The 2L four in the TLX is very fast and willing, though not particularly economical. What it isn’t is refined. It is acceptably quiet in gentle driving, but gets louder when summoned to provide swift speed gathering and takes the car out of the luxury class as far as refinement is concerned. Three modes, comfort, normal and sport, are offered. There are real differences between the three modes, with sport, firming up the suspension and extending the shift points and also adding artificial noise for “excitement.” The Comfort mode is very nice under most circumstances. It delivers a very supple ride with crisp handling. The transmission is smooth but is very keen to attain the next highest gear and with so many gears, frequent gearchanges when leaving from a stop are a distraction and annoying. Very high gearing allows for 1500 rpms at 100 kilometres per hour.

Very nicely weighted and geared steering is manipulated by an elegant steering wheel that is a pleasure to hold.

With no lost motion, a firm pedal and fierce stopping power, the brakes are reassuring.

If the coolant temperature gauge is accurate, the car seems to run quite cool, however, the car produced good heat during coolish weather. Very good seat heaters. The steering wheel heater covers the whole wheel but heat output is week and turns itself off quickly.
The TLX looks very sleek from the outside, partially due to a very low roofline. In fact, it is too low to be practical as a sedan as even the front seat is hard to get into and headroom is very tight. The sloping roofline over the rear windows makes getting into the rear seat even more of a struggle. The front seats are very comfortable, but the bulky centre console and door trims leave front occupants feeling hemmed in. The rear seat is supportive but legroom is limited for such a large car and doesn’t seem any roomier than the smaller Honda Civic.

The driver faces conventional speedometer and tach with spectacular graphics. They are separated by a configurable infoscreen of impressive clarity. The dash-topping infoscreen is not a touch screen as all functions activated by Acura’s loathsome touchpad system that uses a big and a small touchpad to access desired functions. Its graphics are great, but the system, which is very hard to manipulate while driving, is a failure. Even sitting a radio station is breathtakingly difficult and consulting the owners manual or Acura-produced Youtube tutorials were of little help either. Even answering an incoming phonecall proves difficult. If you can find your way into the audio system, the ELS-branded system produces very pleasing sounds. Satellite radio sound quality, a a weak point with a number of brands, is very good. That said, sound quality on Bluetooth audio was unimpressive and sound quality using a premium streaming system was not as good as it is on various Lincoln and Volvo products. Honda-Acura’s unusual gear selector is compact for easy packaging and is easy enough to use once you are used to it. The knob for the drive-select modes dominates the dash centre stack and takes up a lot of space that could be better devoted to the climate controls, which are tiny.
With contrasting pale gray piping on black leather, mostly attractive materials and convincing faux alloy accents, the cabin of the TLX looks upscale. There are a few budget-looking materials, including the carpeting and the headliner. The carpet stretches from the door aperture over the high and massive door sills, and are sure to look shabby after a winter of salty boots being hauled over them.

Based on the Honda Accord that first went on sale for the 2018 model year, the new TLX is built on a 94 mm (3.7 inch) longer wheelbase, is 74 mm (2.9 inches) greater in overall length and 56 mm (2.2 inches) wider than before.

The previous base engine, a normally-aspirated 2.4L four, has been replaced by a 2L turbo four with 272 horsepower; with a new 3L-V6 replacing the normally aspirated 3.5L-V6 that powered the previous TLX. Acura’s SH-AWD system, now with torque-vectoring is standard and the sole transmission offered is a conventional 10-speed automatic.

The TLX is fronted by Acura’s pentagon- shaped grille, which is flanked by slim-line L.E.D. headlamps and daytime running lights, below which are the large quasi-triangular gashes that are seemingly obligatory for vehicle front ends at this time. The side profile of the TLX telegraphs its long wheelbase and highlights the short overhangs, especially at the front, given that the car rests on a front-wheel drive biased architecture.

The 2023 TLX base model, the A-Spec, is nicely equipped but is priced $6300 higher than the base model TLX was last year. Moving up to the Platinum Elite adds adaptive suspension, a head up display system, a 360 degree camera, 16-way power seats, genuine wood trim, heated rear seat and full leather seating surfaces, and is very good value. The turbo V6, marketed as the S, adds Brembo brakes and bigger wheels as well as the smooth V6 and 85 extra horsepower, but an eye-watering $7100 extra is charged for it.

Predicted reliability is very good. Maintenance and repair costs of an Acura are much lower than the European brands competing in this segment, and comparable to a well-equipped Honda Accord.