Ahhhh...the old Manual vs Automatic debate.

The manual transmissions are becoming less and less of the overall percentage of cars sold worldwide. That, coupled with automatics becoming so good, that most prefer having an auto over a manual.

Last manual I had was in a previous gen Mustang GT 8 years ago. Loads of fun, no doubt. Try to find a manual trans muscle car at your dealership today.....they're there, but mostly by special order.

Autos are easier to tune for better MPG, too

Look, the vast majority of the population can't even drive a manual. And, fewer and fewer learn how. It's really a matter of time before manufacturers just can't see the profit in making them.

I can't see dealerships stocking them in they don't have to for such a teeny audience who may want one.

I will mourn their passing. But, like most technology that becomes obsolete, I'll get used to it.

Buy'em while you can. They aren't going to be here much longer.

 

You're right. Acura MT fans should be happy we've had them up to now. But even as to those mfrs who still claim to produce them, try to find one.

A few years ago when I bought my '10 TL, I also looked at the 5 Series and G37. No one in my metro area had either car in a MT that I could even test. They said they could swap/order a car, but no one provided any certainty as to when the car would arrive.

 

Indeed, in the old days, I had to teach kids to drive manuals if I wanted to sell a GS-R. They wanted to learn, but nobody in the family HAD a manual for them to try out. These days it's down to two things. (IMO) Most kids don't want to learn, and the entry price for Acura is out of younger buyers' range.

On your second thought, since Acura has always price MTs and ATs the same, I assume there is lower margin making such small runs of MT TLs. I've long suspected that the MTs (sold at the same price) were subsidized by the sales of the automatics.

 

I agree.

I had a Mustang GT 5 speed several years ago that I had for sale. All the teen/20s guys wanted it. They wanted to test drive first. I would say 90% had never driven a manual transmission (in which case, they wanted me to teach them on the test drive), or they were so poor at driving one, they couldn't even get to the end of my street before I took them out of the driver's seat, and put them into the passenger's seat.

Small runs of manual trans cars just make no economic sense to a car manufacturer. I think my BMW dealer said he sells two or three manual trans cars per year. And, that he won't stock them. They have to be special ordered.

To those who say they won't by a brand or model because they don't offer a manual transmission, I think the manufacturers' as saying "thank you.....we don't want to make them and lose money, either".

 

I had a chance to test drive a V6 again today. I played a lot with the different IDS modes (well except for ECO). But this time I did not feel the same hesitation as I felt on my first test drive. I drove a bit in Normal and Sport, and a little in Sport +, and the car felt pretty normal. I have no idea what I was doing differently than my first test drive. Does the transmission 'learn' from being driven? The first car I drove only had a few miles on it and I was probably one of the first drivers. This one was being driven all week. Would that have made a difference? I don't know, but it felt pretty normal to me this time.

So I revise my review accordingly. I know a few others have experienced the hesitation as I did and some have not noticed it. Maybe the car just needs a little break in???

I think Acura could have done the IDS mode switch a little better as has been mentioned before. If it had an "UP" and "DN" switch instead of the sequential switch you could go from Sport to Normal directly. I suspect most people are going to be in these two modes most of the time. This would have made it simple to switch between the two instead of going all the way through each mode to get from Sport to Normal. The transmission actually shifts even if you are going right through the mode. Oh well... not a deal breaker but something that would have made it a better driving experience.

 

Long thread, good review.
I'm curious as to why people are comparing this well priced vehicle against the likes of an A6 or lexus 350 .... This car is twenty to thirty thousand $$ cheaper than any of them including the RLX (in CND)!
I'm looking to replace my '05 3G TL which has been an awesome, trouble free car that cost me $50k (all in) when I bought it new. I had/have only two complaints about my TL, the truck is too small, made worse by no folding rear seats. And two the transmission can do weird scary crap with VSA on and a icy road. The tranny really worried me at first as I went to pass a guy on an icy road, the tranny kicked down to second tires spun and there I was beside the guy I was passing with the tranny locked in second deciding what to do as someone was also behind me.Shifting gears did nothing, turning off vsa did nothing. I was in a bad spot, confused as to what was happening and a bit scared. Kept my foot in it and ran off the rev. Limiter until I got past the vehicle. I had to slow down below 43km/hr., then the tranny went to first and everything worked fine. I was very upset and brought it to the dealer and phoned Acura Canada about the issue. Of course the dealer couldn't replicate and Acura Canada didn't seem to care and told me I shouldn't drive so aggressively on icy roads (which is obviously true) but they missed the point, that under no circumstances should a car act this way. Had I not been an excellent experienced driver my little incident may have turned out to be deadly. I finally took the service manager for a drive and was able to replicate the in incident. After he got his breath back he said wow, that's some seriously aggressive driving and the tranny SHOULD not leave you in that position. After a bunch of discussion with Acura head office the service manager stated there was nothing they could do about it. Telling me that they can't program the car to react to EVERY condition under the sun. After all what are you doing driving the car like that anyway, it's dangerous at best! For obvious reasons I didn't like that answer and made it known the tranny should have a "I don't know what the f.. Is going on" mode that puts the tranny in a safe mode.
As a computer programmer I've thought long and hard about this issue. And have come to the conclusion Acura Canada is correct. With all the interaction between different computers and sensors, it probably is next to impossible to program every situation into the computer without using a supercomputer of some sort. There are just too many variables to be processed by a regular computer.
So how does this relate to the TLX? The more the computer handles, the bigger the chance it's going to do something the driver doesn't want, nor expect! Personally I don't like a computer making all the decisions for me, mainly because they are only as smart as the guy that programmed them. Sure they could think of most every situation, but then you would need a Cray Super Computer in the trunk to run the car.
Acura knows about the hesitation issue and I'm sure if it can be fixed within the framework of their current programming it will be done. But it's the first model year and may take some time to sort out. Heck it may not even be possible without a wholesale change in programming, which isn't going to happen this model year.
To sum up, I don't like computers controlling so many critical aspects of a vehicle as I fully appreciate the complexity and logic involved. But that is progress, just like moving away from M trannies. But that's life and all new vehicles are subject to the same computer issue in one way or another.
Back in the day many of us didn't buy a new model vehicle because all the mechanical issues that may pop up. Now you can add the computer programming to that list which makes the first model year even more susceptible to issues, all vehicles are in the same boat though.
Our local dealer has 4 TLX's in stock, all different models which is nice. Does anyone know if you can get fog lights with the full ground effects package? They had a I4 with that package and no fog lights. The dealer said fog lights could be added to that package but it didn't look possible unless there was a different front end package.
Although I didn't have time for a test drive I was pleased with the vehicle! My biggest issue being a smallish trunk, but with fold down seats I can at least fit enough luggage in it to go on a vacation with my wife now
One other question, how does the jewel LED's compare to the 3g's HID's? I'm hooked on the excellent visibility the HID's provide.
Am I the only one here that learned to drive with a three on the tree lol

 

^ 3 on the tree.. My folks had a '71 maverick with a inline 6 and a 3 on the tree... memories

 

Long thread, good review.
I'm curious as to why people are comparing this well priced vehicle against the likes of an A6 or lexus 350 .... This car is twenty to thirty thousand $$ cheaper than any of them including the RLX (in CND)!


Probably because it delivers many of the same features and a comparable driving experience for a lot less money with superior odds of being reliable (at least as compared to the German cars). The A6 is a bit bigger, the IS350 is probably a bit smaller than the TLX.

 

The LED head lights are suppose to be better than the HIDs- so I'm told. I noticed with the TLX that the difference between low beam and high beam is that high beam lights up the 2 inner LED bulbs.

I find it impressive that the TLX is even mentioned or compared with these other more upscale/expensive models. It really shows that Acura has stepped up it's game in this competitive segment.

 

I can relate to your concern, but we had better get used to it. In the evolution of cars we first had cruise control, navigation systems, and now with the TLX there is ACC, CMBS, and RDM. This is much more computing power than the commercial computer I first programmed. Just think what it will be like in 10 years or less. Can you say self driving cars?