Whoooooo are you? Who, who, who, who?<\/em><\/p>\nI couldn\u2019t get Pete Townshend\u2019s lyrics out of my head as I hammered a 2017 BMW X4 M40i to Louisville as part of a comparison with the new 2018 Acura TLX A-Spec. Alphabet-soup badges aside, these brands are at opposite ends of the compact luxury department these days. The mighty Bimmer: most expensive, most purchased, most coveted \u2014 a brand at the peak of its powers. And the Acura: least costly, less purchased, less known \u2014 a badge rebooting its identity after a decade in the wilderness.<\/p>\n
And yet, in the diabolically complicated premium market, both cars beg the question: Who are you?<\/p>\n
Are these two vehicles representative of their brands? And would I \u2014 a middle-aged (can\u2019t you tell by my musical proclivities?) motorhead shopper squarely in the cross-hairs of the marketing departments of these performance brands \u2014 want either one in my garage?<\/p>\n
The Louisville convergence of this pair seemed appropriate. It was Kentucky Derby season and the town was abuzz with well-to-do gamblers scouring bloodlines for the best horse. If the thoroughbreds were named BMW and Acura, you would bet on the former, given the Bavarian breed\u2019s extraordinary run of winners: 3-series, M3, 7-series sedan, i8 mid-engine supercar.<\/p>\n
But with the TLX, Acura is plotting a comeback.<\/p>\n
Acura exploded on the luxury scene in the late 1990s with its sure-fire trifecta: the halo supercar NSX, Legend sedan and sporty Integra. Fun, fast and hip, the brand attracted Formula One superstars like Ayrton Senna who flung the NSX around Japan\u2019s famous Suzuka race track like a rag doll. Oh, how we groupies buzzed about that one. It also attracted talented designers like Jon Ikeda from the University of California\u2019s Pasadena School of Design.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey brought me to Suzuka and there\u2019s Senna and the whole team and it was insane,\u201d Ikeda recalled in Louisville. \u201cI was like a girl going to a Beatles concert. I got weak in the knees. It really intrigued me, and inspired me to pack up everything and move to Tokyo.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Acura lost its way a decade ago. Blame the Great Recession. Blame the Japanese earthquake. Blame global warming. Whatever. It also infected parent Honda and the company began rolling out products with all of the sex appeal of vanilla cones.<\/p>\n
Honda was the first to wake up with its swaggering 2015 Civic that was designed to take on the Audi A3.<\/p>\n
Now Acura is returning to its roots with another promising trifecta: supercar NSX, Precision design concept and sporty TLX A-Spec sedan. The luxury-maker has even appointed child wonder-Ikeda \u2014 now all grown up at age 52 \u2014 as its CEO. He hasn\u2019t disappointed.<\/p>\n
Ikeda recognizes that Honda\u2019s Gen X buyers are the perfect recruiting class for a youthful luxury brand. Hundreds of thousands of Civic fans may not be able to afford a BMW, but they can reach the Acura. Especially an Acura with the DNA of the track-carving NSX hellion and the sexy face of the Precision.<\/p>\n
Meet the TLX A-Spec.<\/p>\n
Importantly, it doesn\u2019t look like past Acuras. Gone is the chrome beak that was derisively referred to as (take your pick) the bottle opener, parrot\u2019s beak and buck tooth. It\u2019s replaced by an all-new Precision-inspired \u201cdiamond pentagon\u201d grille. Where the old chrome beak was too Honda, the new face is reminiscent of Mercedes with diamond-shaped flecks emanating from the Acura logo like ripples in a pond. Together with Acura\u2019s signature LED headlights (heavy with black mascara to appeal to those Honda boy-racers) it\u2019s a distinctive look.<\/p>\n
I hope Acura learns from BMW and sticks with it. Generations of buyers have coveted Bimmer\u2019s iconic, twin-kidney grille because it symbolizes prestige and performance. So, too, the Cadillac\u2019s shield grille. And Audi\u2019s giant cow-catcher grille.<\/p>\n
What is Acura\u2019s look? Whoooo are you?<\/em> Like Lexus, Infiniti and Lincoln, it hasn\u2019t had an identity. Here\u2019s to the diamond pentagon.<\/p>\nSpeaking of identity, my Louisville aunt\u2019s (we Paynes are thick in the South) first reaction to the X4 M40i was: \u201cThat\u2019s a BMW? It looks like everything else until you see the grille.\u201d Ouch.<\/p>\n
Welcome to the Age of the SUV when everything is a five-door hatch. It\u2019s a conundrum for BMW which built its reputation on sleek, coupe-shaped sedans. Whoooo are you?<\/em><\/p>\nThus the X4.<\/p>\n
With its coupe-like roof, it\u2019s supposed to make the boxy X3 crossover look more, um, sedan-like. Ask my aunt if it works. But BMW has more tricks up its sleeve to make the SUV feel like the ultimate driving machine. An M-Sport package adds stiffer springs, bigger anti-roll bars, adaptive dampers and a ferocious, 355-horsepower, turbo inline-six stolen out of my favorite Bimmer, the M2 coupe.<\/p>\n
The results are stunning for a crossover, with the 4,272-pound X4 M rocketing to 60 mph in just 4.4 seconds and hitting 0.95 Gs on the skid pad. That\u2019s a whole G more than the Acura sedan. Heck, it destroys the Porsche Macan ute\u2019s 0.87 G.<\/p>\n
So entertaining was the snorting, quick-shifting, dual-clutch automatic X4 M to drive that I almost called the boys at Pontiac\u2019s M1 Concourse for some hot laps, but then caught myself: Hot laps in an SUV?<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the problem it. If I want M performance, I want it in a sedan with optimal physics. A sedan like, well, the TLX A-Spec. Alas, for its wicked styling and sophisticated torque-vectoring AWD system, the rebooted Acura can\u2019t yet justify a performance version. CEO Ikeda suggests a Type-S \u2014 just like the glory days!<\/em> \u2014 is in the offing. But Acura has to walk before it can run.<\/p>\nA big help is its value. For a segment bargain of $33,500 the base front-wheel Acura comes standard with safety-assist systems and Apple CarPlay\/Android Auto. My alluring $45,000 A-Spec adds all-wheel drive and blind-spot assist.<\/p>\n
At $20,000 north of the A-Spec, the Bimmer was barren of safety assists \u2014 not even adaptive cruise, a puzzling oversight for a $67,000 chariot. And with its coupe-style roof it had less backseat headroom than the four-door Acura.<\/p>\n
Bottom line? I\u2019d pass on both these cars in their current form. I love the x-plosive X4\u2019s engine \u2014 but would buy it in the M2 first. And I\u2019ll wait for a TLX Type-S with more power to match the A-Spec\u2019s sexy design.<\/p>\n
We shouldn\u2019t have to wait long. Acura knows who it is again.<\/p>\n
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.<\/p>\n
2017 BMW X4 M40i<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
\n\n\nVEHICLE TYPE<\/strong><\/td>\n| FRONT-ENGINE, ALL-WHEEL DRIVE, FIVE-PASSENGER SUV<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \nPowerplant<\/strong><\/td>\n| 3.0-liter, turbocharged, inline<\/p>\n 6-cylinder<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \nTransmission<\/strong><\/td>\n| Eight-speed automatic<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \nWeight<\/strong><\/td>\n| 4,272 pounds as tested<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \nPrice<\/strong><\/td>\n| $58,100 ($67,495 as tested)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \nPower<\/strong><\/td>\n| 355 horsepower, 343 pound-feet torque<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \nPerformance<\/strong><\/td>\n| 0-60 mph, 4.4 seconds (Car and Driver)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \nFuel economy<\/strong><\/td>\n| EPA est. mpg: 19 city\/26 highway<\/p>\n \/21 combined<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n Report card<\/strong><\/p>\n\n \n\n\nHIGHS<\/strong><\/td>\n| SPORTS SEDAN HANDLING; SAME<\/p>\n 355-HORSE<\/p>\n HEART AS M2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \nLows<\/strong><\/td>\n| Still looks like an SUV; where are premium features?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n Overall:<\/strong>\u2605\u2605\u2605<\/p>\nGrading scale<\/strong><\/p>\nExcellent \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605Good \u2605\u2605\u2605Fair \u2605\u2605Poor \u2605<\/p>\n 2018 Acura TLX A-Spec<\/strong><\/p>\n\n \n\n\nVEHICLE TYPE<\/strong><\/td>\n| FRONT-ENGINE, ALL-WHEEL DRIVE,<\/p>\n FIVE-PASSENGER SEDAN<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \nPowerplant<\/strong><\/td>\n| 3.5-liter V-6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \nTransmission<\/strong><\/td>\n| Nine-speed automatic<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \nWeight<\/strong><\/td>\n| 3,850 pounds (est.)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \nPrice<\/strong><\/td>\n| $43,750 A-Spec base ($45,750 AWD<\/p>\n as tested)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \nPower<\/strong><\/td>\n| 290 horsepower, 267 pound-feet<\/p>\n torque<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \nPerformance<\/strong><\/td>\n| 0-60 mph, 5.7 seconds<\/p>\n (Car and Driver)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \nFuel economy<\/strong><\/td>\n| EPA est. mpg: 21 city\/31 highway\/25 combined<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n Report card<\/strong><\/p>\n\n \n\n\nHIGHS<\/strong><\/td>\n| GOODBYE BEAK, HELLO DIAMOND PENTAGON GRILLE; STATE-OF-THE-ART<\/p>\n AWD<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \nLows<\/strong><\/td>\n| Confusing, dual-screen infotainment system;<\/p>\n more power, please<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n Overall:<\/strong>\u2605\u2605\u2605<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Whoooooo are you? Who, who, who, who? I couldn\u2019t get Pete Townshend\u2019s lyrics out of my head as I hammered a 2017 BMW X4 M40i to Louisville as part of a comparison with the new 2018 Acura TLX A-Spec. Alphabet-soup badges aside, these brands are at opposite ends of the compact luxury department these days. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,87,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20643"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20643"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20644,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20643\/revisions\/20644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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