Acura TLX discontinued

[JHZR2]

Yes, I would think there are two different buyers with different priorities. Sedan is going to give you a bit better fuel than an SUV but 41 city/38 hwy is still very good for a CUV if opting for the hybrid. Sedans are losing ground to their CUV/SUV counterparts & that trend seems to continue. Good that the Japanese seem to still be offering a Sedan for now for those types of buyers. CUV's seem to offer the best overall versatility, reliability, etc. so the tradeoff of less fuel seems to be not a major issue.

It’s 20% less recurring fuel bill. Maybe I’m just too frugal.

 

[Carmudgeon]

I guess we could give Supra to the Japanese side, but that's a real stretch IMO.

The biggest contribution Toyota made in that project was in eventually making a manual gearbox available. A Getrag.

Otherwise, the Supra is basically a Z4 coupe with Toyota styling and suspension tuning (which is arguably better than its cousin's). They both roll off the same Steyr assembly line in Austria. Peel away the cladding and panels, and the guts would probably be much more familiar to someone who has wrenched on BMWs than Toyotas. No JIS screwdrivers or 12mm wrenches needed.

Before release, the model's final form was leaked…after someone found the entire vehicle logged in BMW's ETK parts catalog. Now, why would a Toyota badge need to be assigned a BMW part number, Dr. Zaius?

The Fiata 124 Spider could at least claim to have FCA's engine.

I know someone who had a first gen TSX, and spent a fair amount of time in the car. Very solid car (though the center stack backlighting was a common failure), and more European in sensibility than Japanese. But its steering did have that Honda trait where the effort would change mid-lock (also reminding me of the 2nd and 3rd gen Preludes I'd driven). Dunno whether it was by design, or a consequence of the geometry changes at certain steering angles, but it didn't have that full consistency in the controls like one expects on a European car. Or the old pre-EPS ones, anyway. K24 was decently sized, and liked to rev, but weaker down below, and having to rev it in certain situations acted to temper any luxury aspirations.

AWD can try, but cannot fully make up for the physics when a large mass is sitting on top of, or in front of the front axle line. Audi, which is not Japanese, and does have longitudinal engines has also still suffered from the laws of physics. I've also had daydreams about the S3 and RS3 and while I'm sure the trick torque vectoring rear differential is neat, and works well, can't fully get on board with the notion of a $65k Golf sedan, and handling so heavily determined by electronics tuning, not natural vehicle dynamics. But I'm old school. And in that price range, many options if one doesn't need to buy new.

Acura was originally created with the intent to provide Honda owners with nicer vehicles to step up to. They clearly weren't gunning for the Germans, as Toyota and Nissan did.

Problem was, that relied on owner loyalty to a large degree, and the company also hamstrung the brand by refusing to offer anything larger than a six, as mentioned.

They've reinvigorated the brand in more recent times, but were adrift for a long time, in the purgatory of near, but not fully being accepted as a luxury brand. The MDX kept them alive during the struggles, and CUVs became their bread-and butter. But I think its greatest sales success is still the Integra line, which were always "nicer" Civics at heart. That it took them so long to acknowledge that, and try again, was a bit delusional.

 

[fantastic]

It’s 20% less recurring fuel bill. Maybe I’m just too frugal.

Just go take that nice Mercedes out for a spin & you'll not worry about it.
Have you put miles on it yet?

 

[PF52]

Acura was originally created with the intent to provide Honda owners with nicer vehicles to step up to. They clearly weren't gunning for the Germans, as Toyota and Nissan did.

That's the danger of being first into a new market. Lexus and Infiniti raised the bar the day they opened; Acuras were always nice but not as luxurious.

 

[goblin]

...But its steering did have that Honda trait where the effort would change mid-lock (also reminding me of the 2nd and 3rd gen Preludes I'd driven). Dunno whether it was by design...

T'was by design. Much advertised variable steering assist, came first on late 80s Euro Accords and Preludes.

 

[fantastic]

T'was by design. Much advertised variable steering assist, came first on late 80s Euro Accords and Preludes.

Always thought the all wheel steer on the preludes were cool.

 

[goblin]

Always thought the all wheel steer on the preludes were cool.

I had one and it's the most amazing feature I've ever had.

The feeling of commuting to Luxembourg at 130mph like on rails, then elegantly keeping your lane on the Rue de la Tour Jacob's hairpins at decent speed while bimmers and benzes following you had to go deep into the opposite lane was an amazing one.

The Prelude was an expensive, old-people coupe in Europe. Was usually a second or third coupe in posh neighborhoods, not a kid's fastofurious playground.

And those neighborhoods often came with tight streets. 4ws must have been lost on whole states in the US.

 

[JHZR2]

Just go take that nice Mercedes out for a spin & you'll not worry about it.
Have you put miles on it yet?

Drive the ML almost weekly. Get 27 highway. Definitely not as good as the rav hybrid, but if I needed to replace it or the accord hybrid I also drive routinely, not sure I’d want the fuel bill of the suv…

 

[edyvw]

TLX 4 cylinder, 2WD, weighs 4000 lbs. 4WD is 4200. That's a lot of poundage to lug around day in day out.

JFC. Actually, it is good they euthanized that abomination.