Acura has been for a long time one of the premium offering in the US. Today, to build upon that reputation, the Honda-owned premium automaker unveiled a new sedan for the US market and it’s right up the BMW 3 Series alley. The two are very similar in size and positioning on the market, so a comparison between them would make sense.
Of course, it’s not very usual to see buyers cross-shopping a BMW 3 Series and an Acura TLX. Nevertheless, it’s pretty obvious that Acura wanted their TLX to punch above its weight and they worked hard at it. The new model is a bit bigger than the BMW. Lengthwise it is almost 10 inches longer which, in my book, would put it in a different segment.
The guys from Roadshow decided to compare the two cars by measuring up engines and in that department, the two cars are rather similar. For now, the TLX has only a 2-liter 4-cylinder turbocharged engine available, with 272 HP and 280 lb-ft of torque.
That would be a proper rival for the BMW 330i, which comes with a similarly sized engine delivering 255 HP and 295 lb-ft of torque. The biggest difference between the two is that while the BMW sends its power to the rear wheels, the Acura sends it to the front axle.
A Type S Acura TLX is expected next year, with a 3-liter turbo engine under the hood but we don’t know the specs just yet. That car would go up against the only six-cylinder 3 Series available right now, the BMW M340i and that will be a hard car to beat.
The one place where the Acura shines though is pricing, as you would expect. Check out the full comparison below and let us know if the price difference is worth it.
