Our Spring Break Ride: The Acura TSX Sport Wagon Review

Our Spring Break, though dreary from terrible weather, added a special temporary member to our family, the Acura TSX Sport Wagon!  This blue beauty drove up to our house and it’s presence was exciting!

The Husband/Commuter’s Take:

Our no nonsense family car got a well-deserved reprieve and this sporty Acura put a little pep in our daily routine.  Teenage daughter was evidently impressed with the stylish exterior which was at least presentable to friends.  Tech savvy wife literally and figuratively connected with the TSX’s Bluetooth, GPS navigation system, real time traffic and weather as well as the XM radio.  The spacious cargo area easily contained a sprawling array of baseball equipment, dance bag and scooter for son and youngest daughter, plus a plethora of groceries.  The TSX impressed on all accounts and left me yearning for a driver recognition memory system for the cars we actually own. A sport wagon?  I didn’t know what to expect yet I found the Acura TSX an exciting ride.  I was surprised to see a 4 cylinder engine rated at 200+ horsepower, felt obligated to put it to the test on one of my 70-mile round trip daily commutes, and was impressed with smooth and powerful acceleration.  This coupled with an excellent suspension/steering/transmission system tempted the lead foot and made frequent glances at the speedometer necessary.  Low and sleek to the ground yet spacious and comfortable for our family of five we jumped from school to dance studio to baseball practice back to dance studio and all over again enjoying the heated front seats and steering wheel mounted controls. Having my commute daily, I appreciated the traffic updates on my route the day I drove the TSX giving me the exact heads-up I need that often the AM/FM radio doesn’t zero in on!

As we ventured out of our home territory, the Acura navigation system was an easy to use and effective assistant.  Surprisingly the week flew by and we didn’t even burn half a tank of gas (22 mpg city / 30 mpg highway).  The Acura TSX sport wagon provided all the style, comfort and sport we could handle.  This is a striking vehicle worthy of your consideration when looking for a practical and fun family car.

The Mom’s Take:

The first thing I noticed was it’s low profile.  Because our 7-seater has a 3rd row, our roof is higher and the TSX sport wagon is a 5-seater, this was becoming interesting.  Being a mom of 3 children 6-13 years in age, our every day car has our youngest in the 3rd row, son in the second, and my oldest daughter up in the passenger seat.  This is ideal on most occasions that they have their own space.  In the Acura it was a test to see if all 3 kids could sit together on a car trip, rubbing elbows and thighs along the way. On our Easter getaway to a local theme park there were all 5 of us in the car and the kids were armed with electronics to remain busy but being in close quarters for anything longer than our hour trip would have been too much.  We love to travel by car, and withmy youngest’s booster seat and the two older kids, personally we needed more room!On the flip-side our current vehicle has a narrow small trunk space in leiu of the 3rd row seating so we had plenty of room for dance bags, baseball equipment, groceries, and more.  Normally the equipment is at the kids feet in our everyday car.

I LOVE the ability to push a button for the trunk to both open and close.  This is helpful for parents with their hands full of groceries, or kids who need to run and grab something from the car, but they’re too short to properly close the tailgate.   The tailgate will also activate from a button on the driver’s door, as well as by a button on the tailgate itself.  Also for safety, when opening or closing, the tailgate will automatically reverse itself if it encounters a sufficient obstruction, so no smashed fingers or bumped heads!

Another feature I loved was the sunroof.  The simplicity of having sun, warmth, and fresh air without the loud noise of the wind from the windows down on the highway is big!  It gives the sportscar feel to a more practical family wagon vehicle!  Seat warmers are a great added feature, the big kids would argue who got to sit in the front to enjoy them during our cold week, I seemed to keep mine on night and day.

Safety:

When the transmission is in “Reverse,” you can view various obstacles that are behind the TSX Sport Wagon and below your normal field of vision through the large, 8-inch navigation screen.  I’ve hit a garbage can in my lifetime, but mostly I worry about the kids in our neighborhood, one specifically we call “Houdini!”  The screen is large, my husband joked when he first got in the car, “great the driver gets to watch TV while we drive!”

Like every Acura model, the TSX Sport Wagon comes equipped with a security system. In the event of a break-in, the following events will occur:

• The ignition will be disabled.
• The horn will sound.
• The lights will flash.

Interior:

My oldest daughter is a clean-freak and when her siblings bring food into the car she flips because we have cloth seats, the Acura TSX Sport Wagon all come with soft, perforated-leather front and back seats that provide the ideal balance of indulgence and support and easy ability to clean!  Not to mention the perforation keeps air flow within the seats so they don’t get burning hot during hot weather!

Cargo Space:

• With the rear seats up, there’s 31.5 cubic feet of cargo space as measured below the window line.
• The 60 / 40 rear seatbacks fold flat with the head restraints in place, doubling the main cargo space to 66.2 cubic feet.
• One large, hidden compartment flanked by two separate smaller ones lies beneath access doors in the cargo area floor.
• An additional compartment inside the left wall is designed to hold emergency items such as road flares and a first aid kit that’s available as an accessory.
• Flat sidewalls and a carpeted floor ease loading and unloading.
• Cargo hooks in the floor make it easy to secure items in place.

Navigation:

The Acura Navigation System, the centerpiece of the TSX Sport Wagon Technology Package, is operated by a hard drive and viewed through a full VGA, 8-inch screen, making it faster, easier to read and more useful than ever before.   It was slightly distracting to me, but at night you can dim the screen so the brightness doesn’t distract your eyes from the road.

Electronics-Friendly:

We all own an i-something or another and these following feature as “cool to have” as my kids would say!

It’s easy to take your digital music library along for the ride in your TSX Sport Wagon. A USB⁷ connection interfaces with Apple^® iPod^®8 players and other USB mass storage devices.

• On a compatible iPod^®, music selection can be controlled through the audio system, including the steering wheel-mounted controls.
• The USB will charge a compatible iPod^® while it’s playing.
• You can plug in, select, and play music from a flash drive or other USB storage device.
• Track and folder information appears on the center display to simplify music search and selection.
• An auxiliary input jack can be connected to any personal audio device.
• Both the USB and auxiliary inputs are within the center console-covered storage area, where devices can be conveniently carried and discreetly stored.

The only negative we can complain about is that our 3 kids would be too close for comfort in this car, otherwise it’s sporty, it’s fast, it’s great looking, and the trunk space is something I crave over toting a hamburger box on the roof for trips!  The car starts at $31, 360 and for more information, visit the Acura website for full  features and specifications.

The car was offered to us for a week in exchange for our honest review!