First I want to start off with putting all biases aside. I am seeing a lot of comments of comparing this against the TL and TLX being an inferior product. It’s a different product not inferior.

I personally have owned

2001 Acura TL (for 13 years and 190k)
2010 Acura TSX V6
2013 Acura TL SH AWD

And we currently have a 2014 Acura TL SH Awd (mine) and 2014 MDX (wifes).

The car I drove was a V6 Advance. Black Copper with Tan interior.

First the exterior, the car looks much better in person than pics. The rims do look nice, but I wish the wheel gaps were smaller. The front of the car is gorgeous, with the jewel LEDs and isn’t too busy. Walking around the car the rear reminded me a lot of my TSX with the short trunk deck, and when I saw the trunk I was really impressed with the size, much better use of space compared to my car. Side profile, like the front looked great, nice and neat.

The interior, when I sat inside it was identical to our MDX. Which I didn’t like not cause the MDX is bad, but I would have liked the TLX to have more of its own personality. I noticed unlike the MDX the TLX did not have power steering column adjustments, which I found a bit odd for a sedan of this magnitude. The interior does feel a bit cramped, I am 6 foot 200lb(maybe I need to lose weight..). There was plenty of headroom but you can defiantly tell the car is narrower than the TL. The shifter buttons are more of a cool factor; I was honestly missing laying my hand on the shifter. I didn't find the seats as supportive as my TL, and kinda felt small. The headrest was amazing, like a soft leather pillow

The salesman I use is a pretty cool guy and came with me on the drive. I drove for 30mins or so and drove it hard. I first drove it on normal and I saw the tranny lag others are talking about, the handling was nice but nothing special. Acura said they are going for a vault like quietness, it was quite but I didn’t really think it was anything special.

For the second half of my drive I used Sports +, here the car really shined and felt a lot more athletic. When on the highway there was plenty of torque for passing and had a lot of midrange grunt. I also liked the fact that when using paddle shifters it didn’t automatically up shift on me. With being FWD you do feel torque steer but its manageable.

Overall its a great car, and amazing bang for your buck. But at the end of the day I still preferred my 2014 SH AWD TL, maybe when the AWD TLX comes out I might change my tune.

Any questions, just ask.

 

I did notice on Sport+, it seemed to be holding gears longer...it felt strange to me. I thought it was waiting for me to shift. I guess that mode is for when you're going to floor it.

I used to think that those modes for a non-sporty car were stupid, but now that I think about it, it is pretty useful...even more useful if a Type-S were to come around.

 

Thanks for your review. I purchased my 2013 TL SH-AWD Tech because I absolutely love what it offers and consider it to be an absolute steal for the $38k that I paid. Nevertheless, I find the TLX to be an intriguing car and am wondering about several aspects, in comparison (objectively) to the TL.

• I find the TL SH-AWD to be ultra-taut and is a blast to drive HARD (especially when taking hard curves with the 3.7L engine above the 4700rpm VTEC transition). Considering how big the TL is, a sports-sedan this size really makes it unique. Did you get a sense of whether the TLX is also the driver's car the TL SH-AWD is, or did they soften it up?
  
• You mentioned that the interior of the TLX feels narrower than the TL. Was it only a slight negligible difference, or did it feel like the two cars are in different size categories?
  
• Since the TLX is a cross between the TL and TSX, did you find that the TLX in any way move downmarket from the TL?
  
• On the road, I find the TL structure to be rock solid. Does the TLX give the same vault-like feeling, or did they further improve upon this?
  
• The rear doors of the TL, when closing, sound rather hollow and tinny. The front doors sound solid, with a nice thunk (as if Honda thought they could cut cost and calculated that potential owners would only notice the tactile feel of the fronts door during the test drive). Did you get a chance to sample the sound of the rear doors of the TLX?

 

Hi hddnav, I will touch on each of your points above.

Pics of the dampen doors if interested
Untitled by dnd29841, on Flickr
Untitled by dnd29841, on Flickr
Untitled by dnd29841, on Flickr

 

dnd2984, I REALLY appreciate you taking the time and effort to answer my questions so thoroughly, especially with regards to the door panel removal and dynamat. It's posters like you who really make the forums such a rewarding experience and worth the trudge through all the noise and screaming in the Internet jungle. Thank you for your perspective!

I'm planning on staying with my 2013 TL for quite a while (my wife will be up for the next new vehicle, whenver that may happen), and I'm quite happy with my purchase, even though the 2015 TLX is a really nice car. I not one to upgrade cars every couple years (I've averaged about 7 years between new cars), but I have a feeling that I'll be enjoying my TL SH-AWD for a long time.

 

Thanks! And if you think of anything else, please ask.