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2021 Acura TLX Is a Gorgeous New Sedan, Type S Has 3-Liter Turbo

Acura made too many cars, and not all of them were good. But the all-new 2021 Acura TLX should be something that every sedan fan should love and want to own, particularly in performance Type S flavor.
2021 Acura TLX Is a Gorgeous New Sedan, Type S Has 3-Liter Turbo 23 photos
Photo: Acura
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The design has been previewed by last year's Type S concept. We're as blown away by the shape like other people. We've seen this type of headlights before, and the explosive grille isn't as flashy as Lexus'.

But it's precisely the kind of sporty four-door you'd expect Acura to make. The rake of the roof is not as pronounced as on the concept, and flush door handles weren't going to work, but you want the TLX to be a bargain performance vehicle, not an overpriced fashion statement. With a longer wheelbase and 2 inches added to the track, it should corner well and stick.

This 2021 delivers everything and more in the engine department. Like the Honda Accord, you can have it with a 2.0-liter turbo engine. But in the case of the TLX, this makes 272 hp and 280 lb-ft of torque. That's 66 hp and almost 100 pound-feed more than the last model or 20 hp over the Accord 2.0T.

The turbo base engine is hooked up to the front wheels via a new 10-speed automatic with paddle shifters and Sequential SportShift technology. Acura says this new auto-box has a wider ratio range, smoother shifts, and a stronger 1st-gear pull. Optionally, you can have Super Handling All-Wheel Drive that can shuffle up to 70% of the power to the rear.

The TLX Type S is the real talking point of the 2021 model, though understanding its specs is like solving a math equation. Acura has confirmed this new model boasts a 3-liter V6 with a twin-scroll turbocharger. But all we can say for sure is that it makes about 50% more low-end twist and has “dramatic gains” in peak power and torque over the old 3.5-liter, which boasted 290 hp and 267 lb-ft.

Our ballpark figure is about 380 hp and 350 pound-feet for the Type S, which will come standard with the 10-speed and AWD system.

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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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