Hi everyone. I have a 2022 Acura TLX Tech with SHAWD. My car is in the dealer for some work and they gave me a new 2023 Aspec as a loaner.

I can’t help but feel like the aspec has better pick up and handles better and has a better ride quality. I thought the tech, base and aspec packages all perform the same. Did Acura make some improvements for 2023, is the aspec a better performing car or is it all in my head??? What are your thoughts?

 

It’s likely all in your head. The A-Spec package is more or less an appearance package. Turn in might be better because it has 19” wheels instead of the 18” for the Tech package, but that’s the only thing I can think of. It’s also possible the new car hasn’t had long enough to “learn” people’s driving behaviors so maybe throttle tip in is more aggressive. To test that, you can disconnect the battery on your car for a couple minutes to reset the learned parameters and see if it has “new life”.

 

Was the A-Spec loaner SH-AWD or FWD? If it was the latter then, that very well could be the case as it's a bit lighter than awd versions. If not, then there really shouldn't be a difference.

 

The tech package has the same 19 inch wheels as the aspec, just painted silver instead of dark gray. I will try to disconnect the battery.


The loaner is AWD. Perhaps its in my head. I am supposed to get my car back today. Lets see if I notice a difference.