DRIVING THE ACURA TSX SPORT WAGON

The TSX Sport Wagon is estimated to get 30 mpg (7.84 l/100 km) in EPA highway testing and this figure is head-and-shoulders above most SUVs.  It did nearly this well on several highway drives, coming in at 28 mpg (8.4 l/100 km) in my tests.

The Achilles heel of the car is its five-speed transmission.  No sooner would I hit fifth gear when, around 3100 rpm or so, the car wanted to go into sixth (which alas was left out of the package).  The 2.4-liter four banger is surprisingly zippy, transmission limitations notwithstanding.

The transmission does feature sport and manual in addition to the standard drive mode and paddle shifters on the steering wheel allow the driver to downshift appropriately when cornering.

I was a bit apprehensive about the steering, since the TSX Sport Wagon comes with electric power steering, but Acura made sure that the car provides a decent amount of feedback and road feel.

My week with the Sport Wagon included driving on city and suburban streets and multiple highways and the car was surprisingly poised in almost all situations, absorbing most bumps but not so much that it needed to be nursed around corners.

BOTTOM LINE

The 2011 Acura TSX Sport Wagon provides room and comfort on a par with many SUVs but it gets the fuel economy of a car, not a truck.  It comes very well equipped and its electronics are not too difficult to figure out.  While I wouldn’t take the Sport Wagon out to the track, it was reasonably entertaining to drive once I learned its limits.  Still, a $35,000 car should have more than five speeds and it should have fewer buttons.

Where it really gets extra points is simply that it’s a station wagon, a body style more people in the U.S. should be buying, simply because it’s the smart thing to do.

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