What was a somewhat lazy, neutral-handling car with a pronounced resistance to rotate has morphed into a drift-happy, throttle-adjustable track hound.
Steering feel remains a little on the light/vague side, and clutch takeup is a little mushy, but on a whole, the manual version of the hottest TL feels like a different, much sharper car.
Part of the handling about-face can be attributed to chassis surgery - everything from front spring and damper tuning (softer) to engine mount calibration (stiffer) was tweaked to accommodate the manual gearbox's lighter weight - but most of it is simple physics. With the automatic TL's slow-reacting torque converter and slushbox deep-sixed, the super-handling system is free to, well, allow the car to handle superbly. Acura's all-wheel-drive system reacts much more quickly and accurately here than it does in the automatic TL; mid-corner throttle changes affect the chassis's balance almost instantaneously, and it's almost as if the entire driveline has been completely retuned. The SH-AWD system's biggest asset, its Mitsubishi Evo-like active rear differential, now responds to the throttle with astounding speed, allowing you to magically launch the TL from low-speed corners with ease. Where a BMW 335xi, an Audi S4, or even an automatic-equipped TL SH-AWD fall off into wait-for-it understeer, the manual TL simply stays neutral, even slinking its tail out a little if you get aggressive on corner entry.
As a package, it's all pretty impressive. In a few small strokes, Acura has managed to reinvigorate its thoroughly ordinary midsize four-door for relatively little effort. Fuel economy isn't claimed to suffer, and all predictions have the manual TL's MSRP as being identical to that of the automatic-equipped version. And while it may not send the brand's sales through the roof, it's a sign that a healthy enthusiast heart is still beating in the company that once gave us gems like the Integra Type R. As far as the manual TL is concerned, there's only one real disappointment: it comes with a twelve-month wait.