Was at the Acura dealership and looked at the TLX. I came away disappointed, seemed to be an inferior product, tons off plastic and the drive was not as spirited as the 4G. Anyone else feel this way?


Maybe I'm in the minor but came away really disappointed with what Acura is doing with the product lines.

Which trim level?

Interesting you feel that way. Seems to me like the TLX has less plastic than the 4G (real aluminum and that wood stuff). Don't know how it drives, haven't been in one.

If you drove an i4, you might feel that way because it's got less power and less refinement. If you drove the V6, then I don't know what to say.

Yup!!! I felt the same way man. TLX I4 Reminds me my wife 2015 Honda Civic just for the ride of course. The interior of the TLX way better than civic. If you are looking to buy NSX in GB you would be out of luck.
http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/me...-sold-britain/

Which trim level? If you drove a 4 cylinder TLX of course it wouldnt compare to your V6 TL.

This is also a problem for Acura, there was never a difference in their vehicles when you looked at the same cars. Besides tech options, a base TL still had the same interior as a loaded one. I know there was a difference between faux wood for base and faux carbon fiber for techs. But they both had the same amount of plastic and leather. The TSX didn't get a better interior for the V6 and a lesser interior for the I4. This was one of Acuras biggest sales gimmicks all of their cars were loaded and that was why they weren't Hondas. The TLX I4 is built like a Honda and priced like a Honda.

Not entirely true, the Sh-awd TL got a beefier steering wheel and premium leather over the lower trims. not sure about the V6 TSX though.

I had one for half a day. SH-AWD top trip TLX.

From what i can tell:
- The SH is more aggressive than the 4g's. (It would break traction in the rear with VSC on if you hammer it down, both in corners and in a straight line. BUT, I was on the crappy oem all season Michelins, and it was around 5C that day).
- Much better gas mileage (direct injection and the 9 speed auto)
- Econ and Normal modes feel unresponsive.
- Sport is the equivalent to the 4g's "Normal"
- Sport+ is the equivalent to the 4g's "Sport"
- Interior didn't initially feel as nice as the 4g, but I would need to spend more time with it to really tell.
- quieter overall

I didn't mean to include the SH or the type S versions. But even including those the plastic to leather ratio is still the same.

4G's interior looked very high end with all the buttons. I find the TLX exterior is better.

4G is very underrated (from 2009-2014). I compared it closely to G37 and IS (comparing only to Japanese) TL was much better in terms of quality, space and technology.

Please remember that the I4 TLX is actually the TSX replacement.

So only the V6 TLX is more comparable with the 4G TL.

To clarify, I drove both the I4 and V6 with SH-AWD. I compared the SH-AWD with the 4G SH-AWD and that is where my disappointment lies.
I'm glad people like the TLX and seems to be selling well, but I walk away disappointed with the TLX SH-AWD.

I can only comment on the design which I don't really like. The 4G is aggressive - kind of in your face trying peck your eyes out with its beak. I like that. This new tlx with its hidden exhaust pipes...oh man what were they thinking?!. Why hide them pipes, people who have fear of exhausts can just f... right off and buy a prius. No wait, even the prius has a visible exhaust!

It looks nice, wasn't there a transmission recall of some sort about the TLX? What's the deal with that?

The TLX is overall a lower segment product which is not surprising given that it replaces both the TSX and the TL.

Styling is bland and derivative, suspension setup is cheaper (struts in the front vs, Double Wishbones), interiors have a cheaper feeling, less "rich" and detailed (for example, just look at the door panels)
Cabin space feels more cramped, especially in the rear seat.

Tires are cheaper. Handling and steering precision did take a dive.

The cars feels, as a whole, less substantial when your drive it on the road...but it is quieter, I give it that...

It may and it will sell well but it ain't a 4G TL and I do not see how a 4G owner can aspire to own one....

Whats funny is you would probably get an exact opposite answer in the 5G TL forum. I prefer the 4G overall myself, but I definitely prefer the 5G exterior. Although I like the 4G exterior also. (after MMC). None compare to the 3G TL-S, but that's growing a little dated IMO.

Thank goodness. Acura needed to do something to bring customers back. The TLX has lots of room for improvement but it's a step in the right direction.

Cheaper prices are bringing customers back....sales of the TLX are still lower than the TL and TLX combined so hold on the champagne.

If people are ok with a "me too" derivative style, more power to them.

When I drive my TL is makes me feel like a big man, like I got up that day and put on my big boy pants. Does the TLX give that same feeling?

It was something along the lines of the car (w/9speed) indicating that it was in park, while not actually being in park.

My overall view is Acura killed the TL and just replaced the TSX with the TLX. The TL seems to have less in common with the TLX than the TSX does.

apparently not. i test drove both the I4 and V6. The interior feels cheap, i feel like even the 3G has much better interior feel than the TLX minus fragile dash.

My 3G MDX has this latest generation Acura dash/interior layout and when I drive the MDX, it makes me feel like a even bigger man than driving my 4G TL.

However, the TLX is also equipped with the similar latest gen Acura dash/interior layout, but when I drive the TLX, it makes me feel like driving a TSX.

I believe it has everything to do with the interior volume of the vehicle.

I was kidding of course lol

The TLX is a very nice car, but I completely relate to the sentiment expressed above. In no way have I been tempted emotionally to "upgrade" from my 4G SH-AWD to a TLX. Now, if I didn't own my 4G but needed a car like the 4G, I would still shop the TLX, but that's because it's currently the only choice in the Acura stable. By itself, the TLX is simply not quite enough of an overall upgrade to trigger an impulse buy.

By the way, I wonder how much of the interior road noise improvements are due to quieter, comfort-oriented tires, since there's been so many comments about how the grip of the TLX OEM tires do not compare with the sportier rubber on previous Acuras.

No offense to TLX owners, but the TLX seems more like an entry-level premium car. When I owned my 09 TL Shawd, it felt more like an upper level luxury car.

I have to be honest that the non-premium brands are making it very difficult for Acura, with so many non-premium manufactures stepping up with their bread and butter models it's making it very tough for entry-level luxury brands like Acura to remain sustainable...The biggest bonus the TLX has for Acura is it will make their business model a little more sustainable with one less model car to produce.

The leather in the tech package is different and much softer than the base model. I owned a base before I traded it in for the tech model. On a side note, my sister has a '13 C300 loaded and the leather on that was hard and rough. The Nav screen, half the size and half as bright. It was small and cramped compared to the 4G. I was not impressed at all. It was almost a night and day difference. Which makes me appreciate the 4G even more.

I've seen only one TLX on the road and thought it was a Civic at first. Completely bland design.

I happen to like the TLX but IMO this is the problem.

While there was nothing wrong with the TSX it was a good car, the TLX is a big improvement over the TSX. This is why most (not all) of the happy TLX owners are previous TSX owners.

The V6 TLX while more refined and improved compared to the 4G TL, as it should be, is still not making a strong enough case for 4G owners to make the switch. Of course some have made the switch, but a lot don't think its worth it.

And especially not now when you consider all of the first year problems that have appeared.

^ I couldn't agree more and in addition IMO, due to the refinements, it lost some of that sporty characteristics that many 4G owners enjoy. Some of us like feeling the road and hearing the engine a bit. I think the TLX will compete with the Lexus ES very well.

I fail to see how more refined the TLX V6 engine is compared to the 4G...more fuel efficient maybe and with a more advanced/modern automatic transmission for sure (I drive a 4G manual so it does not apply to me anyway)


The only improvement over the 4G TL is that the car is quieter but this may be also be due to the more comfort oriented tires.

I think the TLX in current form is doing exactly what they hoped, grabbing the attention of the TSX crowd and the 3Gers. Lets face facts, the 4G didn't have the sales numbers, so we're the (loud) minority. My hope is that the complete and utter refusal of the public to give the RLX a second glance means some of that hybrid tech will funnel down to the TLX within the near future.

There is only one little detail...so far (admittedly it's still early to say for sure but there is a trend) the sales of the TLX are below the combined TSX+TL sales (I did a month by month comparison with the oldest solid data available on Good Car Bad Car blog, 2010).

In the final months of 2010 the TSX and the TL were already 2 years old and the economy was still in the doldrums.

So I do not see, so far, that great sales success...thew good thing is that for sure Acura (Honda) is saving some money selling only one model instead of two.


Personally I do not think the current model lineup is what will take Acura out of its funk.

I've had a fair bit of experience with Acuras. Having owned a '94 Legend, an '05 3G TL, an '08 TSX, and still having my '12 TL SH-AWD, the new TLX SH-AWD I bought recently is hands down the best car Acura has ever built (not counting the two NSXs I've owned).

Sincerely many have more experience and disagree. The TLX is a large cost cutting exercise as can be shown in numerous ways. Glad you enjoy the TLX in the end it is all about how you feel about your car. Your opinion is just far out on the bell curve.

Haha, that's pretty funny.

There is something to be said about this given your history in the variety of high end cars you've owned.

My 12 AWD TL is having warranty work done and I have been given a TLX Tech while the parts are on order. I am very underwhelmed with the TLX. Although I will admit I still need to learn the interior controls, I feel really out of sorts with just finding a radio station. It does not handle anything like my AWD and I thought I was driving the I4. I thought it ran great for a 4 cylinder then found out it was actually the V6. My AWD is a lot more comfortable, it feels and drives like a luxury car. This TLX feels like a Camry rental car to me or maybe just like the TSX I drove a couple years ago. Nice car, all the fancy stuff in it, but it just confirms how happy I really am with my SH AWD.


I do not mean to offend any TLX owners, it's just not the car for me. I am also not comparing AWD to AWD.