Altersys said:
I think the handling is more a result of suspension tuning than proportions, or even mass... it's not THAT much heavier than the TSX. It's just tuned really weird...
(1) It's about 8% heavier, which is more than enough to make a significant difference.
I don't know for a fact that it DOES make a significant difference, but it's gotta be enough.
For example.....how much trouble does Acura go through to SAVE weight on their cars? Even just 50 or 100 pounds?
(Actually I don't know the answer to that question either, but I think most people assume they go through a lot of agony over that.)
(2) Even besides the weight, you don't think the extra width is a factor? Look at it this way: It you have two things of THE SAME weight, and one of them is trim and the other is......uh,
wide, wouldn't you think the trim one would be more nimble? I think it's obvious, except maybe it isn't because nobody else really talks about this.
I would LOVE to get a chance to find out from Honda/Acura what they had in mind in making the TL so wide (I'd guess the answer to that one would be, "Mainly for more interior room"), and then to ask what they thought about how this factor affects the handling and whether it made them have to do any extra things to compensate for it (like with the suspension). And I'd love to know what they really think of their result.