The 2024 Acura TLX Picks Up New Tech and Styling Elements
The Acura TLX – and the RLX before it – has long been a competent premium sedan with somewhat of an identity crisis. Straddling the line between luxury and performance, the car doesn’t go far enough in either direction to be particularly memorable, but it’s quick and comfortable and offers a good deal more value than its European rivals. Acura gave the car a much-needed mid-cycle refresh for 2024 as it enters the fourth year of its second generation.
The list of upgrades for the new model year reads more like a generational overhaul than a mid-cycle update, and the car picked up a few new styling elements in the process. A new mesh pattern highlights the frameless grille and the large Acura logo hides a new radar package for the car’s advanced driver aids. Several new wheel designs are available, including a shark gray 19-inch wheel with the Technology Package, updated 20-inch wheels for the Type S, and a fresh 19-inch wheel for the A-Spec.
Acura included a load of tech updates with the refresh, giving the TLX a larger 12.3-inch HD infotainment display and 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster. Unfortunately, it’s still a non-touch interface with a frustrating touchpad controller in the center console. The learning curve is steep, and using the touchpad still feels clunky even after an extended period of use.
On the upside, the TLX gets a long list of standard tech to control with that touchpad, including wireless Apple carPlay and Android Auto, an ELS Studio premium stereo, and ambient LED interior lighting. Acura also offers a head-up display, a surround-view camera, and a remote start.
The TLX’s powertrains carry over, but that’s a good thing, especially for the Type S. Most models come with a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine making 272 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque. The TLX Type S gets a turbocharged 3.0-liter V6, making 355 horsepower and 354 pound-feet of torque. Both engines come with ten-speed automatic transmissions, and the Type S gearbox gets sport tuning.
[Images: Acura]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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Reading between the lines, the Advance package, which had a nicer interior than any of the rest (nicer leather, real open-pore wood, rear heated seats, heated steering wheel, and a few other goodies), is just gone. Will they incorporate its extra feature content into either the A-Spec or the Type S, or does it just go poof?
I have a 2022 TLX A Spec AWD and it's a very, very nice car. The infotainment takes a bit of time to get used to but once you do, it's easy. Even if it was touch screen, the screen itself is kind of out of touch.
The only thing I wish I had some times was more room in the back. It's a good looking sedan in a sea of jelly bean electric cars. The AWD is awesome as well. Initially I was looking to buy a manual Integra A Spec manual transmission, but once I test drove a TLX, I knew there was no comparison.
And no, the TLX isn't just an Accord. That's what people that drive neither say. The new Accord doesn't not have the 2.0 Turbo anymore and that engine is a gem. Yes, I test drove a 2022 brand new Accord Sport with the 2.0 turbo but again, the engine, while basically the same, it and the transmission are tuned differently. The transmission, while not lazy, was a lot slower in the Accord than in my TLX. Also, the ELS 3D, 17 speaker sound system is one of the best audio systems out there in cars under $ 100,000. And that's not just me saying it but Savage Geese and many other established reviewers.
As for the 2024 changes? Not a fan of the new LED dash. Not sure if it can be configured to look like a regular analog dash ( like VW Auto group) but in the configuration I've seen it, looked like my father's 1989 Ford Probe LED dash. Would I like wireless Android Auto? Yes, but I can buy a dongle for that.