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 blindspot 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.