THE HOT PROSPECT
Sleek sport sedan brings out the joy of driving
With buyers running headlong toward SUVS and crossovers, do sport sedans really matter any more? Acura thinks so, and proof of its conviction is the 2021 TLX. It expects this sedan to account for about 20 per cent of its total sales volume.
The 2021 TLX is re-engineered from the ground up, starting with a stiffer structure, a new multi-link suspension front and rear.
There's also a new turbocharged V6 that spits out 355 horsepower, but we'll have to wait until next spring for that one. For now, this 2.0L turbo-four A- Spec, with 272 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque, is the hottest prospect. Is this enough to get the TLX back in the sport sedan fray?
Not straying far from last year's Type S Concept, this new TLX is longer, lower, and wider than the outgoing model. Even though it's still a front-wheel-drive-based architecture with a transversely mounted engine, its long hood and short rear deck give a rakish, rearwheel-drive-like profile. And the TLX has some pretty sexy haunches, too. The sporty A- Spec gets specific trim bits, such as 19-inch wheels and a little trunk spoiler.
The cabin has its own drama too, wowing with a swooping centre console and low-profile dash that affords fine forward visibility. A 10.2-inch display sits atop the
dash. You sit sports-car low in here and the driving position is excellent, as are the ventilated A- Spec seats trimmed in leather and faux suede. It's also roomy and with decent rear seat accommodations.
Ergonomically, the TLX is a mixed bag. We dig the array of physical buttons for the climate control and the volume knob on the console, but with the display screen being out of reach, most other functions are mainly controlled by a swipe-and-push touch pad. It's better than the Lexus system, but not by much. You basically tap the part of the pad that corresponds with an icon on the
screen; I got better at it with practice, but BMW idrive's large rotary controller with surrounding hard buttons is a proven solution. Another niggle is the TLX'S gimmicky red-on-silver gauges, which are hard to see in daylight. But the 17-speaker ELS Studio sound system is spectacular.
Nonetheless, folks buying this TLX A- Spec are probably looking for legitimate sport sedan moves. The question is, can the four-cylinder TLX hang with the likes of an Audi A4, BMW 330i, or Genesis G70? Well, it's a bit of a mixed bag, but as I found out after a couple of laps at Toronto Motorsports Park, this roomy and luxurious sedan has another side to its personality.
But first, about its on-road demeanour: The TLX pretty much aces the comfort side of the equation. The non-adaptive sport suspension is firm, but also generally quiet and compliant, and the 10-speed automatic slurs the gears seamlessly. Hit a B-road and there's plenty of grip, with Acura's clever Super Handling All Wheel Drive (SH-AWD) putting the power down in a bend, planting the TLX and blasting forth. Still, fluidity is not the A- Spec's strong suit. It has a quick turn in, but the back end takes half a beat to figure out if it wants to play along. It doesn't help that response time to shift paddle inputs is lethargic. The best way to drive the TLX briskly on a back road is to select manual mode and keep it in one gear for as long as possible. However, the TLX A- Spec is quick, with 272 horsepower and 280 lb.-ft of torque on tap, although the engine sounds pretty flat and uninspiring. To be fair, so do most other turbo-fours.
And onto the track. I selected Sport mode via the large rotary knob below the screen (it calls up a more aggressive shift map) and pushed the D/S button (Drive/ Sport) twice on the gear selector, which puts it in fully manual mode. To be honest, I expected this track experience to be another uninspired “sport sedan” fight with body roll and understeer. After all, true blue sport sedans start with a rear-drive architecture. But braking hard at the end of the long straight and turning into the first right-hander had the TLX up on its toes and rotating beautifully. Not power oversteer like in a rear-drive car, but nicely controllable liftoff oversteer, which sets you up for powering out of the turn. Roll in the juice and the SH-AWD rewards with lovely four-wheel drifts.
Indeed, the TLX A- Spec is an absolute hoot on this flat track just outside of Toronto. I could have done this all day, but in the interest of saving some tire tread, I resisted the urge. I'm sure a contributor to this friendly slipping and sliding are the Michelin Primacy A/S rubber, an all-season touring tire that, while certainly not a grip monster, seems to have progressive breakaway characteristics.
Is the TLX A- Spec's track fun carefully crafted by the Acura engineers for the one in a hundred who might partake, or just a happy accident because they wanted some comfy all-season tires on it?
Whatever the reason may be, my respect for the A- Spec got kicked up several notches for every lap completed.
With an all-in price of $49,790, the 2021 Acura TLX A- Spec is an intriguing and high-styling entry that undercuts similarly equipped four-cylinder European rivals by at least $10,000 while also being loaded to the teeth.
The biggest problem for the TLX comes from South Korea, in the form of the superb, similarly priced, and updated Genesis G70. When the six-cylinder, 355-horsepower TLX arrives early next year, expect to really see the fur fly in the sport sedan playground.