1. The GPS - voice command is probably even worse than manual input (and manual isn't great either if you prefer touch screen).
a. It should be one address, not one piece of the address at a time.
b. It should have a dedicated button ONLY for nav so you don't waste time saying that you want to use nav. I doubt I'll ever adjust the radio or temperature by voice.
c. Have it both input by mouse AND touch screen so the user can input data whichever way they prefer.

2. I'll wait for a hybrid model based on the Honda Accord Hybrid. Ideally with about 40/40 MPG and 7s 0-60.

3. The beak - make the stupid bar easy to remove - that way no need to modify it - two or three screws from inside the hood and off comes the offensive strip. The photosphopped beakless ones really are a night and day improvement.

 

so, the navigation unit is your biggest gripe.

 

I'll say this - it is very high up on the list. My current car is still in great shape and gas mileage isn't that far from the current TLX. If they made a hybrid as I hate wasting time at the gas station that would be a start. I keep my cars a decade plus so I'm one of the people who would probably break even on having a hybrid and as a bonus I don't have to waste time at the gas station waiting for some idiot to pick their lucky number and discuss hard pack or soft pack, menthol, filtered cancer sticks.

I use my GPS a few times a week as I'm going to new clients all the time so a good in dash nav is very very important to me. My phone is fine if I'm a passenger and I'm not worried about the power on it as GPS depletes the battery faster than it can charge. However I need my phone at all times and it is too small to view as the driver.

If I'm paying $40,000 plus for a car it shouldn't have something truly fugly as the first thing you see when looking at the car. It isn't exactly a secret many people find the beak offensive so making it removable seems like a no brainer.

 

^^ The easiest way to remove it is by not buying an Acura *lol* I am just teasing you...not trying to be an ass

That being said, its frustrating when car companies do little things like this to annoy us....for me, its the rear reactive dampers...WHY?!?!? They didn't work in the ILX, RDX and they are now going to put them in the TLX....LET ME GUESS THE OUTCOME!

 

Joneill44 sent me these pictures - it really is a nice looking car IMHO without the beak.


To me this looks far more elegant and refined - just my opinion of course but I think Acura could really improve sales if they gave people a choice. You can get different colors for most cars and different wheels/hubs- why not a choice of one other grill.

 

Something is off with the grille. A bar ala pre-shield would be better. Or just paint the shield black

 

Sorry to sound rude but honestly this thread is:

 

I realize you are pretty obsessed with 'the beak' but on the TLX it is my understanding that the forward radar looks through the beak and therefore you may not be able to modify it or you may alter the performance of the radar and whatever functions it supports. Or if you remove it you may be stuck with a radar module in some new grill. It may not be paintable either for the same reason. Just something to consider if you were even slightly considering this car with the thought that you'll just mod the grill.

 

Rocket_man - thanks for that reminder/information. Hopefully it can be modded. If they make a hybrid version and update the GPS, I could live without the mod but it would be the first time in my life I felt a need to mod a car but I'd consider it if it could be done. (I've never even paid for fancy hub caps or wheels on any previous car).

I test drove the Honda hybrid and actually liked it a lot but with the amount of time I sit in traffic each day I'd really want the significantly nicer TL seats. And obviously if so many other cars have NAVIs that support single line input, Acura could buy from another source that does support single line input as well.

I realize no car is going to fit every feature I want but the TLX could come close by next year with a little work.

 

Or find some RF transparent paint!

 

For the GPS issue, just allow manual address input while in motion.

 

Looks way to retro to me. Reminds me of a CL with 4 doors instead of 2. In this case, the shield is needed or do something different with he grill.

 

I like it, but am also OK with the old 3G cross bar as well.

 

That would help - or at least make it easy to hack/fix. I still can't believe they HAVE to put in such a primitive voice command system. If so many other companies have decent voice nav, obviously the issue isn't that impossible to fix.

 

+1

 

Once I actually see and drive the new TLX, I'm sure I could come up with 3 things I would change. But for now, I just hope that the lady who lives within the navigation unit of the 4G TL doesn't take up residence in the TLX because I never again want to hear the words, "entering unverified area"!!! I want to reach in there and slap that b***h, every time I hear her shriek that phrase.

 

I would say a 6mt option, but judging by the overall look of the car. Why bother.

Acura is happy with everything, don't want to attract "enthusiast" like the 3rd Gen.

 

tailpipes
power
grill

 

so far i have not seen a set of OEM rims that I like on this car. I usually don't do aftermarket wheels so the jury is still out on this.

I really don't like the visible supposedly not visible tail pipes. It takes the luxury out of luxury, and NO I don't care what lexus does in this area to the ES350.

I would add the LED strips back that were seen on the prototype. I would use those as the DRL as opposed to the jewel eyes.

Other things - I know that DVD-A is dead or dying, I have the ability to burn my own, I hope this feature stays.

Hopefully, all interior lights are LED, its been a bitch replacing incandescent in previous cars, 2nd and 3rd gen. If you going to put a thousand buttons in the dash, at least make it easy to replace bulbs.

I also dis-like the fact you show race car driver commercials and now you are telling me the SH-AWD will handle similar to the out going FWD. What the hell does that mean?

 

1. Include the inside door grab handle (I think it was mentioned before). Habits, yes habits.

2. Don't dump DVD-A. My Foreigner and Fleetwood Mac DVD-As is the best quality music I have heard in a car!

3. WeatherTech mats should come standard.

 

Unless somehow this is a spectacular release, this is at a minimum a second model year purchase.

If they could not get the ILX out and trouble free, I doubt they can do so for this much more complex vehicle.

 

I admit I was hoping for a wow but we'll see if Acura can resolve a couple of things by next year to bring me back as Lexus is currently getting my attention.

 

Wait.........


How can we have a thread of things you would like to change on a car that hasn't even come out yet?????

 

Call me crazy but I'm pretty sure they released all the info I need to make an informed decision. If they released that the acceleration was 0-60 in 22 seconds, wouldn't you have enough information to know that it would have to improve for you to consider it?

 

Boe_d, I want to see it, check it out, drive it before I can make a judgement call on anything in this car.


After I've taken it through it's paces, then I'll suggest changes.



Plus, I've just discovered that you've made 2 threads on basically the same subject. That's a no-no around here.


Since this one is newer, I'm closing your other thread.

 

It is funny that I think brand die hards are hard top please regardless of brand. I have been interested in the new 15 Genesis sedan and have been on the geneisownersforums and that car is only out a month and the those guys are griping up a storm as well, from the materials on the top of the dash, to the lack of fog lights on the V6. Reminded me of this forums and the rants on the TLX.

 

Any gripes about the horsepower being down?

 

Not that it saw, but they mention the AWD seems a tad hesitant probably due to,the drag on the power train.

 

Their solution for this is AcuraLink connectivity.

If it is inconvenient for you to input an address using the NAV system, then just hit the AcuraLink button.

You just say "New Destination" and when the server responds then you can just say "5906 Caddiddlehopper Rd in Arlington, Virginia" and it'll look for it.

It's slight annoying that it'll think for a moment, then repeat it back to you to ask if it got it right and is this the address you want to search for.

Then it comes back and asks if you want it sent to the NAV system in the car.

I think that in the future on a redesign, we could probably assume a couple of steps and cut them out in order to give the user the feeling that the system was faster.

But if you want to just blurt out the entire address, that's the answer for you: Hit the AcuraLink button. :-)

This is available...but it's funny that you are looking for it when people like Brian Cooley and Alex Dykes *complain* about it as a redundant feature.

You get a "rolling and scrolling" alphabet on the top screen that you can use with the wheel, and you get a QWERTY alphabet on the bottom screen that you can type on if you are sitting still and can focus on it.

So... I suppose that all NAV systems can use better human interfaces and interactions, but they're not *complete* idiots.

 

Wow. For the money it costs, I thought they designed a damned high class interior on the '15 Genesis!

Never mind Mercedes, Audi and BMW...the kind of perceptual quality they provide for the money is going to cause even Acura to take a new focus.

I think they did well with that '15 Genesis, although as always its long term survivability might be a question when compared with Acura. I think that's the only reason they don't sell a lot more Genesis and Equus, the damned things are sitting right there next to a Veloster or whatever it's called.

 

I sat in a 15 Genesis and it is truly impressive. It still think the materials in Lexus and Infiniti are a tad better and even my old 4G AWD TL the materials felt a tad better. The 15 Genesis is a big improvement over the old Genesis. If you asked me today what I will get after my A6 my short list is Infiniti Q70, Genesis, TLX, maybe CTS and GS350.

 

They were damn-near giving those CTS' away a month ago. They may still be. I think people were getting like $5000-$10000 off MSRP when you counted all the incentives.

 

Damn, if I could get a CTS for $10K off I would probably try one.

 

Issue: A Toyota Corolla can accept the entire address in one say, without connecting to some phone-based service.


The complaint from the other editors has more to do with continuity. The keyboard is merely an adjunct to the scroll knob. You cannot use the touchscreen for every step of the way, you eventually have to transition to the knob (or voice command).


The real issue is, most editors I see still compare the MDX to the Germans... all of which can claim superior systems, nowadays. Full offline address entry in natural and intuitive phrasing. If they need to go online, they can grab Google streetview data and retrieve Google search info (for destinations - just say anything about your destination and it will find the location for you).


The current Acura system, with Acuralink, was okay 10 years ago, when such technologies first started appearing.

Acura's playing catchup. Those 6-8 min reviews have no time to waste on rehashing old tech (or it's equivalent) that's expected on luxury vehicles, nowadays (even their appearance on mainstream cars is no longer special). Who even reviews basic cruise control, anymore? It better drive the car for you (like Volvo's queue assist, BMW's ACC w/ Stop and Go, or Mercedes Stop&Go Pilot; Acura's Low Speed Follow is still a step behind these systems, the European systems will work in all sorts of stop and go traffic. Acura's still requires constant driver input to function in stop and go traffic).












TL,DR? Acura's tech is old by current market standards. The touchscreen's integration with the navigation system could be better.

 

Check PM.

 

Every time I've been in an LS I've been very impressed with everything except the "sportiness" and they're trying to fix that with the F-Sport package. I haven't driven an F-Sport LS yet to say whether they succeeded.

The last time I was in an LS460, I seriously felt it was the best car this side of a quarter million. It's a very logical choice at the top end and I don't think Acura has any intention of ever trying to compete at that level.

 

It's cellular based but not phone based.

The car connects to its own service without using your own phone.

If your hand's out anyway, I'd hardly call it a transition if you're mashing the knob in to say YES.



What other editors?

I don't know what you mean. The Acura will come to a complete, full stop in traffic as long as there is a car in front of you.

It does not see a red light, and if you are going to let the car ahead of you go through the light, then you will have to stop the car. Then you'll have to push the ACC lever up to get going again, or you will have to start accelerating again and the car will take it from there.

The last LS460 that I was in did not do what you are trying to say, and the last Bentley that I was in did not do that, either.

So I don't know what vehicles you're talking about that'll see a red light and stop.

I do have a major complaint with Acura ACC, however: It is not natural. Sometimes it brakes very much after a human would have started braking.

I suppose it has something to do with overall efficiency, but until you get used to what it is doing it can be somewhat alarming.

It's just too jerky, and some people aren't going to like it.

I suppose I have to agree with that statement, in general terms. :-)

And saying that AcuraLink works as an alternative to where we started the conversation, I admit that it would still be better to have the car's internal, unconnected system be able to do what AcuraLink does.

It would be faster and easier for the driver.

 

Despite the shortcomings of ACC + LKAS, it's still a big step forward.

You arrive at your destination after a long drive feeling much more mentally alert, much more refreshed, than using a car without those systems.

Maybe it's not for younger people who are still looking for more involvement, but if you're just after getting where you are going and feeling good when you get there, it works.

For whatever one dumb old man's opinion is worth, of course.

:-)

 

I'm going to post Brian's and Alex's Youtube reviews of the RLX Advance because the ACC / LKAS works exactly the same way in the TLX Advance, so you have a frame of reference for what it is we are talking about.

I don't like everything that Alex says about the infotainment system, but it's still valid. He is not the first person who has described LKAS and the firmware of the infotainment system as "peculiar."

Brian's video shows the two screens that I was talking about. He criticizes having both a QWERTY and rolling alphabet, but I think most of us will understand why they did that.

Alex: I am afraid he is rather long winded in an analytical way, but there are people who appreciate how much time he spends on reviewing the computer systems.

 

I can only name 1 thing since have not seen this in person, nor driven it yet.

The wheels. So far the only wheel I liked was the sh-awd video demo clip. Not digging either show car accessory wheel, or the ones shown on various photo shots.

After that impossible to say, until seen in person.... but man those rims suck-arse.