I am going to buy one to replace my max. No money for a type-s. Any body who has experience driving a TL? How is it compared to 3rd gen Maxima? I want to know how fast it is and whether it is quiet.

 

first i want to make sure, you didnt mention which year acura TL.

but i will say it with great pain as a max owner that i drove my friends 2001 TL just last night and that car is unbelievably fast.

he has the electronic shifting which is probebly the coolest thing i saw in my life!

it is defently a beast.

even tho im sure that a 5'th gen max will kick his ***, but yah its an improvement from a 3rd gen for sure.

that is if you mean the newer models. have no idea about older ones.

 

all i've driven is a type-s, not a regular TL. the type-s was pretty fast. my girlfriend works for an acura delarship, i'll see if i can drive just a regular TL. i'm not much on honda, but i will admit that acuras are nice cars. i was actually considering getting an RSX, but i think i'll just keep saving and get something better

 

My roommate drives a 2000 TL-p
My VE 5 speed is about evenly matched with his car. Actually I'd say with a new clutch I would edge him out. The interior is very well laid out and comfortable. And of course road noise is at a minimum. I like his car alright, but I just like changing my own gears too much to own one (unless you make it type s 6 speed status).

What's funny is he was trying to choose between the TL and a 2000 max.
He should have gotten the max I say. But, I guess he likes trivial stuff like resale value

 

by the way my friend's TL has 260 HP

compare to the 160 or 190 third gen max's have, its a huge improvement.

 

Well I would hope so. That's a type S.

the base model has 225, but is kinda heavy. They will move pretty well from a roll though, but I find the non type S TL to be a little slow off the line. VTEC

 

HP isn't everything, especially when talking about honduhs.

 

My cousin has one and I've had the opportunity to drive a couple of times. It's very fast car and you notice power behind it. The only thing I noticed this car needs is some suspension modification but other than that it's a pretty good car. the other things is that 260hp comes in at 9,000 rpms...lol. It would be an excellent car if it had a 6-speed manual transmission but if I had to choose today I would still get the 2003 Maxima 6-speed.

 

What year TL was in question btw? I've driven many, many TL's and an RL (heavy land yacht!)

 

to compare it to a max i would say that the interior is nicer. more luxurious. I did notice that the torque down low wasnt that impressive. once he got above 6k RPM it felt like a boost of power (Vtec) . its a nice car. it was pretty quick. 3.2 is 210 hp in 1st gen. very nice though. i dont know if 1st gen comes w/ a manual available.

 

The only time I've seen a manual TL is with the new 6 speeds

I'd say the Legend was kinda comparable to the max though.

 

I had a 92 Legend it was the best car I ever owned!