Well, I had a chance to stop by my local Acura dealer to test drive a new TLX. The dealership was literally empty. Maybe it was just too hot today.
Anyway, overall it was just between meh and alright.
- Exterior
The exterior design MINUS the beak and wheels has certainly grown on me since the debut. The dealership didn't have a white one, but I have spotted a white one before in person. It looks very sleek from all angles. I liked it a lot. This black one was just alright.
But really.. Acura still left the god awful looking Beak in the forehead. I really don't get it. Does anyone really care for that Beak? Really boggles my mind that Acura designers, again, stuck with that terrifying front grille after all that negative reviews from 135073 car reviews. God I literally said YUK in front of the salesman when I first saw it. He said "yeah..... other customers notice that too." Yeah, you have to be blinded to not notice that thing in the front.
- Interior
It still is a typical Acura interior. Gave me a sort of 3G TL-ish feeling once I sat in the driver seat. It was really nice back in 2005 when I bought my 3G TL brand new off the lot, but nothing really special in 2014.
- Tech crap
I drove a loaded 2.4L version. It didn't really have much high tech toys to play with. It was just typical Acura package again.
Does the V6 trim have more techy stuff?
- Drivability (The car was on Sport+ mode)
The acceleration was between meh and alright. It definitely lacked a lot of juice for the size. Told the salesman that Acura should definitely add a small turbo on this model. He sounded clueless on the response. I just moved on and continued with my test-drive.
The 8-speed dual clutch transmission was great. It does smoothly move through the gears. The changes seem very effortless. Guess the adding the torque converter did its magic. It didn't feel jerky at all. Kudos to Honda for that technology. I was pretty impressed with the transmission.
The steering was very light. It was expected since it's a Japanese car. My BRZ with 9 inch wide wheel set up is pretty heavy in the steering. So is my wife's A4 Avant. The car did felt pretty light and had less body roll than I had expected. Felt pretty light footed. Just wish the steering was a little bit heavier. It just had that "cheap" feeling to it when you move through the corners.
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I think if Acura can keep the price as is and add a small turbo, it should be a MUCH better package. It definitely looks and feels much better than the previous Beakmobile, but not sure if it's enough to bring back the old Acura swag back. Certainly moving in the right direction though.
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Anyway, overall it was just between meh and alright.
- Exterior
The exterior design MINUS the beak and wheels has certainly grown on me since the debut. The dealership didn't have a white one, but I have spotted a white one before in person. It looks very sleek from all angles. I liked it a lot. This black one was just alright.
But really.. Acura still left the god awful looking Beak in the forehead. I really don't get it. Does anyone really care for that Beak? Really boggles my mind that Acura designers, again, stuck with that terrifying front grille after all that negative reviews from 135073 car reviews. God I literally said YUK in front of the salesman when I first saw it. He said "yeah..... other customers notice that too." Yeah, you have to be blinded to not notice that thing in the front.
- Interior
It still is a typical Acura interior. Gave me a sort of 3G TL-ish feeling once I sat in the driver seat. It was really nice back in 2005 when I bought my 3G TL brand new off the lot, but nothing really special in 2014.
- Tech crap
I drove a loaded 2.4L version. It didn't really have much high tech toys to play with. It was just typical Acura package again.
Does the V6 trim have more techy stuff?
- Drivability (The car was on Sport+ mode)
The acceleration was between meh and alright. It definitely lacked a lot of juice for the size. Told the salesman that Acura should definitely add a small turbo on this model. He sounded clueless on the response. I just moved on and continued with my test-drive.
The 8-speed dual clutch transmission was great. It does smoothly move through the gears. The changes seem very effortless. Guess the adding the torque converter did its magic. It didn't feel jerky at all. Kudos to Honda for that technology. I was pretty impressed with the transmission.
The steering was very light. It was expected since it's a Japanese car. My BRZ with 9 inch wide wheel set up is pretty heavy in the steering. So is my wife's A4 Avant. The car did felt pretty light and had less body roll than I had expected. Felt pretty light footed. Just wish the steering was a little bit heavier. It just had that "cheap" feeling to it when you move through the corners.
----
I think if Acura can keep the price as is and add a small turbo, it should be a MUCH better package. It definitely looks and feels much better than the previous Beakmobile, but not sure if it's enough to bring back the old Acura swag back. Certainly moving in the right direction though.
