Updated 2024 Acura TLX Type S Keeps the Same Formula

The route from Southern California to the southern Oregon coast traverses some 800 miles of varied terrain that ranges from boring to breathtaking. You begin by tolerating a maddening stretch of Interstate 5 laden with truck traffic that wreaks havoc on traffic flow because the speed limit for civilians and semis differs by 15 mph. Next, Highway 101 passes into wine country, getting increasingly sinuous, damp, and uneven as it finally gives way to tight, twisty two-lanes through the redwoods. It’s a great place to fully suss out a new car such as the 2024 Acura TLX Type S we’re driving, but the best bits are so far off the beaten path that few people come here.

This new TLX Type S is not wholly unfamiliar, though, because the 2024 edition is a mid-cycle refresh of the 2021 Type S that debuted nearly three years ago. It’s the same generation TLX, in other words, with the identical long hood and cab-aft styling that gives the impression of a rear-wheel-drive straight-six machine. That’s not true, of course, as the base TLX is a front-wheel-drive sidewinder, with a deftly calibrated all-wheel-drive system (Acura’s Super Handling All-Wheel Drive or SH-AWD) added to the Type S to better deploy the power of its turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 engine that again makes 355 horsepower and 354 pound-feet of torque.

Driving the TLX Type S

Whether the road is straight or sinuous, the Acura’s steering is resolutely well weighted and communicative, particularly in the Sport setting. Corner turn-in is especially crisp and direct with the optional 20-inch Pirelli P Zero PZ4 summer tires, which is the same setup that managed 0.96 g of grip when we tested the 2021 model. This time, it’s also apparent they hold fast on the damp roads of Oregon. Under braking, the four-piston Brembo brake setup consistently delivers excellent feel and controllability.

Thing is, these performance summer tires were originally a separate trim level that ran just $800 more than the standard all-season tires, and they came on lightweight NSX-inspired Y-spoke wheels that trimmed 4.5 pounds of unsprung weight from each corner. That’s changed for 2024, as the sticky Pirellis and trick wheels are now a $3299 dealer-installed accessory. You do get the copper-colored version of the Y-spokes from the 2023 model year’s PMC Edition, at least. Still, the procedural switch seems off-base to us, and the effective price is up $2499—unless you can convince the dealer to give you the factory-fitted all-season setup so you can recoup some cash on Craigslist. If you’re not interested in summers and want to run the factory 20-inch all-seasons, on the other hand, the lightweight copper Y-spokes are available a la carte as a $2200 accessory.

As ever, the turbocharged V-6 pulls hard and teams perfectly with the 10-speed automatic. The default Normal mode is just fine for relaxed cruising, but dialing the mode up to Sport sharpens throttle response and spurs the gearbox to downshift more readily under braking. It’s enough that the shift paddles rarely seem necessary. Moreover, this year’s recalibrated Sport+ mode now offers even more aggressive throttle response than before. Back in 2021, our Type S test car put all this together to sprint to 60 mph in 4.9 seconds on the way to a 13.6-second quarter-mile pass at 103 mph.

The Type S turns magic when you accelerate through tight hairpins, particularly uphill ones. Corners that seem destined to push this nose-heavy machine (nearly 60 percent of its mass sits over the front axle) into understeer hardly make an impression, as the rear-biased SH-AWD system shunts as much as 70 percent of the drive torque to the rear, with the possibility of shifting as much of 100 percent of that to the outside tire, if necessary. The result is a complete exorcism of any hereditary front-drive stubbornness to directional changes. Until, that is, you charge downhill under braking through the same bends. At this point SH-AWD has no torque to ship rearward, which breaks the spell and makes the nose feel heavier and more recalcitrant. It’s an admittedly subtle thing, but you can pick up on it if you blast up and then down something like California’s Highway 39.

A lack of ride composure is one of the Type S’s shortcomings, particularly on aging concrete pavement and truck-damaged roads, for which its adaptive dampers are tuned too aggressively. We find their Comfort mode to be the necessary solution there and on the earthquake-warped asphalt of NorCal and Oregon—it even stands up well to hard cornering. For this reason, we pair the Comfort suspension setting with the Sport steering and engine settings by programming the Individual mode, which saves all of your preferences so you can press the centrally mounted Mode dial as a shortcut.

New Digital Displays

Individual also lets you program your choices for ambient lighting and 2024’s new 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, which replaces last year’s racy-looking physical dials with, well, a screen containing configurable fake ones. There’s certainly more information on offer, but we don’t see the point of the Crafted (two dials) setup or Advanced (odd-shaped parenthesis), when neither offers decent-sized numerals that are actually legible. It reminds us of the new Mustang’s tomfoolery, where the Fox Body throwback setting saves the day. Sadly, there’s no such savior here.

The 2024 Type S now comes with a standard 10.5-inch head-up display. It’s crisp and legible but oddly does not have a rotational adjustment to align the information with your personal idea of what horizontal should be. It certainly didn’t match ours. To the right, the 12.3-inch central touchscreen is now 20 percent larger, which makes it better suited to displaying Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (both of which are now wireless) at a decent size. Its faster processor has no noticeable lag, but the dreadful touchpad on the center console is still the only way to make selections, and it still isn’t consistently accurate enough to casually select CarPlay icons at speed. Ever lose the mouse arrow on your laptop screen? That happens here a lot as you oftentimes can’t see where the highlighted icon is and you have to fiddle around to find it. This is particularly frustrating within Apple CarPlay, where the targets are much smaller than they are in the native Acura menus, which are much larger but still hard to accurately select.

Interior Space and Comfort

We drove more than 2000 miles, and the front seats seemed to get better and better—once we mastered the 16-way adjustments and got them set. And once you look beyond the touchpad, the bulk of the interior looks exquisitely made and operates with perfect logic. We have nothing but praise for the climate controls, the steering-wheel controls, and the nearby switches and stalks. The new wireless charge pad is cleverly located, and we even like the touchpad’s wrist rest as a simple wrist rest. What’s missing is habitable back seats, which have 2.5 fewer inches of legroom than the Integra. Rear headroom is technically similar, but the TLX’s sedan roofline feels more confining. Remember when we mentioned the TLX’s long-hood/cab-aft styling? This is the downside to that sleek look.

At the end of the trip, the 2024 Acura TLX Type S remains an excellent and engaging sports sedan that represents a tremendous value. It’ll cost you $58,195 if you’re sticking with the standard all-season tires, a year-over-year price increase of just $1250 for an upgraded car. For that you get the new HUD, a surround-view camera system, an enlarged central infotainment screen, the digital instrument panel, wireless phone mirroring, wireless phone charging, and a pair of rear USB-C jacks. If you want summer tires and the lightweight Y-spoke wheels, Acura’s new dealer-installed approach represents at least $2499 of added cost, which amounts to a stealthy price hike.