Xavier Mathews

Hello everyone,

New here obviously. December 4th or 5th I will be buying my first Luxury car. After countless hours of research and many test drives, I've nailed it down to the Acura RDX 2019 A Spec, Acura TLX or the Audi A5 Sportback. The thing is, I love FAST cars. 0-60. The concern I have with the TLX is the naturally aspirated engine with no turbo along with that outdated dual screen. I love the virtual cockpit in the Audi, but german engineering seems to come with a ton of maintenance and complications. The RDX looks amazing but I've never owned a cross over. Every time I see that car I fall in love.

Thought?
Xavier

BC01191980

SebringSilver

Not trying to be difficult here, but if you love fast cars, why would you be considering these three? None of them are fast.

RDX10

You're really comparing apples, oranges, and bananas here. You need to figure out what you need and want and work it out from there. For what it's worth, I wouldn't touch a TLX with the ZF9 personally. It is much improved but just not for me. Also I see Acura as the Japanese Audi and also for what it's worth Acuras aren't exactly as reliable as they used to be and Audis have gotten MUCH better....actually sit a few spots above Honda and Acura in a few reliability surveys.

Wander

I am told that individuals with finely honed negotiating skills ( and/or a willingness to travel to dealers in distant lands ) may be able to get an Audi to be price competitive with a comparable Acura. YMMV

I am also told that out-of-warranty repair costs for Audis may be injurious to your financial and/or psychological health. So they may be a more viable option if you lease or flip cars. If you tend to buy and hold, not so much. But as noted by RDX10, these historical trends may or may not have current relevance.

RDX10

This historical trend of psychological and financial pain is still accurate today. But apparently the chance of needing to do said repairs are rare now so who knows.

Njbrandon

Wait for the new BMW 3 Series. The base model 0-60 is around 5 secs and 340i low 4's. Plus it has digital dash and just looks way better than the TLX.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.caranddriver.com/amp/news/2019-bmw-3-series-330i-m340i-photos-info

Tom2

My Audi is pretty fast. It's good for low 12's in the 1/4 mile and will push more than 170 mph top speed. I never timed 0-60, but I'd estimate somewhere in the four second range for sure. Yes, it's lightly modified.

[img]https://i.postimg.cc/RZBkTY87/A5S.jpg[/img]

flames9

Similar boat to you..Test drove (multiple times) 2019 RDX Advance pkg....Audi Q5..Lexus...Volvo XC 60 T5 and T6 and for me the winner as of today is the Vovlo XC60 T6 Inscription.....Found it to be much peppier than the T5 and 1 can add on Polestar (software change $1200 more) and increases the HP and Torque further. I found the XC 60 T6 to be a much more refined drive than the RDX...much quieter.....can parallel and revers park pretty much on its own (u control the breaking, it does the rest) the Massaging seats are to die for,lol If u only test drove the T5...go back and test drive the T6, def more peppy. Ur looking to pay around $56 for the T6 Inscription with the advance pkg and the ventilation/heating/massaging seats.....if u want air suspenion its a $1800 add on....the upgraded stereo is $3200. Is it worth all that extra $$$ over the RDX..for me yes, but maybe not for some.
Another car to keep in mind is the new 2019 Mazda Cx5 Signature (top of line) model....it has a lot of bells & whistles for $40,000 Suppose to be hitting dealers lots soon..they are now on the mazda website....may not have a "luxury" name, but appears to have a lot of the luxury items in it.

birdonamission

That pretty li'l T6 Inscription with all the niceties is hovering around $62K, if I added your list of goodies correctly. That's the downpayment on a $310,000 house to just avoid paying PMI. No thanks. The 2019 RDX works perfectly fine and was expensive enough for me.

kurtatx

Sedans: Audi by a lot
Crossovers/Small Trucks: Edge to Acura because of what a value play they are

flames9

I was replying to the Op,lol If one is test driving Audi's, then 1 is ion the same price range as a Volvo....the T5 is a few thousand cheaper. A T6 with the spiffy seats and the advance package (all the safety stuff etc etc ) is prob around 55ish. We liked the Audi Q5....but in talking with a few people that have them, they said they loved them, but prepare to fork out the $$$$ when it comes time to fix them....1 can prob say the same about Volvo. RDX has a lot going for it.....

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

I think MSRP is one thing, and depreciation is another thing to consider. Historically, Volvos don't hold their value as well as Acuras.

The OP sure has 3 very different cars listed lol. Out of those 3 in stock car, the TLX would be the fastest in terms of 1/4 mile trap speed. But being fastest still means it's not all that fast.

The TLX arguably has the best sounding engine out of the 3, given it has a V6. It's also nice to not have any turbo lag. But if you are into aftermarket tuning, it's probably the one with the least potential.

Tom2

No, the A5 has it beat across the board. Faster 0-60, faster 1/4 mile, faster trap speed. It's amazing what Audi does with their little turbocharged 4 in a relatively heavy AWD car.

kurtatx

Honda can do it, too. 2.0Ts are just better now.

Madd Dog

JAB00

I considered the Q5 and XC60 but eventually went with an 2019 A-Spec RDX SH-AWD. I am coming off an 05 TL which I bought brand new at the time. It had really no significant problems except normal wear and tear stuff over last 13 years of ownership. I still have it and will use it as a beater. I like to keep my cars long (>7 years) and have more confidence in Acura/Honda though other companies have caught up in terms of reliability/quality. Only problem is Audi or Volvo will be much more expensive to maintain once warranty expires. I think the XC60 is the best looking upscale SUV/CUV in the market. It looks so elegant and up scale. The Q5 is nice looking but getting dated.

Tom2

Audi just came out with a new Q5. But it does look very much like the older one, so I can see how people would think it looks dated. It's so successful that I don't think Audi wants to take a chance and make big changes to the styling.

JAB00

I agree. The Q5 is a nice design, especially with the sportier variants. This is what I like about the Germans they make just slight adjustment to successful designs. Whereas Japanese veer drastically from design language even if coming off a successful one. The 3G TL was a very popular sedan. They went ahead and came up with the 4G which was monstrous looking. Honestly Acura sedans have never recovered after that.

kurtatx

Audi does incremental changes in most of their models. Good thing, too. It has largely saved the four rings from the beak look from Acura or the ugly sea monster look on the Lexus

RDX10

Tell that to the Volvo XC60. The ONLY other vehicle I have seen keep its value as well as the XC60 is the Toyota 4runner. It's absurd. 2009 and 2010 XC60 models with close to or exceeding 200k kms go for 15k and up!!! It's insane.

This is what I find incredible about the Germans. They manage to make the most mild tweaks ever and yet somehow the end result ends up looking brand new. It blows my mind honestly. They take the edges of the grille and nip them a little bit, then they take the headlights and do the same and it ends up looking fresh as hell. Meanwhile everyone else has to make these drastic changes in order to stay fresh.

Look at a VW Golf or Jetta. Each gen is so mildly different than the last but the cumulative result over the years ends up being amazing. Fwiw I have a lot of experience with the new Audi Q5 and it's an AMAZING driving vehicle. Just effortless. It's also so darn fast and all it had was the 2.0T. $500 flash later and we're pushing a healthy 350hp!

anoop

Only true for VWAG. BMW and MB do make pretty drastic changes very 7 years, with a nip-and-tuck LCI midway. But each new chassis (every 7 years) does look substantially different from the previous one.

kurtatx

BMW not so much anymore. They all look like direct descendants of the E90 3 series.

anoop

Maybe because I know BMW too well, they all look very different to me. Audis and VWs I just cannot tell because the tweaks are tiny.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

Actually both trap at 100mph in the 1/4 mile...I guess it's a tie:

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews...wd-test-review
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews...ck-test-review

The TLX is slightly faster for 0-120mph though so that suggests the TLX does have a tiny bit more top end. But then again, it's hard to beat a DCT in the lower gears when there are more shifts. Probably less drivetrain losses and less than wasted on shifting.

Xavier Mathews

I mean they are all in the 5 sec range so that quick.

Xavier Mathews

I'm pretty sold on the RDX, I'll pick it up in two days.

RDX10

I'd agree about MB but I honestly can't tell the 5 series apart from the 7 series and can't tell the current gens from the old gens. But yeah VWAG definitely keeps a common line of design.

Tom2

No, most definitely not a tie. Just because you found the one road test on the internet where the Acura matches the 1/4 speed of the Audi doesn't mean it's a tie. Even in your own links, the Audi still wins 0-60 and quarter mile. Congrats for finding a matching trap speed. LOL