Going back to the J32 engine, we also found that it makes the car a stellar performer at the drag strip, even with the hindrance of FWD. We ripped off repeated 14.4 runs in the 97-98 mph range until we finally managed to nail a nearly perfect launch and extract a 14.20 @ 98 mph pass with a 2.16 60 ft. All this in a 3500 lbs car with half a tank of gas, 200+ lbs of driver and camera equipment on factory tires at stock pressures. That's right, we didn't even drop the tire pressure. We performed our dragstrip testing at Montgomery Motorsports Park in Montgomery, AL. The elevation was about 100 ft and temps were in the 55-60 F range. When we put the car on the dyno at Dynolab in Marietta, GA, the J32 put down about what we expected, 223 whp and 208 lbs-ft of torque. Compared to the last 260 hp CL-S 6spd we tested, this is about 5 hp more. With the larger, heavier tires on the TL, plus normal variation, this is pretty accurate - the J32 is not underrated, but the dyno curve suggests quite a bit more hp lurks in the upper rpm reaches waiting to be unlocked by the ECU - Hello? Hondata?

The completion of our TL road test left me wondering, again, how Honda/Acura does it. Every time I think they've reached the limits of a particular technology, platform, etc. they manage to find more. I simply did not expect, nor would have believed the performance available in the new TL. Not having RWD simply will not be an issue for 99% of the people out there (including many folks who count themselves enthusiasts) unless stoplight drags are your particular vice - hardly something most purchasers of a $35k luxury-sport sedan are worried about. And should you decide to take the TL to a racetrack, be it a dragstrip or a road course (see Jeff's comments from the TL press launch), it will continue to acquit itself nicely. Would I like RWD? Yes, I would prefer it, but then again I also enjoy driving my S2000 everyday, especially when it rains - maybe I'm nuts. Would I miss RWD? Very, very rarely as I wouldn't plan on taking a car in this class to the race track. Its almost an instinctive reaction - fun chassis _must_ have RWD, right? Then again, maybe I've forgotten about the Integra Type-R, so we'll blame my lapse in judgement on Acura's unwillingness to give us an RSX-R (gotta take a shot somewhere :) ). Kudos Acura for doing what many of us thought couldn't be done.