We’ve already seen the next Acura TLX before we were supposed to. Not in the metal, mind you, but in graphical form courtesy of a leak from Acura‘s own infotainment display. Now, we get another look at the new TLX, this time courtesy of the images that were included in a recent patent application.
The patent was first noticed by the French website Worldscoop.forumpro, and the associated images serve to confirm much of what we expected from the new TLX. While the car in the patent doesn’t perfectly mirror the Type S concept we first saw at Pebble Beach Car Week last year, it still possesses some of the concept’s most striking design details, such as its long dash-to-axle ratio, swoopy roofline, and short rear deck.
These images likely show an entry-level variant of the 2021 TLX—expect higher-end models to look even better thanks to larger wheels and tires. That said, the car’s sleek-looking headlights, dual exhaust outlets, hood creases, and body lines, which would otherwise be obscured by camouflage, are all laid bare. We’re confident even more aggressive bodywork—something much closer to the Type-S concept—is in store for the production the TLX Type-S that’s due to debut within the next year.
The new TLX will have to play a big role in helping turn Acura’s ho-hum brand image into something exciting. As the brand continues to carve out a new niche for itself, Acura is sure to add see even more aggressive styling cues, such as its distinct LED daytime running light design, as well as sportier interpretations of the brand’s distinct diamond-pentagon grille.
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Hopefully, Acura adds a gasoline-electric hybrid powertrain with an all-wheel-drive system like that of the RLX Sport Hybrid, MDX Sport Hybrid, and NSX supercar to help turn cars the TLX into an honest-to-goodness sports sedan. Acura even has a new turbocharged V-6 in the works that we expected to debut under the hood of the sporty TLX Type S. Given how similar these images look to what we’ve previously seen, though, we’re fairly confident this is the car we will soon know as the 2021 Acura TLX.
