Surely, Acura would, at least, give the top of the line Acura TLX Type S a proper manual? Don’t get your hopes up.
Earlier today (May 29,2020) Acura unveiled its all new 2021 Acura TLX and TLX Type S, the latter performance model dropping next year. For transmissions, Acura is pairing the Acura TLX with 2.0T and 3.0T engines to their proprietary 10-speed automatics only, no manual option.
This fact comes straight from Acura via Car and Driver’s post on the TLX.
“Car and Driver was told that the Type S will only be offered with SH-AWD and the 10-speed automatic.“
While this will ruffle a few manual purists, it’s safe to say Honda’s 10-speed automatic is more than up to the task, ready to handle upwards of 350+ HP and 350 lb-ft of torque thrown its way.
First, this 10-speed will be in development and production since 2011. According to AutoNews when Honda first dropped this 10-speed back in 2017, Honda told AN they’ve been working on this compact 10-speed for over six years at that point.
And when Honda spoke with C&D about this 10-speed development, Honda already knew this 10-speed would be put into everything, from Odyssey’s to TLXs.
“According to Sladek, the initial torque capacity is 275 lb-ft, with enough headroom built into the design to accommodate the expected spread from the new Odyssey throughout the Honda and Acura product lineups.“
Acura, in their right mind, would not pair an amazing and new turbocharged V6 engine to a transmission that wouldn’t be able to handle the power and shift as well as it could.
In Honda’s 15-minute preview of the TLX, Acura mentions how,
“…the engineers who developed the Turbo V6 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 in Acura’s press release, they reveal they’ve “beefed up” their proprietary 10-speed to handle Type S performance and an increased duty cycle Type S owners will demand from their performance sedans.
Type S models will receive unique transmission tuning to provide an aggressive and responsive characteristic during performance driving scenarios.
In the RLX, and in this new TLX,
…the 10-speed AT when called upon, is capable of 4-gear direct downshifts, for example from 10th gear to 6th, or from 7th to 3rd.
That means, with yet to be seen beefed up performance, this new 10-speed in the Type S will shift quicker than ever before, even better than the RLX.
In this time where fewer customers are optioning out manual transmissions, it’s not financially wise for a company to engineer and develop a performance sedan with a manual transmission for the small percentage who might put down the money for one.
Torque-converter automatics and high-performance, today, go hand in hand, just look at how good performance cars like the Lexus GS-F, Dodge Challenger, Audis, BMWs and, heck, even the Toyota Supra is with a torque-converter automatic.
To write off the Type S before literally no one has reviewed it or you’ve test drove one yourself is an unfortunate response.
The Acura TLX and TLX Type S won’t get a manual but it will get a darn good performance 10-speed automatic that will blow your socks off when you give it the boot.
