Whatever you think of the new Acura TL's er, unusual styling, you've got to hand it to the boffins working on the car -- they're enthusiasts. Most luxury brands can boast no better than a low single-digit manual gearbox take-rate. Acura is one of those: It expects about 5% of its projected 70,000 TL sales per year, or 3500, to be sold with the stick. That's enough for those Acura boffins to argue for it, coming a year after the new TL's launch, due to the car's engineering development cadence. Honda management figured the stick might as well be scrubbed, however, and management still has 10-12 months to pull the plug if it so decides.
The six-speed manual will be available only with the 305-hp, 3.7L super-handling all-wheel-drive (SH-AWD) version of the TL. Engineers worked to get Acura's first SH-AWD manual's gearshift and clutch to feel as good as any front-drive Acura or Honda, with an 8mm shift throw, which it claims is shortest in the segment. The Acura engineers met their target: Clutch-pedal takeup is even and progressive, saving you from lurches, and the gearshift feels as good as the Civic Si's.
The six-speed manual is 88 lb lighter than the five-speed automatic, and Acura didn't alter the springs and shocks, so the car has a slightly stiffer ride. The car will cost the same as an automatic TL with the tech package, and 19-in. summer tires will be optional. How does it work? Very well, thank you. Besides the smooth shifting-action, the tri-pedal enhances the TL's sporting intentions. It felt fluid and easy to drive quickly around Honda's tight, technical 1.1-mile circuit at its Ohio proving grounds. Acura says your humble servant's best lap time of 1:43.2 was 2.7 sec better than a BMW 335ix provided for comparison, which was quicker than recorded times for an Infiniti G35, a 335i, and Audi S4, in that order. Whatever you think of the TL's looks -- and your opinion will be strong, guaranteed -- you must give Acura big credit for maintaining a manual gearbox option in a segment for which it has been all but abandoned
