Hi All,

I am new to posting on the forum but have been lurking for years to find answers to common Acura problems.

I owned a 2006 Acura TL for nine years that I absolutely loved and it never gave me any problems until the transmission decided to go out on it at 137,000 miles. So, I figured it was time to buy a new car.

I test drove the BMW 328i and Infiniti Q50 and loved the handling and acceleration in both cars. I also test drove the TLX V6. I noticed during the test drive that the shifts were a bit jerky and the acceleration was slow and mentioned this to the salesperson that came along for the ride, and he said that it was common to this engine but that in time the car would "learn" my driving habits and would smooth out. Now, I hope I am not naive, but as I said, I had not owned a new car in nine years and I know that technology has come a long way so his comment did not sound farfetched.

Being a loyal Acura owner and considering the cost of maintenance with the BMW and the steering issues with the Infiniti, I decided to get the Acura TLX V6.

I've had the car now for 5 days and there is a marked lag in the acceleration ... so much so that I will not dart out to make a turn into oncoming traffic because I am not sure that the car will speed up enough to make the turn in time. Also, between 0 and 40 mph, the shifting is jerky (revving up, then down and then up again), almost as if the car is trying to find the proper gear to be in.

I am now beginning to wonder if I made the right decision because these two issues really take away from the driving experience. I think if I had never driven the BMW and Infiniti which both had smooth shifting and extremely responsible transmissions, it might not bother me as much. But since I did, I cannot help but compare the difference in the TLX and those cars.

Is there anyone out there that owns a TLX V6 and the car actually smoothed out and started driving better? The dealership is assuring me that the car is not broken in and should get better by the time I hit 1,000 miles.

 

the salesman is partially correct.

your 2006 TL has a self learning ECU, which learns your driving habits. however, I dont think it can help smooth out shifts.

in your New TLX, you can try resetting the ECU by unhooking the negative terminal from the battery for a few seconds to a minute.
this will reset the ECU, the nav and radio. Be sure to have radio and nav codes handy.

the ECU is now reset and will learn your driving habits.

 

what you are experiencing might be the cylinder deactivation. Try to drive in Sport or Sport+ and see if it still lags.

 

What mode do you normally use, Economy, Sport or Sport +? I haven't driven one yet but other posters say that there are definitely noticeable difference in performance between all three.

 

I'm not sure I ever received codes ... I guess I need to check in the materials I received. What is a cylinder deactivation?

 

What IDS setting do you drive in?

My car drives fine but there is a slight delay if I give it light throttle when taking off from a stop in econ or normal modes. Now I'm used to it and just give it more throttle at the start. I think it has to do with saving gas or the throttle by wire system. My mercedes did the same thing or even worse sometimes. In sport mode the throttle response is much better. My car doesn't seem to gear hunt badly at all but I don't drive around in econ mode either when in town. Could be how you're applying throttle (giving it gas and then letting off repeatedly). I guess the best thing to do is make sure you have enough time to pull out into traffic given your cars behavior. Or just get rid of it.

 

From a standstill, there should be no real hesitation, especially to the point of being afraid to jump out into traffic. If you are driving on the hiway in econo mode and punch the throttle, the car tends to hesitate before grabbing a lower gear.

If you are experiencing that much lag, call Acura service and have them look at it. I'm sorry to hear you are questioning your purchase and hope you get it sorted out.

 

I go between the Normal and Sport modes. The Sport mode is definitely better but there is still a bit of a lag but not as bad as the normal.

 

Go back to the sales manager and demand that one of the salesmen (not yours) take the time to properly acquaint you with the car. It appears they didn't do their job.

 

I know what your saying. It doesn't have a quick throttle. I think it may be meant to help gas mileage under light throttle starts. I have gotten used to it. I just give it more throttle at the start but I too wish the throttle response was more immediate.

 

I called and spoke with a salesperson (another one) who told me that there are no codes anymore. He said if the battery is disconnected everything will come back on except I will lose my presents. Is this incorrect?

 

That and have them ride with the OP. I know that as I tested out the 2 TLX's I drove, I had no problem getting up to speed and noticed no real hesitation

 

@StewHD ... I went to the dealership yesterday because I was contemplating turning in the V6 for the 4 cylinder and I had the salesperson (a different one) ride with me in my car and the 4 cyclinder. In each case I pointed out what I was feeling and he said "that's how the engine works." I spoke with the sales manager who also said that's how the engine works and it would get better as the car breaks in. I'm not sure if I am being overly sensitive to the issue because I had in mind that this new engine would be like a BMW or the Infiniti in terms of responsiveness and it just isn't.

 

only one way to find out

Disconnect the battery!!!

 

Hmmm, not sure what to say. I have not seen others reporting that issue.

 

For the trans to have 8 and 9 speeds I find so spread it still. I know its for the engine to be in the proper power band but can they not skip shift when and full acceleration to land each gear in the proper power band while in city driving using the beginning few case ratio gears to keep the shifting less noticeable?

Its 2014, where is the cutting edge technologies? Lol

 

Ask the dealer to let you test drive another V6 TLX to see if what you're experiencing is an isolated issue with your vehicle or if it's typical of other V6 TLXs. If you drive another car and it drives like yours, it's probably the nature of the car. If not, you may have cause for legitimate concern.

Based on your description, I wonder if it's your driving style that maybe the culprit. Get out somewhere safe and put your foot into it a little bit and see if that alters your perspective. I imagine with 9 gears (a little overkill, perhaps?) and a timid foot, the car maybe trying to figure out exactly what you want it to do. I hope you get your issue resolved. Keep us posted.

 

During the 5 minutes that I got my V6, the salesman gave me the owner's manual (in the leather cover) and the codes were in there...

 

sounds like OP's dealership sucks.

 

...just curious why this behavior wasn't identified during the test drive?

 

Good thing I got to try a Loaner car, experienced the same issue.

 

Because no one really pays attention during a test drive. Especially with a sales guy talking and trying to explain every feature.

 

If this is a true issue with the car, why isn't every owner on this site complaining about this? I would think that it would be noticed by more than one or 2 people. .. just wondering/confused

 

Here is someone who isn't impressed. But who cares. Acura isn't targeting the sports enthusiast driver anyways. It's a car that takes you from point A to point B.

2015 Acura TLX First Drive

Step up to the V-6 models and some of that lightweight fling-ability goes away, lost to weight (about 3,600 lbs depending on equipment), but also to the new 9-speed automatic transmission’s vagaries. Still offering Sport and Sport+ modes, and still offering the manual paddle shifters, the 9-speed gearbox’s extra cog does little to improve the experience, while its programming does much to contrast sharply with the refined brilliance of the 8-speed dual-clutch. Shifts are jerky, slow, and lazy; downshifts lack the zing you want to match revs; and when switching from reverse to drive, expect to wait a good 3-5 seconds before anything—anything at all—happens.

 

At the same time you can find plenty that say how responsive the V6 is. Reviews are very subjective depending on expectations. I am sure there are some unbiased reviews.

How is it that you get one person talking it up and enjoying the car and another dogging like it like it's a boat? 3-5 seconds wait? Pure BS

 

Have you driven a V6 TLX? I doubt it. The tranny doesn't shift like a DCT because it's a conventional automatic. Just like the 8 speed ZF used in the BMWs. And like Stew4HD said, the 3-5 second delay is pure BS. Maybe that reviewer tried to switch gears before the car came to a stop or got an early example but my tranny does not behave that way at all. There are reviews that say the 9 speed unit works well. It's a trade off. The DCT is great for spirited driving but not as good as a conventional auto for everyday normal driving and vice versa.

 

3-5 seconds! Really! I guess I got a different spec because that is not my experience. The car was build for my type of driving and have no expectations on zing with downshifts.

 

I looked at the owner's manual and it says there are no codes. If the Navi and audio is disconnected from the power source, then I have to push the power button once it has been reconnected and the sysem will reset. If it does not reset, then I have to take it to a dealership. Weird that some folks seem to have codes and others do not.

As for the driving, I drove it in sport mode on the way home yesterday and this morning and it seems to be a lot less jerky. Not perfect, of course, but I could get used to it. I think a lot of what I was feeling has to do with my personal expectations based on my experience driving other cars. Acura is not a performance car, period.

 

Poor V6 , Im not Nostradamus , but i predicted that all TLX problems will be related to the
V6s models.

 

And what are all these problems that the V6 models are having? Just curious.

 

This behavior was apparent during the test drive but the salesperson said that it was just how the engined worked. I also drove two other V6s (one when the TLX first came out and one a week before I purchased the one I have now) and it drove the same. The sluggish acceleration is really prominent in "normal" mode and the jerky shifting is most prominent in sports mode.

 

I did notice the somewhat delayed acceleration from a stop in econ and normal modes. Today I am trying the sport mode with my third tank of fuel. The delayed acceleration is gone in this mode. I have not noticed any of the jerky shifting in any of the modes. The sport mode reminds me of the way my '11 TSX accelerated and shifted.

 

Did you hear problems on V6s Accords or RLXs ??? None. Its basically the same
engine , and these engines on TLXs were tested a zillon of hours.
I posted that base 4 will get all the praise because The Koreans & germans has
all his pockets on V6s models. Tipically Honda&Acura has loss the media war to
Germans & Koreans and the V6s TLX models is taking that course.

 

Oh, okay. Honda/Acura needs to just close up shop. They have lost to the Germans and Koreans. Surrender now, Honda!

I have a V6 Accord and I guess It's just one of the lucky ones.. I have NO issues at all.

 

The slow acceleration is most likely caused by the transmission not going all the way down to first gear. My MDX does this and it's a little annoying.

Example: If I stop at a stop sign and don't wait more than a second or two, my MDX starts off in second gear. Even if I repeatedly tap the paddle shifter down, it still will not go down to first gear. I have to stomp on the gas to get it going.

When I'm in sport mode (on the shifter not IDS) it will shift down to 1st gear when I hit the paddle shifter but will not stay there for long. Also keep in mind I have the 6 speed transmission.

Downshift with the paddle shifter to see if the car will go down to 1st gear. The gear you are in will display on the MID.

 

V6 Tech.....3,000 miles and counting.

Yes as I have also reported before my transmission shifts rough (slip and jerk) from standing start regardless of acceleration speed and occasionally when down shifting to a stop, regardless of deceleration speed. I don't use the paddles and IDS stays in SPORT Mode.

Some owners are experiencing rough transmission gear changes and some are not. Will have dealer check soon along with several other items.

 

My TLX does the same thing as yours and it's very frustrating when you try and merge onto a highway and the car feels like it doesn't want to move. I've only had my car car for 7 days but i'm not to happy with it. i drove one of my coworkers the the other day and she thought we were rear-ended when the car jerked so badly. The car i had before was only a 211 horse power 4 cylinder and it was very responsive.

 

There's no way in hell the V6 should feel slow, especially from a standstill. If it does, something's wrong.

If you experience a bit(a second....maybe? Nothing drastic) of a power lag when trying to pass on the highway for example, that could be explained by the dog clutches in the transmission.

Click here for a good article that explains how our trannies work.

 

Well, I've had my V6 Advance for 6.5 months and still have the transmission 1>2 and 2>3 hard shifts and the horrible throttle response. I feel like I made a 42500 mistake. I also have all the"updates" non of which made any difference. I can't believe Acura actually released this vehicle for sale. They had to know about the problems. This is my first...and last Acura!

 

If you feel so strongly about it and it's that bad, go to the dealer...if they acknowledge (get paperwork) but cant fix the problem 4 times you can get a lemon law attorney and get out of your lease/purchase...keep coming back to them, persistence is key.