You're right, the information for the TLX is available, it does not send 90% of the power to the front, it sends up to 90% to the front while steady state cruising in a straight line for mpg benefits as you mentioned. Under acceleration it sends up to 45% to the rear. This is 45% with no wheel slip, or loss of traction. It's in a straight line, so no torque vectoring, etc. Since its only 45% to the rear, this is why there is a front bias. These systems can't affect handling at all with no power.

On corners up to 70% can go to the rear or to an individual wheel which is part of what the whole Super Handling thing is about despite not being rear biased. Acura never claimed the current TLX was rear biased, but they are saying that for the new model. Altering the system from where it is presently to a system that is rear biased isn't that big a jump to make. Cars that understeer are safer to drive, so it's always been up to Acura to make the decision to dial in more neutral handling.

 

Exactly, they made a move to improve, Acura did not with the first gen TLX versus TL. No matter how you spin it, quality is not something Honda/Acura should be praising too highly with latest models. The only thing I was trying to say is that Honda is secretive, and that's not always a good thing. For fixes or features.

 

I guess you aren't familiar at all with the B8 S4 DSG mechatronics issues. Yeah they made a move to improve by making fixes, but ignored the 1st gen customers who had issues, didn't offer a warranty extension, and left them with bills for thousands. Rattling, and disintegrating B6/B7 S4 timing guides were ignored until out of warranty. Replacing them is an engine out repair, and obviously there was no warranty extension for that either. The same for pretty astronomical oil consumption issues. Carbon buildup in the B7 RS4 that I get cleaned for almost $900-1k every 15-20k miles. If ignored leads to misfire, and intake manifold flap failures. Audi denies this issue even existed, but at the same time offered the cleaning service for top dollar. Only after the warranties expired did acknowledgement finally happen.

Just mentioning Audi since I am very familiar with these issues, and to point out that all manufactures are "secretive," but I think Acura is better than most by jumping in with warranty extensions, etc instead of denying any issues, burying their head in the sand, and only dealing with failures under the factory warranty. That doesn't scream secretive to me at all. Not sure if the TLX was your first car or not, but this kind of thing happens all the time, across all makes, and again in this case we aren't even talking about failures.

 

We'll agree to disagree, Acura is for sure not better than most. Just look at the RDX suspension noise and TLX vibration and christmas tree dashboard issues. They blame other things and say all is good.
I had read about a possible torque converter issue with the 2012 TLs, so got mine inspected since it would become my father's car soon. 100$ later, all is good. Not even 2-3 months later I get a recall notice. I doubt they didn't know about this problem.

 

Agree, we have had fixes of both Honda & Acura products that were the results of HONDA either loosing or settling class action suites. BMW lost some suits, FORD took a crap shoot & lost with the pinto gas tank & I expect there are no angel manufacturer out there. A few bucks here & a few bucks there on a few million cars can really add up. Lots of incentive to hope to ride things out.

 

New video from Acura:

7 seconds in you can see that the gauge cluster for the Type-S is not digital and looks identical to the one in the RDX.

Steering wheel appears to be flat-bottomed and the redline is around 6800RPMs.

However, most importantly, at 8 seconds in it appears to have buttons for heated and COOLED seats, which is purportedly an Advance feature. Seems like the Type-S may have some of the Advance goodies after all.

 

Nevermind, someone pointed out that the A-Spec package also comes with ventilated seats. Guess I got too excited about that.

 

Agreed and​ I have personal experience of Acura and Honda not being better than most.

 

​​​​​Acura Settles After Class-Action Lawsuit Over Expensive Oil Problem

by Robin Cortezon July 14, 2020

https://www.motorbiscuit.com/acura-s...e-oil-problem/

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Case in point

 

^^^^^

That is the Honda J-series 3.7L-V6 engine, that doesn't utilize a cast iron sleeve for the cylinder walls.

Honda has since discontinued the use of this oil-burning V6 engine in its entire Acura lineup.

 

Yes, the 3.7L has oil burning issues and if you go by the maintenance minder you can kiss your engine goodbye as the oil consumption gets worse with time. Acura needs to step up and own it.

 

 

Finally, LED turn signals!

 

I do like how sculpted that front end is...looks aggressive, but not too over the top which would get old fast.

 

I wasn't sure where to share this that but since the new TLX is the hot topic and we always discuss about brand loyalty. This ranking seems pretty accurate. I am a bit surprised by two brands. Land Rover before Acura and Infiniti almost at the end, even after Masaerti.

 

It would help if Infiniti had cars worth buying these days. Hard to get repeat buyers when the product is so far behind the competition.

For as many problems as Land Rovers have, owners seem to love them. There’s an inherent switching cost associated with going from a car like a Range Rover to something else; namely, the status and cache associated with owning one of the cars. It tells the world “Hey, I have fine tastes in British automobiles and I’m rich enough to not worry about the sky high repair costs and reliability issues”. I don’t think any other automaker can lay claim to that combination of luxury and wanton disregard to running costs.

 

Agreed with infiniti. and lol @Land Rover. But you're right. Their cars have so many issues but yet people but them for prestige and show off.

 

To be honest with you, these graphs I can't trust. I'm not sure what region they go by, the class of the people who buy them and more. The Lexus, I can see. I've met a lot of Lexus owners and they LOVE their Lexus. Rarely meet one who said they would go with another brand because of the features. Masaerti I can understand. I see those used more than new. Especially with the issues they have. People lease them for the status. then you find them on a pre-owned lot soon after.

 

Middle daughter traded her Pilot for a Range Rover last year, was really surprised by that. She has been a Honda buyer since her first new car. Was even more surprised that its factory listed top speed is 176MPH which is 11MPH faster than my Z4's governor limit of 165mph. So far no issues but will be interesting to see how it holds up. Had a few Jaguar Sovereign 4.0L V8's (company leases) when I lived in England & was never a big fan of the English cars reliability.

 

Yep. Unfortunately, that means the Infiniti and the Land Rover brands are perceived by auto buyers to be more upscale and desirable than the near-luxury Acura brand.

 

One thing i have to agree. These surveys, graphs and charts are not clear. They always bundle and share on the internet lol! Make your own judgement and conclusions. But Lexus is spot on. I never met a single person who doesn't like their Lexus.

 

I think the key thing is that with Lexus is that while there are other cars that may be better in certain areas, there's nothing with Lexus that will make you dislike it (other than the infotainment). No surprise, annoyances, etc. You get what you're expecting; what else can you ask for? And if something does go wrong, they make things right (even when it's your own damn fault, as the case was for my mom's brake issue).

 

Other than the HIDEOUS looks! I loved my 2002 GS430 and would have been a Lexus loyalist for life had they not gone all wackadoodle with their styling. Now it seems like with every new model they release they're saying, "Don't think we can design an uglier car? Hold my beer..."

 

Man it still looks smallish. Dreams might be dashed again

 

Exactly. When I was looking for the IS350, every person I spoke to said they drove the 335i then the IS350 and never went back to BMW.


When they changed that front bumper to where it looks like the grille and bumper are one and that stupid hourglass look, I was upset. Lol. I was like "Nope. Bye Lexus. Off my list." I would still love a 13 or lower IS350 or ISF. But I wouldn't get anything new. They seriously need to update their infotainment systems. They all look bland and outdated. Like they're from 2004. You have all these systems now with graphics and colors. Lexus is still sitting with the Windows 98 in set up mode look.

 

That's really been the key to their success - get tech that works and run with it forever. Same with their drivetrains.

 

That is true. Their 3.5 in the IS series has been reliable to my knowledge. Haven't hear anyone have any problems from it. But they gotta find a way to keep up with current tech and make sure it stays reliable as well. I'm not tech so I wouldn't know where to begin to figure that out.

 

I'm just glad they are still going 3.5 and not axing it for a turbo.

 

^^^^^

Very soon, they will have to go to force induction as well.

Firstly, unless there is a breakthrough in engine technology, otherwise naturally-aspirated V6 engines have hit the ceiling in churning out significantly additional output hp.

Secondly, there is this ever stringent CAFE rating that is every difficult to meet with large displacement (non 4-cylinder) engines .

 

I know the IS200T isn't anything that special.

Maybe it'll be an IS300T putting out 370HP!

 

From that video, it looks like a Chevy Camaro made a baby with an Infiniti Q50. Hopefully it looks better in person (ad shots can be deceiving).

As for Lexus IS, the refreshed has been confirmed to not get anything new as far as powertrain, but possibly the V8 down the road as Lexus has trademarked 'IS 500'. I'd imagine pricing for it would start near $60k as to not cannibalize the RC-F that they barely sell any of.

 

An IS500 for $60K?

That probably isn't good for Acura.

 

Eh, I don't think Acura, or any of the Germans have anything to worry about with the IS500, if it ever comes to fruition. Lexus does some head-scratchingly inane pricing on some of their vehicles. GS-F was one, starting around mid-$80k. Who knows, IS500 may start in the high-$60k ... but I think they realize they're not going to sell many at that price, hence why the RC-F was priced $20k lower than the GS-F. But, the fact that they're using the name IS500 rather than IS-F may be an indication that pricing may not be as steep as you might expect ... it could very well just be an IS350 with the V8 shoehorned under the hood with absolutely no other differences as far as appearance, interior and suspension, unlike the treatment the F's get compared to their base models. IS350 F-Sport AWD starts at $47K, maybe another $10k for the V8? Again, it's Lexus though, so it's anybody's guess.

Also, that V8, AFAIK, has only ever been mated to a RWD drivetrain. I doubt they're going to develop an AWD system for a motor that they're phasing out. That could be a deal breaker for many.

 

That's the problem with Lexus. They stick that ancient V8 and want to charge 80K+ for the car even though the competition like M cars just destroy it in performance. Sales are terrible and Lexus just gives up on the model and eventually axes it. What is the point of this. Seeing an actual F car in the wild is like seeing a unicorn.

 

there's an Orange GSF that gets onto the freeway the same time i do. it's so fuckin awesome!

 

I love seeing F's on the road!

 

I know. F this, F that, F them all!!!

 

F yeah!

 

Me and wife were gonna wait a couple years to get a pre-owned one. We decided we're gonna get one when it come out. We got 2 cars to trade. That'll help us get the insurance down and drop her down to one payment. So Type S....hurry up. Lol. Plus I need to see the price on it. Hahahaha!

 

Wha? Don't decide on a car that isn't even available yet. By then, there may be other great vehicles out that you may overlook because you're set on the TLX.

I'm also hearing rumors the IS500 may not get the V8 from the F cars but actually the V6TT from the LS500. I don't know which one is more plausible. The V8 has been reserved for the F-cars, so there's good reason to believe they won't stick it in something with a non-F badge (including an F-Sport). But, the chances of them putting the same engine as is in their flagship is another question mark. Perhaps they feel the LS has been out long enough, and with almost nobody buying them, they could use the sales to help make back some of the development costs by putting it in their other vehicles. I'd love if they put that engine in an ES F-Sport. I don't know what it is about the ES F-Sport ... I just like it. I just wish it had something with more power under the hood.