2021 Acura TLX unveiling
Transcript[MUSIC PLAYING]
JON IKEDA: The TLX is one of the most important pieces for us as we rebuild the brand for the future of Acura. It's the next big leap, if you will, in the strategies that we've put in place as we've been rebuilding the brand.
We launched the NSX to tell everybody we're a performance brand. We've gone into racing. We're winning trophies. We showed the world that the RDX is a great performer with an SUV. Now you have the sports sedan. That's the proof point for everybody to enjoy it. There's a level of expectation that comes with a performance sedan, and this car will deliver that, and we're really, really excited about that.
MARC ERNST: We really doubled down on the things sports sedans do best-- styling, performance, and emotion. To do that, we took a step back to rethink our entire approach to design, technology, and performance.
This new TLX platform shares virtually nothing with its predecessor or any other model in our lineup. Top to bottom, this is a truly all-new Acura-exclusive sports sedan.
It starts with stance and proportion, which are dramatically changed. The wheelbase is four inches longer, and we put that added length to work in the exterior styling with a long dash-to-axle ratio, an expansive hood, and shorter overhangs.
The new TLX is also wider by nearly three inches to deliver a near exotic low-and-wide stance, much closer to an Audi A7 or a Porsche Panamera than to a BMW 3 Series.
BEN DAVIDSON: Our main objective with the TLX and our dream was to make the most emotional midsized sedan on the market. We also had a good target with the Precision concept that kept us focused when things got challenging.
The first thing that really stands out is the surfacing. It's really dramatic and emotional. I think it's really different than anything on the market today.
Secondly, I think the proportion and the stance is very strong. The grill and headlights, they're very, very low. They're really wide, so they look quite dramatic. And going to the side, it's obviously the performance proportion, the dash to axle. The rear, the most unique part, is it's really wide fender. It gives it a really strong stance and a muscular appearance.
Great stance, feels like it's going to be planted to the road and have great dynamics. These are all obviously things that we're inferring by the way it looks.
The way we did that was to push the wheels out as wide as we could, push the hood down as low as we could, and also sculpt the fenders and taper the cabin as much as we could to emphasize them as well in the rear.
The hood is something that we really wanted to emphasize and create almost a bigger-than-life presence for it, and one way we could do that was sculpt it really deeply and add some really nice sharp character lines on it.
The TLX is really defined by its performance achieved through styling and proportion, and I think it really signifies a big step for Acura going forward as a performance carmaker and committing to our Precision Crafted Performance direction.
MARC ERNST: Investing in this all-new platform created the canvas for our Acura design team with a styling that was first imagined in the Acura Precision concept and a little bit later in the Type S concept.
The dramatic change brought to the exterior styling carries over into the interior design as well where we created a dramatically more upscale and personal cabin experience. It starts with how the wider body enabled us to provide truly first-class seating space for the driver and front passenger with top-class shoulder, hip, and elbow room. And then we use the high center tunnel to create the experience of a dual personal cockpit.
From there, we loaded TLX with the latest Acura premium features and technologies, starting with our in-house-designed 16-way sport seats, which have been a huge hit in RDX. We applied the latest generation of our ELS Studio 3D premium audio, now with 17 speakers. And our true touchpad interface is augmented with a new hand rest and repositioned hard buttons to make it even easier to use.
We also applied the latest generation of our integrated dynamic system to create an even more customizable driving experience, including 27 interior lighting themes named after iconic drives from around the world.
GYPSY MODINA: We thought of this concept, Iconic Drive, and we wanted to honor different places in the world where you feel a truly dynamic driving experience. You feel like you're exhilarated through the use of high contrast and warm colors. It's just like when you view nature, you're comfortable in it, but you're also in awe of it. So we try to bring those elements because it brings both that feeling of awe that you have in nature, but it also brings that feeling of comfort.
And then the wow for the interior is the genuine materials. So the authentic wood, the Milano leather-- you feel its richness.
First, we're designers. So when you're creating for design, you're creating for function. Being artistic is something a little bit different that may be on top of that. We really work with a strong concept of Precision Crafted Performance.
Precision Crafted Performance is our uniqueness. So when you have that strong concept in place, you can create an artistic identity that's on top of this functional product.
MARC ERNST: Now let's turn our attention to dynamics. First of all, this new TLX is a premium sports sedan right down to its bones, built on the most rigid body we've ever made. This platform serves as the foundation for the Type S as well. So we paid special attention to areas of rigidity that are key for dynamic driving, and every TLX model benefits.
We started by applying Acura-first technologies like cast-aluminum front shock-tower mounts to give the suspension a rock-solid base. And on that base, we mounted a new double-wishbone front suspension.
JASON RAY: The double-wishbone front suspension allows us to basically do two things. By eliminating the strut, we can reduce the ride height to give it a sportier, lower center of gravity. But more importantly for dynamics, the double-wishbone suspension enables the suspension to stroke in such a way that we maintain the maximum tire-contact patch as you go around corners. So that allows us to keep more grip and obviously have the best handling possible.
We started to play with the idea that we could provide a vehicle that has a true dual identity or a dual nature at the customer's will. So when we tuned our adaptive dampers, we wanted to make sure we used the absolute full range. So when the customer selects comfort, it's true comfort, and you can immediately feel compliance. And when you choose sport, it firms up immediately, and you know that you're driving a sportier vehicle.
The sense that we're looking for, it keeps coming back to this direct feel. There is very minimum hand motion required to move this car. You're driving a vehicle that visually is much larger, but it gives you the sense that you're driving a small sports car, and that's what we're talking about when we want this direct, quick, and agile feel. It reacts with your mind.
MARC ERNST: Finally, for braking we chose an off-the-shelf technology, but it was from the top shelf. The new electro-servo brake technology on TLX comes straight from the NSX, and it uses the exact same actuator to deliver incredibly responsive and powerful stopping power. We've also got bigger disks on all four corners, and for Type S, even larger rotors with four piston Brembos up front.
This is flat out the most performance-focused Acura sedan we've ever made. First, the 272-horsepower, two-liter turbo engine is the highest-output power plant in its core competitive set. It's all about the torque, delivering a huge increase across the entire rev range compared to the previous TLX V6. And compared to the outgoing naturally aspirated four cylinder, it's a whole other level of performance.
We mated that engine to our proprietary 10-speed automatic tuned specifically for TLX by way of four-gear direct downshifts, wider ratio range, and a lower first gear for strong launch performance.
While TLX is still offered in front-wheel-drive configurations, the available fourth-generation Super Handling All-Wheel Drive system is unquestionably the most capable and performance-focused all-wheel-drive system in the class. We tie all of this together with our new integrated dynamic system.
In addition to comfort, normal, and sport modes, there's an all-new individual mode. This was a really big area of focus for our development team, creating greater separation and easily distinguishable differences in feeling between the different preset modes, individual mode, and for the Type S, a sport-plus mode.
Drivers can easily choose their own settings for dampers, steering, throttle, Super Handling All-Wheel Drive, cabin lighting, and more. With one simple push of a button, TLX can be dialed in to your precise preferences.
JON IKEDA: Type S stands for next-level Acura performance.
MARC ERNST: We've been telling you about the return of Type S for a little while now, and our team is thrilled to make that a reality. The engineers who developed this new engine were essentially an all-star team of our best engineers with experts working together from NSX, Type R, and Acura V6 engine programs, and we backup this new engine with all the hardware befitting of a pinnacle Acura sports sedan.
This includes making the rigid TLX body even stiffer, adding four-piston Brembo brakes up front, and beefing up the 10-speed transmission and the Super Handling All-Wheel Drive to handle the increased engine output.
JASON RAY: In every aspect of what we've tried to achieve with emotion, the Type S is basically that on steroids. We wanted an immediate sense of awe and excitement. Every aspect of the car is different for the Type S. So we do have a common one-body structure, but even there we've added exclusive bracing for the Type S to take it up one more notch. We have larger 20-inch wheels. We have all-season and summer tires. We have a quicker steering ratio. We have more emotional sound. The entire car experience will share that direct and agile feel with its sibling, but in every aspect this provides another level of excitement.
We want that emotion because this is the return of something truly special, and we want the Type S to be our phoenix. It's coming back, and we want people to be excited about it.
MARC ERNST: All that said, we wouldn't be delivering on Precision Crafted performance if we also weren't elevating vehicle safety. Of course we're delivering AcuraWatch as standard equipment, including features new to TLX.
On the passive safety front, our latest ACE body structure addresses a broader range of real-world collision scenarios, including oblique-angle frontal collisions. But maybe the biggest safety news is that the new TLX will be the first model in our lineup to apply our all-new next-generation passenger-front-airbag technology. This next-gen airbag is a true world's first technology, and it was developed here in America by our own safety engineering experts in Ohio.
All told, this TLX is the most premium and advanced Acura sedan we've ever made.
JON IKEDA: The new TLX means everything to the future of this brand. Sports sedans have to have emotion, and this car will deliver on that and all points. So this car will be one of the defining vehicles in the lineup to tell everybody what Acura's all about.
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