USA Today: Acura's Steering Sucks

Robert Farago
by Robert Farago

Jackie Gleason and Art Carney. That's a double act. Twitchy and numb. That's a nightmare. But I figured, what the Hell; no one else seemed to notice the Accord's dangerous steering feel and sales are chugging along like The Little Engine That Could after cresting the mountaintop. But now USA Today car reviewer James R. Healey has finally declared that the Emperor is severely under-dressed. Healey says the new Acura TSX' "steering was a big minus in the loaded test car. That could be a deal-breaker for some, especially in a sports sedan where all controls should be excellent. Trying to broaden the car's appeal, Acura has fussed with the steering until it's a bit too boosted at lower speed and has little on-center feel at highway speed, forcing you to make little steering motions constantly to keep the car in its lane." In other words, it sucks– in the loaded test car ('cause God forbid Healey should fail to provide Honda PR with a bit of wiggle room). But wait! That not not all! "Overall, the TSX was relentlessly edgy, which seemed to be the result of a misguided attempt at sportiness… the ride was consistently choppy, even on nearly smooth roads. The suspension simply seemed too stiff. On some bumps, the front failed to absorb the entire impact and made the tail do funny things as it sponged the leftover bump shock." Sounds like a hoot. Unfortunately, Healey just can't bring himself to deliver the coupe de grace, declaring the TSX "Sporty to a fault; incongruously imprecise steering." As opposed to?

Robert Farago
Robert Farago

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  • Poltergeist Poltergeist on May 19, 2008

    Well I haven't yet driven an '09 TSX so I can't comment on it's steering, but the current Civic Si feels pretty darn good and it uses EPS.

  • Jaje Jaje on May 19, 2008

    The Civic Si has great steering response and is not overboosted. I'm figuring on the 2nd gen TSX since they may it bigger and heavier they overboosted the steering response to make it handle like the 1st gen (I haven't driven it yet but next service I'll take one out for a spin). We have a 1st gen TSX and it handles wonderfully even at the track (with some limited ability to get oversteer when needed).

  • Davey49 Davey49 on May 19, 2008

    RF- 1% is a lot. Are you thinking that 1000s of people are turned off by the Accord's steering? I'd say much more are turned off by the price and by the extra size and heft.

  • Healinginfluence Healinginfluence on May 19, 2008

    I am pretty sure the Accord has different steering than the TSX's electronic steering.

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