2024 Acura TLX First Drive Review
Styling and technology updates improve Acura's appealing sports sedan.
Christian Wardlaw
QuickTakes:
The 2024 Acura TLX is Acura's premium sports sedan. The back seat is cramped and hard to enter and exit for me, and the trunk is small. The car fits into the compact luxury car segment, where it competes on price with rivals such as the Audi A4, BMW 3 Series, and Mercedes-Benz C-Class.
The 2024 TLX gets a light refresh this year, and fewer versions are available. The base model is gone, making the Technology package standard equipment. The TLX Technology comes only with front-wheel drive. If you want Acura's torque-vectoring Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD) system, upgrade to the A-Spec package or select the more powerful TLX Type S. Acura has also discontinued the Advance package for 2024.
Prices range from the mid-$40,000s to the high $50,000s, including the destination charge to ship the car from the Marysville, Ohio, assembly plant to your local dealership. Numerous accessories are available to customize the car's appearance.
Christian Wardlaw
What's New for the 2024 Acura TLX?
The changes from the 2023 Acura TLX are subtle enough that you might not notice them. Look closer and you'll spot the updated front styling with a revised grille, modified or redesigned wheels, and sportier rear styling. Acura also installs an updated radar unit for the advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) behind the company's grille logo.
Inside, the 2024 TLX has a new configurable 12.3-inch digital instrumentation panel and a larger 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment display. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity and a wireless smartphone charging pad are standard. The Type S models add a standard head-up display (HUD) and surround-view camera system.
Safety improvements are part of the 2024 TLX updates. The new front radar unit enhances the performance of the standard AcuraWatch collection of ADAS, and the company says the blind-spot-monitoring system improves enough to offer a new lane-change alert function. A rear-seat reminder system is also new for 2024.
Acura hasn't changed the TLX's powertrains. A turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder powers the TLX Technology and A-Spec models, delivering 272 horsepower to the front wheels through a 10-speed automatic transmission. The SH-AWD system is available with the A-Spec package.
For maximum performance, get the 2024 Acura TLX Type S. It has a 355-hp turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 engine, a 10-speed automatic with rev-matching downshift capability, and SH-AWD as standard equipment. Additional enhancements to this model include chassis bracing, an adaptive damping suspension, and a Sport+ driving mode, which Acura says will provide improved acceleration feel in 2024.
Christian Wardlaw
Fun to Drive but Not to Fuel
For this review, I spent a week driving a 2024 TLX Type S in Southern California. My test car had a set of optional 20-inch copper-color wheels costing nearly $600 each and the new-for-2024 Urban Gray extra-cost paint. Those options raised the manufacturer's suggested retail price to $61,104, including the destination charge.
Aside from the Type S model's new lightweight copper-finish wheels and available summer performance tires, the only tweak to elevate the driving dynamics is the improved throttle response when the car is in the Sport+ driving mode. Did I give Sport+ a try? Yes. Could I tell the difference? No.
However, in fairness to Acura, the portion of my evaluation route that lends itself to Sport+ mode usage was closed due to storm damage. The alternate route, narrower, with sharper curves and corners, many of them blind and strewn with rockfall, required intense concentration to keep the wide-feeling TLX Type S in its lane and undamaged.
Christian Wardlaw
What I can say is the TLX is my second favorite member of the Acura Type S family. The Integra Type S is first, an absolute laugh-riot to drive. The MDX Type S is a distant third, feeling like it deserves an A-Spec+ nameplate instead. The TLX lands in the middle, leaning toward Integra driving-enjoyment levels. This car is a legit sports sedan, and the SH-AWD is a genuine gift to enthusiastic driving.
However, there are two aggravating factors with the TLX Type S. First, the air dam under the front end scrapes everything. Drainage channels separating suburban streets, driveway aprons at home or shopping centers, speed humps taken at any velocity over 20 mph, and parking blocks in parking lots can elicit the ugly sound.
Second, the TLX Type S is a thirsty car. On my modified testing loop, it returned 18.4 mpg, below the unimpressive EPA estimate of 21 mpg in combined driving. However, I suspect the more challenging road I drove is partly responsible for the low observed fuel-economy number.
Christian Wardlaw
New Technology, but There Remains Room for Improvement
When you're not ripping around on mountain roads in the TLX Type S, you may decide to use the AcuraWatch driver-assistance package's adaptive cruise control and lane-centering assist systems. After all, the new radar unit hidden behind the Acura emblem on the grille promises improved capabilities. So, how did it do?
Generally speaking, the ADAS performed well. I do not like Acura's steering wheel wobble indicating a lane-departure warning, but it is more subtle than in the past. Also, the lane-centering assist needed some help with the curves on the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) but was otherwise accurate. Admirably, the adaptive cruise control and lane-centering assist didn't shut down when driving into direct sunlight.
Unfortunately, AcuraWatch committed a grave error during my evaluation: It braked unnecessarily when other vehicles followed close behind. I was on PCH on a section with two lanes heading north. While rounding a curve in the road, I began to pass a slower vehicle traveling in the right lane. However, the ADAS detected the other vehicle, incorrectly recognized it as an obstacle in my path, and braked the TLX.
That behavior is uncommon, but it does happen and is never safe. In this instance, other vehicles were following the TLX relatively close behind. If I hadn't immediately put my foot down on the accelerator, the technology may have caused rather than prevented an accident.
Christian Wardlaw
In addition, the TLX has two new 12.3-inch displays for the instrumentation and infotainment systems, and the Type S gets a standard 10.5-inch HUD. Adjusting the digital gauges and the HUD is easy and mostly intuitive. However, to use the infotainment system, Acura forces you to perform hand-eye coordination between the display screen and the touchpad on the center console.
In theory, the approach attempts to reduce driver distraction, but in my experience, it adds distraction. Fortunately, Acura includes plenty of secondary switchgear in the TLX, limiting your interaction with the display and the touchpad. In addition, the TLX has a stereo volume knob and radio tuning buttons that you can use by touch without looking away from the road, further simplifying vehicle operation while driving. Redundant volume and tuning control also live on the steering wheel.
For 2024, Type S models also get a new high-resolution surround-view camera, which is helpful when reversing the car. However, I wish Acura had provided a button on the dashboard to turn it on when nosing forward into a parking space because the front of this car is low to the ground, and it's hard to place where the front wheels are.
Christian Wardlaw
The 2024 TLX Is a Competitive Car in Its Class
Where the Acura Integra Type S is raw, the TLX Type S is refined. Plus, it offers an automatic transmission and all-wheel drive, features you can't get in the Integra.
But the real question is whether it credibly competes with its rivals, which include the Alfa Romeo Giulia, Audi S4, BMW M340i xDrive, Cadillac CT5-V, Lexus IS 500, and Mercedes-AMG C 43. The answer is yes, it is competitive — but each of these luxury sports sedans has something worthy to offer, and none is a model of perfection.
