They have a Type S at my local dealer. I am tempted to swing by just to see it.

They do have a markup listed on it. MSRP is $53,825 and they are asking $58,125, so $4300 extra.

 

less than 5k markup, actually that's pretty good for a just released limited model.

 

What part stands out on Lexus IS compared to competitors? Or Audi S4? Or Mercedes C400 4MATIC? To me they are all the same as an overall package.

 

He must have passed away.....if he's 90 today, it means that he would have been born in 1931....too young to have actually fought in WWII.

But, yes, there is an enormous amount of misunderstanding and misinformation about vehicle-origins among people that age, particularly in the Midwest, South, and more conservative regions of the country. I had to deal with it among my late father's relatives, who lived mostly in small-town Indiana. They needled my brother about buying a new Honda....about it being "Un-American". Until I pointed out to them, that is, that new Hondas were being built right next door, in Marysville, Ohio, with American labor taking home the wages and benefits, and that Subarus, at that time (one of them, an Outback, I myself had bought) were built right under their noses, at Lafayette, IN, also with American labor. That shut them up.......my brother didn't get any more needling from then on.

 

All well said MM. but an Acura is still a Japanese brand. To claim Acura is an American brand is just being pedantic. Sure Acura cars are built in North America, but they are still owned by Honda in Japan.

 

The argument some people make, though, is that profits go overseas to Japan. Fine, but what they overlook is that American (or Canadian) workers are also taking home a big chunk of that money....and you can bet that they are making a lot more in both wages and benefits here than they would be in China or Mexico.

 

My neighbor passed away probably 10 years or so ago. He was well into his 90's when he died. Having served in the war his main issues were with German and Japanese manufacturers and at that point in his life he wasn't about to change lol.

 

That is true. But it doesn’t take away from what a “brand” is or where the origins come from. Your Buick wasn’t built with American labor but it is an American brand.

but back to the TLX S. I am not a big Acura fan…but I like the fact they make something sporty for their fans which at the end of the day is probably designed to keep a younger appearance so they can sell crossovers to a younger generation so their buyers don’t age

 

Don't want to get too far off-topic, but how did he feel about the air-cooled VW Beetle....if you know? That was not only a German product (having been ordered by Hitler himself) but also arguably the first import after the war (if you discount some British sports cars that the returning GIs brought back) to really put a sizable dent in Detroit's sales.

Unfortunately, the market for sport-oriented products (including vehicles like the TLX S) seems to be declining. People, today, seem to want space-efficiency....and the TLX, even with FWD, is not particularly space-efficient, even by sedan standards. Much has been discussed, both here and in other forums, about how its interior has more the dimensions of a similar-sized RWD product than FWD.

Acura also needs to work on quality-control and fit/finish, which has slid noticeably from the days when they were among the best in the industry, in some ways surpassing even Lexus. The superb 2Gen RL, for example, by mass-market sedan standards, was built like a tank, with Rock-of-Gibraltar materials.

 

Finally had a chance to read some of the reviews. As if the type S is not sporty

Motor Trend

 

Another review... matt thinks the engine's pretty underwhelming but hugely praises the car's handling.

 

Took the liberty of screen shooting the test results CarandDriver got for the Type-S and even threw in the results of the Sonata N-Line. Granted these are on different days but nothing's perfect 🙃

 

‘There is a 700 lb weight difference in favour of the Hyundai

 

That 2.5-liter turbo must be a beast. The rolling start was better than in the TLX, which I find very interesting considering it's front-wheel-drive.

 

yeah i like the 2.5T in my santa fe (mine's awd drive too, so no fwd spin).