When we were test-driving the 2015 TLX the other day, the question of identity came up. We were talking to Doug Focht, our sales associate, about how it can be difficult to pin down Acura’s identity when writing about the brand. He was riding shotgun with us, and we could tell he was thinking about it as we whipped around another corner, feeling the TLX’s Precision All-Wheel Steer kick in.
“Believe it or not, it can be difficult to be excited about Acura,” he said. It’s actually possible for the incredible reliability of an Acura to work against it. You can buy a car and never have to do anything to it for as long as you own it because it just holds up. They’re built to last, and they sure do last. Doug said that the main reason people bring their Acuras back to the dealer for trade-in isn’t because there’s anything wrong with them. They just want to stay ahead of the wicked rate of depreciation.
So how does a brand like Acura fix that? What do you do when you’re too reliable to talk about? The rebirth of the NSX is likely to help. A car that not only brings super-performance back to the track, but also one that is environmentally conscious will do well on the current world auto stage, and the NSX was the car that put Acura on the map in the first place. So that’s one way to do it.
The other way is with the car we just drove, the 2015 Acura TLX.
Pick Your Power
The all-new TLX is offered in two variants. There is a 2.4L straight four-cylinder paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission, which delivers 206 horsepower and 182 pound-feet of torque. Then there is the car we tested, which is a 3.5L V-6 with a nine-speed automatic transmission that makes 290 horsepower and 267 pound-feet of torque.
Now clearly the V-6 gives you substantial power bonuses, but you’ll have to decide for yourself whether you’re actually getting a performance boost, too. If you’ve been reading the reviews we posted on our Facebook page, you’ll know that the four-cylinder TLX has become the darling of many an automotive journalist, and there’s good reason for that. It might pack less of a punch, but it’s also packing less in general. The result is a car that is lighter weight and easier to handle, which will make you a better driver.
The TLX is not a sports car, and that is all right. As we’ll discuss, you don’t need the added performance factor to enhance your driving experience any more than the car already does.
That being said, if you want a little bit of “that kind of thrill” and you think you can handle it, the V-6 is still a fun drive. It’s undoubtedly the faster car and on the highway it’s going to hold onto its momentum more readily than the four-cylinder. Once you’re up to cruising speed, Variable Cylinder Management kicks in, dropping the powerplant to three-cylinders and greatly reducing the fuel you consume. High performance and high efficiency are made possible by the engineers at Acura.
The V-6 TLX is also the only variant that will have the option for Acura’s Super-Handling All-Wheel Drive, a traction system that has to be experienced to be understood. TLXs with SH-AWD will be available later this fall.
Whether you’re driving the four-cylinder or six-cylinder TLX, Acura’s Integrated Dynamics System, or IDS, comes standard. IDS gives you access to four driving modes with four distinct purposes, all of which we were able to experience on our test-drive.
Normal: We started by pulling out of the dealership in the default mode, which is said to temper the powertrain for the perfect balance of performance and efficiency. We were able to get up to speed quickly once we pulled on the highway and stayed there with little to no trouble. The steering is light and responsive, and we had the sense of total control.
Sport: Doug motioned us to pull off the highway, at which point he pushed the IDS selector to put us in Sport mode, just in time for the first set of curves. Brake before, accelerate through the curves, and listen to the gears shift. Sport mode gives the TLX a new sense of agility, augmented by a heavier feel from the steering-wheel and the Precision All-Wheel Steer system, which keeps the car level and corrects any understeer.
Sport +: It’s Sport mode but everything is faster. Gear shifts, throttle, and the rate at which your knuckles tighten on the steering wheel. You’re still totally in control of the car. It’s just the adrenaline coursing through your body that you won’t be able to help. Doug knew the perfect stretch of road to shift us up to this mode, and he told us not to hold anything back. We only made the tires squeal once, and even then the TLX didn’t show any signs of slipping.
Econ: This was a nice way to end our drive. This is your “I don’t care to stop for gas today” setting, which tones everything down in the name of fuel economy. Steering is lighter but not flimsy, acceleration is more modest, and perhaps best of all, the inner quiet of the TLX is even more redolent. We coasted back into the dealership in this eco-friendly mode, and it was a great way to come down off the Sport + high.
Inner Peace
When Acura builds a car, they don’t start with the base product and dream up a bunch of options to add in after the fact, nickel-and-diming you for all the things you want. Instead, they start with a vision of the finished, perfect product and let you decide which features you need. The 2015 TLX is that vision to a tee.
Sitting in the driver’s seat, everything is remarkably close at hand. You don’t even have to move your torso in order to reach the touch screen, the shifter, and the full telescopic steering wheel. The ergonomics are excellent.
You’ll have to look at the push button shifter a couple of times to get your bearings, but after that it’s easy to use. Just remember, push for park, drive, and IDS, and pull for reverse and the electronic parking brake. It frees up a lot of space between the driver and passenger and gives you easy access to the media compartment, which is capped off with a non-slip surface to rest your phone on while it’s plugged into the car.
If Siri is your right-hand-virtual-intelligence, you’ll feel at home in the TLX. You can link your iPhone to your car and use Siri to navigate traffic, send and read text messages, update your calendar, or do just about anything else that you normally would with phone in hand. Android users will be able to connect their phone and use Google Maps if they so choose, as well as other applicable applications. This is certainly a car that is in sync with the technology of its model year.
We’ve spoken to people who were iffy about Acura’s two-screen infotainment display at first, but we have to insist you try it. The TLX has reduced a lot of the clutter from the previous iterations of this system and integrated hard buttons into the On Demand Multi-use Display touchscreen, which in our opinions is one of the fastest, lagless touchscreens you’ll find in a car. After that, it just makes more sense to have the navigation and systems information on a secondary, higher touchscreen that is more within your peripheral vision. That way, you don’t have to go back and forth between GPS and your preferred radio station.
Everything within the TLX is designed to give you a more comfortable and comforting experience on the road. There are cars that will wear you down and fray at the ends of your sanity just with you sitting behind the wheel. Usually the noise of the highway and the din of the engine will get to you, but the TLX has triple-sealed doors, noise-dampening acoustic foam, and a sound-absorbing acoustic glass windshield. Only Sport mode will let you know what the engine sounds like, and even then only when you gun it.
This car is not the first to employ the Jewel Eye LED headlamps, but they do add to the sense of peace this car gives you. Normal headlamps will project two points of light that fan out of the road in a cone. This works, but it leaves dimmer places that your brain has to work to fill in and your eyes have to strain to see. Plus, those are especially bothersome to drivers approaching from the other direction. The Jewel Eye headlights project an array of light that illuminates the road in front of you in broad strokes, which is easier on your eyes and the eyes of others.
Stepping out of the TLX after our test-drive, we were greeted by an absolutely stunning Summer day, complete with the bluest sky and zero humidity. Yet compared to our seat at the helm of the TLX, this was still a return to a much harsher, blander reality. The engineers and designers at Acura have really shown their work with this car.
Whether you realize it or not, the 2015 Acura TLX is a car that we’ve all been waiting for. It offers something that many cars claim but that few actually deliver on: balance. The V-6 version is a car that is capable curvy roads and slalom course, and it doesn’t kick around. It keeps its wheels planted on the ground. Most people who drive it will not need the 290 horsepower offered, but it will be there. This is a vehicle that excels at getting its occupants from point A to point B with them barely noticing the passage of time or the distance covered. The performance points of this car serve to make the driver’s experience safer and easier.
Does this solve Acura’s identity problem, though? Is a true sense of calm on the road something that people can get excited about?
We know how we answer that question, but it’s really something you have to decide for yourself. That’s why we encourage you to stop by Leith Acura of Cary for your own test-drive in the TLX. We have to thank Doug Focht, and the rest of our incredible staff for making this review possible, and we hope to see you soon.
