neuronbob

Sorry I've been away for over two months, folks. I've had other priorities in my life recently. I'll keep it short.

7262 miles on the odo as of today. In fact, though the title says "six month report", I'll have had the car for seven months next week. Car hasn't been back to the dealer for any unexpected stuff. In fact, it hasn't even had its first oil change yet. I did manage to scratch the sharp tip of the front of the bumper with my garage door. Brilliant! I'm mulling over whether to just cover with touch-up paint (scratches are not down to the plastic, but are fairly deep), or to get the whole bumper repainted. It's going to wait until after this awful winter. Car is just constantly encrusted in salt, yuck.

Here's my Fuelly.


In short, the mileage is as you note above. After the changeover to winter blend, the mileage dipped by about 1-2 mpg. The severe cold had a severe effect on the last tank, at 17 mpg. I think that's an isolated event, however. We'll see.

Transmission is....eeeeeeeeeeh. There are times when there is a considerable delay in upshift on acceleration. It's an occasional issue but is quite annoying. Tends to happen if I am accelerating aggressively in traffic. It's as if the sensors are overactive, keeping me from accelerating into the car in front of me....even if there isn't a car in front of me. Very weird. Most of the time, the tranny is just fine. I truly wish to God that Acura had released this car with a manual transmission. The car would be PERFECT with a 6MT.

Surprised at how many "nice car" comments I get with this car. The color and the blacking out of the chrome certainly make the otherwise plain TLX look really good. I'm so happy with the color combination I chose.

Overall, I am still enjoying the car without major issues.

svtmike

Try Dr. Colorchip. I have been able to do a much better job with it than factory touch up paint.

BEAR-AvHistory

Good stuff.

neuronbob

I have an additional comment, specifically about the stock Michelin MXM4 Primacy tires on my A-Spec. I have now driven them in all possible conditions.

While winter tires would obviously be superior, I have found these tires to have more than adequate braking power on cold, dry pavement, and they do reasonably well in significant snow. There's one entrance to my neighborhood that is angled and on a steep hill simultaneously. During our recent snow storm, the road was covered with deep snow, 3-4 inches. I decided to tackle it any because.....well, just because. I had absolutely no difficulty whatsoever. The experience is relevant to me because since I leased my car, it's a constant battle to decide how much money to invest in the car. I had to decide whether to purchase winter tires. So far, in the last few weeks of ice and snow, I've been able to get away with it. Tires have almost 7500 miles on them, so they are still relatively new, and that may also have something to do with it.

They are not track tires by any stretch, but they provide adequate performance for routine driving. They are less adequate for spirited driving on warm pavement as they will squeal a bit in quick, aggressive turns...but I don't do much of that on public roads, anyway, and that's what my NSX is for. So far, no hydroplaning in the wet. We'll see how they age.

Christopher.

You have the SH-AWD version A-Spec, Bob?

I've had a similar experience with my stock Bridgestone Potenza P225/50 R18 tires on my '18 V6 FWD TLX - driving on unplowed roads in the snow has been "OK". I have yet to feel hesitant to drive the car in the worst snowy weather - I just drive carefully and slower. My concern is more about some other driver running into me, not about me having any problems with my own driving due to the snow.

If I lived in rural Vermont, Canada, etc., I'd definitely want the SH-AWD TLX though, not my FWD. I feel fine driving on major highways, or around town w/my FWD one in the winters, but for snow covered country back roads, I'd absolutely want AWD. Certainly, my wife's AWD Subaru felt more confident tackling hills and/or accelerating on packed snow covered roads.

I had the Michelin Primacy tires on my Toyota Sienna and found them to wear rather fast - I replaced them with a different model of Michelins that they market for SUVs & Trucks for that reason. Perhaps they don't wear so fast on the TLX, it being a 1,000 lb lighter vehicle?

neuronbob

I have the SH-AWD variant, but really that only helps you to get started in snowy conditions, and the programming does help you in addition to the traction control in slippery conditions. Even with all the tech, tires are the key to ice/snow traction, which is why I'm properly impressed with the Michie all-seasons. If they were not any good, I'd switch to winter tires immediately even though my car is leased.

Count yourself lucky you live in Central Ohio and not close to the lake like I do! It snows lots here on the east side of the Cleveland area!