The Salton Sea is an 8,360-square-mile accident. In 1905, Colorado River floodwater breached a man-made canal system, dumping tens of millions of gallons of water onto the once-dry lake mattress. It emerges from the desert north of Palm Springs like a mirage, stretching additional than the attention can see. This place as soon as noticed tourism growth, however now the water is poisonous, house to only a few hundred decided residents.
Hop onto State Route 86 south from Palm Springs and you will attain the ocean in about an hour. However approaching from Julian, California to the west, having simply consumed an unreasonable quantity of pie from its well-known, eponymous pie firm, there’s extra enjoyable available on the twisty Montezuma Borrego Freeway that connects to the Borrego Salton Sea freeway.
Two sporty sedans just like the Acura TLX Kind S and Genesis G70 3.3T are adept for the job. Yeah, certain, you’d get extra energy in a full-bore Mercedes-AMG C63 S or higher dealing with in a BMW M3 CS. However the TLX and G70 aren’t unreasonably costly, and for thrill-seekers with households, these two vehicles slot properly into the sporty luxurious section with reasonable worth tags, a great deal of consolation, and nonetheless sufficient efficiency to stir the soul.
The TLX introduced the Kind S badge again in 2021, and within the interim, Acura plastered it on every thing from the Integra to the MDX. And the specs are comparable throughout the trim. The TLX’s turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 makes 355 horsepower and 354 pound-feet of torque, and it pairs to a 10-speed computerized transmission with normal all-wheel-drive and a torque-vectoring rear differential. A minor replace for 2024 cleans up the TLX’s exterior design.
The Genesis G70 has been on sale since 2018, with a significant overhaul in 2022 that added the “Two Line” exterior design language and extra options to the cabin, like an even bigger touchscreen. For 2024, the bottom engine has been upped from a 2.0-liter to a 2.5, however our flagship tester would not get any energy upgrades this 12 months; the twin-turbocharged 3.3-liter V-6 engine nonetheless makes 365 hp and 376 lb-ft, with an eight-speed computerized and elective all-wheel drive.
The G70 will get on the board first for its worth. Genesis asks $51,245 for the G70 with rear-wheel drive or $53,345 with all-wheel drive. The model examined right here is $58,350 after choices. The TLX Kind S is not as reasonably priced at $58,195 to begin, and it will get expensive shortly with choices. The $600 City Grey paint, a $3,440 wheel and tire package deal, and some equipment carry the as-tested worth to $62,477.
The Genesis seems nice, too. That duplicate+paste design language transfers properly from the remainder of the lineup onto the small sedan, whereas the quilted diamond leather-based with purple stitching within the cabin makes it really feel extra upscale. If solely it have been insulated from sound sufficient to maintain out a number of the droning tire and wind noise out.
However the cabin supplies appear secondary to the G70’s twin-turbocharged engine. The three.3-liter V-6 rips off the road, racing the automobile to 60 mph in about 4.5 seconds on the rear-wheel-drive mannequin (4.9 seconds with all-wheel drive). This engine is wealthy with low-end torque and ripe with character whenever you get the automobile in control.
A Sport+ drive mode, added in 2022, offers the G70 some additional ferocity on the restrict. The mode switches traction management off, rev-matches on downshifts, and usually holds gears throughout cornering. It will not even routinely upshift for you at redline, because the TLX’s handbook shift mode does.
However even at its most aggressive, the eight-speed is not rip-roaring fast like a BMW computerized. It is sluggish to downshift whenever you yank the paddles, and even in full computerized mode, it hangs on to gears far too lengthy earlier than firing off into the following ratio.
This engine is wealthy with low-end torque and ripe with character whenever you get the automobile in control.
The G70 is not a grip monster both, partially because of the questionable normal all-season tires. At the least you may possibility Michelin’s wonderful Pilot Sport 4S summer season tires. And there is one thing left to be desired concerning the variable-ratio steering, which Genesis added with the replace in 2022. It has a imprecise on-center really feel and a comparatively sluggish turn-in, a downside to an in any other case participating drive expertise.
Ship it into a good nook and the G70 feels playful. Even on this all-wheel-drive automobile there is a clear rear bias that swings that again finish round extra willingly than a number of the different all-wheel-drive choices. The elective limited-slip differential is price the additional value for the way in which it dolls out energy intentionally to every wheel, and the usual 13.8-inch entrance and 13.4-inch rear Brembo brakes carry the automobile shortly down to hurry with out being overly grabby. However even with the electronically managed dampers at their most-rigid, the G70 has a tinge an excessive amount of physique roll.
Genesis G70 3.3TPros: Torquey Engine, Beautiful Cabin, Inexpensive Beginning PriceCons: Obscure Steering, Unrefined Trip, Loud Cabin
The TLX Kind S, alternatively, would not roll. Its distinctive double-wishbone entrance suspension hardly scoffs at a 90-degree sweeping incline. This automobile is about as much as assault corners, which is shocking, provided that it feels fully nameless in something however its performance-dedicated Sport+ driving mode.
My first few miles within the TLX felt downright boring. In Regular mode, there’s barely a burble from the exhaust hinting on the turbocharged V-6 underhood, and past just a few beneficiant Kind S badges stamped into the headrests, you would be hard-pressed to inform the distinction between this model and a base TLX with some choices.
And should you lengthy for expertise, Acura nonetheless makes use of that clunky True Touchpad interface with a tiny trackpad for on-screen features. It will get overly fussy when utilizing Apple CarPlay particularly. However at the least the brand new 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster seems pretty.
However the two-faced character is a part of the TLX’s appeal. On the one hand, it is only a TLX, in a position to putter round anonymously on a grocery run. However twist the drive mode dial twice and maintain it for a second to sharpen the throttle response, stiffen the adaptive dampers, and agency up the steering really feel. It seems like a radically completely different car to the one I used to be driving simply minutes prior.
The three.0-liter V-6 now doles out energy with function. There’s some lag off the road, nevertheless it’s shortly quashed when the turbo spools as much as 15.1 PSI at full increase. A surge of mid-range torque carries the TLX quickly by the primary few turns, and energy is all the time on the prepared previous that preliminary lag level; Even the lightest poke on the throttle stirs up a response. And by the way in which, that J-Sequence V-6 is buttery easy at redline.
If solely that engine had a greater gearbox to go along with it. Flick the left paddle on the again of the steering wheel and it takes a second or two for the 10-speed to settle into gear. When you’re in Sport+ mode, there’s sufficient torque at low revs to maintain you from downshifting too usually. In any other case the gearbox isn’t as sharp as the remainder of the automobile.
A surge of mid-range torque carries the TLX quickly by the primary few turns, and energy is all the time on the prepared previous that preliminary lag level.
The TLX Kind S reaches 60 miles per hour in about 5.1 seconds, which is not precisely blistering. To its credit score, the engine is working towards a 4,201-pound curb weight. Not that the G70 is a featherweight, both (at simply over 4,000 kilos), however Acura’s boosted V-6 struggles to maneuver that heft in comparison with the G70’s extra sturdy mill. And the TLX is atypically extensive, too—75.2 inches in comparison with the G70’s 72.8 inches—which makes it really feel such as you would possibly scrape the cliffside on a number of the narrower parts of the highway.
However there’s a lot grip from the Pirelli P Zero summer season tires, which wrap round beautiful 20-inch copper wheels on this case. And the tried-and-true Tremendous Dealing with all-wheel-drive system digs the automobile out of a nook with simply the correct quantity of energy every time. Stopping is made straightforward, too, by huge 14.3-inch Brembo brakes.
Acura TLX Kind SPros: Sharp Dealing with, Easy Energy Supply, Tons Of GripCons: Missing Low-Finish Torque, Heavy, Fussy Infotainment System
For all the 70-ish miles of the drive, the TLX felt centered. Even on the twistiest parts of the freeway the Acura stayed tight, fast, and sharp—the one ding being its lack of low-end torque, and perhaps a bit an excessive amount of heft. The TLX’s aggressive, nose-heavy design even appeared good coated in a skinny layer of desert mud.
It’s the automobile I saved going again to.
Positive, I nonetheless have lingering emotions for the G70’s torque-rich twin-turbocharged engine, however the Genesis by no means totally felt up for the duty of slicing by 70 miles’ price of twists. It wanted firmer suspension response in corners, and for such a beautiful trying cabin, it was loud and harsh.
In the end the Kind S badge makes the TLX really feel extra particular. Even on one thing like an MDX, Acura’s born-again efficiency division is laser-focused on an satisfying driving expertise. It might not have the chops of an M automobile or the uncooked energy of an AMG, however the TLX Kind S places up a rattling good battle—particularly for the worth.
Photograph Credit score: James Lipman For Motor1
