2021 Acura TLX Review Don’t Buy That Mercedes, Yet.
Category
🦄
Art et designTranscription
00:00All right, let me put it this way. Thomas, pretend you're an executive.
00:03Okay.
00:04It's time to get something befitting.
00:05Yeah.
00:06What about this?
00:07All right.
00:08Honda Accord.
00:09Yes.
00:10Has a problem though.
00:11It's blue.
00:12No, it's front-wheel drive.
00:13Okay, right.
00:14There's another option.
00:15Yes.
00:16This is the Hyundai Sonata N-Line. Like a Sonata, but more peppy.
00:22Right.
00:23Also has a problem.
00:24Looks like a catfish.
00:26No, it's front-wheel drive.
00:28Right, okay.
00:30That leaves you with this.
00:32Yes.
00:33The new Acura TLX.
00:36And this is front-wheel drive.
00:40No, this, no.
00:42You're watching Throttle House. I'm Thomas.
00:57And I'm James.
00:59And this is the Acura TLX.
01:02And today, this one is all-wheel drive, Thomas.
01:11Oh.
01:12And for 2021, it's seen a complete redesign.
01:16Longer.
01:17Lower.
01:18Wider.
01:19Stiffer.
01:21Heavier.
01:23Yeah.
01:24Coming in at £4,000.
01:26And $52,000 Canadian, this super-handling all-wheel drive version in its premium Elite trim is fully decked out.
01:35Before the Type S comes, anyway.
01:38Four cylinders, a turbo, 272 horsepower, double wishbone front suspension and a battery now move to the trunk like a BMW for better weight distribution.
01:48So, we know it beats its German counterparts in price.
01:52And with all this new stuff, can it actually go toe-to-toe with them?
01:56And if the Accord is already so good, why spend the extra on just a fancier version of one?
02:05If you're new to Throttle House, we do car reviews, track tests and quite a lot of messing around.
02:13So, subscribe and hit the bell.
02:20OK. Acura TLX.
02:22Four cylinders.
02:23But we get the 10-speed from the Accord, which is a tried and tested and proven thing on Throttle House, as a winner on the drag strip.
02:31So, we're starting off at a good point.
02:33But more importantly, even though we're on the track, this isn't quite what the car's meant for.
02:40So, if I drop it down into comfort mode and I put it in normal drive, then suddenly it becomes a really nicely damped, calm vehicle.
02:52That still drives incredibly well.
02:54Very light steering in comfort mode, which is what you want.
02:57No aggressive, piped-in engine sounds.
03:03It doesn't sound good, but it sounds like a four-cylinder that's turbocharged.
03:08It's honest and it's just really easy to get along with.
03:11Now, it is worth saying that in this mode, when you slam it down, not much happens.
03:19And then it's turbo lagged and then you're in the threshold and then it kind of goes.
03:24But then an Audi A4 suffers from the same thing, so it's not alone in that.
03:28But we are on the racetrack, so I am going to put it in sport mode.
03:34And suddenly there's more piped-in engine sound, but the steering gets heavier.
03:38The car just becomes tight, like a tiger.
03:42Okay, the engine is very turbocharged, no matter how you look at it.
03:47And it comes on a little bit sluggishly.
03:50The shifts, though, are half decent.
03:52Remember, this is not a sports car and I'm on a racetrack right now.
03:55But the first thing that I've noticed about this car, it's really sharp.
04:00Turn in and the front does grip.
04:03The steering ratio is fast and I'm on winter tires right now.
04:07And the big news is, obviously, this has SH all-wheel drive,
04:10which is an active torque vectoring rear differential.
04:13It's actually a very good system.
04:15I will say, though, it's not doing SH all-wheel drive things very much.
04:18If I come through here with the traction control off,
04:21and I stomp on the throttle, at the very most, it neutrals out.
04:26It doesn't kind of push the rear end out,
04:29like I've experienced SH all-wheel drive to do before.
04:31But I imagine in the snow it would be able to do that.
04:34The thing is, though, is that after driving it out here,
04:37I've realized that there's a really good car.
04:41And I think that if you push it,
04:43I might experience something kind of exciting here.
04:46Shifting manually.
04:48Driving a little bit quicker now.
04:51Turn in.
04:53Yeah, on the throttle, it neutrals out nicely.
04:56And traction control completely off.
04:59Coming through here.
05:01Aw.
05:03It's a little bit of a drag.
05:05It's a little bit of a drag.
05:07It's a little bit of a drag.
05:09Aw.
05:11But the traction control's off.
05:14It's one of those systems that lies to you.
05:19I was determined to see if the systems were holding the chassis back,
05:22because the car feels like it has potential.
05:25So I popped the hood and pulled the fuse for the ABS and traction control.
05:29OK, fuse is out.
05:31What I've done is broken the car completely.
05:33Every single light is on in the dashboard.
05:35Power steering still works. That's important.
05:37But the traction control and the ABS should be completely off now.
05:41So that means if I come through here now,
05:44and I go to a neutral throttle,
05:47the rear starts to go,
05:50and it neutrals out very, very well.
05:52The front grips. It doesn't understeer.
05:55That's what I'm looking for in a sporty car.
05:57There's something good in here. There is.
05:59I can't wait for the Type S.
06:02The new 3 Series is better dynamically than this.
06:06And you can turn the traction control all the way off without breaking the car.
06:09But it's not quite as playful as I'm feeling in this car.
06:15This reminds me of a Type R more than it does a luxury sedan, actually.
06:19It's kind of got that, like, darty front-end feel.
06:23Ah, that's great. That's great.
06:26The new 3 Series doesn't really have that.
06:29This is a fun car to drive.
06:32And there is actually plenty of power.
06:35You could complain that 272 horsepower is not enough.
06:38But I think that would be folly because it's more than you could ever need.
06:42And again, it's the same as the Accord engine.
06:44This is obviously a little bit heavier.
06:46But you get all-wheel drive now.
06:48So if you do decide to drive like a maniac,
06:52it's a car that looks after you.
06:55You can't really get into trouble.
06:57And everything's predictable.
07:00Brakes confidently.
07:02Turns in sharply.
07:03Nice steering ratio.
07:05Is a Julian sharper? Yes.
07:08But if you want that light Japanese vibe
07:11and you just want the elevated, fancy version of it with all-wheel drive,
07:16it's a bit of a no-brainer.
07:18And it's not just the ride. It's the insulation.
07:20On the highway at 100 kilometers an hour,
07:23you can whisper to your passenger.
07:25That's kind of the extra stuff that comes with going for the Acura.
07:29Going for the Lexus over the Toyota.
07:30Going for the Acura over the Honda.
07:32There's merit to it.
07:33Sometimes you just want to be calm.
07:36And this can be a very calm car to drive.
07:39And just in case you don't feel like this is enough power,
07:42there's an incoming Type S.
07:44And with this chassis and this transmission,
07:48I think that's really something to look forward to.
07:54You know what? I want to say I'm pleasantly surprised.
07:56Yeah.
07:57But I'm not because I'm pleasantly...
07:59It meets my expectations.
08:01I thought it would be a gussied-up executive luxury all-wheel drive Accord.
08:06No, but it is that, though.
08:07That's what I mean.
08:08I'm just pleasantly...
08:09I'm not surprised.
08:10Okay, yes, exactly.
08:11No, it is exactly what you just said.
08:13It is like an all-wheel drive, in my opinion, better-looking Accord.
08:17But I think that it drives honestly better.
08:20A little bit better than I expected it to.
08:22Yes, the turn-in's sharp.
08:24The turn-in's sharp. The steering is fine.
08:25The power feels fine.
08:26The transmission's great.
08:28It just is a bit turbo-like.
08:30It definitely has that, no question.
08:32I'm not sure I agree with you on the looks, though.
08:34I mean, this is in black, so it's kind of dulled down.
08:37But you saw the blue concept come out.
08:40It looked wicked.
08:42This kind of looks a bit inoffensive.
08:44It's not exciting.
08:45I guess a little bit.
08:46But cars rarely look like their concepts anyway.
08:48No, the concept becomes irrelevant, right?
08:50It's a push towards the design language.
08:51But I just think it kind of looks a bit long in a way that doesn't work for it.
08:55It is a bit long.
08:56It is long, yeah.
08:57It's actually quite a long vehicle.
08:59But here's what I like.
09:01This front end, other than this abomination right here on the front,
09:04I think that's the most idiotic thing ever.
09:06It's just as bad as what?
09:07Who is it that does this?
09:08Genesis.
09:09Genesis is a semi-SUV.
09:10Yeah.
09:11I think this, proportionally, in terms of the size of the headlights,
09:13the size of the grille, is better than the Accord.
09:15It's just, for not very much more money,
09:18you get a car that is stylistically superior.
09:20The tough thing, though, is these all enter into the Giulia segment.
09:22And the Giulia is just so pretty.
09:24Everyone loses against the Giulia.
09:25And the G23 series, I think, is a bit like that.
09:27But anyway, this is all subjective.
09:28Yes.
09:29The proportions are fine.
09:30More interesting, then, is the inside.
09:31Because that's kind of where you get a completely different experience to the Accord.
09:34Massively.
09:35And to the Germans.
09:36Yes.
09:38Oh, nice kind of hump on the clothes there.
09:40Yeah.
09:41Okay, there's some stuff in here that I hate.
09:43Interesting.
09:44That I hate.
09:45Yeah.
09:46And stuff that I really like.
09:47Things that I hate.
09:48A list from Thomas.
09:49Me?
09:50Yeah.
09:51Occasionally.
09:52This right here is horrible.
09:54It's almost okay on the Accord because it's lower and closer.
09:56Oh, the transmission settings.
09:57The transmission selector.
09:58Like, you do not get used to this.
10:00People give us a hard time in the Mach-E review
10:03because we said that the little flick shifter on the Mustangs are fine,
10:06because they are.
10:07Yeah.
10:08But you can do them without looking.
10:09You can't not look.
10:10Well, each one of these feels different.
10:12That's the idea.
10:13I think you get used to it.
10:14I don't want to put my car into drive-by Braille.
10:16No, you're not required to.
10:17I just want to do it.
10:18But we know what they have done.
10:20So people, you know, the other thing they've done with this design,
10:22and they've kept with it, and this is on the front grill,
10:24where they've just taken everything that's normal and gone...
10:28Like, benders come along and just bent it.
10:30So that's what this is.
10:31So it immediately feels a bit strange,
10:33but once you get used to it, everything's a button.
10:35Everything's a button, which is really nice.
10:37I do like that.
10:38Now, also, the design of it is very much not German.
10:41No.
10:42If it was German, everything would be much more ordered.
10:44Yeah, exactly.
10:45At first glance, it's just a...
10:46It's a wham!
10:47Yeah, exactly.
10:49But I do like that there's actual physical buttons.
10:51Okay, we have to talk about this infotainment screen,
10:53because there are so many people that give this a really hard time.
10:56And here's the thing.
10:59Once you learn it, it's fine.
11:02Right, but by definition, then, it's not intuitive.
11:04Exactly.
11:05It's like a whole new skill.
11:06So you can learn it.
11:07The thing is, it's absolute position.
11:08So you have to hold your finger on the exact spot.
11:10But why do that, though?
11:11I agree.
11:12There's better systems out there.
11:13It's better than Lexus,
11:14where Lexus just flicks you in the finger every time you touch something.
11:16Yeah, no, this is better than Lexus.
11:18It's still a weird decision, though.
11:19That said, I've heard mixed messages from people about it.
11:21Some people say it's really easy to use.
11:22Some people hate it.
11:23It's kind of a you-either-like-it-or-you-don't type of system.
11:26Yeah, but it's what you said.
11:28If you get used to it, and it's your car, who cares?
11:30Yeah.
11:31This is the Premium Elite.
11:32So we have some cool stuff.
11:33We've got the wood trim.
11:34We've got the ambient lighting.
11:35And we get a color head-up display.
11:37And, because it's the Premium Elite,
11:39we get the upgraded sound system,
11:41which is actually fantastic.
11:42Okay.
11:43At the $50,000 Canadian level,
11:45I don't think you get much better than that.
11:47But interestingly, and you like this,
11:49in a brand new car, new gen,
11:52we have a mixture of analog and digital gauge cluster.
11:56Yeah, but they didn't execute it super well.
11:59Oh, so now you agree that it depends on how you execute it.
12:02I never didn't agree with that.
12:03No, you always said analog plus digital equals a win.
12:06Well, no, I know.
12:07It's not true, because sometimes...
12:09I just like analog gauges,
12:10but these analog gauges aren't particularly amazing to read.
12:13There's something busy about them.
12:14Yeah, and that center screen is just a jumbled mess of information.
12:17The seats are incredibly comfortable.
12:19They are, yes.
12:20Plenty of headroom.
12:21You know where it misses out, though,
12:22even though it's longer than a 3 Series?
12:24Where?
12:25In the back seats.
12:26Oh, okay.
12:27They're not as spacious.
12:28That's too bad.
12:29No.
12:30Well, there's some points knocked off,
12:31but I mean, can I just conclude very briefly in here?
12:34The G20 3 Series, overall, is a sportier sedan.
12:38The Alfa Giulia is, I think, better dynamically in every way,
12:42but it loses out in terms of ergonomics and comfort.
12:45Yes.
12:47The Mercedes C300 is fine.
12:50I think it's a great car.
12:51It doesn't drive as well as this, though.
12:52It's not far off.
12:53No, it's not far off.
12:54The point is that not only does this make sense
12:57as a slightly more expensive Accord to buy,
12:59it absolutely does go toe-to-toe with the competitors in the class.
13:02It's great.
13:03I like this car.
13:05Yeah, if you're a Honda fanboy,
13:07then it makes a lot of sense.
13:09Absolutely.
13:11So, amazing sound system,
13:13not-so-intuitive infotainment,
13:15great chassis,
13:17not-so-perfect engine response,
13:19comfortable seats, though,
13:21not much rear legroom.
13:23There is a yin to every yang in this car,
13:26so no, it isn't perfect.
13:28And yet, our entire team found themselves very fond of it
13:32by the end of the week.
13:34As a value proposition, it certainly challenges the Germans.
13:37As an Accord dominator?
13:39Well, apart from the overly complicated infotainment
13:42and aforementioned inferior rear legroom,
13:45it's every bit the upgrade,
13:47especially at only a 20% premium.
13:49Although numbers suggest that in a race,
13:52the Accord might take it.
13:54Perhaps that's something we'll have to explore
13:56in our next video.
13:58In the meantime, if you don't know already,
14:00Thomas and I have taken to discussing things
14:02and posting more content
14:04to our new Extra Throttle House channel.
14:06It consists of laid-back,
14:08smaller-production-style stuff,
14:10hot laps, behind-the-scenes,
14:12POV drives,
14:14and much, much more that we haven't thought of yet.
14:16So far, we're really happy with the response from you guys,
14:19so if you've missed it, don't worry,
14:21we are just getting started.
14:23I'll chuck a link in the description,
14:25subscribe there, and enjoy.