2012 Acura TL SH-AWD First Drive - Edmunds.com
Acura Tweaks the TL's Beak Published: 06/09/2011 - by Mike Monticello , Road Test Editor. There was only one problem with the 2009-'11 Acura TL. Its designers unknowingly beat it with an ugly stick on their way to giving the sedan "progressive" styling. Lackluster sales followed (for the TL, that meant 34,000 cars in 2010), and dealers complained. Acura blames the car's lackluster reception less on a flawed design and more on the fact that the fourth-gen TL was simply "too bold for the new, more conservative market" brought on by the weak economy. Regardless, the design team was sent back to their CAD screens and charged with coming up with a midcycle refresh for the 2012 Acura TL a good nine months sooner than originally planned. When launching the 2009 TL, Acura used the term "linear fluidity" to describe its styling. This time around, the tagline for the 2012 Acura TL is "sophisticated emotion. " In English, that means Acura reworked the car's more awkward lines. Acura accomplished this via a smaller rear bumper with a horizontal cutline, a higher license plate mount, smaller rear reflectors, a 6-inch-higher rear diffuser and a thinner bright strip at the base of the trunk lid. Source: www.edmunds.com
