Acura TL
The Acura TL as a mid-size luxury car manufactured by Acura. It was introduced in 1995 to supplant the Acura Vigor and was badged for the Japanese-market from 1996 to 2000 as the Honda Inspire and from 1996 to 2004 as the Honda Saber. The TL was Acura's best-selling model until it was outsold by the MDX in 2007. While it once ranked as the second best-selling luxury sedan in the United States behind the BMW 3 Series, sales have decreased by over 50% since then. TL sales have been negatively affected by both the recession as well as negative publicity due to styling issues in the latest generation. Four generations of the Acura TL were produced, with the final fourth generation TL premiering in 2008 as a 2009 model and ending production in 2014, when it was replaced together with the TSX by the TLX. In its last year, the TL was not sold in Japan.
First generation (UA1-UA3)
The TL "Touring Luxury" debuted as 1996 model, first with the 1996 2.5 TL available with the 2.5 L 176 hp (131 kW) SOHC 20-valve 5-cylinder engine from the Vigor. The 3.2 TL used the 3.2 L 200 hp (149 kW) SOHC 24v V6 from the second generation Acura Legend. The debut of the TL signaled Acura's shift from traditional vehicle names to alphanumeric designations. By replacing recognizable names such as Vigor and Legend with a two-letter designation, the luxury make hoped to focus consumer attention on the Acura name. The TL was the first Acura model to adopt the new naming scheme.