If you've ever heaped a forkful of well-made coq au vin into your mouth, you already understand what I'm about to tell you. Coq au vin, or, in English, "rooster in wine," is a simple dish of basic, if not ignoble ingredients: one tough old rooster, some fatty bacon, mushrooms, an onion (perhaps), and a bottle of mediocre table wine. Again, nothing special; all things you have lying around. But prepared the right way, the quite ordinary becomes the extraordinary. In that vein, allow me to introduce our newest long-termer, the 2011 Acura TSX Sport Wagon. Like the French peasant staple, on paper our new long-term TSX Wagon doesn't have much going for it. First, of course, it's a station wagon, a style of motorized conveyance so dreaded that (A) minivans, SUVs, and CUVs exist; and (B) our wagon-loving German friends won't even say the phrase. Instead, you get nonsensical synonyms like Avant, Touring, and Shooting-Brake. Acura isn't calling its five-door a station wagon, either, instead opting for the euphemism "sport wagon." Fine.Under the hood, there isn't much to get excited about. As with the entry TSX sedan, there's a 2.4-liter inline-four good for 201 horsepower and a lowly 170 pound-feet of torque. But unlike the four-door, there is no optional 3.5-liter, 280-horsepower, 254-pound-foot V-6. You want big power, get the sedan. Likewise, the transmission falls into also-ran status. Just five forward gears and a torque converter. And you can't get a manual like you can in the sedan. One final seeming black eye: The TSX Wagon comes only with front drive. But mix all these ho-hum ingredients together, and you get motoring magic.
Our editor at large, Ron Kiino, after 10 days with the Acura Wagon: "I gotta say, I really, really like this car. I might even go so far as to say I love it." Ron goes on, "Relative to its competitors, the TSX SW is a bit low on power, but you wouldn't really know it from behind the wheel. The five-speed autobox, like the power output, is lagging against the competition, but again it performs well enough that I never yearned for a sixth gear."
Assistant art director William Walker says, "Winding quickly through canyon roads as well as a couple hundred highway miles reconfirmed how much I enjoy sporty wagons. I also think the Acura gives the Audi Avant a run for its money on style. Overall, it's great." I couldn't agree more, and eagerly look forward to the next 12 months.
Front engine, FWD, 5-pass, 4-door wagon 2.4L/201-hp/170-lb-ft DOHC 16-valve I-4
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