My local dealership called today and told me that 3 TLX just arrived today - two V6 Tech and one 4 Tech - so I went to see them after work and got to test drive both the V6 and 4 cylinder models this evening.

I don't want to repeat what many have stated here already, as I share many of your thoughts and opinions, so I will be brief. First, the TLX is an attractive vehicle! The black colour was beautiful and the blue was much better looking in person than in photos - no wonder why Acura chose to use this colour in car shows. It does look much more compact than the 4G TL. However, I am pleased to report that the interior space did appear to be quite similar to the 4G TL. It may have a bit less headroom but it was no big deal. I did not notice any real difference in the leg room both at the front and at the back. I was pleased about that.

I will describe here how I felt about the 2 engines before I talk about the general likes and dislikes that I have:

The 4 cylinder vehicle was very lively indeed! It's agile and peppy, and the 8 speed transmission was very smooth indeed. It was definitely a great, sporty car, and no wonder why all of the journalists were so impressed by it! However, it definitely sounded and felt like a 4 cylinder vehicle - that said, it was by no means noisy and unrefined, but once you compare it to the V6 model, you will notice the difference right away. Driving it reminded me of the 3 series and A4 with the 4 cylinder engines. I did miss the silky feeling of my 4G TL's V6 though.

The V6 FWD was SUPER QUIET and BUTTERY SMOOTH! Even the Lexus GS is nowhere close to this level of quietness, and the 328 and A4 just appear to be coarse and unrefined in comparison!!! It's really quite wonderful. Its suspension was much more supple than the 4G TL SH-AWD that I have. I am so used to the harsh suspension of the 4G TL SH-AWD that I even felt that it might be a bit too soft but in fact, it really was not. It was still firm but the ride was much more refined. It soaked up all the imperfections on the road extremely well. The button gear shifter was surprisingly easy to use and I got used to it quite quickly! I was shocked by how I did not really miss the old style shifter at all! As for the 9 speed transmission, it is not as smooth as the 8 speed but it is overall still excellent. I did notice that slight delay with acceleration that many of you did as well, but it was somehow intermittent and I noticed it much more with the V6 than with the 4 cylinder. When that happened, it was a bit disconcerting and confusing.

Overall, what I like about the TLX:

- Both 4 cylinder and V6 are responsive and have good power, but each has a very different flavour
- Suspension is as good as the journalists claim
- Super quiet interior cabin
- Wonderful ELS sound system
- Tech trim level has lots of nice technologies
- Nice, clean interior design. Dashboard more tech than lux but still nice
- The double LCD display is not as confusing as some people claim, and the haptic feedback is NICE! Comparing to the MDX, the touch screen is an upgrade and feels solid and firm, without that flimsiness of the touch screen in the MDX
- The interior space is good
- The opening of the fold-down rear seats is not the widest but still a useful size and shape

What I dislike about the TLX:

- There are a few cheap bits inside the cabin, especially the fact that there is no longer the slanted hand grab bar (there must be a better term for this!) for ALL four doors' handrests! I really missed that from the 4G TL. Also, the interior panel for the doors do not feel as premium as the 4G TL with its material choices and it also moves a bit too much when you press on it... let me say that the cabin material choice is still a bit nicer than the current MDX overall though. It is certainly very, very nice from the 4 cylinder price point, but may be not good enough for the upper trim levels. I wished that the choice of materials were as nice as the Lexus GS and IS.... That said, even the upper trim levels are priced at level of the lower end of the 3 series or A4!!! So once you look at the price, you have a different perspective.
- There was certainly that annoying reflection of the air vent in the side mirror/window. I had no idea what others were talking about in the forum before, but once I sat in the car today, I noticed it right away! It was an unexpected design flaw and I took a photo to show you below.
- You can easily see that half-exposed, pathetic exhaust when you see the car from behind. Either you hide them completely or you flaunt the dual exhaust! Very, very silly of Acura to half-expose them indeed!!!
- The Sport+ IDS setting was probably a bit rough for daily driving, but it's no big deal as the Sport mode was great.

Overall, I was pleased with the vehicle and Acura has a winner in their hands! For myself, the choice was easy - V6 hands-down. I really like the noticeably quieter and silkier engine, which is more important for my own driving needs. I cannot wait to try out the SH-AWD version when it arrives in Sept/Oct!







The unfortunate reflection of the air vent in the side mirror/window:

 

A very good review! I expected no less Thanks!

To me, the pros far out weigh the cons as the cons are cosmetic, for the most part. I can get used to the exhaust and the missing door "bars". The reflection is helped by tint, to some degree and one an still see what is in the mirror. Acura should consider an overlay of that silver bezel or something

 

^^ I think you may be right.. It seems from the photo that if the silver vent bezel was black it wouldn't reflect as much, if at all..

 

I would hope, and think they will, get on this immediately and fix it as it can interfere with viewing of other vehicles and potentially cause accidents.

 

I wouldn't say it's that much of a view blocker, more of a nuisance

 

Completely agree. It looks worse in some lights/angles.

 

I am concerned about something you said in your review, that the 6 cylinder was much more "buttery smooth" than the 4 cylinder.

I drove the 6 cylinder a couple of weeks ago and felt the same way. Reminded me of my 3G TL, my most beloved car ever.

I now lease a TSX that I would not want as a long-term car due to the 4-cylinder noise and overall lack of quiet. While I like the pep and zippiness, the car feels light and inexpensive.

I'm driving the 4 cylinder TLX this Friday. I have driven the 328i and 528i and was very impressed with the smoothness/quiet of those engines. If the TLX is anything like those I think I'll be happy. But I definitely want a lot more refinement in the 4 cylinder TLX than the TSX.

 

I drove the 4cyl TLX. It is definitely quieter than the ILX/TSX, but it still feels and sounds like a 4cyl. Personally, I would opt for the 6cyl.

 

If the side view mirror was actually set up properly would you still see this reflection?

There is no way you should see the side of your car as shown in the above photo if the side mirrors were set up correctly.

 

^That's what I was thinking as well.

 

That's what I'm afraid of. $40,000 for a tech V6 will price me out of it and send me to the Ford Fusion, a car that has impressed me immensely.

 

Excellent review and spot on. Owning the V-6, I can speak to everything you said and confirm.. the V6 is a beast! One thing I did want to mention in regards to the delay in acceleration, what driving mode were you in? When in ECON mode I can definitely feel the difference in acceleration as that's expected in order to save fuel (my guess)... but when in even normal or sport mode that lag is greatly reduced to non existent from 1st gear acceleration especially with paddles in sport+.

Glad this car is getting the great reviews it deserves. I think Acura truly has a hit with this car. They really added some great changes but also managed to maintain a lot of what has worked in past TL and TSX models.

 

Pretty sure its actually a reflection off the driver side window and not the side mirror. It actually just so happens that the reflection is right in the way of the side mirrors view. Pretty sure tint will correct this problem which is something I have planned next week so I will post if this corrects the problem.

 

^yep, it's on the window, in line with the mirror

 

Please let us know how the tint affects the reflection. Thanks!

 

Tint will make the reflection worse. Had the same issue with a KIA Optima.

 

Tint helped a lot in Accord, less light hits the shiny parts and then the reflection seems diffused a good bit compared to the glass.

 

Nice review! Thanks for posting!

 

I tend to agree. Most likely the best results will be gained by 'blacking out' the offending trim. However, I also think that after a week or two many will start to ignore it. It's kind of like this with the chrome around the ILX shifter. It bugs me sometimes, but not worth the hassle to do something about it...

 

I only notice it in the Accord if I actually look for it. I drive to work in the dark, so I don't see it then.

 

That wheel gap and lack of exhaust tips really kills the sporty vibe this car had going for it. In the pictures is that the 4 or 6? Do they all look like 4x4 trucks?

 

Yeah, that 18" lift kit really kills it....

 

Unless you just started looking at Acura's they have always had a gap... I actually don't notice it as much on the TLX as I did with the TSX. I will agree with you the gap is a little much and has always been that way with Acura's and Honda's but it in no way takes away from the sporty look of the car at all. At least thats my opinion. 4x4.......

 

I agree, I haven't even noticed it the past day or so and even when I do its not so bad that I cant see, just a minor annoyance.

I will post before and after pictures once I get the tint job done. I'm going with a lighter tint so should be a good test to see if it works.

 

I think that reflection is a virtual crosshair (akin to BMW's Heads Up Display) as many of the TLX drivers leave the rest of the cars on the road behind.

 

I think it's 4G TL jealousy talking.

Kinda funny and ironic that an 4G TL owner complains about "sporty vibe".

 

The GS350 F-Sport has the same or even more wheel gap than the TLX

agreed.. I guess that is how they have to deal with "it"

 

The cars will naturally settle ~.5" after some time. I guess we shall see

 

That what worries me about the TLX because I don't want to spend money on aftermarket suspension or even mess with the oem suspension.

By the way is the TLX have electronic suspension? With the setting mode like normal>sport>sport+; all it does it doing dampening/firming the ride? Like Tein EDFC?

 

No. IDS settings do not change the suspension.

 

I also did some test drives today. The V6 advance and the base 4. I will not be as detailed in my review as I am not as sophisticated as most of you here in my car knowledge, but here is what I thought about my tests.


I thought the 4 was actually more fun to drive. The weight difference was significant and although I know it is not as fast 0-60 it felt like it was. Also better in the corners.
Felt like a sports car.


The 6 felt more like a luxury car being heavier. I actually felt more hesitation in the shifts than in the four.


The base trim was a black on black which I felt accentuated the large amount of soft plastic on the doors, which by the way is far more than my 2013 RDX has. I wish they had used a bit more leather on the door panels. The leatherette seats in the four were actually more comfortable as you sunk into them a bit more, although not as attractive as the perforated leather on the six.


The trim in the six was the brown/red, (sorry, forgetting the correct name right now) which I thought off set the black trim of the soft plastic nicely. It looked very rich.


Strangely, when I got back into my RDX, it felt quicker than either of the TLX's I tested.


One other thing. They had a white advance in the showroom with about every major add on you could get. The spoiler, the chrome trim on the bottom sides and the additional trim kit under the side doors. (Again, feel free to make fun of me for not knowing the correct names for this shit.) It looked awesome.


All in all, if I were going to trade in my 09 TL for the TLX, I would get the 4, add a bunch of trim options, and look at it more as a sports car than a luxury car. And I would keep my RDX.


If I were going to trade my RDX, I would get the six advance and have it as more of a luxury car to replace the RDX.

 

For AWD the GS350 F-Sport sits higher (by 0.6") to give it more ground clearance - I guess they assume you're driving it in blizzard conditions all the time or something I agree the wheel gap on the AWD models is pretty awful.

The RWD GS350 F-Sport's wheel gap isn't as bad.



BTW- Stew, whats your take on the highway quietness from your TLX test drive versus the GS? I thought the GS was quieter, even though the TLX was very very good, thought it was interesting that the OP noted the GS being "nowhere close" to the TLX's quietness.

 

I found the TLX to be quieter than the GS. The GS is quieter than the 4G TL but still had a bit of wind noise and could really hear it when being passed on the left side, like an air leak. There are lots of complaints about that of clublexus.

Here's what she looked like.. lowered w/Vossens

 

^^^^
That GS looks GOOD with the Vossens.

Thanks for the review, ostrich. I'm waiting for the SH-AWD version to take a test drive, but given the universally positive comments on the I-4, maybe that's what I ought to be leaning toward.

 

What caused you to move on from your late-model GS F-sport, especially back to an Accord? How could you even contemplate a TLX after owning the GS? The GS F-sport is the one car that I would hands-down take over my 4G TL SH-AWD, if I had wanted to splurge.

Just seeing a disconnect and having trouble understanding the rationale. It couldn't have been because you were "upgrading" to a better car, could it?

 

Don't be worried by my comments. The 4 cylinder engine was excellent. In terms of noise and vibration, I did not think that it was any worse than the 4 cylinder 328 or A4 at all. In fact, probably even a bit better.

I was hesitant to buy an Audi Allroad or 328 before because I did not feel that their 4 cylinder engine was what I wanted, after having been with the V6 of my wonderful 4G TL SH-AWD for years. That's why I prefer the V6 TLX. However, if you were already happy with the 3 series 4 cylinder, you will be happy with the 4 cylinder in the TLX!

 

Thanks! I tried various IDS modes to test out this acceleration delay - that said, I only spent about 30 seconds with the ECON mode before I switched it back to Sport LOL! That ECON mode will be for highway driving but for daily driving it was just killjoy LOL. Anyway, back to the acceleration delay - I noticed it in Sport and Normal modes, but not in the Sport+ mode. However, as I had mentioned, I would personally not prefer to use Sport+ in normal daily driving though, due to how it downshifts.

 

Thank you, Stew! I agree that the TLX is quieter than the GS AWD F-Sport! If the GS had fold down rear seats, I would have gotten one by now.... I must say that when I test drove the GS before, I had expected it to be whisper quiet but it was not. It was quiet OK but not as quiet as I had expected.

What the GS really did well was the interior design - the materials and the fit/finish were first class and I loved it. That is surely something that Acura can still improve on.

However, in terms of the driving experience, I did not feel that for me, it was much of an upgrade from the 4G TL SH-AWD. In fact, even in the Sports mode, I felt that the GS F-Sport was just a hair too soft for me.

Anyway, IMHO, at its pricing level, the TLX has the best balance of everything and is the best deal of the bunch.

 

I did not find the GS worth the extra cost and when I got an offer to just walk away from the lease, I did. I do not find the TLX as much a downgrade as you seem to think it is. To me, there are things that the GS does well and same for the TLX.

No offense to you but you are here saying that if we are here looking for a TLX, why not cross shop the GS. It seems to me that you don't see it as much of an upgrade either.

I got the Accord as an interim car. I have been waiting on the TLX and it was supposed to be out earlier in the year.

 

Completely agree. I have been "living" with the reflection of the silver trim on 05 TSX for 9 yrs with no problem. It's there only if you look for it.