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2021 Acura TLX Long-Term Update | Tuneful turbo-four soundtrack

I used to be enamored with the turbocharged 2.0-liter engine format. I owned a 2004 Subaru WRX, with its turbo boxer mill, and liked it quite a bit, rough though it could be. Then turbo-fours, often displacing the same 2.0 liters, began replacing heavier and thirstier naturally aspirated V6 powerplants across the industry, and I was on board. Since then, they’ve become much more refined and responsive, all while their often uninspiring soundtracks faded into the background as automakers worked to improve the experience inside the cabin. TheyÂ’ve also become so ubiquitous that, apart from certain standouts like the turbo boxer in the Porsche 718, they ceased to be as exciting to me. Then AutoblogÂ’s long-term 2021 Acura TLX arrived in my driveway, equipped with a 2.0-liter turbo I4. I was excited about the styling and the handling, but I didnÂ’t expect this four-pot to make a huge impression on me. The first time I opened her up under wide-open throttle, though, I was pleasantly surprised. This 2.0TÂ’s 272 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque are ample motivation for this sporty sedan, even with all-wheel drive and a 3,990-pound curb weight. It wonÂ’t knock your hat into the back seat, but itÂ’s quick enough, especially in Sport mode. The thing that really won me over with this 2.0T, though, is the sound. Ripping to this thing's 6,800-rpm redline produces a melodious song that sounds a lot more exciting and expressive than most other fours. The cherry on top is the punctuated hiss of the turbo releasing its pressure when you get off the throttle. The amplitude of the engine note is manipulated using AcuraÂ’s Active Sound Control. As an Acura spokesperson explained it: “Active Sound Control uses the TLXÂ’s speakers (whether audio is playing or not) to add sound (same-phase or reverse-phase) to the cabin that smooths the sound of the engine heard inside the cabin. Engine noise doesn't increase in a linear way with rising revs; instead there can be many resonances that create peaks and valleys in the sound pressure level and an uneven sound. The level of ASC is tailored to each drive mode (Comfort, Normal and Sport).” Put another way, ASC is basically an electronic filter that can deaden or amplify the sound and smoothen it out, similar to how active suspension damping adjusts to the situation and drive modes to either let in more or less road feel, while actively eliminating the harshest of vibrations.

This is why Acura hasn't yet announced its EV strategy

Despite parent company Honda's green and friendly brand image, luxury marque Acura hasn't made a grand statement about electrifying their lineup. Even as brands like Jaguar, Land Rover, Bentley, and Infiniti pledge to entirely electrify their lineups in the coming decade, Acura has held back. The reason, according to Acura head honcho Jon Ikeda, is that it's focusing on reestablishing itself as a performance brand. In a wide-ranging interview with Automotive News, Ikeda says Acura came out of the gate strong in 1986 and did well for the first 20 years, but when the bottom fell out of the market in 2008 the brand experienced "growing pains." That spawned a period of self-reflection and, as Ikeda puts it, "What are we about?" The decision was made to go back to Acura's roots as the performance division of Honda. "That's what Acura is. That's what I fell in love with," Ikeda says. Ikeda joined Honda in 1989, but his promotion to Acura boss in 2015 was a surprise to many, including himself. That's because Honda had a tradition of putting engineers at the helm, and Ikeda was a designer, responsible for the looks of such cars as the FSX concept, 2001 Civic Coupe, and beloved 2004 Acura TL. 2021 Acura TLX Advance View 38 Photos When asked by AN whether Acura is worried that luxury competitors are putting stakes in the ground to claim EV brand identities, Ikeda says no. "For us as a brand, we needed to kind of refocus and reestablish ourselves as a performance brand... We want everybody to understand where we are, what we're about first. Even if we go electric we will continue to be a performance division of Honda and performance will be our focus." To earn its performance street cred, Acura poured resources into the second-gen NSX hybrid supercar, which served as testbed for how electricity can work harmoniously with performance. They will continue to campaign IMSA race cars to earn trophies as proof, and Ikeda also wants to bring more Type S models to the lineup. Ikeda says Acura is still in the process of rebuilding its foundation, but when he's done he expects people to associate Acura with performance. That sure seems ambitious to us, but products like the new TLX are a helpful stepping stone. It also explains why Acura is investing in different platforms to differentiate itself from Honda. To be clear, Ikeda isn't ruling out electrification.

2014 Honda Ridgeline keeps on truckin' with new special edition model

Like many smaller trucks, the Honda Ridgeline has been left to stagnate on the market for far too many years. With production of the current model reportedly winding down later next year before production of the next-gen model picks up in 2016, Honda is sending the 2014 Ridgeline out with some style courtesy of a new Special Edition trim level.
The new Ridgeline SE essentially adds cues from the Ridgeline Sport to the luxurious RTL trim level. The means features like black-trimmed 18-inch alloys and matching interior trim arrives as a no-cost option. This new model carries the same starting price as the RTL at $37,505 (*not including $830 for destination), and all other trim level pricing is carried over unchanged from the 2013 model year. The new SE model won't be available until November, and it is not pictured in the image galleries (all of which seem to be identical to previous model years).
Speaking of carryover products, Honda has also released pricing for the unchanged 2014 Pilot and 2014 Acura TL, which will continue to be priced from $29,670 and $36,030, respectively (Acura's destination charge is $890). Scroll down for press releases on the 2014 Ridgeline, Pilot and TL.