By the late 1980s, Japanese automakers were looking to expand in the North American market, and they decided that launching their own luxury sub-brands would be a very lucrative way to achieve the expansion. Honda did it first with the Acura brand, and it has done very well in North America for the past 3 decades.
Even though Acura's products were somewhat undesirable by the 2010s, they did make some interesting cars for a while, including the TSX, TL Type S, the CL, the Legend, the Vigor, and of course, the hugely underappreciated NSX. Now, the 2021 Acura TLX is looking to bring this underdog brand back to the top of the game, and there's plenty to love about it.
9 Definitely A Looker
Based on the Type-S Concept revealed a few years prior, and the Precision Concept to some extent, the new TLX is a great-looking car. The sharp styling cues and traditional Acura touches make it far more interesting than cars like the Cadillac CT5 and the Lexus ES.
The front end sports Acura's new grille design and full LED taillights, while the rear end cleans up the trunk lid by placing the license plate on the bottom, and there are new, rakish LED taillights and some pretty big exhausts. The TLX also perfectly combines the traditional sedan shape with enough of a slope in the roofline to make it very modern.
8 A Safety Pioneer
If you're selling a car in the modern age with all the different kinds of safety regulations, you better make sure that your model is packing plenty of tech to keep its occupants safe, whether it's annoying or not. Acura is very committed to safety, which is why the TLX debuts a world-first airbag technology.
Most automotive airbags have a very simple, single inflation system. In the TLX, the airbags operate a little differently, as they're modeled after a baseball glove, and they wrap around the occupants' heads, giving them better support and a huge reduction in potential brain injury. There are eight airbags total, as well as stuff like a driver awareness monitor, collision mitigation braking, and a traffic jam assist.
7 There's A Really Cool Pace Car Version
Even though the TLX is a pretty conventional luxury sedan, Acura has taken it to a racing event. This is usually never the case with other mid-size sedans in just about any segment, but Acura, unfortunately, didn't race the TLX. Instead, it served as a pace car for the NSX, which set the hybrid record at Pikes Peak in 2020.
Acura massaged the TLX so that it could be well suited to pace car duties. They gave it a pretty large rear wing, a set of NSX wheels, and some pretty wild graphics. While it seems unlikely, it would be cool to see the TLX take part in a racing series of some kind. But, this will have to do for now.
6 The Type-S Is Finally Back
With the new TLX, Acura is bringing back a historic nameplate that's been missing from their lineup for far too long; the Type-S. Formerly used on excellent cars like the TL, the RSX, and a few others, the new TLX is the first Acura model in around a decade to wear this badge.
The TLX Type-S will be arriving later in 2021 as a 2022 model, and just from the headlines, it looks very promising. Aside from the usual exterior upgrades and changes, the Type-S' turbocharged V6 engine makes 355 hp and 354 lb/ft of torque. Looks like the Cadillac CT5-V and Mercedes-AMG C43 might be getting a new challenger.
5 It's A Serious Sports Sedan
One of Acura's claims to fame was the driving experience in their cars. Even though they were luxury cars first and foremost, Honda made sure that some of the fun dynamics that we'd expect to find in their regular models were injected into Acura's models, and the new TLX takes that to a new level.
The TLX sits on a bespoke chassis, not shared with any other Acura or Honda model. The engines are plenty powerful, and there's double-wishbone suspension at the front to make things even better. Lightweight materials are everywhere, and the electro-servo brakes first seen on the NSX have also trickled down to the TLX. They even moved the battery behind the rear axle (highlighted in yellow) for better weight distribution.
4 Glorious, Old School Analog Gauges
More and more automakers these days are quickly shifting to fully digital gauge clusters, as not only do they look more modern and high-tech, but they can house so much more information when compared to conventional analog dials. Acura decided to go old-school.
Although there's a pretty big color screen in the middle that shows all the information you could possibly want, the screen is flanked on either side by a set of beautifully old-school analog gauges. They're black on most trim levels, and silver with red lettering on trim levels like the A-Spec. While they won't have the advantages of a full-screen cluster, the old-school and analog factor is still there, and we're pretty sure Acura will offer a screen sooner or later.
3 The Interior Looks Great
As well as being billed as a sports sedan, the Acura TLX is also a luxury sedan, so you would expect the interior to be quite a nice place to be. Especially after factoring in the price and the fact that this isn't a German luxury car, the interior really does look great.
There's leather and brightwork just about everywhere, and wood trim is also available, along with configurable ambient lighting. The steering wheel is inspired by the item on the NSX, and although the center stack is pretty busy, everything looks nice and well made, especially that suave aluminum drive mode selector.
2 Impressive Tech
Being a luxury sports sedan, it's completely justified to expect the latest and greatest tech from the new TLX. Fortunately, Acura has crammed just about every piece of automotive technology they could into this new sports sedan, and it's very impressive.
For one thing, it runs the latest Honda/Acura infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. There's also the aforementioned safety tech, which also includes traffic sign recognition, as well as adaptive dampers with changeable drive modes, heated and cooled seats, wireless connectivity and wireless charging for your devices and so much more.
1 It's Pretty Well Priced
The TLX is going into battle with the big dogs in the sports sedan segment, such as the BMW 5 Series and the Genesis G80. As is the case with most Acura models in history, the TLX gets a much lower starting price than just about any of its competitors.
The base model, simply called the TLX, starts at around $37,000, and it has most of the tech you'll ever need. If you want some more features and more flashy exterior bits, there's always the A-Spec and the Advance, and the full fat Type-S should start at around $50,000, which, on paper, sounds like great value.