My response to Larchmont's thread about the AAA ratings started me thinking....and that's never a safe thing. 
Automotive journalists love to say that "no car is perfect" when they are pointing out some minor problem they perceive when reviewing a car, and to a certain extent, that's true. True perfection may be unattainable, but why do most cars have at least one glaring problem? Whether it's price, styling, quality, refinement, interior, exterior, power, reliability, ride, handling, it seems every car suffers in one area or another.
Of course, you'll never get everyone to agree, and you can't satify everyone's needs. But I think you could come very close to creating the perfect car based on specific requirements filling a certain set of needs. And if I was designing the perfect $30 grand sport sedan, I would start with the TSX.
Requirements:
Sporty -- since I'm designing a "sport" sedan, I want more than modest power. It has to handle well. Absolutely has to make me want to find a new curvy road. Good front-rear balance, approaching 50/50 if not exactly. Awesome steering feel, brake response, and shifting performance (from both a standard and auto tranny). Acceleration will be key.
Luxurious -- one word: refined. Leather seating and trim. Quality plastic components. Power everything. Well thought out storage spaces. A steering wheel you love to touch, everywhere.
Sedan -- hard to design a sport sedan without four doors. I want to be able to cart people around when necessary, and not feel like I'm subjecting them to a torture experiment when they are in the back seats. Comfortable enough to seat four adults on a long trip for dinner out and back home. Or for 2, maybe 3, kids in the back.
Style -- contemporary, slightly aggressive, adult (sorry kiddies -- you'll have to use your allowance to rice it up).
Quality/reliability -- very high.
Misc appointments -- need folding seats, lighted mirrors, so on and so forth.
Price -- under $30 grand, optioned out.
As you can see, the TSX is very close to meeting all of these requirements. What would I change? Here's a brief list:
Power -- let's get this puppy rolling! The TSX is not underpowered, but it always left me wanting a bit more. I would do whatever was necessary to get the performance numbers in this area: 0-60mph in the 6.0 second range. No more than 6.5. What would that take? A V6? I6? Blown I4? Turbo I5? I'm not an automotive engineer, so I don't know exactly what would be required. Seems like another 20-25 horsies, and another 40-50 lb/ft of torque would get us into that range. Sounds like a turbocharged 4 cyl may be the answer. Mazda is slapping a factory installed turbo on the Miata (MazdaSpeed version), and the price is only going up by like $800 buckeroos. Nice.
Power delivery -- RWD. Yeah, I know some folks are going to disagree, but for my perfect sports luxury sedan, I listed sporty first. I don't plan on driving a $30 grand sports car through any significant snow. In light snow/slush, a traction control/stability control system will help make up for lack of weight over the drive tires. Of course, this car will be better balanced, so weight distribution will not be so front-heavy anyhow. No AWD -- sucks too much power. Maybe as an option for those who just have to have it, but only as an option.
Autostick on the TSX is superb -- don't change anything except for the gear ratios to get the most out of the engine. The manual tranny feels slick, and gear engagement is snappy-positive. Again, alter gear ratios to take advantage of the additional power. Make the last gear a little taller so that the engine is around 2500 rpm at 75 mph. Would increase mileage, lower engine wear, and lower some noise.
Maybe tune up the suspension to account for more power available in the turns. Seems like BMW has the market cornered for tuning suspensions for both ride and handling, but why? It's not black magic. It's not like cooking a Chocolate soufle'. Find out what they do, and do it better. It's what the Japanese automakers excel at doing, so why does the average Camry have to handle so terribly? But I digress...
Styling -- Japanese companies are getting better at making their sedans less bland, but just touch more distinctiveness would be great. I still think the Germans do a better job of exterior styling (Chris Bangle-ized designs aside). The A4 and 3 Series are nice examples of sport-luxury in terms of exterior style. The TSX is close, but just a tad behind. I wouldn't change much. Maybe a crease here or there, redesigned air-dam, slightly smaller grille.
Interior styling is fantastic on the TSX. Slight redesign on the wheel so that it looks a little less Star Trek-y, and a little less like the Accord Coupe's wheel, and it would be stellar. I'm just not fond of the upside-down triangle look. VW makes a nice 3-spoke design. Start there and make it feel smooth, slick, organic, creamy, soft, substantial, weighty. I would also like the leather all around to feel a bit more exensive. Sound system needs to be as good as the one in the TL. There's no reason for anything less these days, in any car over $20K.
Steering -- let a little more of the road thru to the driver, but keep the TSX's point-and-shoot nature. Maybe tighten up the feel a touch.
Quality -- I don't know that I would change anything. Make the TSX quality as high as any Acura's, and you've got a wonderfully reliable car. Only time will tell what the current reliability is, but Acura has a very good track record.
Misc appointments -- Power passenger seat. Driver seat/exterior mirror memory. Rain-sensing wipers. Keep updating that awesome DVD navi system. Little more storage space. Move moon roof controls up near the moon roof (where they should be anyhow). Offer real wood or aluminum trim. Automatic headlamps. Option for racing-styled seats in different colors. Integrated blue tooth. A factory stereo system with the ability to interface natively with an MP3 player without fuss (USB port anyone?).
I would pay a little more than the current TSX price for this car. Say, $29,500 with nav, around $27,500 without as an estimate.
What else would you do?
Ferg
PS -- Of course, I'm waiting for larchmont to chime in and say "I wouldn't change anything!!".
Automotive journalists love to say that "no car is perfect" when they are pointing out some minor problem they perceive when reviewing a car, and to a certain extent, that's true. True perfection may be unattainable, but why do most cars have at least one glaring problem? Whether it's price, styling, quality, refinement, interior, exterior, power, reliability, ride, handling, it seems every car suffers in one area or another.
Of course, you'll never get everyone to agree, and you can't satify everyone's needs. But I think you could come very close to creating the perfect car based on specific requirements filling a certain set of needs. And if I was designing the perfect $30 grand sport sedan, I would start with the TSX.
Requirements:
Sporty -- since I'm designing a "sport" sedan, I want more than modest power. It has to handle well. Absolutely has to make me want to find a new curvy road. Good front-rear balance, approaching 50/50 if not exactly. Awesome steering feel, brake response, and shifting performance (from both a standard and auto tranny). Acceleration will be key.
Luxurious -- one word: refined. Leather seating and trim. Quality plastic components. Power everything. Well thought out storage spaces. A steering wheel you love to touch, everywhere.
Sedan -- hard to design a sport sedan without four doors. I want to be able to cart people around when necessary, and not feel like I'm subjecting them to a torture experiment when they are in the back seats. Comfortable enough to seat four adults on a long trip for dinner out and back home. Or for 2, maybe 3, kids in the back.
Style -- contemporary, slightly aggressive, adult (sorry kiddies -- you'll have to use your allowance to rice it up).
Quality/reliability -- very high.
Misc appointments -- need folding seats, lighted mirrors, so on and so forth.
Price -- under $30 grand, optioned out.
As you can see, the TSX is very close to meeting all of these requirements. What would I change? Here's a brief list:
Power -- let's get this puppy rolling! The TSX is not underpowered, but it always left me wanting a bit more. I would do whatever was necessary to get the performance numbers in this area: 0-60mph in the 6.0 second range. No more than 6.5. What would that take? A V6? I6? Blown I4? Turbo I5? I'm not an automotive engineer, so I don't know exactly what would be required. Seems like another 20-25 horsies, and another 40-50 lb/ft of torque would get us into that range. Sounds like a turbocharged 4 cyl may be the answer. Mazda is slapping a factory installed turbo on the Miata (MazdaSpeed version), and the price is only going up by like $800 buckeroos. Nice.
Power delivery -- RWD. Yeah, I know some folks are going to disagree, but for my perfect sports luxury sedan, I listed sporty first. I don't plan on driving a $30 grand sports car through any significant snow. In light snow/slush, a traction control/stability control system will help make up for lack of weight over the drive tires. Of course, this car will be better balanced, so weight distribution will not be so front-heavy anyhow. No AWD -- sucks too much power. Maybe as an option for those who just have to have it, but only as an option.
Autostick on the TSX is superb -- don't change anything except for the gear ratios to get the most out of the engine. The manual tranny feels slick, and gear engagement is snappy-positive. Again, alter gear ratios to take advantage of the additional power. Make the last gear a little taller so that the engine is around 2500 rpm at 75 mph. Would increase mileage, lower engine wear, and lower some noise.
Maybe tune up the suspension to account for more power available in the turns. Seems like BMW has the market cornered for tuning suspensions for both ride and handling, but why? It's not black magic. It's not like cooking a Chocolate soufle'. Find out what they do, and do it better. It's what the Japanese automakers excel at doing, so why does the average Camry have to handle so terribly? But I digress...
Styling -- Japanese companies are getting better at making their sedans less bland, but just touch more distinctiveness would be great. I still think the Germans do a better job of exterior styling (Chris Bangle-ized designs aside). The A4 and 3 Series are nice examples of sport-luxury in terms of exterior style. The TSX is close, but just a tad behind. I wouldn't change much. Maybe a crease here or there, redesigned air-dam, slightly smaller grille.
Interior styling is fantastic on the TSX. Slight redesign on the wheel so that it looks a little less Star Trek-y, and a little less like the Accord Coupe's wheel, and it would be stellar. I'm just not fond of the upside-down triangle look. VW makes a nice 3-spoke design. Start there and make it feel smooth, slick, organic, creamy, soft, substantial, weighty. I would also like the leather all around to feel a bit more exensive. Sound system needs to be as good as the one in the TL. There's no reason for anything less these days, in any car over $20K.
Steering -- let a little more of the road thru to the driver, but keep the TSX's point-and-shoot nature. Maybe tighten up the feel a touch.
Quality -- I don't know that I would change anything. Make the TSX quality as high as any Acura's, and you've got a wonderfully reliable car. Only time will tell what the current reliability is, but Acura has a very good track record.
Misc appointments -- Power passenger seat. Driver seat/exterior mirror memory. Rain-sensing wipers. Keep updating that awesome DVD navi system. Little more storage space. Move moon roof controls up near the moon roof (where they should be anyhow). Offer real wood or aluminum trim. Automatic headlamps. Option for racing-styled seats in different colors. Integrated blue tooth. A factory stereo system with the ability to interface natively with an MP3 player without fuss (USB port anyone?).
I would pay a little more than the current TSX price for this car. Say, $29,500 with nav, around $27,500 without as an estimate.
What else would you do?
Ferg
PS -- Of course, I'm waiting for larchmont to chime in and say "I wouldn't change anything!!".