cjTL

iTrader: (2)

Saw it in person today. I'd post pics, but they're the same as everyone else's. This car will do great. Its really stunning and I could overhear much positive chatter from the people around me.

phile

they still have time to mess it up. ILX concept to production, RLX concept to production, etc. Not big changes, but enough to suck the excitement out of the concept version to production version. About the only car recently they've kept intact is the MDX concept to production.

cjTL

iTrader: (2)

My only concern...especially with what happened to ILX.

fsttyms1

That is my fear as well. It wont matter what is under the hood if the car isnt desirable no one will want it.

kurtatx

They cannot kill that car fast enough. And yet, they won't kill it.

Seriously, the new US News rankings are out, and guess which car is dead last in its class? Meanwhile, the lame duck TSX is number 5 with no changes of note. I know there are other rankings, but the ILX is an unmitigated disaster in all of them.

MeehowsBRZ

<a href="http://s13.photobucket.com/user/hottmike/media/Auto/TLX_zps4d295ed0.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a251/hottmike/Auto/TLX_zps4d295ed0.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo TLX_zps4d295ed0.jpg"/></a>

I'm sure someone could make a good living selling an aftermarket grille for this car.

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

that makes it look like the new ZDX with the grille LOL

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

I have no idea why Acura didn't use that type of grille instead of the fugly silver beak.

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

and I have no idea why or how you are/were expecting something different....

they are trying to put a beak on every every car including the NSX !!!

yes, they dont get it....they dont see that no one likes it....but they call it the 'power plenum grille'....and are sticking to it !!!

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

I mean why can't they just color match the goddamn thing.

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

or just delete it !!

I agree....when they saw the sales drop with the 4G TL, they should have done things differently....but i guess they dont see what we see and vise versa....

EhkoXC

They obviously feel that they can make it work. As well, it wouldn't surprise me if they feel there were larger issues that cause the 4G TL to fall off so much (something I'm inclined to agree with) that they felt were more important to focus on.

Truthfully, the grilles haven't looked bad since the 2011 TSX MMC (though I might be biased in that regard).

phile

I definitely think the current silver beak could be a tad better. But that is way too plain of a grille.

MeehowsBRZ

<a href="http://s13.photobucket.com/user/hottmike/media/Auto/tlx_zpsf251847a.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a251/hottmike/Auto/tlx_zpsf251847a.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo tlx_zpsf251847a.jpg"/></a>

Costco

I prefer the original concept beak over the color matched grille and the open-mouthed grille in post #7197

However, it is a long way from the ZDX grille and the pre-MMC 4G TL grille. Those were fucking god awful and anyone who was involved with and approved of that should be reamed with a cactus, then subjected to an Everclear sitz bath.

kurtatx

I'm surprised how nice those look.

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

Ew. Just delete or black out them. Yeah.

Fibonacci

Note to Acura: Use this plenum, then drop a dinner plate size A caliper below it. Rinse, repeat. Done.





Otherwise, we will be seeing DEEPLY DISCOUNTED POWER PLENUMS FOR MANKIND for quite some time to come...

Black Tire

WTF? Why isn't using this front end grill instead of the "BEAK"? So much win in this grill.

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

Because racecar

Edward'TLS

^^^^^

and with an estimated price upward of $100K.

Moog-Type-S

Needs bigger front overhang.

neuronbob

I like the iteration of the beak in the concept. They have definitely made progress in that regard.

kurtatx

Some of the NSX "beaks" look great.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

Wow... surprisingly it's not that bad. I still can't get over the front end... but the rear and side profile pics are pretty nice. Very Q50-ish...

oonowindoo

You can pretty much "make" any car look good just like you can make any slow car fast if you got enough $$. I even thought some of the modded 4G TL looked pretty good.

But since 99% of the people will leave the car in stock form, so that is what really matters.

Fibonacci

So much "win" in the NSX concept plenum is precisely the reason Acura won't populate it through the lineup: pure stubbornness.

I hold Moog's, his pipe and his wacky SoCal design team fully accountable.

fsttyms1

TSX69

2015 Acura TLX Caught Testing Weeks After Detroit Debut

The upcoming 2015 Acura TLX has been spotted in the wild. Our very own Associate Editor Rory Jurnecka caught the Acura during his morning commute to Motor Trend headquarters and the tester’s relatively minimal amounts of camouflage is a good indication that the TLX prototype's overall styling, unveiled at the 2014 Detroit auto show, will likely carryover to the production version.

Out back, the most noticeable change takes place at the lower bumper. The show car was sporting a fair amount of chrome and bold sculpting, but the production version appear to have a more toned-down look with a pair of red reflectors at the lower edge and simpler lines. The taillights appear to carryover, but the upper edge of the trunk lid doesn’t appear to be as aggressive as the show car’s. And unlike the TSX and TL, the TLX will sport concealed exhaust tips.

From the side, the rocker panel treatment is a bit more subdued, though the black tapes appears to be covering the same character lines found on the show car. Not surprisingly, the TLX prototype’s fancy side view mirrors and their “moving glow” light treatment give way to more conventional units. Acura heavily masked the C-pillar and rear quarter window, so we’ll have to wait a bit longer to see how that portion of the sedan turns out. 1 shot of the front fender reveals what appear to be Acura’s Jewel Eye LED headlights and fairly aggressive looking air dams.

The 2015 TLX is slated to arrive in showrooms by mid-2014 and will be offered with a new 2.4-liter I-4 or a 3.5-liter V-6. The TLX will also feature new transmissions, as well the latest version of Acura’s Super Handling All-Wheel drive system (available for the V-6 model).

cjTL

iTrader: (2)

The exhaust kills me. Would look SO much better with at least some integrated (Lexus) tips in the bumper or something.

Hoping for the best. I liked the concept more than these spy photos...

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

Hey, that black taped beak looks better than the concept one.

Hapa DC5

B2 stealth bomber tape job on the trunk lid looks good.

phile

at least the front overhang appears to be kept to a minimum, as good as a FWD platform can get, that is.

SlimTL

The lack of show performance heritage, aka exposed exhaust tips, kills it for me. I'm sure it's going to be a great car, but lack of exhaust tips are like a sentence without and period at the end .

It's just not complete without one, like half assing an essay with run-ons.

cjTL

iTrader: (2)

This. Its still nice looking, but its not really aggressive enough. IMO of course.

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

Although I hate the exhaust-less look, that wouldn't stop me from buying the car, if the car performs well. I'm sure there will be multiple vendors that will jump on the car to build aftermarket CBE that will show in the back.

But I do agree that it looks weird without any tips.

Costco

It's likely an unfinished vehicle. They can still change some things... namely, the exhaust tips.

MuGen7Modulo

True, not having exhaust tips is a turn off but looks like front bumper's lower area has something aggressive going on.
Hopefully they'll show the interior in Chicago.

phile

I think reflectors on the bumpers where the exhausts would normally be exposed are now an Acura "thing" - I don't see it being any different for the TLX.

dom

Nope, lead designer has already gone on record to say that exhaust tips will not be there and will be reserved for high performance models only. Like the NSX. He did say that we could see them on a variant of the TLX which at least hints at a high performance version.