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I think it matters because at the end of the day its the out of pocket cost that is real not just the cost of the hardware. It like people saying I got my mail order thing for only $50. But its not only $50 when shipping is $20 bucks for UPS ground its $70 + tax.
What's real is the amount of the check or note you sign is.
True, however if you’re buying any new car in CA the final cost of would be, in example, MSRP plus 10%.
It looks great on the outside. It’s easily the best looking Acura I have seen in my adult lifetime. It looks like a RWD sports sedan. Problem is it isn’t.
.....I still like the TLX interior much much better than the boring to death Audi dashboard, half of the things you mentioned are opinions, the other half do not make any difference or they are trivial at best...the virtual cockpit cost less to the manufacturer than a high quality analog instrumentation pod. I want to drive a car not a video game.
That said, I would never fork anywhere near close to 50K for these "premium" 4 banger sport sedans until the Dodge Charger 392 exists which obliterate them performance wise, humiliate them soundtrack wise, it has one of the most user friendly infotainment system in the industry and being more comfortable doing so for similar coin...
Agreed 100%. My wife's Q7 has a digital gauge cluster and its very meh to me. I much prefer a nice analog gauge much like a fine watch vs a digital watch.
.....I still like the TLX interior much much better than the boring to death Audi dashboard, half of the things you mentioned are opinions, the other half do not make any difference or they are trivial at best...the virtual cockpit cost less to the manufacturer than a high quality analog instrumentation pod. I want to drive a car not a video game.
That said, I would never fork anywhere near close to 50K for these "premium" 4 banger sport sedans until the Dodge Charger 392 exists which obliterate them performance wise, humiliate them soundtrack wise, it has one of the most user friendly infotainment system in the industry and being more comfortable doing so for similar coin...
I have to agree, the Audi just looks a bit busy and tacky, reminds me of the Altima I had the misfortune of renting, not to mention it looks a bit tight laterally up front. Anyway, I like my gauges, the same as I like my watches, analog. The 5G TL ergonomically reminds me of a luxury version of the current Accord and that is a great compliment. Definitely the best interior available on any Honda/Acura product, time will tell if it will hold up as well as the RLX in regards to build quality.
It is interesting to hear how many people prefer "form-over-function".
This includes people why are interested in buying it because they "like the way it looks" on the outside ... over how it drives, how fast it is, etc.
Obviously I have to like "function" too but form has its importance as well...for me performance and the driving feel in a sport sedan is very important that is the reason why I said I would never consider these 40-50 grand 4 banger sport sedans as long as the Charger 392 is around which is in on another planet performance wise and more comfortable too.
I don't understand the negative side of a digital gauge cluster. If the infotainment system can be customized, it becomes a positive point. If you can do the same with gauges, it becomes a video game. Driving remains the same, just the way info gets displayed. More detailed with digital systems. Having the GPS map in front of me is much safer versus looking side to side.
I prefer analog gauges spaced far enough apart for a nice sized digital screen in between. All manufacturers should allow the map to be displayed in the digital gauge screen.
The Audi virtual cockpit is second to none. Mercedes new MBUX gauge cluster is close, but IMO Audi still wins out for best digital display.
Maybe I’m biased but I have to agree with you. What’s really cool is it can be customized in soooooo many ways to the driver’s liking. And when you’re going at it hard, the tach will flash to tell you to change gear. I love old school analog gauges too, but there’s only so much you can do with them.
What’s interesting is that picture of the Audi interior doesn’t even show the best part about it, which is the ambient lighting. Audi tends to embed the light strips under a panel so that the glow is softer and more refined. Many other cars have fully exposed light strips which of course make it more obvious but to me feels a bit distracting, even harsh, when I’m driving at night.
The Audi virtual cockpit is second to none. Mercedes new MBUX gauge cluster is close, but IMO Audi still wins out for best digital display.
I believe the new Cadillac OLED cockpit is currently the state of the art...even my CTS-V virtual cockpit is Audi good minus Google Earth which frankly I do not care that much about.
I can’t believe people on here are bashing Audi’s interior . Something nearly every person and auto magazine agrees are one of the best in the auto industry . It’s like you’re trying to justify the TLX or something. You can make the Virtual gauges “look” analog but much much sharper to the eye. Do you all get paid by Acura or something? LOL at a video game. The gauges are a video game but you want heads up display? Please be consistent smh.
I can’t believe people on here are bashing Audi’s interior . Something nearly every person and auto magazine agrees are one of the best in the auto industry . It’s like you’re trying to justify the TLX or something. You can make the Virtual gauges “look” analog but much much sharper to the eye. Do you all get paid by Acura or something? LOL at a video game. The gauges are a video game but you want heads up display? Please be consistent smh.
I personally prefer the 3D-look analog gauges, but I agree that most people will prefer full-digital. It simply looks more advanced (albeit more laggy and pixelated) than real gauges. I suspect Acura is saving the full-digital gauges for the new MDX. Their new "flagship" will need to be better equipped than its subordinate models, at least at launch.
I can’t believe people on here are bashing Audi’s interior . Something nearly every person and auto magazine agrees are one of the best in the auto industry . It’s like you’re trying to justify the TLX or something. You can make the Virtual gauges “look” analog but much much sharper to the eye. Do you all get paid by Acura or something? LOL at a video game. The gauges are a video game but you want heads up display? Please be consistent smh.
I'm not bashing the tech but the overall design.....very boring...one of the reasons I did not buy the RS7 which was one of the final contenders for my last ride.....and I liked the rest of the car a lot....
Test drove Advance SHAWD few hours ago. Catastrophic amount of turbo lag and extremely annoying fake synthetic engine noise. Accord's 2.0T blows it away in both 6MT and 10AT variant.
I can’t believe people on here are bashing Audi’s interior . Something nearly every person and auto magazine agrees are one of the best in the auto industry . It’s like you’re trying to justify the TLX or something. You can make the Virtual gauges “look” analog but much much sharper to the eye. Do you all get paid by Acura or something? LOL at a video game. The gauges are a video game but you want heads up display? Please be consistent smh.
I have always felt Audi seats are too firm and must be awful on long drivers. I loved my A6, but the seats were like plywood.
Test drove Advance SHAWD few hours ago. Catastrophic amount of turbo lag and extremely annoying fake synthetic engine noise. Accord's 2.0T blows it away in both 6MT and 10AT variant.
That's disappointing. Is it worse than the 3G RDX? The 3G RDX "FEELS" fun and fast off the line up to 30mph, but loses steam after. Qualitative FEELING is not the same as actual measurable quantifiable performance. Flooring these does not give the best performance. Easing to floor over the first ~0.5-0.7s allows these to launch better.
I have test driven the TLX 2x, including yesterday after test driving a comparably equipped 2020 Audi 4 with the sports seat package and the advanced driver dafety package, for a comparably equipped price (Audi is about $1K more) to the Platinum Elite TLX.
To be clear, that's not the interior we see pictured above with the quilted nappa seats. As I reviewed the TLX test drive I took earlier in the week, I'll focus on preferences:
- I prefer the Audi engine/transmission combo to that of the TLX. Both are good, but I do like the Audi 7 speed DCT a little more than the 10 speed TLX transmission. (My 8DCT bias The so called lag on the TLX is noticeable in Comfort mode, similar to but more than the Audi, but is certainly not catostrophic, particularly if you are accelerating smoothly and doing everyday driving in the city. The Audi's is a little less noticeable but disappears in Normal and Sport modes. The TLX has a very slight lag in Normal mode and disappears in Sport. Keep in mind that these are not scientific measurements, but based upon real world driving. These observations were noted at low speed driving with rapid acceleration. No issues with either car at higher speeds.
- I prefer the TLX interior, to the Audi, which is certainly nice, but has a dash, (albeit relatively narrow in width) that is similar to the moulded foam I have in my current TLX, without any of the faux stitched leather in the new TLX. I also prefer the TLX's aluminum etched material on the console, bordered by real pore wood, to the flat black material on the Audi. I prefer the more comfortable seats in the TLX, although the harder Audi leather would wrinkle less. I like the greater sense of "cockpit" you get in the TLX.
- The Audi digital cluster is a feature I would like, particularly because of the quality of the google earth graphics between the digital gauges, with the ajustable size option. Having said that, It is also nice to have better looking Tach and Speedometer analogue gauges than tthe digital versionsi. However even with the excellent HUD on the TLX, I would have a slight preference for the Audi set-up.
- Exterior looks wise, its a significant win for the TLX, IMHO. The Audi is a good looking classy vehicle, but the TLX stands out more in a sporty manner. They really hit a home run with this, although full disclosure, I also prefer my current TLX ASpec to the Audi exterior.
- Handling wise, tough to tell in 30 minutes of driving for each, but they both do the job very efficiently with their respective awd systems and chasis dynamics.
- One feature I do not like on the Audi is the left hand awkward ACC stalk on the Audi, as this is a feature I use often. However, I'm sure I would "adapt"
- Finally, both cars provide a well implemented Auto Engine stop feature, which I do use. I would say that the Acura version might have been a tiny bit less intrusive, but let's call it a tie.
With the small difference in price, the TLX doesn't have the same "value" proposition as it had, but that's also because this is a car that can certainly compete with the big boys now. Add an Acura loyalty discount of 2% in the leasing/financing costs, and you are now talking about a roughly $3500 difference, about 60-70 bucks a month on a 4 year lease. BTW, I know that the Audi is about half a second faster off the line.....for which I could care less. If anyone catches me street racing in either of these cars, slap me silly
So ends my brief review, which is perhaps influenced a little by my positive experiences with Acura. However, I attempted to be as fair and objective as possible. No doubt the new 2021 Audi will bring a few more goodies to the table, flikely or more money.
Test drove Advance SHAWD few hours ago.
1. Catastrophic amount of turbo lag
2. and extremely annoying fake synthetic engine noise.
1. How did that affect the driving experience? Did it make it slow to accelerate or what?
2. Where is it coming from? I don't understand why we are measuring sound-db readings if noise is being added to the cabin. Does it mute-itself when you play the audio-system?
1. How did that affect the driving experience? Did it make it slow to accelerate or what?
2. Where is it coming from? I don't understand why we are measuring sound-db readings if noise is being added to the cabin. Does it mute-itself when you play the audio-system?
Youtube is full of people doing acceleration tests. The lag is otherworldly brutal. Acura completely screwed up this car.
1. How did that affect the driving experience? Did it make it slow to accelerate or what?
2. Where is it coming from? I don't understand why we are measuring sound-db readings if noise is being added to the cabin. Does it mute-itself when you play the audio-system?
There’s very little turbo lag. I believe what he’s referring to is actually transmission lag. You can’t feather the throttle when driving that car or the RDX. You need to apply firm steady pressure. If you don’t it takes the transmission a bit to decide you want to upshift and you get the lag.
Where is it coming from? I don't understand why we are measuring sound-db readings if noise is being added to the cabin. Does it mute-itself when you play the audio-system?
I thought you previously mentioned you were once interested in the 1G TLX. Did you ever test drove a 1G A-Spec?
I never use Econ and Normal driving modes so I can't remember, but I don't believe there's much, if any, artificial exhaust/intake sound pumped into the cabin through the speakers. However, in Sport/Sport +, there is substantial artificial exhaust/intake sound pumped into the cabin on acceleration/deceleration. The harder the acceleration, or higher RPM decel, the louder the sound.
The sound is not muted while using the audio system.
.
There’s very little turbo lag. I believe what he’s referring to is actually transmission lag. You can’t feather the throttle when driving that car or the RDX. You need to apply firm steady pressure. If you don’t it takes the transmission a bit to decide you want to upshift and you get the lag.
Do you mean downshift? Why would the transmission upshift when you're calling for more power?
I just test drove the TLX Platinum Elite (or Advance trim in the States) today. What a great vehicle! I drove mostly in the Sport mode, and did not detect much of a turbo lag. The car was big but it felt nimble to drive. Just like Alex mentioned in his initial review, it was a fun car to drive! The 2.0L turbo had plenty of power and "oomph" for my needs. The steering was just the right weight for me. Then the sound system was simply excellent! I really liked the interior - the design had a certain warmth which many comparably priced German products lacked. It was also a nice, quiet space to be. BTW, having read people's reactions about the touch pad system for the infortainment system, I was expecting a difficult to use and clunky interface. Well, it was really not that difficult at all! Sure, there was a learning curve, but by the end of the short test drive, I was already getting used to it! I am surprised by how negative some journalists have been with this touch pad system. Oh well....
Some minor negative points: the rear seat was about the same the 1G TLX, and I expected more given the much larger body size. I also did not find the styling to be as much of a "wow" as I had expected. Certainly, the A-Spec trim looked great, and the Platinum Elite was nice enough looking, but it was not a "wow" for me.
Maybe the Canadian pricing at this point is just more competitive than the US pricing - I do not find it to be overpriced at all. I think it is a great package and Acura will do very well with it!!! My Acura lease is about to expire and I was very tempted to go to the usual German route (tried the Volvo's - best looking cars right now, but the interior materials and the way that they drive did NOTHING for me!) but I think that the 2G TLX is making me stay with Acura... :-)
P.S. I have read the reviews by Alex and others about the 2G TLX - I really agree with their points! Then I saw the Consumer Reports initial review of the 2G TLX - were we driving the same vehicle???!!! They seem to have such a different view than the vast majority of the journalists.... hmm.... I guess no matter how good a vehicle Acura produces, they would just continue to trash it anyway. Oh well! :-)
1. There’s very little turbo lag. I believe what he’s referring to is 2. actually transmission lag. You can’t feather the throttle when driving that car or the RDX. You need to apply firm steady pressure. If you don’t it takes the transmission a bit to decide you want to upshift and you get the lag.
1. Professional reviewers are referring to this lag as turbo lag
2. So, if the 10spd AT is laggy, how is that a substantial improvement over the ZF9?
Youtube is full of people doing acceleration tests. The lag is otherworldly brutal. Acura completely screwed up this car.
I went for another test drive to see if the lag is present in a second car. Surprisingly, it was a lot better in this one (also a SH-AWD Advance). It was still noticeable and took longer to get moving than I would like, but it was considerably better than the first car. Whereas in the first one, it was a deal-breaker no matter how good the rest of the car was or how cheap it was, I could live with this one without wanting to send the car off a cliff every other day. I mentioned this to the salesperson, so we tried out two other cars. One drove just like the one I had just driven (mild amount of lag), but the other one was just like the first one I drove with a ton of lag. Both SH-AWD models. Even he noticed it too, but brushed it off by explaining that it'll probably go away once the car is broken in and the transmission ECU (think he meant TCU) learns my driving habits. I have my doubts...
This is shaping up like the ZF9 issue all over again, where some owners had stupendously bad transmissions, while others had moderately bad ones.
One other thing I noticed that I hadn't noticed on my first test drive. The car always defaults back to normal mode when you restart the car. In the 1G, if you have it in Sport it stays in Sport the next time it starts up. Kind of annoying to have to change drive modes every time, but I guess other cars are the same. Wonder why they changed it from the 1G.
Or my unicorn ZF9 that doesn't fall into a "bad" category at all.
Don't you have an MMC one? My understanding is they made some changes to make the transmission OK. The 2015-2017 were really hit or miss (or more accurately, miss by a foot or miss by a country mile).
Don't you have an MMC one? My understanding is they made some changes to make the transmission OK. The 2015-2017 were really hit or miss (or more accurately, miss by a foot or miss by a country mile).
Correct. By no means is it perfect, but it was good enough that I chose my 2018 A-Spec over an Audi A5 Sportback. However, Honda430 swears the 2018-20 ZF9 is trash from his ownership experience.
10-02-2020, 08:49 PM
Can we keep it on topic?
The so called lag on the TLX is noticeable in Comfort mode, similar to but more than the Audi, but is certainly not catostrophic, particularly if you are accelerating smoothly and doing everyday driving in the city. The Audi's is a little less noticeable but disappears in Normal and Sport modes. The TLX has a very slight lag in Normal mode and disappears in Sport. Keep in mind that these are not scientific measurements, but based upon real world driving. These observations were noted at low speed driving with rapid acceleration. No issues with either car at higher speeds. 
