ttribe

I think your statement is something of an oversimplification. Even if it weren't, however, those are at least significant engineering features of a car model...not the badge, alone.

Sarlacc

The CLA is a turd IMO, too. Don't care that it has a merc emblem on it.

We are dismissing this car because it does nothing. There is so much competition to this car that it's easy to turn a blind eye.

Acura was much more when they came on the scene. After the 3G tl and 1st gen tsx...it's been a downhill spiral of uninspiring or downright garbage designs. And a brand that no longer had any focus or vision.

Nexx

did you ever drive either one?

skd2k1

iTrader: (1)

guess you never drove an e36 m3 evo.

skd2k1

iTrader: (1)

^anything but acura, right? kia, chysler, hyundai, bmw, audi, infiniti, volvo...even honda, but nevar acura.

oonowindoo

I sat in one. that s it all i needed. There hasn't been a car that wowed me so much when you sit in one and then look at the window stickers.

With cars like that you shouldn't really pay too much attention to how fast you can turn the corner as long as it is not a Lincoln town car.

Different type of cars have different type of buyers. That is why the "smart buy" + MPG + SHAWD + best leg room in the class with smallest size marketing for RLX does not work.

ttribe

Yeah, I've never really warmed to the e36 and at that point in my life I would have just (naively) dismissed anything German with a waive of the hand. Silly, I know.

oonowindoo

when i was driving Acura, you probably didn't know what Acura is.

The fact that you can't accept other people are saying TLX is just Meh shows how narrow minded you are.

There are only CARS we (I) don't like, It has NOTHING to do with the BRAND. i can name mediocre or shitty cars from every brand you mentioned.

Never Acura? why should i? What has Acura done so differently to make me want to buy another CL, wait i mean TL? To me, besides SUV, they have been offering the same shit for the past 10 years while everyone else is improving.

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

Come back at us when Acura starts to make AWESOME cars.

TLX is "meh".

Not bad. Not good.

It's just meh.

Do you know what that means?

Meh?

Moog-Type-S

CLA interior is constructed of rental fleet worthy material.

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

CLA is just .

oonowindoo

you have the same interior, you forgot.

qingcong

I think the dead giveaway here that it's just people spouting off is that this car hasn't even been reviewed, much less been driven by anyone outside of Acura. Not sure how anyone can dismiss this car already.

To sum it up, the criticism goes like this -

"needs RWD, needs 4wd, needs AWD, needs more HP oh wait it has enough HP, i mean it needs more torque, needs turbo, less gizmos, more gizmos, who cares about MPGs, needs to look more flashy, looks too flashy, wheels too big, wheels too small, it's not German"

If the measuring stick is how close it resembles a German luxury car, then I'm not sure why these people would bother with Acura.

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

I think the dead giveaway here is that you are a noob.

xxx_busa

Its Really Awesome Looking - I'm Plsanning to buy the 2016 Model Already, I'm super excited about this car.

NICE !!!

Ken1997TL

The CLA is made in Hungary out of surplus Soviet-era plastics

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

But that's okay. Girls still dig it like crazy.

awwwwwwwww it's cuteeeeee. OH DAMN it's a mercedes! omg i wanttt!

Costco

I think it's safe to say that most of here want Honda/Acura to succeed and make a car that is appealing to us. Otherwise we wouldn't care, let alone discuss this.

In my car search, German cars didn't make the final cut. Nor did any new Honda product. I was considering an S2000, though. Consider that the last Honda/Acura I wanted was last made in 2009.

I am a big Honda fan, I just do not like Acura's current lineup. Maybe the Germans are doing something right. Everyone's value system and wants in a car are different.

neuronbob

Just read through the feature set and the Motor Trend report. Nice features overall. The new SH-AWD is what I was asking for, lighter. The styling is good, but milquetoasted from the very nice concept that I was drooling over.

In short, it seems better on paper than the outgoing TL and MUCH better than the TSX. I am not enamored of the drive trains, but the fact is that most people are not enthusiasts and don't care how fast it goes. I predict this car will sell better than the 4G TL, but not as well as the 3G.

BTW, I can't believe it's been over ten years since the 3G TL was released. I enjoyed being an early adopter when I picked mine up in 2003. It was soooooo awesome...I only wish now I'd picked it up in 6MT form.

Even so, I'm destined for an RLX hybrid, if they ever release the damn thing....that's become the worst vapor ware since the NSX.

qingcong

Ummm I dunno, it seems any objective compliment I give of the TLX on here is met with "noob", "fanboy", "you ain't seen nothing till you sit in a BMW/Hyundai", "you must be blind", a sarcastic "cool", "you're the kind of idiot who's ruining Acura", things like that.

phile

I think you're stretching that just a bit. Nice try, though.

CarbonGray Earl

Someone's gotta develop a thicker skin. I hate to say it, but being defensive about that sort of stuff is the epitome of being a 'noob'.

SSFTSX

There is clear ratio of used to car to new car sales. Acura is far far better than BMW.
just look around 2011 and 2012 used TSX prices and compared to BMW 328i 2011 to 2012.

jwong77

Being that I currently own an Acura, a BMW, also a Mercedes, I'll throw my input in here about how I feel about them. Albeit they are all now considered older, I would definitely give the nod to BMW and Mercedes in terms of luxury and that feeling of solidness. The Acura in comparison feels pretty darn flimsy. Not to say that I don't love my Acura, its great, but I wouldn't objectively put it on par with my other cars. When I go someplace nice or to a big event, I typically drive the Mercedes.

SSFTSX

FWD TLX has advance package that even if $10k expensive than Accord touring will still have a lot of advantages like ELS music system, Milano leather with cooled seats, CMBS, much quieter interior, superior across the board performance. FWD TLX V6 is 300lbs lighter than RLX but with 9 speed transmission.

Much better shape than Accord as the vehicle seems taller with much larger wheel design.
the whole is more than sum of parts.

Sarlacc

If you ever knew what Acura USED to put out vs the shit they are shoveling now AND the competition being stronger than ever...you might have a horse in this race.

Martin W

Hi, friends!
Why is there so much hate and disappointment for TLX?
I was afraid it will look like mazda6 or kia optima, but production car looks like acura, you couldn't mix up it with another model.
We may say that TLX is first really fine-looking car of new acura style, not amazing but good.

What is acura style? I looked on the TLX for some time and it reminds me.. of a some bird, like an eagle.
BMW has cat-grace design, Lexus looks shark-sharp and modern Acura is light like feathers, gives impression of freedom - freedom of illusions, freedom of problems. It's narrow jewel eyes looking far beyond the horizon, finding it's way.
It is not like other premium brands. Why premium must be always aggressive? Premium may be just noble and confident and still successful, like Lexus ES, Acura MDX. May be TLX will join their numbers.

biker

^ you have to realize that the views expressed here is by a very small % of the buying public that skews heavily toward car enthusiast. We have no idea how the "general" public will view the TLX.

neuronbob

True. The unwashed public has no idea about FWD vs RWD, transmissions, DCT, V6 vs V8, etc. They just want features inside the car, decent fuel ecomomy, and a decent looking wrapper.

However, it used to be clear that enthusiasts were running the show at Honda/Acura instead of bean counters. That era ended the ten years ago IMO after the 2G RL's release. This is what many of us are bemoaning because many posting here became Acura enthusiasts in the 80's (me) and 90's, when Acura was the shit. Honda is on its way back now. Acura has a ways to go and the TLX is but a baby step. I hope they do eventually release an S model for the enthusiasts. I happen to be a Honda owner and shareholder so I WANT Honda to win.

Otherwise....Cadillac has won my enthusiast business twice already. Will it happen again?

phile

I don't think anyone doubts this thing will be a seller. In fact, it might sell better than the 5g.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

if I could describe the TLX in one word; it would be just "nice"

your turn.
Describe the TLX in one word.

phile

"almost"

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

In all honesty, I think that appearance wise, it actually is pretty spot on for my expectations. It's very distinctly Acura and, with a little less wheel gap and the right wheels, has the potential to be a great looking car.

Most of my disappointment stems from Acura itself continuing to be so conservative with their engineering and subsequently putting out lackluster numbers that feel consistently middle of the pack. It is like they struck some gentlemen's agreement with the rest of the industry that they would play nice and not shake things up when in fact shaking everything to hell is precisely what they need to do.

The decision to announce the V6 version of the car with less than 300 hp was, in my opinion, a mistake. Being able to crow about having 300 hp and best in class highway fuel economy would have been a great marketing line. Trying the same thing with 290 hp, just somehow lacks the same kind of psychological punch.

For the I4, failing to do more to increase the engine's performance dramatically, especially with the addition of direct injection, feels a little like they did not fully bake the product before release. They will be putting out a motor that, especially compared to even mainstream brands, is significantly down on compression ratio but still requires premium. While most buyers may not even realize or care, it does annoy the heck out of me. However, what most buyers will see is the fact that this engine only makes 1 hp more than the Honda Civic Si. Acura needs to do more to distance its products from Honda's. A 10-15 hp gap would certainly help.

At the end of the day, I feel like the TLX will sell better than the 4G TL, but will not be able to replace the sales numbers for the TL and TSX combined. Acura may have shot itself in the foot again because as a 3-time TSX owner, I am seriously floundering on whether or not I will even give the TLX a serious look when it is released in the early summer. And with no wagon variant likely and no manual transmission yet on the horizon, there is little to keep my attention.

In summary, Acura is doing a fine job attracting new people to the brand, but it is bleeding away existing loyal customers at the same time. If it cannot stem the bleeding by giving us products like the ones we recall so fondly, it is going to have a hard time achieving any significant growth.

Curious3GTL

Any news on when the 9AT will make it to other models? Doesn't make sense that their middle car has a better transmission than their flagship model.

kurtatx

Obviously he's right if you have no real response other than to bring up post count.

qingcong

Yeah, I became a Honda/Acura fan in the 90s, but I think some people may be exaggerating their past. I'm not sure they were ever "the shit". For enthusiasts you had the Integra Type R and NSX which had groundbreaking qualities, but the sedans like the Vigor, Legend, TL 1G 2G 3G, while very good cars, were nothing that blew you away, very similar to this TLX.

neuronbob

Blasphemer! You must now write "Legend" on the blackboard 1000 times. Then drive one.

dom

No, here at at Acurazine we usually have a pretty damn good idea actually. See everything Acura has released since the 4G TL. Its easy to spot a dud. (Not that the TLX is a dud in the vein of the RLX and ILX). Expectations as enthusiasts don't mean 450HP and 0-60 in 2.1. We generally want what most of the buying public does. It's not rocket science.

Like CGTSX2004 just said. I think they'll have a hard time selling as many as the TL and TSX combined with this offering.

ttribe

Talk about a non sequitur.

kurtatx

Talk about spell check.

Calling a poster a noob is a great way to say "I don't have a real argument, but you're a noob, so at least there's that"