To Hell and back in TLX Type S
HELL, Mich. — At a time when electric vehicle mandates are forcing a commoditization of auto products, the Type S dynamic duo of the Acura Integra and TLX are welcome rebels.
I fell hard for the Integra Type S when it debuted last year, and now the TLX Type S gets a healthy midcycle update for 2024. Dressed in Urban Grey Peal, body stampings you could slice paper with and quad tailpipes the size of ship cannons, the TLX Type S isn’t shy.
I took it out on Hell’s asphalt dance floor this January to tango. When I turned the fat DRIVE MODE knob to SPORT+, the Acura suspension noticeably stiffened. The 10-speed transmission dropped a gear. The engine growled. We danced across Hadley Road, the big sedan’s turbo V-6 delivering effortless power while the neutral chassis rotated beautifully through corners.
Born in 2020, TLX is still cursed by inherent flaws of a mouse padcontrolled console screen and cramped rear seats in a brutally competitive luxury muscle space. Those flaws were corrected on its Integra stablemate.
The pair make for an intriguing choice. But first, let’s hear it for muscle.
Performance-auto fans are blue as the auto industry struggles with a government-forced transition to electrics. Mandating battery-powered drivetrains is inevitably breeding homogeneity: quiet, smooth soap bars focused on maximizing range.
That’s the opposite of highly individualized, multicylinder hellions aimed at enthusiasts. Recent years have seen low-volume standouts of the breed — Chevy
Camaro, Dodge Challenger, Dodge Charger, Kia Stinger, Hyundai Veloster, Audi TT, Ford Focus/ Fiesta ST, Alfa Romeo 4C — sacrificed for low-volume EVs aimed at meeting government regs.
Increasingly enthusiasts must seek refuge — not in bespoke models like Camaro and Challenger, but in performance sub-brands of models like Cadillac CT5-V, BMW M340i, Audi S5. Type S is Acura’s sub-brand that endows TLX with a special 355-horsepower six that immediately got me thinking of Hell.
Hell, Michigan, that is, where the roads are curved and people scarce — a playground for Type S, which is aimed at enthusiasts, not track rats. The Type S is a middle ground between beauty and beast — a sedan upgraded to thrill without
a supercar bill.
My $58K TLX Type S tester provides luxurious red leather confines, rad styling handed down from the NSX supercar and an array of standard safety features, including blind-spot assist, adaptive cruise control and Brembo brakes.
For the new model year, Acura also gifted TLX standard jewelry like a fashionable, frameless front grille, new wheel designs, digital instrument cluster, 12.3-inch dash screen, wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, 360-degree camera and 10.5-inch head-up display.
The ergonomics complementing these tech goodies are typically excellent for a Honda product. Notably, the head-up display is operated by a button on the left dash. So it’s a surprise that the Type S’s two big negatives are ergonomic: remote-controlled screen and small back seat.
Before you turn your back on the TLX and write a check for a $52K 320-horse, turbo-4-powered Integra Type S — which gains a hatchback for better utility and loses 1,000 pounds over TLX — consider the white powder that buried my driveway as I returned from Hell. The TLX’s all-wheel-drive system drove up my steep driveway like snow wasn’t even there.