aIRpeACE

iTrader: (2)

See below

I am currently in a loaner car while my 2010 TSX is in for the VTC repair. Anyhow my thoughts on the 2016 TLX SH-AWD Advance. It is really nice to drive, handling wise, the transmission is like it's on crack. It shifts really hard from 1-2 2-3 half the time and is easily confused ALL THE TIME it's unbelievably slow to downshift, you mash the pedal to the floor and it just sits and considers, hmmm, does he really want to go faster? Maybe? Not sure, OK fine I'll downshift. The fit and finish is a big miss on this one, there is some sort of headliner issue going on, looks really weird, the sunroof plastic doesn't line up with the headliner more so on the passenger side, the trim right next to where your knee is is broken and loose, the subwoofer is apparently blown. (good to see in the last 6 years Acura finally got a grip on the ELS sound system issues NOT) Kinda disappointing in a car that costs upwards of 44K MSRP...

kuzdu

You hit it on the nail, tranny needs major reprogramming to function like a normal car and I think once it does it will be ok to drive not great lol. I also have a 14 tsx and that thing drives great quick fast shifting and solid on the road. That is a great car Acura has built.

ggesq

iTrader: (1)

^ you do realize he was quoting someone else- a non owner's experience- with his "16" loaner car right (whom we have to take for his word that he was in fact driving a 16 loaner)?

youngTL

Sounds like that loaner is a lemon to me. That's certainly the first I've heard of a non-2015 transmission having those issues. If you still have the loaner, you should snap a pic of the part of the VIN showing the year code in it (positions 7 and 10). I'm really suspicious of it being a '16.

My transmission doesn't shift like that at all and doesn't gear hunt at all, and I have perfect fit and finish, zero issues. Headliner is perfect, trim pieces are solidly in, nothing is loose, feels like a tank compared to my 3G TL-S. 6000 HARD km's on mine (I drive it like I stole it every day). It's never confused about which gear to be in.

The only thing the transmission does that I don't like is throttle on downshifting so it feels like it actually speeds up slightly rather than engine braking. Apparently update B16-012 fixes that, but it's not yet available to Canadian dealers.

It does take longer to downshift if you're going through 8th or 5th because of the dog clutches. Downshifts through other gears are very fast, at least for me. If I want to force a downshift with the gas pedal, I notice that I have to press it down a bit further, because for fuel economy reasons, the TCM is programmed to seek out the highest possible gear for the speed you're going. If I'm doing any kind of spirited drive, Sport+ is the way to go.


I don't mind the dog clutches being there for fuel economy reasons because they vastly reduce driveline efficiency losses. I'm willing to tolerate slower highway 9 to 4 downshifting for that. Not everyone is. But like I said, other downshifts that don't involve either 8th or 5th are very fast for an automatic that isn't a DCT.



Obviously since the loaner looks like that, there have been some QA/QC failures at the plant, which frankly is pretty unacceptable. But I think that on is a bit of an anomaly if it really is a '16. The rest of us that actually own the '16's have not had that experience.

kuzdu

Didn't even notice that but I spoke to my service advisor today about my tsx to reset the airbag lights and he told me some of the new 16 mdx are having the shift problems and lag. That's weird maybe they were right about software causing this but definetly thr early builds we're bad. Mine was replaced and shifts very smooth now

briq456

You guys are hysterical and it may possibly not be a 2016, were they released in November of 2015? I just noticed the inspection sticker is from November of 2015.,, the car still literally had all the sticker marks from where the door protection was from delivery. Like I said this was the experience with this car, I have a 2010 TSX and it's had it's share of problems as well, but not with 2,xxx miles on it. Elite Acura has always used literally brand new Loaners. And you don't have to take my word, but this was my experience, what do I have to gain by lying about something so trivial that doesn't even really matter to me, except that it definitely changed my mind about being interested in the car. Without the option of a manual, it's a no go for me.

Here is the video I had taken. I put 300 miles on it in the 3 days I had it.

youngTL

I don't think anyone is implying you're lying. I just think that it's easy to make an error because the cars look exactly the same.

The inspection sticker is the PDI, and PDI isn't always done right when the car comes off the truck. They sometimes wait if they have a lot of inventory. That's one of the reasons I think that.

What gear were you in when you made those videos? That looks kind of like a normal dog-clutch time delay when going from a high gear (above 5th) into a low gear. I see what looks like 2 shifts happening. Is it going from 6th, to 5th, then to 2nd? My car does almost the same thing but it takes less time because it doesn't do that first shift. It WILL do the first shift if I don't push the pedal down and hold it down though, because it'll assume I didn't want the lowest possible gear for the speed, just a little lower gear ratio to do a gentle pass if I tip in the throttle less. That's not what makes me not believe it's a 2016, because disconnecting the power to go through a dog clutch shift or two is normal due to the way the transmission is designed. That is the way ZF designed it. It was either dog clutches and save gas, or no dog clutches, have a bigger transmission that didn't fit, and use more gas. What makes me think it's not 2016 is the fact that you mentioned shift bumps in 1-2 and 2-3. None of the rest of us who have 2016's have that issue, and neither do the late 2015 builds apparently. If you look at the transmission complaint thread, it's almost all earlier build 2015's with a notable shift bump.


You are perfectly within your opinion to hate the dog clutches and their associated required disconnection of power when shifting through them. There are lots of people who can't deal with that, and you're likely one of them. I went on an evening test drive where they let me take the car home for a day, and I knew that the dog clutches required that kind of behaviour before I bought the car. I bought it anyway because I care a lot about fuel economy (and because the IS350 AWD system is pretty lame, and so is their ancient 6AT instead of the good 8AT in the RWD version which Canadians aren't allowed to have).

briq456

When someone puts "16" in quotes, that usually means that they don't believe it was a 2016. And I am 90% sure the key tag said 2016 because I remember commenting to my friend that I have a brand new car. I did go and look for the loaner paperwork, but I don't have it. IT's a very small Acura Dealership here in New Jersey, and really we don't have many Acura dealerships in the area, so I would guess that when it comes to extra stock, they really wouldn't have much. And the rough shift from 1-2 etc didn't happen consistently. It was very hit or miss.

And as far as what gear I was in? I have no idea. It's an automatic with 9 gears so your guess is as good as mine. I just made like I was driving along and saw a truck coming at me and floored it to get out of the way to see how it reacted.

acuranj18

Just leased a 2016 TLX SH-AWD the end of February and I had reservations after all the bad feedback on the 2015s. I can say I am 100% thrilled with my TLX, and have had no issues whatsoever with the transmission - it shifts smoothly.

catbert430

I have had zero problems with my 2016 and am very happy with it except for the auto stop/start.
That's just plain annoying.
It seems the transmission and vibration issues haven't shown themselves.

mrgold35

Is it just a software issue with the 15s or was there a mechanical change+software update to the 9AT on the +16 TLX? I'm looking to add a TLX sh-awd to my household since my 08 RDX is getting up there in mileage.

youngTL

DO NOT get a 2015 if you can avoid it. It is a mechanical change. Acura and ZF both won't say what it was, but something physically changed and it's not just software. The 16 (I have a '16) drives well. But there is still some waiting on a downshift that's above 5th gear, especially the 9 to 4 shift. Make sure you test drive it to see if you can live with that (it delivers superb fuel economy partly as a result of those dog clutches).

I love the SH-AWD system. I will never get tired of it.

edmua6

I've had my 2016 since January. I love mine, no rough shifting patterns, great awd system, great mileage, great sound system. Only thing I don't like is the shitty oem tires and the fact that you cannot permanently turn off the auto-idle stop.

weather

I agree with you 200% on that point! Acura's SH-AWD is simply in a league of its own and anyone buying a TLX and skipping the SH-AWD is missing out greatly....Not because of its winter capabilities but its amazing cornering abilities.

edmua6

^That is the thing that I love the most especially with the e-pretensioner. I love going through corners.

catbert430

Did I curse myself by posting that my car was trouble-free?

Last night on my routine drive home from work, the dashboard went berserk and all the warnings lit up: parking brake, forward collision warning, LKAS, steering, brake system, SH-AWD. The info display was scrolling through one dire warning after another.

I tried re-booting a couple of times with a rest of several minutes. Didn't help.

I parked it for 2 hours and, when I restarted the car, everything was fine. It was also fine when running morning errands with multiple stops.

I took it to the dealer this morning anyway and reported the incident as well as the fact that the seat memory only lasts for about 2 days at a time even though I'm the only driver and have only ever used key fob #1.

I know I saw someone post pix of this phenomenon before. I tried to find the thread but, couldn't.

Anyway, they gave me a nice loaner. It's a 2016 SH-AWD Advance in BCP/Parchment.

Interested to see what they do to my baby.

mrgold35

All three of my Acura's are very sensitive to low power from:
- low battery power (all 3 OEM batteries failed around 3yrs)
- alternator charging issues
- grounding issues (bad cable at battery, starter)
- power drain/draw when the vehicle is off (bluetooth module, relays)
- starter (usually after +75K)

You end up getting a ton of error lights because of the result of the low power and no clue of the actual problem. I now have a battery charger/tender to eliminate the battery as an issue. Usually, a 100% charged battery would atleast get you to the dealership instead of getting towed. My Acura techs end up fixing the symptoms first before correcting the actually problem.

9SpeedTran

Have them check the wheel speed sensors. My right rear one went and it caused all these errors. BUT it was a gradual degrade so at first it didn't show codes. Then it really went and showed the codes so they knew which one it was.

catbert430

Update:
Got my car back.

They say it needed a software upgrade and that the error codes won't come back.

As for the seat memory issues, I got the expected 'unable to duplicate; no problem found'

Whatever. Everything seems OK now. Time will tell......

Homerman

I Had my 2016 SH-AWD Elite A-APEC since Mid November, it was a dealer upgrade from a 2015 SH-AWD Tech that had bad vibration at speeds of 105k to 130k that could not be fixed
I have 7000km on it so far and I can say that the transmission does shift a lot smoother, is still somewhat slow downshifting, however there is a new tsb that may help that (I am just waiting for it to be released in Canada) The vibration is also mitigated from my 2015 I say about 50 percent less however it does seem to be getting worse, I am not sure if it is better because of the 19 inch wheels and Michelin Sport AS3. I would encourage anyone looking at this car to get the dealer to let you take a 2016 demo for a weekend and find nice smooth payment to test the car out at 60 to 75 mph with no one in the passenger seat and check if the passenger seat vibrates (you will see it very plainly) as well as the passenger seat belt buckle vibrating a lot. Then take the car you want to buy on the same route to make sure the vibration is at a tolerable level. My Mom is also going through this as she bought a 2015 SH-AWD elite and it also has the harsh shift 2-3 and seat vibrating at highway speeds. Shas been fighting with Acura Canada since November to get car replaced or money back, as they can not fix it. That all being said I do like the car and its awd system works great as I drive through mountains in winter a lot.

youngTL

My car is going in on Tuesday to have the update applied. I'm apparently the first one to get it in Canada (I managed to get my dealership to get the process started and nobody else had so far). Acura says it should address the surge on downshift (when you use the paddles) and increase the automatic downshift speed from 5th to 3rd and through 8th gear as well.

So my car is the test mule for the update, which I'm good with. If it works well, they'll likely roll it out to the rest of Canada. It should be a Canadian version of the US TSB B16-012.

Momyc

YoungTL, please find out the exact Canadian tsb codification for that US B16-012

I'm soon due for oil change and I'd like also to be applied.

youngTL

I'll share whatever info I can get. I won't know anything until Tuesday when I see the work order. They might not even have a TSB number for it yet until they verify it works on my car.

Homerman

YoungTL That's great ! let us know how the update works. I had my car in the shop for a flakey cruise control issue last week (it kept thinking a car was in front of me and would only stay on for 1 second before beeping and turning off) I mentioned the USA tsb on updating transe to downshift faster and change the rev matching when slowing down, they had no clue.

youngTL

It doesn't have a specific number. You're gonna have to do some work describing the behaviour to them, but the update they gave me ABSOLUTELY works!

See here:

https://acurazine.com/forums/problem...update-944493/

gokhanturk

i have a late 2015 build and have no problem with my tranny. Also, that whole delay of the tranny i never experienced that. i feel like everyone that leaves the negative comments for the v6 models are the people that can't afford a v6 sorry but not sorry.

gokhanturk

i feel like merging the TL and TSX was a big mistake on ACURA's part. I wish they made a few more changes where the v6 sh-awd models can stick out a little more, and you can tell the difference easier between the models.

youngTL

I don't think that's true. There are a number of long time Acura fans on this forum with a 2015 V6 9AT that have issues with theirs. The 2016 is substantially better, but still not perfect. After my most recent update on my 2016, I would say mine is "Pretty Darn Good".