anagramjones

Have they fixed the transmission issues with th 9 speed yet, and has there been a fix for the 2015s? Did they fix it in later years?

I'm considering a 2015, but the transmission issues sound like the 4 cylinder might be a heterosexual drive.

Should I wait for a later year? I'm looking for one abiut 3 years old, cause either price/value balance seems to be best there.

Thanks!

2012wagon

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

Nah, the 4 cylinder is totally :ghey:

JK. The K24 is an awesome motor. As far as your question, I have no idea.

2012wagon

Kevin Spacey has one?

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

And about a quarter of the people I Uber around downtown on Saturday nights :gheylaugh:

anagramjones

Rofl. I hope a moderator isn't going to flag the post. I did year the 4 cylinder was a heterosexual drive.... That was totally autocorrect.

I'm sure you guys now I mean that review for the 4 cylinder seem better than the V6 because of the zf9 transmission.

Was that ever resolved in 2015 to 2017? I don't like 2018 styling and will opt out until next Gen.
​

F23A4

I don’t moderate this forum but I’ve been at war with my iPhone’s autocorrect for quite some time.

With 22k on the clock, the tranny in my ‘16 V6 PAWS has not given me any issues nor have I experienced the vibration reported by some. That said, ZF isn’t the fastest shifting tranny. However, I don’t regret my purchase. I would recommend the SH-AWD model though, as wheelspin is abundant with the PAWS V6.

txl2017

what do you mean by "wheel spin is abundant"?

anagramjones

That mean under steer?

For context, I'm coming from an 08 Accord and 07 TL Base.

To be honest, the Acura has always been a little jerky shifting around 3rd, and I was worried about that when I bought it at 120k km in 2013. So I changed all the pressure switches, but didn't really do anything noticeable. Eventually I stopped stressing about it and learned to live with it, it's actually not that bad, and now I'm at about 180k km. The 08 Accord has recently been feeling like the shift to 3rd is more jerky than it was before...like, it used to be less noticeable than my TL when I was worried about it, but now it's more noticeable.

So that's why I'm contemplating whether I might need to switch out the Accord, it's pushing 10 years now. Or maybe that's just how it ages, and I'm just looking for an excuse to get get something new despite being a 90k km car that's otherwise pretty good

rrecchia

I know the problem that the 15 tlx's had I experienced them first hand. about one month ago i purchased the 2018 tlx sh-awd after a 24 hour test drive. The 18's so far do not have the same issues as the 15's did

BEAR-AvHistory

FWD unloads the front tires on acceleration due to weight shift. This makes them more prone to slipping then RWD which loads the tires on acceleration. The weight shift is normal for all cars, you can see it the way the hood rises on hard acceleration.

anagramjones:

Understeer is when a car crashes in a tree on a curve nose first. Oversteer is when it does in trunk first. FWD car have more natural understeer because of the high percentage of weight at the front. When the front lifts if you power through a turn the tires will have less grip adding too any natural understeer tendency the car already has. Most prevalent in a FWD daily driver making a turn onto a cross street from a stop sign or traffic light with to much throttle.

Rocket_man

Just don't buy a 15 if you are going to buy a TLX. I have one and wouldn't buy it again. You will be safer with a 16 and newer.

txl2017

I don't know if it's relevant, but I start liking the lane keeping assistance feature for my FWD. I turn it on if I will go for some higher speed cruising (45 miles +). I still need to steer but it becomes a lot easier as the car is helping along. It feels a little strange in he beginning but once you are used to it, the drive can be more relaxing - Less worry about under or over steering.

BEAR-AvHistory

Just a wild guess. It might be that the ECU enables more boost into the power steering system when under the robot control. If the car is drifting off line the ECU might be sensing it & starting to correct before/as you make the manual input to make the correction.

txl2017

I think that's about right, except the system when on is actually constantly monitoring and correcting to make sure the car is at the center of the lane. So you'd feel an adjustment "constantly", which feels weird in the beginning but when getting used to would make the high speed cruise more relaxing. (I have learned to put my hands on the steering wheel and "go with the feel") It cancels out automatically when you brake, lower the speed or have the turn signal on, and back to work when those conditions are no longer there. It also expects driver to exert more manual steering power for big curves.

BEAR-AvHistory

Sounds Good. Personally I am not ready to let go to the robot yet so I did not select any of those types of options, lane management - automatic braking etc, so have no seat time with them. Closest I have is a variable rate power steering system that is speed & performance program sensitive. It does have a different "feel" to it than a standard rate system so I expect you are feeling a similar effect. Sort of goes into muscle memory after a short while.

txl2017

Speaking of brake control, I am using the brake hold a lot. It's such a savior when you are stuck in the traffic, which I am regularly. It also helps for quicker start and go at a traffic light.

BEAR-AvHistory

You have a manual? I have hill hold on the 135is but have not seen it on an AT.

txl2017

Nah. The newer versions of TLX have this feature called brake hold so the car can be in the brake mode while you don't need to keep you foot on the brake. For heavy traffic stop and go situations, you can relax and rest without having to put your car in park. At a traffic light, you can move your foot to the gas pedal so when the light changes you can step on it and go. A conviniemce feature I like a lot.

Rocket_man

I like the Brake Hold feature but I forget to turn it on. It is off by default and I forget it is there.

txl2017

I know what you mean. Part of the fun is getting to know the car better every day. I just realized yesterday that the "keyless" entry means that I don't need to take out the key from my pocket to open the door. Earlier I knew I could open the trunk that way but not the door.

wyliec2

Newer versions....my 2015 has brake hold????

txl2017

Sorry. I misspoke. Don't really know when it started. Just assumed that it's A relatively new feature.

Rocket_man

But it does need to be near the door. Sometimes if it is in my backpack and it is over my far shoulder it has problems opening the door.

Did you look on the center console?

txl2017

I suppose they had safety and liability in their mind when designing the feature. What if a thief opens your door quietly when you turn your back and step away?

TLX15

To answer the question of this tread starter, anagramjones, walk away from the TLX. In my '16 SH AWD Tech, I had to "beat on it" to get the trans to "learn" how to shift. By this I mean that to downshift on the highway, for example, I had to floor it. It did not respond to smooth inputs, and although it is a little better now, there is still quite a lag before an appropriate gear is selected. Likewise, for downshifting for engine braking, it takes a lot to get used to the lag between an input from the paddle and an actual shift. I find that keeping my foot on the gas until the shift makes it happen a bit faster. I think it helps the rev matching - again something a good trans would do automatically.

Then there is the vibration at highway speeds on smooth pavement. Dealers and engineers can't help, and year after model year, Acura and Honda made no modifications, since some other forum surfers have reported this problem in their 2018 V6 Aspecs.

There are plenty of better made, and better backed cars out there. I would suggest you look for something else.

I will never lease or buy another Acura.

Saintor

Regarding the transmission (or rather throttle response,), yes it is infuriating in any mode but S / M. Conclusion; drive it in S / M or move on.

*Would.buy.this.car.again.in.an.heartbeat.*

txl2017

If I were OP, I probably would've moved on by now after reading the disagreement on this thread. It would be enough of a concern. Don't know whose loss ithat would be. If TLX happens to meet OP's needs and actually is a great value to them just like it is to many TLx owners, (and let's face it -under normal circumstances very few of them would have an inherent issue that couldn't be fixed within warranty, which is also true for most other cars), then it's OP's loss. Additionally or otherwise, it's Acura's loss and possibly the loss of the US economy or the people in Ohio!

kurtatx

I'm a big believer in Chris Harris's view on automatic cars: the best automatics drive better in Comfort/Auto than they do in S / M. If the car doesn't drive well in Automatic, the transmission is trash.

BEAR-AvHistory

Agree. For most people "drives better" is seamless smooth up & down shifts. Moderate kick down at moderate throttle inputs is also part of the "better". Sport/Sport+ are harsh by design because of the quick solid shifts required by that program. The Sport/Sport+ programs also by design automatically hold the car in gear longer & downshift at a higher RPM then comfort/eco ect modes. Throttle programs also change & make the car more sensitive then many people want to slight throttle inputs.

Bottom line is I like Sport & drive in it most of the time, except at high speed on the interstate, because I like the responsiveness but my wife & a majority of drivers want the smoothness of comfort. So a trans that does not function well in comfort where it will be normally used by most of the people is defective by poor design, programming or manfacture.

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

The 4G TL (tech package) does that as well. I just figured it out about a month ago. Acura loads up their cars with all these hidden things that you only seem to learn over time, or if you scour the owners manual. I only just learned that you can place a "wallpaper" on the nav screen via a .jpg you can load on the USB drive, which pops up if you don't initiate the nav or audio menu after starting the car. I initially put up a picture of the fam, but it got sort of weird so I defaulted to the "space" theme.

txl2017

Say what? You don't want your wife and kids watching you with undivided attention everywhere you go? Hahaha

txl2017

But the auto mode is fine. As far as I can tell the difference compared with Sport mode, the gas padel feels heavier, possibly out of fuel efficiency design. But it gives a smooth powerful ride nevertheless. (I have the V6 version)

kurtatx

Right, but you probably wouldn't call your tranny bad based on your shifting capabilities.

If only we were all like Saintor and just drove around in 1st all day.

steig

I also like the brake control. As you said especially in traffic. It is definitely a NICE option too have.

steig

To the OP,
I currently have a 2018 TXL AWD ASpec. 3,500 mile that car has been great. My 9 speed trans works great, the only issue I noticed is that it has a very slight hesitation when stepping down full throttle. This hesitation is hardly noticeable and I probably wouldn't have noticed this if it weren't for the these forums. I know this transmission has a bad rap on the forums, except for the hesitation described above, my transmission works great.

I would go out and test drive the TLX and other vehicles, you can make your own decision.
I traded in a 2014 Audi A4 S-Line with sport package for the TLX Aspec. The A4 had an 8 speed trans that was flawless, the A4 was a nice car, but I choose the 2018 TLX Aspec over a new A4, and the Lexus IS 350 Fsport.
I also have a 2017 Toyota Tacoma TRD off road, the transmission in this truck is a 6 speed, I realize this isn't a truck forum, but the Transmission in this truck is much worse than the TLX trans. The Toyota trans consistently hunts for gears, dosen't know if should up-shift or downshift, etc. Anyway, the 2018 Acura TLX transmission works much better than my 2017 Toyota transmission.
These are my opinions: As I said before, test drive and compare before you buy.

alpha0

Do you think that hesitation is issue of transmission or drive by wire throttle response lag? I feel the same in my 17 Accord V6 touring.

steig

Not sure?

But I may mention to dealer when i go for oil change.

TLX15

When alone, I drive in Sport, but my wife usually prefers the "smoothness" of Normal. Once while riding together on a highway, in Normal, I attempted a passing maneuver and when I pressed the throttle, there was a profound hesitation before the car accelerated. I can't see how this could be considered acceptable by the R & D team before the car was released or how it can be overlooked for an update from one model year to the next. Again Acura is ignoring this problem, just as it is the vibration issues. I don't think the engine or trans is inherently bad, I think the programming has to be adjusted.

I am trying to let those considering this car know exactly what they can expect. It would take more than a test drive to experience all the issues.

Since I don't want to fork over the balance due on my lease to get out of it early (I've spent more on this car than it is worth already), I cannot move on right now.

pyrodan007

I feel your pain, had the same problem before dumping it. The thing is, this forum doesn't like hearing people's problems unless it happens to them. Even if 2015s are terrible and other years MAY be better, Acura's service is atrocious and unworthy of a premium brand status ... especially for loyal 'beta testers'.

I don't think it's Acura's programming as much as it is the old ZF9 can't be fixed without a replacement. And this means $$$$ to Acura.