Acura Announces Pricing, Arrival Date for 2021 Acura TLX Type S

I'm glad Acura is still trying to play in the sedan market.  As already mentioned, this is a tough market to play in these days. Sales are not likely to be very high no matter how good the product may be.

That said, I was hoping it would get the CTR drivetrain rather than a TTV6 w/ an automatic... other than running the occasional errand, my driving is mostly recreational these days and even then mostly limited to hauling my mtn bikes around (which I use a van for) so when I do drive a car, I want it to be more engaging.  

STM317 said:

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

In reply to Colin Wood :

Acuras feel about two levels better to drive, the money is well spent.

Now if only they made a smaller sedan!

They do though

The ILX is nice and the DCT trans is a sweet unit.  But that car is bigger than my S60, which is larger than I'd like. (Volvo did not make an S40R)

They could probably cut a foot off of the car by shaving those comically large bumpers.

After owning and loving a 1st-gen TSX for 13 years, Acura was the first place we looked for a replacement.  The new TLX model was a few months old when we were shopping in 2017.  The specs looked great and the advertising images looked good.  With the V6 and AWD it seemed like a somewhat bigger, somewhat nicer, and somewhat better-performing TSX.  We really expected to like it a lot.

We test drove one and were just completely underwhelmed.  It was just so fussy inside and out.  There were 300 switches and little interface components and whatever all over the cabin, and the outside was overly busy as well (albeit better than the cuttlefish-nose Acuras of the previous generations).

All of that could be forgiven except even with the V6 it was such a dud to drive.  It didn't need more power.  It needed more feeling.

Instead we bought a car from a 'boring' manufacturer that was in the last year or two of its 10-year design cycle.  It was just so much nicer to be in and drive, for less money.

Toyota, imo, has long been known for either great or funky body styles. And that thing just doesn't cut it looks wise imo. But hey, form follows function.

Call out to Duke; sounds like you grabbed a 370z...

I like the look, in general (wish the front Acura badge didn't have that solid block behind it and just "sat on" the mesh of the grille), and I'm just fine with 355hp - probably nicely understressed engine which usually means "reliable and doesn't break driveline stuff as easily." And being turbo, it can surely be tuned up with little difficulty if desired. 

That said (and yeah, I have no inent on buying an automatic transmission car (non-SUV/truck) until there are no longer manual transmissions available in anything else ... and yes, that admittedly may be not to far in the future. Put a nice 6MT in this and (while it's probably a bit out of my budget) I'd seriously consider it over most of its competitors. 

Only saying that as someone who has had two Acuras, with manuals. 

In reply to irish44j (Forum Supporter) :

I'm actually kind of surprised that Acura ISN'T offering a manual.  Yeah, the DCT is really good (if it's the one I am thinking of, it's a Getrag trans, not done in-house) but practically all manual trans Honda products I see are Acuras.  The Japanese-luxury-performance market seems to swing heavily to Acura.

Uhm....when Lincoln was offering a 400 hp AWD sedan with a 3.0 turbo engine four years ago, it was considered old hat.

How can 335 hp from the same specs be considered anything but a joke?

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

At least a couple years ago, the DCT was only available with the 4 cylinder.  The V6 was a conventional TC automatic.