Acura TLX

At the 2014 Detroit Motor Show, Akura showed the TLX concept, which is suspiciously similar to a car that is ready for production. Expectations of observers became a reality only three months later, when a serial sedan Acura TLX was shown at the New York Motor Show.

The car was designed to replace the two previously produced sedans Acura TSX and Acura TL. Japanese sports car Akura TLC was a very popular novelty. This car surprises with the considerable list of the modern equipment even in standard updating and degree of technical equipment. The whole model range is Acura.

Exterior

The body front of the car is decorated with LED headlights Jewel Eye LED, which fit very finely into the edge between the stylish bumper and hood, which conceals a graceful stamping.

The original grille of the false radiator as if it were a knight’s shield, you can also notice the presence of air inlet slots at the bottom, fog lights with LED filling, splitter in addition to the bumper – all this creates an excellent nose part of the sports sedan Acura TLX.

The side of the machine has soft and sophisticated lines, smooth lines and transitions of one surface to another. The hood is long and tilted forward, a smooth roof line that rises through the front window frame, which allows you to keep the straightness for a while to start running slowly to the stern through the strong pillars of the rear of the car.

The surface part of the large doors and rear wings looks wider than the burst of stamping, which originates on the doors of the 1st row of seats and gaining splendor on the rear of the car. Sports qualities are obtained by the side body of the car due to the original rapid ascending window sill and huge arches of the wheels, which effortlessly conceal a lot of small wheels, the size of 20 inches with low-profile rubber.

On the whole side part, the body elements are neatly arranged – there are no unnecessary parts, which would be too protruding from the body plane. Curves, make you amaze with air smoothness and dynamic flexibility. The doorways have been extended by the manufacturer, despite the fact that it is a sports car, but comfort has not been canceled yet.

If you look at the stern of the Japanese car Acura TLX, it is still as attractive here as at the front or side. The rear arches turned out to be swinging as if the athlete’s hips, the bumper looks quite solid, and the small luggage compartment lid received a spoiler along with elegant lamps of the overall light-amplifying equipment, which has LED filling.

The rear view mirrors are fitted with turn signals and the number plate is illuminated by an LED system. The rear part also has signs of Japanese sportsmanship. At the bottom of the bumper, parallel to the lanterns, the repeaters of stop-lights, trapezoidal shape.

A couple of exhaust pipes were hidden from unnecessary attention under the dodger. Even if you only pay attention to the photos of the sports sedan, it is noticeable that the car has an attractive appearance and fully corresponds to the European classes D, and luxury.

The automotive company Honda together with the premium division of Acura were able to carry out very important work on the new TLC. It is no surprise that this car can be a competitor to such monsters as BMW 3rd series, Audi A4, Mercedes-Benz C-class, Lexus IS, Infinity Q50 and other sedans.

In his eyes, you can feel the aggressive qualities with pressure, which are directed to the search for the victim. It’s like a predatory animal going hunting.

Interior

It is no longer a secret that only high quality materials are used in the interior of the Akura car. If the appearance of the sedan is a combination of functional qualities and modern sports style, the interior allows you to plunge into some other world of Acura TLX. In order to make such a salon, the breed of valuable wood, leather, high-quality textiles of different colors, as well as metal inserts were used.

Ergonomic component on a good mark, there is enough space in the car. The rear sofa can accommodate three passengers who will not feel discomfort. The interior is cozy, so you want to be there. The seats installed in front have various adjustments (with memory option), heating and ventilation options.

The steering wheel was made in the style of sports cars, it was also covered with leather and introduced a list of settings. The instrument panel was made in a minimalist style, with only two radii, different indicators and indicators. The central console has a couple of screens.

If the 8-inch color display at the top is used to display an image, for example, a map of a navigation system, a movie or a photo, then a 7-inch screen with touch-screen support is located below it, which makes it possible to set up different electronics.

On the edges of the panel you can find vertical ducts, which provide two-zone climate control. Interestingly enough, there is a separator between the front seats, which was made of wood and chrome plating elements. It includes two cup holders, a small change-over drawer and a list of gear adjustment keys that replaced the standard lever.

The TLC multimedia system comes with options for Homelink, Bluetooth, Voice Recognition, and a navigation system with voice recognition and an integrated route correction program.

Moreover, the car is equipped with a 490-watt premium Acura/ELS Surround speaker system, which has ten speakers installed in different parts of the interior. The main tunnel has a gearshift lever and a pair of cupholders.

There’s more room in the legs and the ceiling doesn’t rest on the head. The luggage compartment of the sports sedan is not distinguished by special capacity, but also not frankly small – 419 liters of usable space.

It is necessary to admit that in the TLC class there are sedans with a larger volume of luggage compartment. However, it is possible for Akur to fold the backrests of the rear seats in the ratio of 60/40, for more convenient transportation of goods.

Specifications

Powertrain

The car company considered it necessary to supply the machine with only two power units, to the customers’ choice. Although, to be honest, this is enough, as two motors have excellent characteristics, and with fuel consumption they are all right. The youngest one is a four-cylinder 2.4-liter DOHC I-VTEC, which produces about 206 horsepower.

It works together with the 8-speed robotic gearbox 8 DCT. It is noteworthy that this robotic gearbox is the first in the world to have two clutch discs and a torque converter. Thanks to this clever tandem of engine and gearbox, the machine manufacturers assure that in the combined cycle, it consumes 8.4 liters per 100 km.

The most powerful engine is the 3.5-liter V6 SOHC I-VTEC engine, capable of producing 290 horses. The engine also has a half cylinder deactivation system (Variable Cylinder Management). This engine is synchronized with the 9-speed automatic transmission. The appetite for such a powerful mixed-cycle engine is 9.4 litres per 100 kilometres.

Transmission

As standard, the machine is equipped with a front drive only, but has a fully controlled chassis (Precision All-Wheel Steer (P-AWS)). With the help of the specialized service of P-AWS, when the machine enters a corner, the electronic unit delivers the command and the rear wheels are rotated by a small angle. As a result, the quality of handling and stability of the sedan is greatly improved.

The all-wheel drive system Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD) is also available as an option. However, this system is not as simple as you think. The thing is that the all-wheel drive system does not have a central differential. Instead, the Acura engineers decided to use an active rear interwheel differential.

Running gear

The basic equipment will allow you to get a service that is responsible for changing chassis adjustments. Together with it, it will be possible to change the algorithms of operation of power steering, powertrain, gearbox, stabilization service and air conditioning equipment. You can choose between 4 modes – a pair of economical and a pair of sports modes (Econ, Normal, Sport and Sport Plus).

The body of the new sports sedan Akur TLC was produced with increased use of high and ultra-high strength steel, aluminum (used in the hood, front beam and subframe) and even magnesium (used in the powertrain supports and steering wheel mountings).

Independent suspension is used as a suspension system – McPherson racks are in front of the truck, and a multilever system is in the back. The car is equipped with Amplitude Reactive Damper, which provides an excellent balance between comfort and controllability through the introduction of pistons, which are equipped with a pair of different-sized valves. If the 1st compensates for small vibrations, the 2nd starts to function only in case of large rod movement.

Safety

The novelty of the Japanese automotive industry has been equipped with advanced safety technology, which made it possible to purchase the highest rating TOP SAFETY PICK+ from the Institute of Road Safety in the United States of America (IIHS). The TLC has a complete set of safety technologies and AcuraWatch assistants, which was installed for the first time.

The service effectively manages the braking system, softens frontal impacts, probes the road, detects pedestrians, reports blind spots, warns of traffic lane changes, controls safe overtaking, softens exit from the road, monitors transverse traffic and so on.

In the event of a collision, not only the driver but also the passengers sitting next to him will be protected by the entire AirBag arsenal and the innovative ACE hull design. The engineering staff provided a high level of predictability of the vehicle’s behavior on the road. Many hours have been spent on the stability and accuracy of steering and increasing the reliability of the braking system.

Dimensions

The fact that the car of the Japanese company Acura TLX is a luxury variant, eloquently testifies to its size. The sedan length is 4,851 mm, width 1,853 mm, height 1,440 mm. The ground clearance level is 139 mm, which is not much considering the quality and level of our roads.

However, this is not an SUV, but a sports sedan, designed to be rapid and cut through the air flow. Weighs this rather small sedan is quite acceptable – from 1600 to 1650 kg, depending on which power unit will be installed.

Complete sets and prices

Both versions are front-drive, but the vehicle with the V6 powertrain can be equipped with the SH-AWD all-wheel drive system. Production of the car started in the summer, and at the end of 2014, Acura TLX was launched in the Russian Federation. The price starts from the mark 34986$. This will be a modification of Techno.

The basic equipment includes LED optics, rain and light sensors, driver’s seat adjustment, mirrors, IDS settings and climate control adjustments, electric hatch, a pair of 8-inch display located on the central console, where one of them supports touch screen input, audio system, navigation system and active noise reduction service.

Also available are a rear view camera, parktronic, seat heating and lumbar adjustment functions, multilayer windscreen and front windscreen soundproofing, wiper blade rest zone heating options, steering wheel heating, front, side and knee airbags (for chauffeur), side curtains and various systems.

The vehicle with a reinforced powertrain and all-wheel drive system will be available in the Advance version. It already has all the options listed above, and the following additions are also included: an extended set of security services that includes shock and lane departure prevention, and adaptive cruise control with the option of following the vehicle ahead at low speed. This equipment will already be estimated at $42463.

The pros and cons

Summing up

After the appearance of a sports sedan from Japan, Akura TLC, the view of the company’s cars has improved significantly. The company deserved all praise before, but after the release of this sedan and increased the number of its fans. Especially after the introduction of LED lighting system, a pleasant appearance of the sedan.

Looking at it, there are some sports desires – it looks youthful, aggressive, but at the same time and stylish. It can be seen at once that the design staff tried to be famous. The use of wide wheel arches, which allow 20 inch rims, and optionally it is possible to establish even more, pleasantly pleased.

The inside of the car is as beautiful as it looks. The front seats are extremely comfortable to sit on. The steering wheel is pleasant and comfortable, and the presence of two 8-inch screens, one of which supports the touch screen input, allows you to fully enjoy the control of the car.

At the back, maybe three will not be so comfortable, but will fit all. It’s nice that the company thought about the safety of not only the driver, but also the passengers and pedestrians sitting next to each other. The car was able to win the highest safety rating. Also, the availability of various systems designed to help the driver to drive the car on the road was a pleasure.

Even though there is not much choice between powertrains, they are fully capable of the task. Thanks to them, you can feel confident on the road and during overtaking. It is worth mentioning separately the all-wheel drive system, which will allow to unlock the potential of this sports sedan Acura TLX.

I would like to hope that the car company will not stop there, but will improve, showing everyone its unsurpassed qualities and dynamism.

We advise you to read the article: Acura History

Acura TLX photo

Test drive

Video overview