and "has to make a lifestyle
change that gets him out of an RSX coupe."
   To that end, the TSX gets 200-horsepower/166 pound-feet-of-torque-version
of Honda’s corporate 2.4-liter, dual-overhead cam four-cylinder with i-VTEC (intellig
ent valve timing and lift) that provides 90 percent of that torque at 2,000 rpm.
TSX buyers can choose either a six-speed manual or five-speed Sequential SportShift
automatic. Thanks to a more aggressive final drive ratio, the six-speed manual
is EPA-rated 22 city/29 highway vs. the automatic’s 22 city/32 highway.
   All cars get 17-inch alloy wheels and tires and though the four-wheel
independent suspension architecture is Honda/Acura’s familiar double wishbone,
the hardware is different and shock absorber damping higher. This creates a ride
biased toward performance but without sacrificing comfort or your kidneys.
   "This is a very sophisticated customer," Mr. Joseph explained,
"one who’s more concerned with engine performance, not the number of cylinders
but specific output and power-to-weight ratio. He’s probably owned an Acura or
Honda before, probably didn’t race it, but would like to take it out on a canyon
road and enjoy themselves when they have the chance."
   He would’ve enjoyed our handling exercises here at Michelin’s
Laurens Proving Grounds. The 3,000-acre site is the tire company’s largest in
North America. Its main test track offered ample opportunities to test TSX’s suspension,
excellent power rack-and-pinion steering, four-wheel disc brakes with anti-lock
(ABS), Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) and traction control systems (TCS), and,
of course, the P215/50R17 Michelin Pilot MXM4 tires. They were jointly developed
by Michelin and Acura to provide balanced performance under wet, dry or winter
traction conditions, while delivering low noise levels, good fuel economy, comfort
and long tread life.
   TSX’s road-holding prowess is impressive, although there’s the
expected understeer or "push" found on front-wheel-drive cars. It’s certainly
not excessive and most drivers will never notice it unless they really get aggressive
on those canyon roads. One last important mechanical feature is TSX’s electronic
or "drive-by-wire" throttle, a very sophisticated system that works in conjunction
with VSA, TCS and ABS.
   To these eyes, the Acura TSX (which shares all the European
Accord’s sheet metal) looks better than Honda’s U.S. version of its bread-and-butter
sedan. Joseph said TSX has a "purposeful, architectural look" with "lots of subtle
details in its design." Although just 6.2-inches longer and 2.1-inches narrower
than the U.S. Accord, TSX’s taut sheet metal makes it appear even smaller. Oddly,
its rear deck and taillights bear great similarity to BMW’s much maligned 7-Series,
but those lamps are taller and better integrated into the overall design, which
achieves a superb .27 coefficient of drag.
   TSX’s interior appointments are first rate, with perforated
leather upholstery; dual-zone climate control; power moonroof; a 360-watt/8-speaker
Bose premium audio system with 6-CD-in-dash changer; nifty LED –illuminated
gauges that radiate a soft blue glow; and leather-wrapped steering wheel with
a variety of controls, including the voice command button for audio, climate control
and navigation functions if the NAV system is ordered.
   TSX’s safety quotient is high thanks to dual front, side and
new side curtain airbags. Exact prices weren’t set early this spring; but Acura
did establish a $25,000-to-$30,000 range across basically four models, automatic
transmission with and without NAV system, manual transmission with or without
NAV system.
   During some casual discussions later, Mr. Joseph and several
journalists recalled the old saying, "You can sell an old man a young man’s car,
but not vice-versa." That’s as true in 2003 as it ever was. The TSX isn’t an old
man’s car. I imagine Acura easily will meet its 15,000 annual sales target and
regain even more of those lost customers in the future.


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