Having existed for almost 25 years as a premium luxury brand for Honda, Acura is beginning to graciously mature from its infancy, where the V-TEC Integra and NSX were creatures of a raw, rebellious influence to posher motoring.
Premiering at the 2010 New York Auto Show, the company’s entry-level TSX model receives the ultimate staple of settling into suburbia. The cover was officially removed off the 2011 Acura TSX Sport Wagon; this is a direct salvo blast against European sport wagons, the BMW 3 Series Touring, and the Audi A4 Avant.
Weathering the craze, which saw under-powered minivans and gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles ruling the market segment rule nearly two decades, the car-based wagon is in vogue again. The first true wagon to wear the Acura badge, the TSX Sport Wagon’s arrival, is credited to a practical car body style resurgence.
Stretched 3.3 inches beyond the TSX sedan, the Acura TSX Sport Wagon retains a smooth, masculine look. Radiating with an intense European influence, this new Acura offering has been pulled off the narrower streets located on the west side of the Atlantic Ocean. The Acura TSX Sport Wagon, like the sedan counterpart, is a rebadged version built on the European Honda Accord.
The European Accord had been sold as a wagon (or called Tourer through marketing language) since 2002. With the exterior design carefully marrying utility with a sport sedan, the TSX Sport Wagon is vamped with 17-inch aluminum wheels.
Inside, the 2011 Acura TSX Sport Wagon’s stature opens-up the full potential of a mid-sized vehicle. Translating into a maximum cabin space of 41.77 cubic feet for cargo space, the spacious interior features clever touches such as an underfloor storage unit.
Comfortably seating five-passenger in standard leather seating, the TSX Sport Wagon’s rear cargo capacity is still a commendable 14.3 cubic feet. The typical Acura high-tech, high-fashion luxury appointments include Bluetooth connectivity, an available Acura Navigation System, and hard-drive electronic storage for destinations or music content.
Though the TSX sedan has been rejoicing with the 280 horsepower jolt of the V-6 engine added this year, the TSX Sport Wagon will only feature the 201 horsepower, 2.4-liter i-VTEC inline-four for the debut. Further limiting the performance potential is the lack of the 6-speed manual to the TSX Sport Wagon. Running Acura’s 5-speed SportShift automatic offering manually-controlled shifting, a 0 to 60 mile per hour time of approximately 9.5 seconds makes this TSX more Wagon than Sport.
Better fulfilling the urban utility, the four-cylinder powerplant does promise exceptional highway fuel economy of 30 miles per gallon. Outdoing the Japanese luxury brand’s RDX sport-utility, the TSX Sport Wagon fuel consumption compares favorably over the Audi A4 Avant.
Going on sale late fall of 2010, Acura TSX Sport Wagon is another one in the new range of premium practical vehicles ideal for showing up the other parents at little league games.
Photo Credit: Joe Wilssens/Acura
