Efficient Luxury Sedans: 2015 Acura TLX 2.4 vs. 2015 ½ Volvo S60 T5 vs. 2015 Audi A6 TDI
Efficient Luxury Sedans: 2015 Acura TLX 2.4 vs. 2015 ½ Volvo S60 T5 vs. 2015 Audi A6 TDI
by James Hamel
Just because you can afford the lease payments on a new premium luxury sedan doesn’t mean that you are literally made of money and never have to worry about things like how much it will cost you to drive and own your new and shiny four wheeled status symbol. Owning any one of the cars on test here, be it the Acura TLX 2.4, Volvo S60 T5 Drive-E or Audi A6 TDI are just as much status symbols as they are proof that you are a person who is smart with their money. And fiscally smart people generally don’t waste their money on gas guzzlers.
But by no means is that to say buyers of these three particular luxury sedans don’t expect the utmost in premium treatment when it comes to every other aspect of owning these particular models. These are, at their core, still core models from Acura, Volvo and Audi which are three brands that not only boast great pedigrees but also pride themselves on offering their customers something different from the hordes of BMW and Mercedes sedans out there. These luxury sedans are for the thinking new car buyer who doesn’t just want to follow the herd when they buy their next new car. And besides all three of these sedans being very fuel efficient, they couldn’t be much different.
Read on to find out how and to see which model we would like to see parked in our driveway.
The Artful Nature of the Exterior Styling
Let’s start with the newest kid on the proverbial styling block, the 2015 Acura TLX 2.4 which is quietly handsome and sporty looking in a way that won’t attract cops. You see, Acura learned their lesson when they last restyled their TL sedan (which merged model lines with the smaller TSX to create this TLX that fills both vehicle’s market positions apparently) because there was mass hysteria about the front grille looking like a bird’s beak. You know how these things get started?
When a car premieres at an auto show we are sure it is usually just an off-handed comment made by one journalist regarding some aspect of the car that all of his or her colleagues will report it ad nauseam totally disregarding the fact that a vehicle’s exterior styling is purely subjective to look at. Either the customer will love it or will hate it but this time around with the Acura TLX the brand was smart to tone down a few of the styling cues as not to drive away conservative luxury sedan buyers. Apologies but the latest BMW 3-Series was not totally restyled for its model changeover, that car just got a serious eyebrow lift from Mr. Plastic Surgeon.
To our eyes, even though the 2015 ½ Volvo S60 looks a lot like the one that has been with us for quite a few years, the design is timelessly modern, minimalist and ever so Swedish. At the recent Detroit Auto Show Volvo announced plans for an S60 Cross County with an elevated ride height and all-wheel drive which looked as normal as witnessing a hippopotamus cross a river on his tip-toes. With a greater chance of success in this market is the extended wheelbase S60 Inscription which was first built for the Chinese market due to a predisposition there to demand luxury models have prodigious rear legroom. Thankfully, stretching out the S60 like silly putty had no negative impact on its timeless appearance.
And last but not least is the 2015 Audi A6 TDI which in white with rather dorky (but not at all standard) TDI logo on the front doors might seem like a recipe for stylistic disaster. But no, this luxury sedan’s lines are so clean and crisp that even in its worst color, it somehow manages to look like a perfectly tailored suit from Italy. Not to say it looks Italian, the A6 retains the traditional stoic, tank-like and very Bauhaus styling traditions carried on by so many sedans from that country. Not that we are complaining, the look works.
(1st Place: 2015 Audi A6 TDI/2015 ½ Volvo S60 (Tied), 3rd Place: 2015 Acura TLX 2.4)
Interior Comfort, Quality of Materials Used and overall Design Layout
Now this section may shock many because Audi is renowned for having the most gorgeously appointed and well-built interiors. And sure, it’s nice enough but it gives us a serious case of Déjà vu since the A4, A8, Q5. A7 and Q7 pretty much all use slight variations on this same theme. It’s a conservatively handsome cabin and while it used to be class leading but the game has moved on. We guess we won’t be writing home to mom about it then.
Up next comes the TLX and S60 which took very different approaches to the concept of a luxury car interior. The TLX felt well-built with sumptuous, high quality materials used throughout that appeared prepared to stand up to a decade of daily abuse. And even in black the interior still felt warm and inviting which is a rare feat in this segment. Audi.
In this case the voting was close but we wound up falling in love with the S60’s semi-wacky, ever so Swedish and goddamn comfortable leather lined interior. Designed with the spirit of minimalism, you never feel like the Volvo sells you short of luxury, however. The front seats are without question the most comfortable we have ever tested to the point we considered removing them and putting them in our house. Ha. Kidding Volvo. They were screwed in too tight. Swedish build quality foiled us again.
As for roominess all three of these sedans are pretty similar with the slightly larger A6 managing the most space although the rear perch is set a bit low. The Volvo has less legroom but the seat is set to ergonomic perfection. Trunk space in the Volvo S60 measures 12 cubic feet, in the TLX that is upped to 13.2 cubic feet with the Audi coming in at 14.1 cubic feet. So hoarders should definitely pick the Audi’s trunk.
We walked away truly amazed by how many features and the level of build quality mixed with luxury offered by the supremely affordable 2015 Acura TLX 2.4. Cars at this price have never felt this nice. But our less rational side was seduced by the S60’s uniqueness and incomparable comfort. Both interiors made us “want” to drive and own these cars. The Audi’s left us cold. So there you have it, the upset of the century. So as for Audi’s one time car interior supremacy we will quote the immortal words of ‘Nsync and advise them to say “Bye, Bye, Bye.” (1st Place: 2015 ½ Volvo S60, 2nd Place: 2015 Acura TLX, 3rd Place: 2015 Audi A6)
Safety
According to the IIHS both the 2015 Acura TLX and 2015 Volvo S60 earned it best rating of “Top Safety Pick Plus” although in overall scoring the Volvo did outdo the Acura by a slim margin. Of course. Volvo is that annoying nerd who always got an A+ on class assignments when it comes to auto safety. The 2015 Audi A6 didn’t get a rating because it has yet to be tested in the difficult small overlap front test which mimics a collision with a fixed object like a tree or telephone pole. Otherwise the Audi got top of marks of “Good” in each category. So all around these are some “safe” places to invest your money. Get it? Ok, we will stop.
Although in the Volvo some of the most advanced safety features are optional as part of the Tech Package, we think it is worthwhile to get all of them It has the usual blind spot warning, back-up camera, a system that warns you if cars are coming at you in your blindspot as you back out of a parking spot, a collision warning system with full auto brake that works above 2 miles per hour, adaptive cruise control that can maintain a set freeway speed regardless of traffic, pedestrian/cyclist impact warning with full brake, active high beams, a system that displays the set speed limit no matter where you are, adaptive headlamps that could blind any deer and all of the neighbors living nearby, lane departure warning system and a lane departure aid which gently nudges you back into your lane. The car even monitors you and will warn you if it detects you are getting drowsy by illuminating a light on the dash in the shape of a cup of coffee. See, the Swedes do have a sense of humor. (1st Place: 2015 ½ Volvo S60, 2nd Place: 2015 Acura ILX, 3rd Place: 2015 Audi A6)
Fuel Economy, Pricing and Value for Money
The price difference between these three luxury sedans, which are all pretty similarly equipped so that no one will likely complain of one lacking a feature, is rather huge we can safely say. As tested, our 2015 Audi A6 Prestige Quattro TDI was just over $67,000 with the price for the 2015 ½ Volvo S60 T5 Drive-E just managing $44,000 but the shocker here was the ridiculously affordable 2015 Acura TLX Tech 2.4 which stickered for $35,000. Yes, the A6 cost $32,000 more. Why, we can’t really think of a reason why. Other than, perhaps, currency value fluctuations. And for the price of the Volvo you could upgrade to the much more powerful 2015 Acura TLX Advance with the SH-AWD system and a 3.5 liter 290 horsepower V6 and almost as many safety gadgets as the Volvo boasts. Clearly Acura has priced the TLX smartly to appeal to a wide customer base.
Both the Volvo and Acura recommend the use of Premium Unleaded and of course the Audi A6 TDI runs on diesel so try and remember that when filling up. EPA fuel economy ratings for the Acura are 24 city/35 highway, 25 city/37 highway for the Volvo S60 T5 Drive-E and 24 city/38 highway for the A6 TDI (do note that EPA highway numbers for highway mileage are normally below what the average driver will see. On one long highway slog we averaged 44 miles per gallon with no hypermiling. )
During our weeklong tests with each vehicle our real world averages were as follows. The Audi came out on top with a 33 miles per gallon average followed by the exceptionally smooth and frugal Volvo S60 T55 Drive-E with 30 miles per gallon followed by the still impressive TLX 2.4 with 27.9 miles per gallon. We admit that in the Acura we tended to rev the sweet motor to redline more often than not so a little more restraint would probably see higher figures. Apologies, the noise that engine makes is intoxicating and we are immature. (1st Place: 2015 ½ Volvo S60 T5 Drive-e, 2nd Place: 2015 Acura TLX, 3rd Place: 2015 Audi A6 TDI)
Are they still fun to drive?
The short answer to this for all three of these car is hell to the yes. They just go about it in very different yet always fun and exciting ways. The bulldozer of the trio is definitely the 2015 Audi A6 TDI whose 3.0 liter 240 horsepower/428 lb. feet of torque diesel V6 engine will throw you back in the seat whenever you floor the throttle and at freeway speeds passing power is seemingly endless. This is a sedan that craves very high, very illegal speeds. Steering is very Germanic in that it feel heavy and direct while the suspension feels nailed to the road at all times. A very high brow, very Audi driving experience.
The 2015 ½ Volvo S60 T5 Drive-e comes standard with a 2.0 liter 240 horsepower/258 lb. feet of torque turbocharged and supercharged 4-cylinder that feels faster than those figures suggest. There is a front drive T6 Drive-e that pumps out over 300 horsepower available as well and if you want all wheel drive with your S60 you get the old 5-cylinder turbo in the T5 and the older 300 horsepower 6-cylinder motor in the V6. So the advanced Drive-e powertrain is available with front drive models only. Ride wise, the Volvo feels nowhere near as heavy as the Audi on the road with a pleasingly direct feel to the steering without undue heaviness or dartiness. All three of these sedans absorb bumps with aplomb and are well isolated from road, tire and engine noise but the Volvo is the champ is this regard.
Finally and from out of nowhere we have the driving joy encased in the shell known as the 2015 Acura TLX 2.4. No other luxury sedan drives like it, almost as if its engineering directive was for it to “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.” The Acura TLX 2.4 feels light on its feet from the moment you set off, nimble, lithe, agile and always ready to obey the driver’s every command with absolute precision. The steering is a light and communicate revelation proving one can exist with the other.
In the TLX 2.4, every corner encourages you to drive like you are racing in LeMans because you feel like an extension of the car and vice versa. Communication is telepathic and have no doubt, the 2.4 liter 206 horsepower/182 lb. feet torque VTEC 4-cylinder offers the perfect amount of power all the way to its screaming redline thanks to what we think is the world’s best 8-speed dual clutch automatic. Drivers, this is your car. (1st Place: 2015 Acura TLX 2.4, 2nd Place: 2015 Volvo S60 T5 Drive-E, 3rd Place: 2015 Audi Audi A6 TDI)
Conclusion (And the winner is…2015 ½ Volvo S60 T5 Drive-e)
In this test, the Acura TLX was the fleet footed, bargain priced, high quality luxury sedan buy of the decade. Its safety features bring it very close to even the Volvo and darn it if we can’t find a single reason for you not to buy one. It’s that good. The Audi A6 TDI had bank vault build quality let down by a dated feeling interior not befitting a car costing this much and no, the diesel engine will never recoup the difference in purchase prices here even if you drive it a million miles. Well, maybe by then. But we do admit that the jewel of that package was the 240 horsepower/428 lb. feet of torque diesel TDI V6 which defined the phrase “prodigious forward thrust.” No, we didn’t just say something dirty.
So the winner came down to the mid-priced 2015 ½ Volvo S60 Drive-e which charmed us by not always following convention, by keeping us ridiculously comfortable no matter how far we drove and because its powerful, smooth and efficient 2.0 liter 240 horsepower/258 lb. feet of torque turbocharged AND supercharged 4-cylinder is a technological marvel. Mated to a telepathic 8-speed automatic and a sublimely judged ride and handling set-up, the 2015 ½ Volvo S60 T5 Drive-e was a luxury sedan we could drive forever. Seriously, it’s true. We almost ran out of gas once in the middle of nowhere just because we wanted to drive it.
