Seats
Apart from the added two position memory feature, the TSX's seats haven't changed - which is a good thing in our mind. Interestingly, we noticed on both '06 TSX samples we had that the driver's seat creaked slightly from time to time. The sound seemed to be coming from the lower left rear portion of the seat frame. On the 6MT car, the creaking wasn't as pronounced and in fact was nearly inaudible at times, but the 5AT's seat creaked the entire time we had it. This is something we've never noticed this on our 2004 TSX. The memory seat feature works as advertised though it would be even better if the memory feature was coupled to the exterior mirrors as well.

Multi Information Display and HandsFreeLink
The MID is a welcome addition in the 2006 TSX. The trip computer is pretty much a requisite these days and the MID's integration with the HandsFreeLink is very useful as well. The MID also adds a level of driver customization, allowing you to set preferences for lighting, windshield wiper modes, auto doorlock/unlock modes, and other items. Hopefully in the future Acura can leverage the 8" LCD screen on Navi-equipped models to fully duplicate the MID's interface. This would make things quicker to find and much easier to configure, particularly the HandsFreeLink system which only operates via voice commands.

The HandsFreeLink system itself works quite well, especially once you familiarize yourself with all of the voice commands. It would be even more handy if the automakers and phone manufacturers could hammer out some sort of data protocol to allow phonebook sharing between your handheld device and the vehicle, because as it is now you have to establish an all new phonebook for the car. Also, the system has low self esteem and requires constant affirmation, which adds a layer of clunkiness to the voice interface. For example to call your friend Sally, this is the process:

1. Press and release the steering wheel call button
2. Wait for the system to respond with a Beep
3. Say "Call 404-555-1212"
4. After a bit of thought, the system shows the telephone number on the MID and reads it back to you.
5. After reading the numbers to you, the system then asks you to confirm that they are correct
6. If the numbers are correct, you say "Call" or "Dial" and then the call is finally placed

One last thing regarding the MID that was an occasional source of minor irritation was that every time you'd restart the car, the MID would reset to a blank state. While you could set a preference for it to "remember" the last setting, you still have to turn the MID on whenever you start the car. Sure, it's not a huge deal because it can be called up immediately by pressing the correct steering wheel button, but it would be nice if it would always reappear in the same state it was in at the time of shutdown.

Navi
Acura's Navi system has earned lots of praise over the years, and for 2006 the TSX's navi system has benefitted from several upgrades. For one thing, the Zagat database has been integrated. We played with this feature for a little bit but found that some of the reviews were truncated. There are also claimed improvements in speed, but it still takes a bit too long to "wake up" after startup. This can get really annoying if you make frequent stops throughout the day. Perhaps the system should remain in the "ready" state for an hour or so after the car has been shut off, and maybe this would take care of the infuriating "nag screen" as well. There must be a better way to satisfy Honda's cadre of attorneys.

The navi system still works well, and is simple enough for the average chimp to operate, but the interface has changed little in the 6+ years the system has been offered in Hondas. Maybe now's the right time to inject some more flair into it. Not to bash it, but many cellphones now have better UI's and higher resolution screens than the Honda Navi system. While the Navi's voice command interface is great for the feature sheet, using the voice interface isn't always much of a help. The system is pretty adept at recognizing commands that are hard wired into its own vocabulary, but when you start introducing proper nouns like street names or business names, you'll often find it's better to enter them manually with the onscreen keyboard. And here is where the system could take a hint or two from cellphone UI's - it would speed things up greatly if the system offered a T9-style predictive text entry system.

The Navi's 8" LCD screen is a good size, but I found that it's easily washed out by low hanging late afternoon sunshine or bright sunlight passing through the moonroof. If you're running the headlights during gray or rainy days, you'll have to go to the setup screen to configure the system so it doesn't switch to "night" mode and become nearly invisible. The washout issue may be difficult to fully address without hardware changes, but software logic could overcome the day/night mode issue.

Tunes
With something like 60 million MP3 players sold to date, it's good to see that car companies are finally including simple auxiliary input jacks. The TSX is Acura's first model to offer such an input as a standard feature, and it's one of those things that I think EVERY Acura model should have. The jack is hidden inside the center console, right next to the 12V power point. The location allows you to keep the necessary wire mostly hidden from view. Sound quality through this input is quite good, provided your MP3 player and source material are up to snuff. In the future we hope to see support for MP3/WMA playback from the 6-CD changer as well as RDS (Radio Data System) and HD Radio (digital terrestrial) support. While we love the programming choices offered by the TSX's XM tuner, XM's liberal use of digital compression leaves much of that content sounding awful. And why must long song titles and artist's names be truncated?

Misc.
As was mentioned earlier, the TSX's keyless entry system now beeps with a feeble electronic chirp whenever you "double-click" the lock button. This serves as confirmation that the doors are in fact locked. For some people, this is a welcome change. I prefer the horn toot, simply because I can hear it from a much further distance and even through walls. This allows me to temporarily satisfy my lapses into OCD, whether I'm sitting at my desk in the office or walking away from the car at the airport parking lot. The electronic chirp is easily drowned out by ambient noises and nearly inaudible through walls. Perhaps both camps could be satisfied by making this one of the configurable settings for the vehicle. The system could offer three settings: horn toot, electronic beep, or neither.

Interior Summary
The new comfort and convenience features for the 2006 TSX make it an even more attractive buy. With the bluetooth handsfree telephone interface, MP3 jack, satellite navi and radio, Acura has pretty much nailed most of the current buzzwords.

Overall Conclusion

Since its introduction in 2003, we've considered the TSX as one of Honda's finest sporty sedan offerings ever. Combining sophisticated styling, a superb feature set, an unflappable chassis, one of the most advanced and refined 4-cylinder motors the world has seen, and a great price, it's easy to see how the TSX has been such a great success for Acura. If there's anything that may not have held broad appeal, it's been the TSX's relative deficiency in pace. While it's still not exactly a bahnstormer, the revvier, slightly more powerful motor is certainly a step forward and overall the car is even more enjoyable to drive than it was before. With the extra convenience features, the car's good enough that I've been tempted myself to upgrade my '04 TSX A-Spec, even though the odometer on my car currently reads less than 20000 miles. Normally I would have already executed the trade, but in this case I'm equally tempted to wait and see what the all-new TSX offers when it hits showrooms in less than two years.