Another week, another car to review, another chance to ride shotgun with GRM.
This week, we have the hottest version of the Acura TLX, the Type S.
The first Acura to wear a Type S badge in some 13 years, the TLX Type S is powered by a turbocharged, 3.0-liter V6 that's rated at 355 horsepower and 354 lb.-ft. of …
It definitely looks the part of a sports sedan, and the specs look promising, too.
Is this different enough from the Integra Type-S to not cannibalize sales from each other?
Is it twin turbo?
Nice car - with all that equipment and AWD are we to assume it's a heavy car?
Acura spec sheet lists 4221 lb curb weight for the TLX-Type-S. The lower spec models look to have a detuned version of the turbo 2.0 from the Integra/Civic Type R, so this one is meant to be a step up I guess.
https://www.acura.com/cars/tlx/pricing-and-specs
In reply to BLRB :
Substantially larger car with a different purpose, if the Integra is like a 3-series, the TLX is between a 5-series and 7-series.
I want to like the TLX but the Predator head center console is extremely off-putting. An acquaintance also had one as a loaner and commented that the trunk is diabolically small for a car of its size.
So, I've only driven this thing back from David's at the point, but boy do I have some thoughts.
First, it seems way more extreme than I was expecting. The steering is sharp, quick and has lots of feedback. The suspension, even in non-Sport modes, is firm, with Sport and Sport+ mode bordering on harsh even on our smooth Florida roads. Chassis-wise it honestly feels more like a (well) modified car than something released by a major OEM for normies.
The engine, though, is a bit more sedate. It's powerful, torquey and linear, but maybe even a bit too linear. I love a broad torque curve but the flatness of the TLX's curve kind of takes away the specialness that you get from the rest of the package. And throttle response doesn't do much to help here, either. In Sport+ mode, the throttle response is decent and fairly linear. In all other modes it feels artificially dulled and hurt ever further by a long throttle pedal throw. If they made Sport+ the default setting and went more aggressive from there they may have something. Instead they made the tolerable one the sportiest setting and just nerfed from there.
The 10-speed automatic is okay I guess. Luckily it's hooked to one of the best set of OEM paddle shifters you're likely to find in a non-exotic. The wheel paddles are beefy, well placed and operate with a firm, positive *CLACK*... then the transmission kind of goes "oh did you want to shift okay bro one sec I'm on the phone with my girlfriend she locked herself out of the apartment again and I'm talking her through finding the hide-a-key because we recently moved it from the potted plant to the stone turtle and sheUPSHIFTis looking in the wrong turtle I think." I dunno. Maybe it's better on track at full throttle instead of the half throttle street shifts I was giving it.
Inside is a heaping helping of "be careful what you wish for" because the TLX is just chock full of actual buttons and physical knobs. Unfortunately, they's hard to use, frequently control functions that must first be accessed via the truly awful touch controller, and just haphazardly scattered around the interior. The inside is saved by good ergonomics and great seats, so owners will at least be comfortable while they're struggling with the learning curve of the rest of the interior controls.
Overall, there's some amazing bits here. But they're all assembled in such a way that I can't quite figure out who this car is for. It seems to want to compete with M, V and AMG, but it's not powerful or premium enough to play in that sandbox. So it just sort of end up as the "I wanted a CTR but I wear socks with sandals and play pickleball so this is my guy here" alternative.
Thanks, JG.
From a bench racer pov, I see no reason to shop this car when the universally highly-praised Integra Type-S exists.
Can we just talk about the turn signal stalk for a second? It clicks with authority. Its matte finish feels both sporty and upmarket. It pretty much sums up the entire car.
Like JG said, it’s faster than it feels. It just kinda keeps building power.
There is a heft to this car, though. You want all-wheel drive? Fine, but you’re going to pay for it–meaning that associated heaviness. It simply lacks the nimbleness of the CTR or Integra Type-S.
That’s not to say this one feels like a barge. It takes me back 20 years to an Acura press event at the Streets at Willow Springs. IIRC, the event was all about the Type-S cars, so we had TL, CL and RSX.
All felt good on track, with the bigger ones surprisingly fast. They had the power plus, thanks to the diff, the ability to just dig out of the turns. Fast, comfortable, capable. But they still lacked the playfulness of the RSX as there was just more mass involved.
I really enjoyed the TLX Type S. But I’d strongly consider buying the Integra Type S.
My Acura dealer had a white one with gray colored optional wheels and summer tires. It really was a hot looking ride.
The price and markup was out of my league but it looked like a comfortable and sporty car to me.
From what I've read so far, it seems like the TLX Type S is sort of like a grand touring car with a bit of an identity crisis.
How about taking it to test and tune night at the local dragstrip?
Colin Wood said:The first Acura to wear a Type S badge in some 13 years, the TLX Type S is powered by a twin-turbo, 3.0-liter V6 that's rated at 355 horsepower and 354 lb.-ft. of …
S
The J30AC is a single turbo V6 sir.
I absolutely love the looks of this car. I think Acura killed it with the styling of this "big body" sedan.
I think you all are spot on in your descriptions of the car. You can feel the weight, the power delivery is exciting but also not. The interior is nice but busy. The touchpad is annoying and very late 00s early 10s. I preferred the analog gauges of the first few years of this car compared to the mundane digital cluster it has now. I think most of these things suit the MDX Type-S just fine but the dynamics of the TLX Type-S would make me walk right past it and to the ITS.
DirtyBird222 said:The J30AC is a single turbo V6 sir.
Good catch. I had to increase the font size on my phone, now it looks like I'll have to keep browser zoomed in, too.
In reply to JG Pasterjak :
JG's comments, great! - just the kind of content that I wanted to read in the "article", and not being forced to read through all of the conversation afterwards, just sayin'.
So, is there launch control? Did you run it at FIRM? Clearly the commenters want to learn if it's anywhere near the Civic Type R in performance.
And what is, quoting from Acura's site,"Belt-Driven Variable-Ratio Electric Power Steering (EPS)"? Is it electric, electric assist, or hydraulic which I would associate with a belt being needed at all? Any comments appreciated!
In reply to PT_SHO :
We didn't run it at the FIRM, but I'll admit I was curious. Kind of an aside here, but the real answer is we need to be a bit picky with the cars we track test. Track testing—even though we have a pretty efficient program—takes a few resources to do right and even though we are fairly easy on cars they are going to go back with slightly chewed front tire shoulders from even just a few laps. So we tend to limit our track tests to the cars truly significant in our marketspace.
If I had to guess, though, I'd say the TLX-S probably fels stellar on track... until about 85% at which point reality and physics take over. The engine hangs waaaay out in front of the front axle,and as mentioned before, it's not exactly a light car. It's more than 600lbs heavier than our 435 project car, which also feels heavy on tack but is also exceptionally well balanced. So the TLX probably feels great until it overwhelms the tires which is likely at a lower speed than you'd really hope.
The "belt drive" part of the power steering is the belt connecting the electric servo to the rack gear. So instead of the drive servo being connected to the rack via traditional worm or helical gers, it uses a belt drive to assist the motion. Yeah, it's a terrible name.
Throttle House did a great track test with it and also did a follow-up video on daily driving dynamics. The overall takeaway from those videos is that it's underwhelming on track and and okay daily for the price point.
JG Pasterjak said:Inside is a heaping helping of "be careful what you wish for" because the TLX is just chock full of actual buttons and physical knobs. Unfortunately, they's hard to use, frequently control functions that must first be accessed via the truly awful touch controller, and just haphazardly scattered around the interior. The inside is saved by good ergonomics and great seats, so owners will at least be comfortable while they're struggling with the learning curve of the rest of the interior controls.
We recently test drove an older TLX. The double screen was so bad it made the car, as cool as it was to drive, an instant no.
Those seats are truly awful.
I own a MDX Type S, so essentially the same engine. If you are into pure performance and power one can definitely do better with the Euro offerings, at the expense of higher maintenance costs. I love the over all package of my Type S.
I regularly read about the lack of leg room in the second seat of the TLX. The Integra Type S is more spacious. Wouldn't really be an issue for me but could be for some.
In reply to PT_SHO :
Yes it is on par with CTR and ITS performance wise. The format of the car is obviously very different which makes them hard to compare 1 to 1. 0-60 times are similar, slight edge to the TLX-S. Quarter mile times are about the same. The TLX also has a much more premium interior feel with nicer materials and more features. It does lack interior space in the back seat but that isn't issue for me, having no kids and living alone. The physical controls are nice to have and are quality. The touch screen and buttons used to shift are definitely unique, but I had gotten accustomed to them and even learned to enjoy them after a few weeks of ownership, mostly because you dont need to lift your arm and reach to interact with the touch screen. Not ideal but certainly livable. Hopefully tuning continues to improve and they are able to limit the boost cut. More advanced tuning would be a game changer for this car. It handles wonderfully, its extremely rigid with the stock suspension and chassis bracing. As a single male in their mid 20's who needs good comfort for commuting, and is looking for good (not great) performance, the car has served me well. It looks great and there are not on the road or being produced, which is worth something to me. As time goes on, I think the car, and the engine in particular, will age well. It is a really well built and reliable engine.
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