BEAR-AvHistory

You might find this of interest & am sure the reviewer knows this.

Acura fudges the cargo numbers

BEAR-AvHistory

Guy write like he works as stringer for Acura's PR operation. How can it be back to its performance roots when its slower than the older generations? Also when its much, much further away from the benchmark Germans than the early generations which used to match them in some areas?

ELIN

I have no doubt that everyone tries to take advantage when they can. I always rely on the eye test and not cargo specs.

TSX69

Flapjackura

We got used to "Plo Koon", "Shmi Skywalker", "Count Dooku" ..... I think we'll get used to "Grogu"

ELIN

True.

The above names were Lucas creations. From what I've read, Grogu is from Favreau. Well, he gave us Iron Man and a whole bunch of other quality movies so I'll let it slide.

Kense

They should have saved that Title for the Type S. There is nothing performance oriented about this TLX lol.

BEAR-AvHistory

Today the overhead notification panels on 540 near RDU said "OFFICER INJURED Black Acura temporary plates involved" Anyone knows anything might want to call the NC State Police

fiatlux

I might have been the only person to lug a car seat to the dealership to test out the fit, but it would appear that my assessment (the TLX sucks for baby duty) has been confirmed. In fact, I thought it was actually worse than 1G, which itself was already pretty bad.

https://www.cars.com/articles/how-do...ra-tlx-429605/

jdmvette

Favreau might also be a fan of a certain super saiyan

ELIN

In another thread, I recommended they go to MDX (or at least RDX) over the TLX if starting a family.

Another person said Europeans do just fine with sedans for families. Just call us spoiled, entitled Americans, I guess!

ELIN

I guess there's always a possible connection to DBZ.

All I know is it would be cool to see some force lightning coming out of those little hands!

mapleloaf

Now that's thorough! I can't speak for the second gen, but no issues with my grandchildren's seats in my 2018. Was it the seat room, the seat back anchors, etc?

fiatlux

Seat room behind the seats isn’t particularly good; the front seat needs to be moved up quite a bit (I have an earlier post with diagrams and measurements showing just how much), but it’s doable. It’s on par with a smaller compact car (the new breed of compacts puts it to shame). The middle is actually fine because of how wide the car is and how much space is between the two seats...but headroom becomes a problem. The middle seat is raised much higher than the other seats, and when you try to put a baby in a reverse facing infant seat, there’s very little room between the car seat and the roof. Rather than being able to plop them into the seat in more or a seated position, you have to hold them horizontally to slide them in; otherwise their head hits the roof. In fact, the middle seat sucks for adults too. Hip room is good for the car, but I’m 5’8 and I have to hunch over in that seat because of how high and uncushioned the middle seat is. In an effort to make the rear seats more sporty and bucketlike, rather than carve out the seat bottom, they decided to just raise everything around it, making the middle seat extraordinarily uncomfortable.

ELIN

I thought the middle seat was encumbered by the SHAWD guts below it? Either way, the middle seat is best for child seats but good luck not hitting your head on the roof when you're finished buckling the kiddo up!

TLX is not family friendly and Acura is right in pushing folks to the bigger RDX which is about the same price or cheaper!

BEAR-AvHistory

The law of "unintended consequences" can bite your butt when you design a family sedan to look like a sports sedan.

fiatlux

The hump in the middle is due to the prop shaft for the SHAWD system, but that's not the reason the center seat is so high. If you take out the seat bottom you'll see that it's flat underneath, and just a ton of hard foam and cushioning in the middle.

ELIN

I'd like to hear from 1G TLX owners to gauge if they thought they were buying a family car.

fiatlux

I went in looking for a nicer 4cyl Accord with a better transmission, better build quality, and better dealership experience. It indeed meets expectations as a nicer Accord with a better transmission, but falls short in the better build quality and better dealership experience part of the equation. Unfortunately, it also lost out to the Accord on practicality, which is something I didn't truly appreciate until I had to actually use the backseat for baby duty. The only saving grace for me is that I was able to get a scorcher of a deal (over 25% off MSRP for a current model-year car), and that mechanically it's been reliable for the past 60K miles. I had some apprehensions about the DCT for a number of reasons, and while there are occasional hiccups, it hasn't granaded itself (yet).

ELIN

I have found backseats for German luxury to be less roomy when compared to non-luxury cars. In this respect, Acura is just following suit and trying to get away with what they can. I always rationalized this by thinking luxury makers cram as much as they can to fit the segment and that's why it ends up being tighter and heavier than non-luxury. Could be entirely false but it is a rationale.

Don't discount the fact that Acura really wants to maintain EPA passenger volume to conform to "compact" status and possibly comparing better against German competition. Stranger things have been done...

fiatlux

I would say the main reason German luxury cars tend to be tighter in the back is because most of them are RWD. FWD will always have a packaging advantage compared to RWD (with the tradeoff that it's not quite as dynamic to drive). For reasons that escape me, Acura decided to take the cons of a RWD platform and apply it to their FWD-based car. Worst of both worlds.

F23A4

To be honest, my TLX is a second vehicle in my household with the MDX filling the role as our family hauler. However, we were mindful of the TLX backing up the MDX in this role from time to time.

To that extent, we never considered the new Accord X as the exterior styling (we feel) is repulsive. However, we did consider locating a leftover 17 Accord Touring, but this would have been 'out of the lease range.' The only other consideration we had was the Q50S.

Carnage719

My family consists of me and my wife, and the TLX is my car because I prefer a sedan. It fit's up to 4 comfortably, and we take the wife's SUV if more space is needed.

Colorado Guy AF Ret.

Same here. Wife is getting the new MDX, being ordered on Dec.14th. After I know all "things" hopefully during the reveal next Tues. And, after looking, testing, reading, forever....I've
decided it's time to make up my mind for my toy. I'm going to wait for the Type S. Apex Blue Pearl with the red/black int. I'll be getting the very first white/parch MDX at my dealer. Mgmnt
puts me at the head of the list since I'm a multiple Acura buyer from them. And, he will order my Type S and I will be getting the first blue/red one on the their first order...whenever that
can occur. We've had so many Acuras..as well as other vehicles over the years...but, we are just comfortable with them...like them...and have had truly NO ISSUES to really complain about.

mapleloaf

Will be an exciting few months for you folks! Nice to hear someone else talk about the benfits of brand loyalty and enjoying their vehicles.

abovetheclouds

Tony Pac

Great planning...Good luck brother! Can't wait to hear your feedback about both vehicles.

ELIN

This reviewer had the child seat behind the front passenger seat. Haven't seen anyone put it in the middle yet as that's most likely "concussion city".

a35tl

ELIN

Very nice review. It confirmed a number of things for me:

1) He confirmed that the ELS made satellite radio bearable and HQ. This is definitely an audiophile’s car.

2) He mentioned that the advanced dampener didn’t seem to be worth the money compared to the A-Spec. I had read the same.

3) The HUD only showed MPH. If he had nav active, it might also show turns. I’m guessing that disappears if you use Nav on your phone (like I do) so that advantage disappears.

I was starting to regret getting the A-Spec over the Advanced but now the only thing I miss are the auto-folding mirrors.

ELIN

https://www.autoblog.com/2020/12/03/...ra-tlx-review/

fiatlux

Yeah...I call BS on that. I'm 5'8" and I had to move up my seat quite a bit with a rear facing infant seat in the back unless it was mounted in the middle. And in the middle, you're not supposed to "borrow" the outboard seat's inner anchors. Just because it reaches doesn't mean that it's safe to do so. The owner's manual even specifically calls out the outboard seats but does not mention it can be installed in the middle. Hence, it's not safe to do so.

Edward'TLS

I always afraid that flying debris might go through the windshield and straight towards my child if the child seat is mounted in the rear middle seat position.

ELIN

The middle seat is the safest seat because it’s equidistant from an impact from either side. The front windshield is prob the thickest glass on the car.

bilirubin

Just to play devil's advocate, did you try the same carseat as this reviewer? Carseats vary quite a lot in terms of size and angle.

fiatlux

They did not specify what car seat they used, but regardless, my Cybex Aton M is already one of the more compact ones, as is the Chicco KeyFit 30 cars.com used in their evaluation which found that it barely fit behind a seat adjusted for someone 5’7”. That’s an 8 inch difference in height and they say it doesn’t even come close to the seat? Methinks they’re just full of it and they didn’t even try.

https://www.cars.com/articles/how-do...ra-tlx-429605/

ELIN

The one in the video was front-facing and fiatlux was trying a rear-facing, which does take up additional room. The center makes the most sense for rear-facing as it can extend into the gap b/w driver/front passenger.

Just to reinforce my previous point, I'm less worried about glass flying everywhere compared to how close the seat is to the impact side if the seat happens to be on the same side as opposed to the center. Although the sides of most cars are reinforced, every inch counts for how much the seat is away from a car bulge caused by a full on collision (ie. T-bone). Car seat on one side is purely for the convenience of whoever's putting the child in.

There are tons of better options out there if you still want to use this as a "family car".

fiatlux

Yeah, the middle seat in this car (aside from the low roof) is actually pretty good for a rear facing car seat because of how wide the car is. Even the bulkiest convertible car seats can fit in that gap, which isn't something that can always be said about the A4 or 3-Series. However, those cars do offer significantly more space vertically to help load a baby into the seat, so if the car seat does fit, in that position they're a lot more practical than the TLX.

Colorado Guy AF Ret.

Thank you! Yes, we're really excited about the MDX for sure. Currently wife drives a '19 Adv. that we both really like. But, this new one takes the MDX...."where no man has
gone before!" LOL!!! I can't wait to play some special music on that new amazing ELS 3D Surround Sound system that Elliot Scheiner developed for all the new Acuras. As
most know, he's been on the Acura "payroll" for many yrs. Eight time Grammy award winning music producer...doesn't get much better. He KNOWS how to make great music
sound amazing in vehicles. He's pretty much perfected that. I do understand with "critics on here" that the "equipment used" in the vehicles must be top notch too. Not sure IF
it is, but, my ears have told me in my past ELS sound system Acuras....it's pretty darn good. I'm sure this MDX and TLX newly re-designed systems by Elliot are amazing.

ELIN

I let my dealer know of a USB stick full of Scheiner demo material that is available. I asked for a copy but request is still pending manager approval.

Oddly I kinda miss the optical drive that could play DVD-A. Didn't use it much on the MDX but it was discrete surround sound.