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2015 Acura TLX

Immediately after landing at Washington's Dulles airport, an Acura representative handed me the keys to a 2014 TSX with fewer than 180 miles on its clock. The four-cylinder engine started and I pointed its signature beak towards a destination in Middleburg, VA. It was a curious move by the Japanese automaker, especially considering that I had flown no less than 2,300 miles to drive the discontinued vehicle's ostensible successor, the all-new 2015 Acura TLX.
Yet spending a solid 40 minutes with a sparkling-new version of the outgoing model that still smelled showroom fresh, allowed me an opportunity to scrutinize the dropped sedan and remind myself why it had never really blown me away - it was good at doing many things, but truly great at doing none.
Time with the TSX also started me thinking about the Acura TL, the second model that the TLX will effectively replace. I have better memories of the slightly larger sedan, especially the SH-AWD 6MT trim - it's a solid driver's car - but it, too, fell short in areas where competitors, including the Audi A4, BMW 3 Series, Cadillac ATS, Lexus IS and Mercedes-Benz C-Class, excelled.

Acura built just 91 examples of the ILX last month, here's why

The short life of the Acura ILX has been vexed by one glaringly odd standard equipment choice, mediocre reviews, getting outsold by its competition as it posted slower-than-projected sales and a pledge by Honda to upgrade its supposedly upgraded offering. Therefore, when Automotive News reports that just 91 of the Civic-based Acura sedans were manufactured last month - after a string of production months in double-digits - it would be easy to press the button for the alarm bells.
But that would be hasty, because it is actually the 2013 Honda Civic that is crimping the production pipeline of the ILX. The vastly higher sales numbers of the Honda meant that all three North American plants that produce it needed to crank up output to satisfy dealer inventory needs, including the Greenburg, Indiana plant that makes both the Civic and the ILX. As the classic guns-vs-butter Economy 101 lesson taught us - in which making more of one necessarily means making less of the other - well, the Civic is the gun.
Honda prepared for this eventuality by cranking out the Acuras while it got ready for Civic production. The ILX has held steady at about 500 units shy of company projections every month, and the current inventory represents about 90 days worth of sales. That makes Greenburg's ostensibly low numbers in line with the realities of the ILX, and the situation probably won't change much as Acura gets ready for the improved 2014 ILX.

We drive the Acura TLX-GT racecar

Don't break the car. As you can tell from the video, that's the theme of the day at Gingerman Raceway in South Haven, MI. After two short lapping sessions in the Acura TLX-GT fear gave way to familiarity, and a second theme emerged: this is awesome. The anxiety was appropriate. There are only two TLX-GTs in the world, and both were at Gingerman that day. A mishap would potentially put either Ryan Eversly and Peter Cunningham out of contention for the subsequent Pirelli World Challenge race. I did not want to be that guy. But back to the awesome part. The TLX-GT is barely TLX, but more Acura that you might expect. The wheelbase, roof, and doors are all stock dimensions, although all the bodywork is carbon fiber. Out go the front MacPherson struts, in goes a special double-wishbone suspension. All-wheel drive comes from an XTRAC six-speed sequential transmission originally developed for Dakar Rally vehicles. The side mirrors are stock. Under the hood lies a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 with a stock block, head, crank, and throttle body. "Under the hood" is a generous term, though, because half of the engine sits inside the cabin. The front end of the block is aft of the front axle - the rest of the hood is taken up with radiators and hoses. To service the turbochargers, the RealTime mechanics remove the top of the dashboard. The front-mid engine location pushes the driver's seat back to the B-pillar, so you sit like Hightower from Police Academy. Only with less visibility. This does not calm the nerves. Nor does the din of 600 or so unmuffled horsepower. My first laps were understandably timid. But the TLX-GT is actually easy to drive. You get used to the low, rearward seating position almost immediately. Once rolling you don't need the clutch for shifts - just bang the right and left paddles to go up and down. I even became accustomed to the acceleration. At more than 3,000 pounds curb weigh the TLX-GT is quick, but not as explosive as cars like the Chevrolet Corvette Z06. Where the TLX-GT blows away road cars is in grip and braking, neither of which I fully exploited. The brake pedal is so hard you feel like you're standing on it just to get the pads to bite. Once engaged, they're like an endless well of deceleration, with ABS somewhere down at the bottom of the abyss. Second lapping session over, car returned intact and adrenaline high in full effect. I had the uncontrollable urge to get back behind the wheel. I mean, I barely had time to get up to speed.