Automakers often set their wagons up to fail by pricing them higher than comparable SUVs, but Acura has not made that mistake here. At a reasonable $31,820 (base price), the TSX Sport Wagon actually undercuts by a bit the price of Acura’s compact crossover, the RDX.
The problem is that Acura is offering the Sport Wagon with just one powertrain: a 2.4-liter four-cylinder with a five-speed automatic and front-wheel drive. The V-6 and the manual transmission available in the TSX sedan can’t be had here, which cuts off a small but enthusiastic subset of potential wagons buyers.
The more worrying problem, though, is the lack of all-wheel drive. Station wagon people are heavily concentrated in the Northeast, where all-wheel drive is very popular. Of the other premium-brand wagons, every one offers all-wheel drive. It’s standard on the Audi A4 Avant and the Mercedes-Benz E-class wagon, and it’s optional on the BMW 3-series wagon, the Saab 9-3 SportCombi, the Volvo XC70, and the Cadillac CTS wagon.
It’s a shame to handicap the TSX Sport Wagon this way, because this car is awfully nice to drive. The chassis tuning is really excellent—the suspension is tautly sprung, with superb control of body motions, yet it fairly glides over badly chopped up blacktop. The steering is also nicely weighted.
The five-speed automatic doesn’t hesitate to rev the four-cylinder engine, but this big Honda four is so smooth and so quiet you barely even hear it until it gets to 4000 rpm, and above there is gets growly not thrashy. The powertrain combo is lively and agreeable, and returns an impressive 22/30 mpg (according to the EPA).
The all-black interior in my test example seemed of stout quality and ample plushness, although it’s a little dour, unrelieved by even a bit of bright trim. The driving position is quite nice and the seats have a lot of lateral support, but a bit too much lumbar. The TSX dash has a lot of buttons, but once you learn where things are most commands are a one-step operation, rather than a multi-step process of wading through on-screen menus.
With its tech package, the TSX Sport Wagon features very modern navigation, phone, and stereo systems. Acura fits a hard drive into the dashboard to store maps for the navigation system as well as reserving some space for music storage. The result is a system that responds quickly to user input, and quickly recalculates routes after a missed turn.
Sitting below the car's LCD is the familiar Acura interface controller, a protruding joystick/dial that, though ugly, is very usable. Past Acura models have an addiction to buttons across their dashboards, but the TSX Sport Wagon shows an honest commitment to cut down.
The onscreen interface is a refreshing change from days of old. Although it uses a similar paradigm, the look is much nicer than on the previous generation, which can still be seen in the Acura RL. Instead of gray buttons with jagged lines, the new interface shows higher-resolution graphics with a more pleasing color scheme.
Although the navigation system's maps have a higher resolution, they are still 2D-only, with no perspective view or 3D elements. Under route guidance, the system does not read out street names, either, but traffic data is incorporated into the system, and it will attempt to keep you clear of traffic jams.
Some particularly nice things about the navigation system are the Zagat restaurant guide included with the points-of-interest database and the listing of scenic routes throughout the country. Both of these features make the TSX Sport Wagon an excellent road trip car. Weather data is also a useful feature.
The Bluetooth phone system is full-featured, downloading a paired phone's contact list and making it possible to dial by name with the voice command system. And another advanced feature Acura has been rolling out in its various models is what it calls Song By Voice, a feature that lets you request music from a paired iPod or the car's own hard drive by artist, album, or song name. This feature works well and had no trouble with a difficult artist name such as Blitzen Trapper.
Specifications:• Engine: 2.4L i-VTEC in-linefour-cylinder DOHC with variable valve timing and four valves per cylinder
• Premium unleaded fuel
• Fuel economy: EPA (08):, 22 MPG city, 30 MPG highway, 25 MPG combined and 462 mi. range
• Multi-point fuel injection
• 18.5gallon fuel tank
• Power (SAE): 201 hp @ 7,000 rpm; 170 ft lb of torque @ 4,300 rpm
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