George Knighton

Yup. The biggest problem is that none of them have enough time to learn enough about a car.

I think Brian Cooley is great. But even he can be the victim of bad bullet points provided by other people. He recently described the double toe-in of the RLX in threshold braking as a design to "scrub off speed." [sic]



That was really too bad. Even though he's usually among the very best, all of them can be victimized by the bad bullet points supplied by other people.

Most of them also speak as if their observations are a matter of course, or that what they find wrong is really very obvious.

Of course, it's not that obvious. Companies that are worth hundreds of billions of pounds are hardly going to make major decisions without due consideration, and it is usually each of us as single individuals who don't "get it" when it comes to something.

Of course they make mistakes in design, execution, engineering, and marketing.

But it's shades of grey...nothing that is really obvious.

George Knighton

You know, in its day, even the Edsel made sense at the time. :-) It was not an obvious mistake. They misjudged several small things about public opinion and acceptance of a cutting edge that they felt people were ready for.

fsttyms1

You answered your own question. To some they like it. To others they just dont see the appeal or dont think t flows well with the overall car.

Treblig

It was a beak at one time and I, like many others, stayed away from it. However, the beak is dead and has been since 2012. As I have said before, if the '12 grille was the original one, there would have never been any "beak talk". Let's give credit where credit is due and let the new design stand on it's own merit.

Edward'TLS

^^^^^


Automakers always have short memories.

It is always a good thing to keep reminding them not to repeat the same or similar mistake EVER AGAIN !

Timmy18

Please be in a Acura commercial! Also waiting for the Honda
'surprise' commercial!

WheelMcCoy

Actually, Brian Cooley was right. The rear wheels can turn in parallel, but they can also turn independently. According to Edmund's suspension walk-around, double toe-in does stabilize hard braking.

http://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/t...alkaround.html

boe_d

While some say the beak is gone - to me that is like dropping a dump truck full of dirt into the grand canyon and saying the canyon is gone now. I'm not sure how you don't see the beak but it is pretty apparent to me STILL in 2012, 2013, 2014... If they removed the vast amount of structure holding the emblem in front of the grill and just left the Acura symbol it would literally double the appeal of the car as far as I'm concerned.

Treblig

It looks like the former Saturn (2010) grille and the previous Mazda6 grille. Not sure they were ever referred to as "beaks". I get that we see what we see and although I don't currently see the "beak", I most certainly did in 2009. My point was simply that I believe if the 2009 front end was the current front end, it might not have been called a "beak".

weather

There might be some truth to what you are saying Treblig....but I guess we will never know for sure eh?!

The question that I have is why are the RDX and MDX selling in record numbers and very little reference to the beak on those models (I didn't say no reference....just little) yet on the sedans, it appears the grill seems to be whats holding sales back?! To me, this shows that the grill is not what is the biggest issues with the sales of the sedans...it's a combination of design and engine/transmission combo.

I mean the TSX is stepping on the ILX and the TL, the TL was almost the same size and price as some of the TSX model and better equipped than the former RL, the ILX was weirdly equipped with the 2.0L for the automatics. All these factors I think are the driving force behind Acura's sedan problem, and the grill account for some, but I would argue its not as bad as what people think. When you are unhappy about something, you go for the easy target and the grill seems to be the popular one.

Again, this is just my opinion and I am far from being an auto expert, but I think we can all agree that the 2009-2011 period was a combination of bad events for Acura and I think they had so many things happen to them that they lost their focus/confidence and were running around in all directions. I THINK they seem to be finding their way again....lets just want and see what the TLX brings out and then we can really judge them...based on facts, rather than speculations.

George Knighton

Brian said scrub off speed.

That is not correct.

The toe in under threshold braking assists stability.

KeithL

People that buy MDX and RDX are more pragmatic and more women. While I dig the new TLX the shrunken beak to me is still a distraction. They need to give a beakless look a try, there was nothing wrong with the 3G grille, crossbar with A.

JM2010 SH-AWD

Beakaphobia!

weather

BTW...a quick question. Why haven't we seen any pics of the TLX being tested in winter conditions? I sure hope they tested that thing extensively. Given the the "thud" with the ILX and RDX's rear suspension in cold temperatures, I sure hope they won't be using the same company for their suspension components.

I sure they won't limit their testing to desert conditions only.....

Colin

^Could be that the guys who snap pics don't want to be out in the cold?

Treblig

I would imagine that they have already or are cold weather testing to at least shake down the SH-AWD system. Particularly since it is a "new" system.

weather

What a bunch of whimps *lol*

Treblig...I would hope so too, but how can it go undetected?!

Treblig

I'm gonna go with this for now. LOL!

ostrich

Weather, are you suggesting that they should come to Canada!?!?!?

Yes, they can have our cold temperature in Alberta now (-22C just now! Brrrrrrrrr!!!) or your crazy pile of snow out east..... pick your poison!!! ROTFLOL! Yes, that would be a really good test for their new SH-AWD system! :-)

BEAR-AvHistory

Arjeplog area of Sweden is one of the heavy hitters for winter testing & all the major companies use it. Its the world's largest winter testing area for cars, about the size of Connecticut.

Hard to get to & easier to keep secretes

Edward'TLS

For testing European market Honda's ?

Tommy8888

The more I see the pictures of the TLX, the more I like it. I think the TLX is going to be an iconic car for Acura.
The best thing is Acura waited for the Q to release first and than watched carefully as Infiniti's machine broke down with all that Das and Tech issues. Acura will not make the same mistakes. They learn from Infiniti and they will make sure the TLX is ready and mistake free.
Man, I can't wait for the TLX to come out. I'm already getting sick of the Lexus IS...............I thought about putting an Acura Logo in place of the L but cops told me not to do that..........

I am going to get the Athletic Red color.. I think out of all the colors that they showed, it's my favorite one. Athletic Red even sounds amazing. It's perfect for a summer release.

Rocket_man

Cold weather testing and a few years of complaints has not removed the thud from the RDX, it may well show up on the TLX. Acura sees nothing wrong with it. Living in a warm climate may be an advantage.

Rocket_man

So the grill on the left is good... the one on the right is a deal-breaker? They are practically the same. 'A' in a cross bar, just a different location. And finally.. 'the beak.' I'm sorry but "one of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn't belong."

fsttyms1

Practically the same?? The only thing that is the same is that they are a 5 point design. The one on the left does not have a giant tooth/beak protruding down into the mesh area. At minimum, Acura should have stuck with the crossbar with the A in the center or try to improve upon its already designed look.

fsttyms1

So the more you see the concept car the more you like it? They havent released photos of the real thing without camo on

fsttyms1

Many manufacturers bring their cars there for testing in cold weather, not just European market cars

BEAR-AvHistory

Nope, IIRC it has more US based manufactures testing than any other country. Very few cars are not tested there at some point in their development.

fsttyms1

boe_d

Are these practically the same - after all they have headlights and grills.

I think the issue is you either see it or you don't. I couldn't tell you which is better a $4 bottle of wine or a $400 bottle of wine - to me they all just wine. I'd rather have a beer but I can tell you the difference between lots of beers.

George Knighton

They decided on a bold statement and rolled out the 4G TL right when the economy was turning very bad.

Americans have appreciated conservative styling in the worst of times.

weather

Off topic but thanks to the moderators and webmaster for providing the drop down tab for the 5th Gen TL and the 3rd Gen MDX

Rocket_man

The grills above are not even close as most everyone will tell you. I agree, you either see it or you don't. If you super impose the 3G grill on the TLX they would be more similarities than differences. The original 4G grill is much different.

If you are that hung up on the TLX grill then I don't see how anything is going to fix it for you. Even an after market grill is going to have the same shape.

Terragotti

Don't know if I'm late posting this video but i just seen it.



The tail lights on all 3 of them look so unique. Acura Stamp

Tonyware

^ Epic.

Martin W

Great video. I will remember it while flooring my RL on the night City's road)

George Knighton

:-)

At least this one had cars in it and not just comedians.

fsttyms1

Too bad its 2 concept vehicles and 1 production vehicle. Show the final product so that when customers walk into the showroom they arent slapped in the face with something that wasnt in the commercial.

George Knighton

Freeze frame on the final TLX design, with the slightly revised nose, no blade.

I think I like this advertising and I hope they find occasion to use it with some decent prime time.

George Knighton

LOL.... You keep reading the Debbie Downer lines from the script!! :-)