Pegon95

I currently drive a 08 TL Type S approaching 200k km on it soon. Have a bunch of mods on it (exhaust, jpipe, cold air intake, sound system).

was really intersted in the black TLX A-SPEC with red interior, very cool car.

now my concern is this, we NEED a new powertrain and the precision cockpit design.

coming from my type s it's the SAME freaking engine!! Only difference is my type is faster (lower gear tranny and lighter weight.

we need a TORQUEY engine. Turbo is a must. I mean why does my 2008 acura has the SAME engine as a 2018 acura?

the interior is too familiar even tho I never owned a tlx but it's all too familiar. In my opinion I think we will get a better value for our money once they release a new body that will fit better with the headlights and a new precision cockpit interior.

for now I'm eyeing a used b8.5 audi s5 as it's the same price as a new tlx or even cheaper for a supercharged v6 and amazing Quattro awd

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

It makes sense to wait for the next gen as based on what Acura is telling us, next gen stuff is supposed to be a huge improvement.

It's typical for car companies to keep on using the same engine platform for over a decade. But it's more disappointing that the J series has actually been used for 2 decades now.

My understanding is that the Anna plant in Ohio will be building the new 3.0T engine for used in 2019 Acura models (RLX, TLX come to mind).

dmski

Not sure how long you can wait. Acura moves really slow and I don't see them releasing next gen till spring 2019 and even then Type S might not be released right away. It could take another year or two after that to get that rumoured 400hp version. Go test drive the Aspec. It's a really good car.

Saintor

Not it is not.

You fell for fashion, your loss. Good luck with your new obsession. In the current issue, C&D almost called the S5 'boring".

The TLX is a great car. My 2016 kept growing on me up to love status.

Sloppy305

Two words that will push me away immediately from purchasing a car: "Used Audi".

Pegon95

No reason to Shit ur pants when u hear a used Audi lol. It's called CPO pre owned certified. And I beg to differ nothing is more boring from this NA v6 engine they had for 20 yrs already. I'm driving my TL for almost 4 years now and Idk what I would do if I never had my exhaust and all the engine power mods on it.

and s5 boring? Go test drive one. I wanna see how boring is a 333hp supercharged v6 engine (not mention easy extra 100hp with just a flash tune)

Pegon95

from what I seen on the internet it beat lexus in 2016 in terms of reliability lol

RDX10

I agree, it is really disappointing that the J-series has been kept almost the same for 20 years. I'm pretty sure that other than mitsubishi, Honda is the only company that has a timing belt in their V6's and SOHC still. Only I could forgive a small and unsuccessful company like Mitsubishi but not Honda. There is a desperate need for torque in the J-series.

Speaking of which, where is this 3.0T rumour coming from? Or funnier yet, the 3.0TT rumour. This is still Honda...I don't buy into that rumour at all whatsoever.

steig

I had a 2014 Audi A4 Sline with sport package. Car was great, but it was the biggest loss I ever took on a trade. Audi =huge depreciation. Too expensive to maintain after warranty.
Now I have 2018 TLX ASpec awd. Car is great.

steig

Have this

steig

Had this

CheeseyPoofs McNut

Car looks great in White. You've motivated me to wash my vintage TLX this weekend.

steig

Thanks, glad I could motivate you. LOL

aIRpeACE

iTrader: (2)

why are you surprise or even disappointed? TLX type S is just a rumor and will not exisit.

hadokenuh

I rather have an old engine design with reliability rather than a new engine every 5 years with a bunch of problems.

The 2018 TLX A-Spec is not bad at all. They seem to fix most of the problems on the pre-MMC TLXs. I feel bad for those with problems on their pre MMC TLXs.

pyrodan007

Not all new engines are that bad. I'd rather have incremental updates than keeping something archaic because too lazy or scared to change.
Now this is conditional on problems being fixed correctly ... looking at you Acura, not Honda.

RDX10

So you'd rather have a 20 year old engine than a modern one because you think a modern one will have problems? With this logic 4 and 5 speed tranmission should still be the gold standard. There is nothing wrong with keeping a basic architecture the same, but you can't keep the same tech too.

TacoBello

Don't worry about Saintor and his love for all things terrible.

that being said, I too am waiting for the next gen TLX. The refresh for the current TLX did help address a lot of gripes we enthusiasts had about the car, but as you suggested, not necessarily all of them. Acura is a small company so they can't pump out stuff as fast as bigger companies can.

TacoBello

wait, you bought a luxury car and are upset it depreciated quickly? ALL luxury cars depreciate quickly!!! Also, you traded it in, meaning the dealership hosed you on the trade in. Every dealership does. They offer you 8k less than what the car is worth and then go and sell it for 8k more than they gave you. If you want to maximize your winnings on selling a used car, you MUST sell it privately.

Also, proof that the 2014 A4 is expensive to maintain after warranty?

Saintor

I'd avoid A-SPEC, unless one really wants that mandatory $3700 tech package.

It will not improve power, but customizing might be the answer; take a base $37-39K V6 (FWD or AWD) and add $4K of wheels, lowered suspension and if money left , an aftermarket exhaust. The idea holds water only if you want to go further than a-spec.

PS: to taco d-ass for not minding his business once again.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

It's about as much torque you can get in a NA 3 to 3.5L engine for bread and butter cars. When you look at a dyno of any J series, it's pretty darn flat. If you want strong low end torque like a boosted car, then the curve wouldn't be flat. It would peak early and gradually goes down.

If you go to TOV, there's this guy that seems to be in the know. He's got many things right in the past, such as the switch from NA to turbo for the NSX.

True. To be fair, Honda has been making incremental updates to the J series as well. The 1999 Odyssey with 4AT and the J35 was making 210hp, did 0-60mph in 9.4s, and had EPA ratings of 16/23mpg.

2 decades later, still having a J35, but with 10AT, it now makes 280hp. does 0-60mph in 6.6s, and gets EPA ratings of 19/28mpg, all the while being 300lb heavier.

The bigger issue is that Honda/Acura does not have something above the J series (excluding the NSX) that can make over 350hp/350lbft. A 3.5L NA V6 can make that much power if you rev it high enough, but you still can't get torque close to 300lbft, let alone 350lbft plus. This is where a boosted V6 or NA V8 would come into play.

steig

I have owned Luxury cars prior: Lexus, Audi, several Acura's , even a new Corvette. The Audi by far depreciated more than any other one of these cars. Do your research, Audi is expensive to maintain especially after warranty is gone. Oil change alone is 130.00.
I agree on selling it privately, but their is a tax advantage on trading that you would have to make up by selling privately. Plus the Audi can sell the car as a CPO.

steig

Just a quick search to find this: Nothing against Audi, I like my Audi, was just time for a new car. I trade every few yrs. (Copied and paste the following)

We compared the quotes received for comparable repair types across these three brands.

The result? Audi consistently came out on top, an at average 31% higher than for Mercedes maintenance and repairs.

BMW sat a little above Mercedes, but still 19% below Audi.

And Audi's high prices don't end there.2. It's a consistent trend across the volume models

Whether it’s an A3, an A4 or an A6, average repair estimates on an Audi remained highest - with the largest difference (+45%) apparent when comparing C-Class and A4 repair quotes.3. Complex repair work causes Audi bills to rack up

When it comes to simple work - routine servicing, or wear parts such as brakes and exhausts - estimates across all three brands are comparable.

The biggest variation occurs when comparing transmission.

Cambelt changes also showed the same trend, as well as requests for ‘Engine Parts’ - a broad category of repairs typically requiring more ‘involved’ work.4. The younger the car the pricier the Audi repair

The older the Mercedes the higher the maintenance costsMercedes cars 'go on for longer', with repairs most likely in 11-year-old cars.

Conversely, the majority of Audi repairs take place when the cars are 5-10 years old, with BMW somewhere in between.

hadokenuh

Someone said this just before me, but I should have been more clear. What I meant was old design with incremental updates rather than a brand new design. Any new design is bound to have bugs. They can test as much as they want but certain problems will only arise in real live environment. The J series has been involved with improvements over the years. The 290HP engine is an old design, YES, but it's not the same engine 20 years ago.

This is not the same as the 4/5 speed transmission logic. But if we are talking about transmission, I personally do prefer 6 speed auto trans. I think it's a sweet spot for performance and efficiency. BMW's 8 speed auto trans is a good sample but we still don't know about its longevity since it's pretty new. Speaking of BMW and their engine, the N54 (3.0TT 300HP 300lbft) had a lot of problems when they brought it to the US. It was doing okay in EU. But I guess the conditions in the US are so different that problems arose. The thing with BMW is people buy them knowing they won't be as much reliable as Japaneses. So while customers are mad, they are not surprised.

I can see why Acura is scared to change as you said. It's because reliability and good value are their strengths. If they put in a new engine with a bunch of issues, they would lose a lot of customers. For sure they would lose me. I am buying Honda/Acuras because they are reliable. I think most Acura/Honda owners will agree.

I want to say I was frustrated with Acura's direction too but now I am happy to see they are changing for the better. Slowly, but they are changing nonetheless.

Saintor

<br /><br />I was prepared to be ok with it. Despite I spent 11K$ on a very old Audi, probably irrelevant to current gen. All new cars are much better designed / built than decades ago.<br /><br />Until I saw that BMW reference. Ugh. I also spent more than $6500 in nonsense repairs on a 2007 BMW. I insist on NONSENSE, and how disturbing. Engines leaks, sunroof cartridge exchange, steptronic repaired twice, rear differential noise, valves noise. No preventive maintenance would have changed a thing.<br /><br />I was never 'lucky' long term with my kraut-mobiles, reliability-wise. Never.

jhb31

Having owned a 2007 type S from new for 10 years its a great car. I still regret trading it in on a 2017.so much that I just put a deposit down on a 2018 A-Spec AWD which driving wise and appearance is way better than the 2015-2017. The trans and power is still not what the type S had but suspension and handling wise the A-Spec AWD gets it right. The A-spec does have some trans lag that you never will get in the type S. From what I hear from the GM at the local acura dealer a new type S is probably 4 years off for what that's worth. All in all if you have a nice Type S hold onto it as they are highly sought after cars now and rarely seen on the road these days.

The A-Spec suspension and steering feel is well worth the additional money. I agree the car is no faster but definitely not a floater down the road. The suspension upgrades are apparent immediately when driving it. Very tight ride. Adding 4k of aftermarket upgrades to the car will put you over what an A-Spec can be bought for.

kurtatx

What is with the markup shit everywhere? Can we not?

Also, OP, are you waiting for the next gen when the car is a crossover?

svtmike

ronricks

Th 2018 aspec was a step in the right direction but they have to address the engine that is far behind the competition both in power and innovation. We know the next gen is getting improved navigation/infotainment system. Honda really needs to ditch the timing belt as well.

kurtatx

It would certainly be nice if they could make the engine a little faster with some more low end torque. I wouldn't call it "behind" as much as I would call it "different".

Nexx

and you couldn't be more wrong.

kurtatx

Got ourselves an insider. Except we know your info is bad.

TacoBello

I think he's been more right than wrong, to be honest.

dmski

Nexx has been on the ball. He sprinkles inside info when allowed. Type S is coming. The question is when????

BEAR-AvHistory

10 years later & the hope for an S-Type continues. Is that the automotive equivalent of the battered wives syndrome?

Made 1200 miles on the car during the run back from the beach. Launch Control is now active & chirps off the line & 1/2 -2/3 shifts @ WOT. Run flats are a little sketchy for traction but they are still 255's.

steve_97060

you are wrong, and negative as usual.

Mak P

IF i would start a lease now, that would put my ending to right about the time the 2nd gen would be out. Acura would take a major L if that car doesn't have Acura Precision and it would be a huge disappointment if its now a twin turbo V6 or at-least 0-60 in the 4's, no more 5's

New Car TL-S

The B8.5 S5 (2013-2017) has proven to be a very reliable car over the previous B5 generation. The 3.0T is solid as well as the DSG transmission (although the $500 fluid change at 35k seems silly). Oil changes can be done from the top and before people jump on that practice its exactly how Audi does them. $130 (?) oil change, I can DIY mine for about $45. Brakes are just like any other car, but you need some OBDII scan thing to release the electronic parking brake - and dealing with Audi brake dust 3 miles after washing you'll switch to aftermarket quickly. Plugs are right on top so no dealer needed. I will say the only thing that worries me (besides catastrophic failure that looms over Audi's) is the depreciation - whoever said dealer trade is a bad idea is exactly right, private sale is the way to go with the S5. I bought my 2015 S5 used last Oct with 7k miles on it for about the same the price as the TLX I tested before buying the S5. There are times I miss my 07 TL Type S, but that feeling drifts away with one plunge of the S5's gas pedal. I am looking forward to the future of TL or TLX, I'll be back in one some day for sure.

Saintor

What did the S-Type have SO MUCH that the A-SPEC doesn't have.

Nothing (just a name).

pyrodan007

I currently still have a Type-S, and can compare it to the pre-MMC and Aspec. There's a reason why so many people talk about the 'old' Type-S and still really want one. The Aspec itself is just a name too you know.

Type-S: Brembos, heavy steering with hydraulics, carbon fiber interior, limited-slip differential, almost the same engine (difference is no DI), same NAV, same red lighting ... reputation. Not even close to being the same as the Aspec.