krish727

I am considering buying a 2.4 instead of 3.5 Acura TLX of the 2019 model. Being not so proficient in accurately comparing the 2 cars, could you guys post some pros and cons of one over the other ?

Thanks

Saintor

The 3.5 transforms the car's feel. Go for it.

KeithL

While the 2.4 is a very respectable car it depends on what driving dynamics you are looking for. AWD is only in the 3.5. The 2.4 while a a capable car is nimble, but the 3.5 is more planted and will support a more aggressive driving style. It will also depend on what features you are looking for, several features are only in the Advance which is a 3.5 engine only. For 19 they offer the ASPEC in both 2.4 and 3.5, which is nice since that styling really sets the car apart. You need to drive both as to some people they behave like totally different cars.

kurtatx

TLX V6 SH-AWD > TLX I4 > TLX V6 FWD

Get the V6 and the SH-AWD or the I4.

krish727

Hi Keith - Thanks a bunch for your comments. I was looking at the acura comparison tool and as you said there are differences between the two and also some of them are only in 3.5. I am not looking for a superior driving experience in the car but the gas mileage, stability/security, noise level, some tech features would be what I would want in this purchase. I have always been a n Acura guy with acura integra -gsr '97 and acura-mdx 2004 so far.

mapleloaf

Based on this post, I would definitely recommend the 2.4. Having had a 2015 3.5 SHAWD, a 2016 2.4 Tech and now a 2018 Elite ASpec, I would highly recommend the 2.4. Superior gas milage, quiet excellent ride, lots of pep, especially at highway speeds, and the rear wheel steer (PAWS) is highly underrated. For moderate drivers, this is an excellent handling assist in corners, and helps some with rapid stopping. A 2019 Tech ASpec is a great looking car and has lots of excellent tech. Perhaps most of all, the 8 speed DCT is a sweet transmission and really works well with the 206 HP engine, giving the car a quick and nimble feel. The 3.5 SH-AWD is also an excellent car, with improvements to the 9 speed from earlier versions, however, I personally think, for your stated needs, that the 2.4 is the better value proposition.

BEAR-AvHistory

Would not buy a 4 when a 6 is available in the same car. All through the rev range the V6 will be working less hard to achieve the same level of performance. It will also always have a extra safety margin when passing especially on a two lane road where you are in oncoming traffic. Based on government numbers (always suspect) at 15,000 miles a year the 4 will save you about $0.57 a day over the 6.

That works out to 1 cup of crappy McDonald's coffee every 3rd day.

mapleloaf

Ah...the mantra of the performance driver But that is not how the OP described his needs and wants. I have had both cars on the highway many times, so in this instance, I respectfully submit that I am better informed to compare the two vehicles. I have no problem getting up to speed to pass as the 2.4 has good acceleration in 60 - 80 band. I will also suggest that having a faster car is somehow safer is silly, just as is saying a slower car is always safer. I have driven 4 cylinders all my life except the 15 months I had the 3.5 SH-AWD...and I have never felt unsafe passing in all those years, but then I have learned to drive according to the conditions and the vehicle I'm in.

DId I mention that there is no downshifting delay in the rapier quick 8 speed DCT, so you can always get consistent acceleration. I realize that most posters here are 6 cylinder/turbo fans, (not that there is anything wrong with that, but the majority of drivers are not looking for performance vehicles, but a good solid, reliable and well appointed vehicle. Why spend the 5K extra to get the bigger engine and SH-AWD, especially if you don't typically drive in wintery conditions. Even with that, PAWS plus my Michelin X Ice winter tires give me all the traction I need. I do agree the gas savings are minimal - for me about $20 - $25 per month, perhaps a little more when it's all city driving.

In the end, it's your driving wants and preferences that will dictate your engine/transmission pairing choice.

BEAR-AvHistory

A lot is frame of reference but I would suggest the I4 60-80 acceleration band of 5 seconds would not make me feel very comfortable.

Conditions equal will always favor the more powerful car since it has a bigger passing window. In the case of the TLX gaining $200/240 a year in fuel savings seem like a poor trade off. Think your point would be more valid if you were talking about a very high mileage driver where the fuel costs would be significant. Right now they are trivial for a 10/15K mile driver. IIRC the USA average is 12,000 miles a year.

Additionally the V6 Aspec has a superior suspension system to the I4 Aspec among other features you can't get. C&D says this about the I4 Aspec "modest braking and skidpad performance". Not the best plan for accident avoidance.

The TLX is a very good family car but I believe it needs to be maximized when it comes to power, braking & handling. The V6 Aspec is as good as it gets.

The best safety feature is avoiding the crash. I am not willing to trade that off to save $25 a month.

mapleloaf

As I said, it depends upon how you drive and where you drive, and of course, what is important to you. Your knowledge of cars is certainly vastly superior to mine, however, there is simply no data to suggest that crash avoidance is related to more powerful engines. I would add that the faster you drive, the less reaction time you have. I have driven many less powered cars than my current TLX, and I have never been in or caused a road accident in my 45 years of driving. Am I a superior driver doing that in my 4 cylinders....or just lucky (touching wood)? I do not drive excessively fast, but generally a comfortable speed a little higher (7-8%) than the posted limit, depending upon conditions of course.

And by the way, the savings is not just gas. The equivalent 6 cylinder is 5K more, including the SH-AWD.

BEAR-AvHistory

Its pretty simple. A truck going 55mph will take longer to pass with a 4 cylinder TLX then a 6 cylinder one. On avoidance the 6 cylinder Aspec has a superior suspension package to the 4 cylinder Aspec.

Driving history, no crashes in 61 years of driving. 3 moving violations. Its not about driving faster, I drive in the less then 10mph over the limit mode which in NC would put your 8% 1 MPH faster then my +10 , its about reserve power when you need it.

Cost is elastic. You saved $5K by buying a less fully featured car. If it was all about saving $5,000 you could have bought a 6 cylinder or 4 cylinder turbo of another brand for less then your 4 cylinder & they would perform better but you wanted an Acura.

The OP could be considering overall price but he did say compare the V6 to the I4 & in the case of the TLX you get your $5K's worth with the V6.

BTW the base price spread between the I4 & V6 PAWS is $3,200 MSRP

bhimsTL

I just leased my 2.4 TLX base model this past weekend, traded in my 05 TL. I love it so far, the 2.4 with the 8 speed has enough pep to get you moving when needed. As for the features. All trim levels have the same features, barring packages, so ultimately you should choose what best fits your driving expectations.

fiatlux

That's not exactly the case. Acura doesn't really do packages; they do trim levels. You can't a la carte the features; you have to either get the Base, Tech, Advance, etc. in order to get them. The difference in features between those trims are quite extensive. For instance, Tech gets: better leather, navigation, better sound system, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic, rain sensing wipers, 4-door keyless entry, 3d view, and some other stuff.

noclue02

I got a 16' TLX 4cyl and I do love the car, but there are time I do prefer the v6, especially the SH- AWD. Like many reasons mentioned above, extra power for the on ramp merge, or want to pass someone quicker. However, I do find the i4 is more suitable for city driving (socal traffic is not that great) as the DTC tranny is much smoother comparing to the v6. If I were to upgrade mine, I would definitely go with the v6 SH-AWD as it is quieter when accelerate, and the handling is better than i4.

KeithL

Saintor

Hell no.

kurtatx

kurtatx

BEAR-AvHistory

Absolutely hate to defend this guy but he posted G20 340. That is the next generation 385BHP 3.0T being released March 9, 1919. According to pre-release magazine drives it's potent as hell with very much improved handing over the current F9X series 3/4.

He might even be able to nail me on my slow 440 MPPSK if he does actually buy one, at least till 2020.

That said the DCT is the better transmission in the TLX.

kurtatx

Saintor

Yeah that kid always gets it wrong.

No wonder the 8DCT is abandoned by Honda Acura. The ZF9 is the best transmission here, smoother and dead reliable from 2016-. They are in no rush to move everything to the newer 10-speed.

kurtatx

Did you read the rest off what he said? The DCT is better than the ZF9. The ZF8 is also better than the ZF9. The ZF9 is good enough but it's just not on the level of those other transmissions and it's built for economy and FWD. The ZF8 is built for upscale vehicles, which Acura is trying to be.

The DCT is fun. The ZF8 is fast and sophisticated. The ZF9 doesn't stack favorably to either of them.

Saintor

As both of you never drove both ZF9 and 8DCT, your opinion is purely agenda-based and therefore no value. The ZF9 is obviously smoother, typical ZF style. Even Audi understood it as they prefer to install regular ZF in their 2018 S4, replacing the DSG/S-Type for that reason.

kurtatx

Audi uses the (better) ZF8 because Americans tend to prefer the smooth lower shifts, not the ZF9. And I have absolutely driven all three.

BEAR-AvHistory

Excuse me but I have driven the V6 TLX on a few occasions. My BMW dealer also sells Acura along with Porsche (my daughters cars), Audi, Jaguar, Land Rover, Alpha, Honda etc. Same dealer I bought my TL from.

Took runs in them on service visits to keep up to date for the TLX debates like this. The 9ZF is slow & clunky, odd man out in the XF family. The 8ZF in my BMW by comparison is greased lighting in all drive modes by comparison.

The XF9 has nothing to do with the ZF8 as you are trying to suggest. The ZF9 is a low performance transverse economy car FWD transmission. The ZX8 is a high performance longitudinally mounted transmission fitted to upscale cars including Ferrari, Aston Martin etc. The Aston Martins new Vantage is a ZF8 as is the new BMW M5.

Have not driven the TLX DCT but did own a DCT for 3 years & know how they drive. Best option for Acura would have been a V6 with the DCT but the Acura version does not have the torque capacity for the V6 engine. So you got the runt of the ZF litter that is useless in drive modes other then "soprt" according to you.

Don't know about you but when I buy a car I expect the transmission to function flawlessly is ALL drive modes, not to be a cripple in 2/3rds of them.

BEAR-AvHistory

BTW cars in red all run the ZF8

fiatlux

Yes the ZF9 is smoother during shifts because it's a traditional slushbox, but it's incredibly laggy, shifts when you don't want to, and takes forever to downshift when you do. I bought the 2.4 specifically because the ZF9 was such garbage on my test drives (and in loaner cars). This is coming from someone who has always bought the highest powered trim of every car I've owned, so it has nothing to do with fuel economy or money: RX-7 Turbo II, 2 M Roadsters, Civic Si, STI, X6M, M6, 500 Abarth. The ZF9 was that bad that I bought the 2.4 in spite of it having the weaker engine. If the dealership had offered me a discounted 3.5 for the same price as the 2.4 (with the same options) I would have still picked the 2.4.

Saintor

You can ass-ume all day long. I don't know about the XF9, but the ZF9 does. I drove maybe 40 ZF8-equipped cars and there is no difference. Mine is creamy-smooth and engages with crisp upshifts/downshift in Sport+.
That is because you confuse the transmission with throttle mapping.


Select Sport+ and then talk about the real transmission limitations. Acura chose to default its settings to economy by programming. Make no mistake, BMW does the same, but possible with less econo-aggressive tuning.

Big mistake on your part, having to settle down. I love mine.

BEAR-AvHistory

Sure & Ray Charles could have seen they are exactly the same & function the same, NOT.

ZF8 as in most high end cars


ZF9 in front wheel drive economy cars & a few more upscale ones like the TLX & Jeep.

Wrong, its because the transmission internals have to slow down to enable the two sets of gears in the "Dog Clutches" to exactly match speeds so they will engage. Very tricky thing to do right & it looks like Acura is struggling with getting it done. Very bad design choice from the get go. Since they are going to the 10 speed with the new generation they just bagged it. The ZF8 does not have this hold up & match speed then shift because the basic design is different. It just shifts, no hesitation required.

That sentence makes no sense at all. The ZF8 does not have shift issues getting creamy smooth very quick shifts in comfort or econ. It does have more shift modes than the ZF9 but all will shift smoothly right now in Comfort of Econ no need to go to Sport or Sport+ to get a very nice daily driver shift. In Sport & Sport+ it will bang the shifts & chirp the tires @ WOT but thats what its designed to do.

Missed the "settle down" part, my 440 ZF8 vs your TLX ZF9 is settling down? How does that work when it will eat your lunch anyway you want to measure it starting with the infamous 5-60mph you love so much?
You love it so much you are saying you will buy a BMW 340 with a ZF8 when you can dump the TLX in a few months. Going to mod it & install a ZF9?

kurtatx

If you have to go into sport+ to get your transmission to behave right, your transmission is bad. The ZF9 is bad.

mapleloaf

So have you made a decision?

KeithL

Saintor

Absurd.. Same crispness, same utter smoothness. You and the kid above are confusing with throttle mapping. ZF8/ZF9 feel very, very similar.

fiatlux

Uh, no, throttle mapping has nothing to do with how slow it takes for the ZF9 to kick down between 5 and 4. No amount of software wizardry can overcome the mechanical limitation of having to disengage a dog clutch. Maybe if you're Jesus you can do it...but sorry, you ain't him, even if you may think you are, grandpa.

kurtatx

Saintor wouldn't know a good car if he plowed into a pet shop with it.

The ZF9 is a dog crap Busch league transmission.

ntmera

Coming from the 5AT in my 05 TL, I'm loving the ZF9HP. There must have been a programming update applied to my 2015, I get no hard shifts (or vibration at 75?). Yes 5->4 (and 7->6 IIRC) is slower than the rest, but it's barely noticable. Faster than any downshift in the 5AT for sure.

From experience, when I'm on it in Sport+...I don't shift to 5th. We probably hit our 130 governor before that. Silly complaint IMO, once you go to 1:1 and the 4 overdrives, you're driving economically.

BEAR-AvHistory

So to avoid the 4 to 5 & 5 to 4 shift you run in Sport or Sport+ in daily driving?

Actually the maximum speed in 4th (1.382 or 16.3MPH per 1000RPM) is 111mph @ 6800 rpm. So in Sport/Sport+ you are running in 3000RPM in 4th @ 50MPH & 3700RPM @ 60MPH. Fuel economy must really suck.

If you don't shift into 6th (0.808) you never see a OD ratio for 2100RPM @ 60MPH.

Thing I am having a hard time with based on the drive in Sport/Sport+ comment is the actual numbers. Granted mine is a ZF8 & there are some major differences with the ZF9.

That said in Sport/Sport+ I have 6 modes not counting 3 additional if I separate the auto suspension & throttle settings from the shift modes. Manual lays another level on this where gears are held except for a forced paddle/stick shift in Comfort which will revert to auto shifting once the operation is completed.

Regardless of Sport mode the trans will upshift automatically at 42MPH from 4th to 5th as long as the throttle is not in WOT or in a power required acceleration position. At 52MPH it will upshift to 6th gear & stay in 6th till an auto downshift at 42MPH into 5th or a throttle intervention before that.

So I am wondering how a TLX will drive around in 4th in Sport/Sport+ in an automatic mode not hitting the 4/5-5/4 shift points in daily driving.

KeithL

Sorry don't fully buy it, throttle mapping or not the ZF8 was far better and don't you think if Acura could tune the throttle mapping better it would, especially in Sport or Sport Plus. The ZF8 was fast crisp shifts, the ZF9 is lazy lingering shifts. With all the work Acura has doen to make the ZF9 feel better it is still a pig in lower gear changes. That is clearly the trranny design. Or Acura forgot how to tune tranny mapping. Driving my wifes RDX 10AT proves Acura can get clean crisp shifts if the tranny is capable. Even my Infiniti with Nissan's notorious 7AT shifted light years better than the ZF9. I never hated that tranny and the ZF9 reminds me every day why it is a turd. Rolling stop sign and nail it is proof that should be a quick shift in any car, the ZF9 is like an eternity.

hdcolumbus

I had an '18 2.4 courtesy vehicle (Technology) for a couple of days this week while my '19 A-Spec SH-AWD was in for some warranty work (long story) and while I appreciated the smoother ride, I can say that if the 2.4 were the only model available in the TLX lineup, I would likely be driving another brand. I couldn't wait to turn it back in. Zero excitement.

F23A4