probmxstyle

IMO I think Acura did a pretty good job at infusing luxury and sport into the 4th gen. The awd 6MT 4th gen is sportier and more luxurious than any 3rd gen. Sure its larger and the looks are subjective, but its way more capable.

C8N

Car & Driver June 2013

http://www.caranddriver.com/news/201...os-future-cars

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

that looks to be part of the camo (ie a strap of some sort). last thing they need is a gap toothed grill in addition to the buck toothed look.

Mr Marco

My sentiment exactly.



Fuucking stupid and cheap looking.

Might we also see "Jewel Eyes?"

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

I think those are Jewel eyes.

the MDX and RLX both received them along with the tailless pipes.

it would make sense if the TLX followed suit

Mr Marco

Shit, I missed the tail-less exhaust. Looks like it might have Toyota tail-lights too.
Hmm, nothing may ever be able to replace the 3G TL in the looks dept.

potmilkz

i like my 4g the way it is... now unless the new tlx offers some better electronics.. i dont mind upgrading..

OhioMDXer

This has been posted on this thread since June 24, 2013. Perhaps we can merge this thread with the previous one.

Edward'TLS

Please merge. There is no need to talk about the exact same thing all over again.

TheAspec

You know... the more and more I look at the spy shots I just don't see much difference besides the front and rear fascia changes. The rest of the car looks A LOT like the current 4G TL. Looking and the side windows and related lines and the rear window/trunk line as well as the engine lines.

Maybe it's just my eyes. Or maybe Acura is fooling us with this car and it's just another MMC to update some features/style lines?

a35tl

You know the '13 Accord didn't change much stylistically from the '12 but it's a vastly improved vehicle. Same with the '14 MDX vs the '13 model. Acura may be planning a subtle stylistic change for the TL(X) as well. I hope it looks really sharp but more than that, I hope they produce a stellar vehicle.

Stew4HD

Agreed!

To me, it looks mostly like the 4G witha shortened nose and tail. No doubt some facia will change... We should see before long.

BEAR-AvHistory

Saw a TV thing on the car cammo a while back. Lots of times they pad it out with foam sheet to change the silhouette.

keith7120

So I understand the tailpipes are hidden. Some stated that they didn't mind if they were hidden as long as there are two. Well, I looked under the new MDX which was SH-AWD and it only had one tail pipe. I wonder if they will do this to the TLX? I know the RLX has two but it makes me wonder.

SeismicGuy

I don't think the "dual" tail pipes on our cars are true dual exhaust but I could be wrong. All I know is that with our 2000 TL there was a single pipe that split off into two pipes towards the back end of the car--not really a true dual exhaust from start to finish.

keith7120

They are true for the SH-AWD version. I was able to look at my car while it was lifted in the air. There are two separate pipes from the engine to the rear. I can't speak for the base model. My point is the MDX is a SH-AWD and it has only one pipe. Hopefully, the TLX does not follow this. Also the Navi screen is very grainy and has very low resolution in the MDX. I was disappointed in that. The Navi screen in the RLX and my current TL are way better. They seem to have cut a few corners in the MDX.

probmxstyle

You must have a custom exhaust because we do not have 2 pipes running from the engine. The exhaust manifolds connect to a j-pipe which combines each manifold into one pipe. The one pipe is then split into 2 pipes near the rear of the car.

keith7120

The layout for a SH-AWD
http://www.acurapartsnow.com/parts-c...haust-pipe-4wd

The layout for the base
http://www.acurapartsnow.com/parts-c...haust-pipe-2wd

probmxstyle

As you can see, the two manifolds combine into one pipe at the j-pipe and then split into two. A true dual exhaust will have individual pipes from the manifold all the way to the mufflers.

keith7120

Got it! It seems weird that there is a difference from the FWD and SH-AWD. The FWD combines at the rear and SH-AWD joins at the front. What is that about? Higher Flow?

Booya4139

more flow, look at the volume of space the exhaust has at each point, once it splits its basically doubles the volume.

keith7120

Figures, I just knew they did not connect in the back as my 3Gen type S or the base 4 gen.

SeismicGuy

So even with the AWD it still looks like both exhaust manifolds begin by dumping into a single pipe and then splitting off again--never really true dual from start to finish. I suspect at least part of the problem is the transverse mounting of the engine rather than the more traditional mounting. With a more traditional orientation it is easier to route one pipe from each manifold down the length of the car.

BEAR-AvHistory

Its pretty much all over by the time the gases exit the collector into the pipes. Don't imagine there is much functional difference between the two systems.

TeamAcura

Guys, It will never pass emissions if it was just a straight pipe. That is the main reason why the jpipe is there.

SeismicGuy

I guess from my old American muscle car days what I was envisioning were two separate pipes each with a cat and muffler to meet emissions. There is a re-emergence of the dual exhaust look over the last several years and, to my mind, having a single pipe that splits somewhere before the rear merely to give the look of a dual exhaust is kind of a cheat--faux dual exhausts.

Colin

My understanding has been that it was done to balance several conflicting needs. Number one, Acura needed to have a good deal of exhaust flow through the system. However, they also needed to meet certain noise requirements/goals. In order to achieve this it would have required the use of a single muffler that would have been too large to package efficiently. Thus, the muffling duties were split into 2 smaller mufflers which allowed for sufficient exhaust flow and good sound control.

BEAR-AvHistory

Do you think that was a factory/marketing sound goal because the muffler system on my 135is & 335is can be quite loud like the Vette performance system but it still meets DOT/EPA regs?

Colin

Surly internal. These aren't anywhere near loud enough to draw EPA scrutiny. Anyway, that's one of the things I heard around the time of the first S2000 and TSX. So 2000-2003ish range. For the TSX they also cited improved undercar aero because the location helped smooth the underside on the sides of the spare tire well.

Edward'TLS

To maximize the exhaust flow, the optimal setup is 2 independent sets of manifold/piping/converter/muffler, each hooking up to either bank of the V6 engine.

With the current AWD setup, the limiting factor is with the single pipe. So this single pipe determines the flow rate of the entire system.

SeismicGuy

Exactly. So in the interest of accuracy what we really have is dual tailpipes and not dual exhaust.

Regarding the exhaust tone the first time I test drove the 2012 TL I did notice that it was a bit more audible than our 2000 which was whisper quiet. Frankly I like and exhaust that you can hear and I recall back in 2002 or so when I was involved in an Acura focus group test drive for the newly released "S" option, the consensus of the group was also that more exhaust sound was preferable than less.

draph

I speculate two reasons Acura is going with hidden tail pipes:
1) Cost
2) "Green" market trends. Dual shiny exhaust tips say, "hey, look how cool it is to emit tons of greenhouse gases". A single hidden tail pipe says, "I'm doing my best with today's technologies to emit as little as possible".

Big shiny exhaust tips don't fit the Earth Dreams vision that Acura is trying to convey. The best we can hope for is a TLX type S a few years from now that eschews environmental "correctness" for something a little more overtly sporty. IMHO

Colin

I wonder if they're thinking of reintroducing Type-S versions down the road? If so, maybe the hidden tips will give way to exposed finishers later?

xkobe0821x

It would be nice 2 see it n hope is faster n sportier

Danyoung

This looks to be more of a restyling instead of a redesign. I spoke to a general manager, not that it says much, about the new "TLX". He mentioned all Acura's are moving into the styling direction of the new RLX/MDX with the jewel LEDs and dual screen center consoles. Most likely the will retain the same applications under the hood and another years wait. With that said, overall I'm just curious...out of all the members with 4G's, pre 2011/post 2011 facelift, how many would trade in their 4G's for a restyled 5G TLX?

emanon256

I have the '09, and really prefer the new beak on the '12+. I also really would love to have the LED headlights. Its very tempting. However, I tend to keep cars a long time, so I probably wouldn't actually do it. If money weren't an issue, I would go for it.

sebounet2005

I have a 2 years lease that end in 6 months i hope acura will have a new model , if yes i will change depending on styling etc...

LubDub

I have had the 07 Type S, 10 SH-AWD and now a 13 SH-AWD all 6MT. The car has gotten better each time. The acceleration and handling dynamics of the 4G is far ahead of the 3G. The styling has gotten better w the MMC. I'm looking forward to the TLX. Hopefully they maintain the 6MT but I'm willing to drive a dual clutch box if I had to. If there's only a slushbox, I'm going to Audi or BMW. Even if the car has sport-hybrid-super-crazy-cool-handling-every-wheel-drive

Oswald Vater

My 10/Tech's lease is up in October. Too early for the 5g I believe so I am probably going to extend the lease which Acura will let me do for up to another year on a month-to-month basis. When the 5g finally appears I'll decide whether or not to go that route based on looks and price, buy the 10 or jump ship altogether. I don't think I'll lease another 4g even though they will probably push that option.

Devil Dog 21

I'll probably skipping the 5G if there are just subtle improvements over the 4G. In order for me to open my wallet I'd need to see some pretty substantial upgrades in tech, mileage, and styling options.

If they go the rout of the 2 screens I'll definitely be passing on the 5G as Honda officially lost their minds with that design. The blue control screen or whatever you call it, just looks like a cheap shortcut compared to Cadillac Cue system or Audi's Nav control. I fear Acura is going to fall really far behind in the tech department.