One has to wonder whether Acura deliberately follows a Soviet policy of purging charismatic nameplates from its lineup every few years, or the loss of well-known models is just the result of fickle market planners. How many non-car fanatics do you know who could still identify “Integra” and “Legend” as Acuras, even though it’s been 15 years since the company summarily executed them. If the Legend had any spiritual successor, it’s the TL sedan, which has for four generations been the brand’s top-selling car since its introduction. Acura’s introduction of the smaller TSX 10 years ago restored our faith in the company’s ability to engineer sharp-handling lightweight sports sedans. If you haven’t guessed yet where this is going, meet the TLX, which will replace both the TSX and TL when it goes on sale later this year.
Beneath the thin veneer of the “concept car” moniker, the TLX introduced at the 2014 Detroit auto show very much is the mid-size sedan Acura will put into production. Acura has kept the exact same wheelbase from the current TL—it raises questions about how new the underpinnings of this car really are—but has shaved 3.8 inches of total length. Not only should that reduce the impression of giant front and rear overhangs so prominent on the TL, but it will help reduce the impression that Acura’s middle sedan is oversized for the 3-series-and-friends class in which it’s meant to reside.
Styling can’t be described as anything but predictable, with the TLX carrying over elements from other recently introduced Acura models—especially the ILX and bigger RLX. That means blocky wheel arches, headlights that look stippled by LEDs, and even very sculpted door handles.
To better position the TLX in that mid-size-luxury category, Acura is offering it with two engines and drivetrain configurations. Base TLX models will come with a 2.4-liter inline-four that’s used throughout the Honda lineup, with power likely to match the 189-hp, 182-lb-ft-of-torque rating of the Accord Sport. It’ll be offered only with a new eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.
More cylinders and gears are available to those with more money, who can outfit their TLXs with Honda’s delightful 3.5-liter V-6 and a nine-speed automatic transmission. Although Acura hasn’t released specs for this engine, either, you can expect it to make the same 278 horsepower and 252 lb-ft of torque as it does in six-cylinder Accords. Front-wheel drive is the standard configuration with both engines, but all-wheel drive will be optional with the V-6. All TLXs will come with Acura’s excellent four-wheel-steering system.
If you hadn’t noticed yet, this means that the TLX won’t come with a manual transmission, as did the TSX and TL it replaces. That winnows Acura’s stick availability to a single model, the ILX, and leaves us despondent that one of the best builders of manual gearboxes is offering so few of them. The de rigueur suite of driver assistance/annoyance equipment will be on the TLX’s options sheet, including collision warning, blind-spot monitoring, and adaptive cruise control with a stop-and-go-traffic setting.
If we’re lucky, the TLX will only be around for one or two generations. That’s not because we have anything against the car, mind you, but because a premature retirement would mean Acura has built something really great.
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