The Acura TL is roomier than the BMW 3-Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class, and offers more interior space than the Lexus ES 300. The TL interior is quite attractive, particularly in the lovely light tan that's available. Switchgear is nicely designed. The mirror control is whisper quiet and the stereo features big, handsome buttons that are easy to operate. The front seats, though cushy and attractive, did not meet our expectations for an upscale Acura sedan. They lack support and the adjustable lumbar bulge is of marginal help. The leather seats in the S-Type don't provide enough lateral support when you start throwing the car around. There's a dead pedal to brace your left leg, however.
The back seats are roomy. The center position features a three-point shoulder belt, instead of just a lap belt. The rear seat doesn't fold down, but a small center section opens to allow skis, fly rods and other long objects in the trunk to pass through the seats. Acura thoughtfully provided a little flip-down coat hook in back so your nice coat doesn't end up on the floor.

The TL comes with a high level of standard equipment. Leather upholstery, heated and powered front seats, wood-grain trim, automatic climate control, tilt steering column, cruise control, Bose AM/FM/CD/cassette with steering wheel-mounted audio controls, power moonroof, power heated door mirrors, keyless entry, theft-deterrent system, auto-off headlights, and the Homelink Universal Transceiver System are all standard. Active safety features include ABS, traction control, and high-intensity discharge headlights. Passive safety features include dual front airbags and side-impact door beams.

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The Type-S interior is racy (and handsome), with firm leather seats and a great leather sport steering wheel, cool shift knob, and instrument panel touches including metallic faces and ebony wood-patterned plastic trim.

At $2,000, the navigation system is an expensive option. It uses Global Positioning Satellites and DVD to plot your course and provide instructions. A brightly lit touch-screen monitor displays a map or an alpine-type route instruction. The navigation system works well and can provide a lot of help in unfamiliar territory. The verbal instructions can help you avoid missing an exit and the map can help you figure out your location. It's always fun when you spontaneously decide to go to a hot restaurant while you're on the far side of town and it quickly finds it for you. Like all these systems, however, it's about 95 percent there in terms of development. It will occasionally send you the wrong way, and operating the controls can, at times, be confusing and frustrating. Our 2003 Navi system was slow recalculating routes in downtown Washington. Also, there's no obvious way to quickly shut the thing off so, like when you're trying to talk on your cell phone and it keeps telling you to turn around. If possible, spend some time trying the system out before deciding whether to order it.

Acura's TL strikes an excellent balance on many levels. It's very quiet underway, yet it doesn't make the driver feel totally isolated from what's going on outside. It dampens bumps and vibration, yet the handling is taut and it doesn't make the driver feel disconnected from the pavement. One of the best features of the TL is that it is very stable at high speeds. The TL encourages its driver to bend it around fast sweeping turns. It is an easy car to drive fast, one that inspires confidence, rather than that uncomfortable tightening in your stomach. Like most front-drive cars, the TL understeers - the front tires slide before the rear tires - when driven past its cornering limits. This makes for easy, predictable hand-ling, but limits its cornering perform-ance for highly skilled drivers.
The TL doesn't have the hard, precise edge of a BMW. The steering is very light at low speed, which makes it easy to handle in the crowded parking lots where many of us spend far too much of our time. Yet on the open road, the steering offers enough feedback that you don't feel like you're sitting at the controls of a video game.