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At A Glance:
Mileage: 14,430
Out-of-Pocket Maintenance: $250
Gas MPG: 26.8 (avg)
A Pleasant Surprise?
With just over 14,000 miles on the clock, it’s time to
reflect on what it’s been like to own an Acura TLX over the past year. In
short, I can say that aside from a few niggles here and there, it’s been a
rather standard, but overall pleasant experience. But, when you think about it,
having a standard experience with a sedan of this type that fits into the
mid-size category is pretty much par for the course. But, unlike the common
Camrys, Optimas and even the TLX’s Honda-based cousin, the Accord, it does pack
a little extra “white glove punch” if you will. Let’s break it down.
Things I like
Now, when I say that driving a TLX is a “standard” experience,
I don't mean that it’s about as entertaining as vanilla ice cream. Think, Vanilla ice cream
with chocolate syrup. A little something extra, but not quite the whole sundae
you were hoping for. With that being said, it beats out a lot of other
traditional mid-size sedans when it comes to the daily driving experience. The
interior, while not as flashy as, say, a BMW 3 series, is still a nice place to
be. At 80 miles an hour on the highway, the interior is quiet and soothing.
There is little to no tire roar, and apart from the soft, slightly optimistic
and grumbly hum of the engine, the only thing you can really hear is a muffled
wind noise as it flows over the hood. This amazing sound insulation – a quality
that a lot of people who aren’t familiar with the Acura brand tend to overlook,
actually elevates the interior and makes all of the cheap-looking plastics a
bit less….artificial.
All that quietness allows me to really enjoy the crisp and
clear sound of the ELS Audio System as well. Developed by Elliot Schneider, the
ELS audio system that comes equipped with the 2.4 liter tech package doesn’t
disappoint. Being a fan of the EDM world, you’ll find me listening to a lot of
music that involves a lot of bass and sound articulation, and no matter how
much I turn up the volume or want to test my hearing thresh hold, the bass
doesn’t come anywhere close to distorting the overall sound while delivering a
punch that you’d expect from some sort of aftermarket system. The highly
customizable audio interface allows me to tune the sound to my liking with 8
channels to optimize sound quality, so even if there is too much bass, for
example, I can manipulate the system settings to get the sound that I want. The
Bluetooth interface is simple to use as well, and after initial setup, it can
automatically sync to my phone every time I get in the car. It can even switch
between multiple devices at pretty much the touch of a button, which means that
in this case, I don’t have to take my eyes off the road if one of my friends
wants to sync their phone up to play music. Now, in my old car, this was more
of an issue, but was resolved via the use of a 3.5mm audio jack – an option
that does not exist on the TLX.
The other thing that
I’ve enjoyed about the TLX’s dual-screen interface has been the fact that I
don’t have to temporarily lose sight of my Navigation screen while I’m
searching for a song to listen to, or setting the climate control. I can even
use the TLX’s voice command system to enter an address into the Nav, further
alleviating the need to focus on the screen while I’m out on the road, or
having to pull into a parking lot to enter a destination address manually. This
makes road trips easier and getting where I need to go less of a distraction
hazard when entering a destination on the fly.
Speaking of getting where I need to go, the 2.4 Liter engine
has proven to be equal parts efficient and more than adequate performance-wise.
When I’m merging onto a highway, the engine never struggles with merging. Even
in Econ mode, the motor doesn’t sound or feel like it has difficulty getting me
up to highway speed when it comes to hard acceleration. In fact, it’s kind of a
thrill since I initially didn’t expect a 2.4-liter 4-cylinder Honda engine in a
mid-size sedan to push me back into my seat slightly. Part of that is thanks to
the 8-speed DCT transmission that the engine is mated to, which is pretty good
at quickly getting the right gear to attain such confident acceleration. And
when I say that the engine is efficient, I mean it’s a
stop-at-the-pump-once-a-month kind of efficient. Now, I will say that this
efficiency is mostly because my daily commute is maybe a few miles. But even
so, on a full tank, I can make a two-hour trip out to Milwaukee and back with
the needle only dipping just below the Full line at the end of the journey. As
I’ve mentioned in previous articles, this has been probably one of my favorite
features of this car, ergonomically speaking, in that it has saved me hundreds
of dollars in fuel costs over the past year compared to the thirsty V-6 of my
Maxima, or the race-bred rotary in the RX-8.
Things I’ve noticed
issue with
It goes without saying that while the TLX has many positive
benefits, there are a few things that are worth noting that are not so great.
There’s nothing that would be considered a deal-breaker or a reliability killer
for my particular car, but these issues are still worth mentioning,
nonetheless.
We start with the 8-speed DCT transmission. Earlier I did
praise the TLX’s transmission for its ability to deliver a mix of efficiency
and performance, however it’s certainly not perfect. In my case, the issues
seem to lie within the low gears. For example, when I come to a stop at a
traffic light, occasionally, the transmission will go wonky and will cause the
car to lurch forward slightly and somewhat violently just before I come to a
complete stop. This hasn’t been a consistent issue - in fact it’s fairly
sporadic and weather doesn’t seem to be a factor since it’s happened in both
hot and cold climates. But I have had to change my driving strategy, in that I
always worry about whether I’ll stop too close to the rear bumper of a car in
front of me, and the lurch will jerk me forward enough to love-tap that car’s
bumper and cause a headache that could otherwise be avoided.
The same thing happens during acceleration, though I will
say that this issue is more frequent, and I’ll be sure to bring it up to the
technician at my next service appointment. What will happen is as I push the
accelerator to go from a stop, the transmission will sometimes, again get
clunky on me and slip a little before planting the power on the tires. There is
usually a slight delay in response from the engine, but then the transmission
will finally pull its head out of the clouds and remember that it has a job to
do, which ultimately causes the car to again lurch forward, or even in most
cases slip as it goes into first gear, causing jerky and unpredictable
acceleration problems. Not enough to where I don’t feel safe driving, but
enough for me to make the point that at times, acceleration can be troublesome
for the transmission to handle. And I suppose I’m lucky enough to have the 2016
model, as reading through the TLX forums, there were consistent complaints of
transmission related problems on 2015 models and moreso for the 9-speed ZF
found on the V6 models. Hopefully Acura reads these things and really addresses
the issue, since it has been shown to affect the reliability rating of the TLX,
which ultimately hurts sales, and what would otherwise be considered a great
car. That seems to be the extent of mechanical issues that have plagued
first-gen TLX models. Let’s move on to the more technological issues.
As I mentioned in previous articles, the TLX’s dual-screen
interface is great for many reasons, but, sadly, it just isn’t all that
intuitive, and after a year of driving, I’m still very much of this opinion. For
example, accessing common menu items like the Bluetooth or audio settings
involves more fussing about than necessary. Navigating through the menus and
sub-menus randomly switches my view between the duel screens frequently and
supports my frustration with the fact that the menu navigation is sort of
all-over the place in general. I’ve had a chance to get to know the system
better over the past year, but early on, I had to sometimes pull over into a
parking lot just to adjust the treble levels. It wasn’t as troublesome as it
was just an inconvenience, and not something that I would think requires me
having to get off the road to do. For 2018, I believe that Acura have re-worked
the system somewhat and hopefully things should be easier to deal with. But for
now, my ability to quickly navigate through the UI is solely based on my
experience using it. Bad mark then for the TLX.
The last thing I’ll say is that, while it does have paddle
shifters and the IDS allows me to select from 4 driving modes as outlined in
previous updates, there’s just no real…zing. I mean, yes, the TLX is a great
daily driver with an appearance that does out-pace that of similar cars in its
category. And yes, merging onto highways is more fun than I’ve had with other
cars but despite this, It is as I mentioned, a rather “standard” driving
experience, albeit with a little extra punch. But, if you’re going to put a
sport mode option and paddle shifters in, at least motivate the driver to use
them every now and again. And don’t just pepper the engine with a little bit of
kick, and pass it off as a different driving experience than what it’s like in
normal or econ mode. It’s as if Acura only put this IDS selector module in as
simply more of a marketing ploy than anything else. Now, that’s not to say that
driving in sport mode is at all boring. There is a notable change in
performance and it is slightly more entertaining, but sadly, for me, it’s not
enough to ever consider using it for “enthusiastic” driving – in fact, 99% of
the time I just leave it in Econ mode since I like the efficiency. It’s just
one of those things that are “there” for being there’s sake. Let’s hope that in
coming generations of the TLX, Acura really take the time to develop and
fine-tune their IDS system so that it encourages drivers to actually use it
more often than not.
All in all, the past year with the TLX has been a fairly
good experience. Despite its small setbacks, and slight fender bender and tire
patch, it has proven to be a reliable and solid choice in the mid-size car
segment, and I think it will continue to do so as time progresses. Maintenance
is cheap, and it has good fuel economy for a car of its size. While it is still
a relatively new car, I will continue to report back on the TLX as time goes on
and mileage continues to rise. Will it be just as dependable at 30,000 miles as
it is now? Will there be any more transmission issues? Will I finally master
the finnicky infotainment system? Only time will tell.
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