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Acura TSX Sport Wagon, 2011 car review

James Raia

The 2011 Acura TSX Sport Wagon is new to the luxury segment of Honda. The manufacturer has added versatility to its lineup, with a sleek new design, and more interior space — cargo areas to storage bins. The manufacturer hopes to offer an alternative to the more expensive wagon options from Audi and BMW.

The Sport Wagon is equipped with the TSX 201-horsepower, 2.4-liter inline 4-cylinder engine and a five-speed automatic transmission. And it’s a limited supply offering for a debut vehicle; Acura will produce only 4,000 units in North America.

The Weekly Driver Test Drive

As a new design, the Acura TSX Sport Wagon drew immediate attention. The guys who checked me out of the car agency at the Denver International Airport asked me about it the first 100 feet I drove during a recent weekly test review throughout Colorado.

An hour later, I stopped for lunch and when I left the Chinese restaurant, the owner suddenly emerged as I was leaving to ask a few questions about the car.

Acura TSX Sport Wagon, 2011 car review 1
Acura TSX Sport Wagon. Images © James Raia.

Eight days later, I had driven nearly 1,000 miles on highway roads, over dirt mountain passes and on small city roads.

One online car reviewer has commented the new Acura TSX Sport Wagon has panache. That’s a stretch. What the new offering has is practicality at a fair price.

Likes:

Sleekly styled exterior.

Extraordinarily small turning radius, ideal for parking lots, parallel parking, assorted tight circumstances.

Road confidence, city driving to long freeway hauls. Simply stated, it grips the road and handles whatever task is presented.

Dislikes:

Trunk configuration prohibits two suitcases as cargo while positioned flat and side-by-side.

Navigation system has lots of details, but could use an infusion of intuition.

Sluggish on hills at altitude, particularly with the air conditioner is in use.

Facts & Figures: 2011 Acura TSX Sport Wagon.

Acceleration: 0-60 mph, 7.7 seconds.
Airbags: Driver and passenger front, front side and side curtain.
Antilock brakes: Standard.
First aid kit: Not available.
Fuel economy: 22 mpg (city), 30 mpg (highway).
Government Safety Ratings: Front crash and side crash, not rated; Rollover, five out of five stars.
Engine: 201 horsepower, 2.4-loter 4-cylinder with 5-speed automatic.
Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price: $34,610.
Price as tested: $35,470.00
Warranty: Bumper to bumper, 4 years/50,000 miles; Powertrain, 6 years/70,000 miles; Corrosion, 7; Roadside assistance, years/miles.
Manufacturer’s website: www.acura.com.

What Others Say:

“Overall the TSX offers excellent manners in daily driving, a pleasing interior, an impressive amount of standard equipment, plus state-of-the-art navigation and entertainment systems.”—- Edmunds.com.

“The responsive and aerodynamically fit Acura offers enough space for plenty of baby gear and amenities to keep parents content.”—- Los Angeles Times.

“As size becomes less of an indicator of luxury status, the Acura TSX Wagon looks better and better. The design is orderly, the fit and finish are exemplary, the interior design is visually attractive, and the equipment levels are comprehensive. Better yet, the tactile experiences at the primary and secondary controls speak of quality at every touch.”
—- Popular Mechanics.

“The 2011 Acura TSX Sport Wagon boasts a very practical body style along with a modern cabin tech suite, but the power train doesn’t take advantage of recent efficiency innovations.”
—- CNET.com

What The Guest Passenger said:

“It has an extremely small turning radius, but it’s underpowered on hills.”

The Weekly Driver’s Final Words:

“The 2011 Acura TSX Sport Wagon does a lot of things right. It’s a comfortable, practical wagon and its design is ideal for mountain driving. Add all-wheel-drive and more horsepower and it would give its BMW counterpart tough competition.”

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Article Last Updated: September 1, 2011.

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