Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder tells us what he likes best about the turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine in Autoblog's long-term loan of a 2021 Acura TLX. The engine produces 272 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque, which feels like enough for this nearly 4,000-pound, all-wheel-drive sedan. The engine note, though, is unique and exciting, providing a satisfying soundtrack to match the TLX’s sporty driving. The sound is helped along into the cabin through the car’s speakers using Acura’s Active Sound Control system, and varies in volume based on drive mode settings. Watch and listen for yourself, and see what you think.
Transcript- I am driving Autoblog's long term 2021 Acura TLX. One of the things I really like about this car, in addition to the styling and the handling, is the 2.0 liter turbo 4 under the hood. It's actually a pretty nice one, 272 horsepower, 280 pound feet of torque. But I really like the sound it makes.
[CAR ACCELERATING]
It's got sort of a melodious sound to it, and you probably can't hear it on this video. But also, when you let off the accelerator, you can hear the blow off of the turbo, releasing all its pressure, which is pretty exciting. I had to make some modifications to my old WRX to get it to sound like that. Here, in the stock TLX, you get that little bit of [? pew ?] at the end, which is just enough to make you appreciate the car a little bit more.
My only real complaint about this power train is the 10 speed automatic transmission. That's a lot of gears to go through. I feel like this would be better with a [INAUDIBLE] manual, but those days seem to be behind us. But it's got these panels on the back, and they're relatively quick.
And there's a little bit of a soft delay there, but it's nothing too crazy. I normally just let it sort it out on its own, but yeah, 10 gears for this engine is a lot to go through. Good thing it sounds good on its way up, though, and it has no problem getting up to highway speeds.
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