2021 Acura TLX long-term update: Lean into luxury
After thousands of miles behind the wheel, it's clear our TLX prioritizes luxury over sport -- and that's totally fine.
Acura calls the 2021 TLX a sport sedan, but now that I've spent thousands of miles behind the wheel of our long-termer over the past few months, I'm here to say, it isn't. Please don't read that as a demerit, though. The TLX is an excellent car. Will the TLX out-handle a BMW 3 Series or Genesis G70 on a canyon road? Probably not. But ask me which car I'd want to drive from Los Angeles to New York and back and I'll choose the Acura without a second thought.
Ever since the BMW 3 Series sort of kicked off the entry-level luxury/sport segment decades ago, cars that play in the compact and midsize space are automatically assumed to have performance intentions. But why? Can't a luxury car just be a luxury car? And can't a luxury car still be enjoyable to drive?
By erring toward the latter side of the luxury/sport spectrum, a lot of cars give up qualities that make them nice to live with day to day. But that isn't the case with the Acura. The TLX is quiet at highway speeds. The seats are super-comfortable and offer support in all the right places. A low beltline means the cabin feels open and airy, and there's great visibility straight ahead down the hood.
The list goes on. The steering wheel is wrapped in soft leather. The automatic heated and cooled seats work a treat. The adaptive cruise control and lane-centering technologies are never jerky or obtrusive. Oh, and the premium ELS audio system of our Advance-spec car is so bangin' I want this setup in my house.
Keep in mind, none of this is to say the TLX is a dud to drive. With its turbocharged four-cylinder engine and new double-wishbone front suspension, the TLX doesn't hate being hustled, but it's at its best when you aren't in a rush. The engine's 280 pound-feet of torque is delivered low in the rev range, and the chassis keeps the TLX calm and composed, dispatching bumps in the city and potholes on the highway without disturbing the driver or passengers. The nine-speed automatic transmission could still use a little fine-tuning, as it's occasionally jerky and sluggish, though that's really a minor complaint.
But I do have one big issue. After roughly 8,000 miles, we're only averaging 23.4 mpg. Sure, the EPA rates the all-wheel-drive 2021 TLX at 21 mpg city, 29 mpg highway and 24 mpg combined, but the vast majority of our test miles have been on the highway. I even ran a full tank solely on the highway and the best I could do was 27 mpg.
With sportier cars, I can forgive poor fuel economy for the sake of better on-road performance, but considering the Acura is at its best when driven gingerly, a 29-mpg highway figure should be a piece of cake to hit. To wit: Our long-term BMW 330i xDrive routinely returned highway consumption in the mid-30-mpg range without breaking a sweat.
In the end, I think people viewing the TLX as a sport sedan will be a little disappointed. But spin it the other way and this car's a total dream. We've got another month or so with the TLX 2.0T SH-AWD Advance in our Los Angeles fleet, and I look forward to many more luxurious miles behind the wheel.
We'll have good reason to pick up this sport sedan discussion in a few months, however. Yes, our TLX 2.0T test might be coming to an end, but when it leaves, we'll be replacing it with a very sporty Type S.