Overview & Reviews

User Reviews:

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  Great, Great Car; Understand What It Is - 2015 Acura TLX
  By Brandon - November 14 - 11:04 am

  This review may be biased because I stepped up from a 2005 EX-L V6 Accord to the TLX. Thats quite a step. What I love: This is a very comfortable car. The seats are excellent, the ergonomics are fantastic, steering wheel controls are great, the ELS sound system is beautiful, the car is extremely quiet, it has excellent dampening on the road and on the highway providing a very solid ride - without ever lumbering. The thing is very nimble - cornering is particularly good when pushed, but understand I dont drive my cars that hard. I just love the interior of the car. The nine-speed AT is quirky but Ive grown to like it. Once I got used to it and to the different driving modes, the AT became a non-issue. For daily commuting, I keep the car in economy mode. On the highway, in the stop and go - from 30-70mph I barely crack 1700rpm. Impressive. Dropping it into the Sport+ working the paddles, I start to get very nervous about not having a radar detector. The car may not be FAST, but its very quick - and youll be doing 90mph before you realize it. I speak from experience. Personally, I like the push-button system. What could be better: The 9 speed transmission takes getting used to. It could be better. I hope Acura pushes another software update for it - but Ill live if they dont. A 9 speed DCT like what theyve developed for the NSX could be a nice improvement. One of my biggest gripes about the 9AT is getting off the line - its too slow. Now, I havent tried Sport+ and the paddles yet... still breaking in. The volume nob on the dash is laughably (ha ha) too small, the touch screen interface can be distracting - particularly when driving and operating the radio / AC. Its not entirely intuitive. Some of those functions may be better left to buttons... but the auto critics will ding them for complexity. Cant win. The fact that the car doesnt come with a spare tire is irresponsible. You could disqualify it on this grounds, but youd be shutting yourself out of a lot of otherwise nice vehicles. Inquire about a spare tire kit. You can purchase one for the car. Understand what this car is: its built for the average 90% of us who drive to and from work and around town and want something that is comfortable, attractive, and fun to drive. It has enough to juice to get you in trouble, but its not a liability. My take on the competition: I evaluated a lot of options before buying this car: Accord Touring (V6), BMW 3-series, Infiniti Q50, Toyota Camry, Lexus ES, Jaguar XE, Lexus IS. I drove the 3-series for an extended drive. I really dont understand why the car magazines pour so much praise on this car. Dont get me wrong, its great. Its fast, it handles great, its attractive - its also small, its expensive, it has loads of plastic, its every 7th car on the road. Option out a 3-series with equivalent engine, safety, and interior accouterments and compare the final price to the TLX - the TLX is larger, quieter, nicer on the inside (subjective), and the driving experience just isnt THAT far behind the BMW per the price difference. - oh, and it kills me to hear reviewers say the Acura is a dressed up Honda in one breath, and praise Audi (a dressed up VW) in the next... The Accord touring is a very nice car. Its almost luxurious. Its not luxurious. Its not as quiet as the TLX, in fact I found the TLX to be significantly quieter. The material quality of the TLX is better and I find the TLX to be more spirited / fun to drive. The premium I paid for the TLX just wasnt big enough to make the Accord attractive. Toyota: Forget the Camry, its not are a real comp here. IMO, the Accord is much nicer. I eliminated the Lexus IS for being too small. The ES is very nice. Its quiet, boring, luxurious, boring, very well made, boring. Lexus ended up the second finalist. I had my wife drive the TLX and the ES without telling her which one I liked better - she got out of the Lexus and immediately said: buy the Acura. Done. The Infiniti is really fun car. The thing is a rocket and it handles on rails. For me, I couldnt justify the added price for the Infiniti relative to the Acura. The Acura just isnt that much less fun to drive (it is quite a bit slower). The Q50 is worth a serious look, I cant lie. Its a nice car. I eliminated it because of its lower safety ratings, smaller backseat, interior styling, and my lack of confidence in its long-term reliability. The Jag is amazing. No way, no how was I going to buy a Jag :-)

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  The Right One for Me - 2016 Acura TLX
  By Doris Hill - November 13 - 9:42 am

  I do have a problem with closing the drivers door, It is too far from seat.

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  No more tranny issues.... now just a great car! - 2016 Acura TLX
  By Scott - January 7 - 10:44 am

  I bought a 16 TLX tech package SH-AWD five weeks ago and since then have put 900 miles on it. At the time I was looking around, there was still plenty of 2015s available that were nicely marked down in price. Hoping to save a few grand, I looked around for the very specific trim package and color combo I wanted an also did all kinds of research. I found that half the reviews were good, and half were bad because of the ZF 9 speed transmission. I was initially disappointed to read so many reviews slamming the car because of it. Understanding that the first model year of any car usually has issues, I considered a 2016 in hopes whatever tranny problems may exist are ironed out. As far as appearance and features go, there is no difference in the 2 model years. I went out and test drove SIX different TLXs (four 2015 and two 2016). The problems many people reported were clunky shifting from gear 2 to 3, downshift hesitation, slow roll take off hesitation, car jerking forward as it downshifts especially when descending down a hill giving the driver the impression the car is speeding up when it should be slowing down. I took special note to almost all the bad reviews saying that the car was fine for the first few hundred miles before it started so one of the 15s I drove was a program car that had 300 miles already on it. What I found was that there is a small learning curve involved with 9 speed transmission but I found no problems with any of the cars I test drove and I was really looking for them. All the upshifts were smooth. Some downshifts required an extra half second to find a gear since it is a 9 speed but nothing crazy like I read some people complaining that they were being put into accident prone situations. While stopped, the start/stop feature which kills the engine does take half a second as well to accelerate because the engine has to turn back on but it is quick doing it all things considered. Im not sure how much gas it saves in real world but theres nothing gained from sitting still idling either. That feature can be turned off for those who dont like but I find I leave it on unless Im in a lot of stop and go traffic. Going down a hill is no problem. You can feel the car push forward slightly to downshift wen it engages the clutch and stops engine braking for a split second however it is easy to identify and adds no danger. I dont feel the least bit nervous about it. I felt no difference between the 2015s and 16s. I bought a 16 because I found the black/greystone combination I wanted with the Tech AWD (advance was too expensive and I got the dealer to throw in the remote start anyway). I had the rear lip spoiler and full aero kit put on and the car looks and feels amazing! No tranny issues here. As for everything else, the 4 different driving modes are indeed different. The engine has plenty of power in any of them but eco mode really mutes acceleration response and lightens the steering and suspension a lot. Sport and sport plus mode tightens the steering and suspension (the steering still has a bit of artificial tightening feel when compared to my previous car which handled like a champ, but not a problem at all, just the slightest notice), but the acceleration becomes lighting quick in response and the car is a blast to drive on the highway on the upper end of the RPM range. Forget the paddle shifters with a 9 speed...too much work. If you use one while in sport plus mode, you are stuck continuing to have to use them unless you drop the drive mode to eco or normal. In all other modes, it goes back to full automatic after a few seconds unless you continue to use it. I ignore it but if you like paddle shifters, they do shift well and responsively. MPGs are not as good as listed, I got 247 miles on my first tank in Normal mode and 290 or so on my second tank in ECO mode, driving very easy - its a 17.5 gallon tank but hey gas is below $2.00. The sound system is absolutely the best stock system Ive ever heard - just amazing sound. Havent figured out yet how to have texts read and replied through the blue tooth but I will be calling the service desk to inquire. Other than that the blue tooth and infotainment is great. Little learning curve with the dual screens but I like them a lot. Acura nailed it with this car!!! Love the looks (subjective I know) and the performance. If youre in the market, do not be put off by the transmission concern, drive a couple and see for yourself, maybe avoid pre-owned or left-over 15s or at least see the build date on the driver side door jam sticker. Anything built after August 2015 should be fine. Go get one, it IS that kind of Thrill !!!!