The Acura TLX A-Spec is one of the most impressive cars we've driven all year

I didn't have anything to put back there, but if I did, the trunk would have easily swallowed up a long weekend's worth of luggage for a family of four. A golf bag would fit, as would gear for a mixed-doubles team. Two guitars and two amps, yes. A drum kit: no.

I've been looking at this tachometer-speedometer layout form pretty much my entire adult driving life.

But something interesting happened, as I was testing the TLX A-Spec while covering the launch of the new Tesla Model 3, a car that's completely done away with the traditional instrument clusters, placing all information in a central, horizontally oriented touchscreen.

I expected this even before I saw the car in the flesh, so the TLX provided me with an opportunity to consider the demise of gauges.

Honestly, I think the industry will move in Tesla's direction over the coming decades. For the vast majority of drivers, the tachometer is a useless instrument — it merely adds a sporty vibe. Few will really need to track their car's engine redline when shifting. I certainly didn't, even though the TLX A-Spec includes both a Sport and a Sport Plus driving mode, in additional to Normal and Econ (the last helping the car make good on its 20 mpg city/29 highway/23 combined fuel-economy ratings).

Lincoln has been tipping in this direction by making its information displays more minimalist, which actually adds to a luxury feel. The Model 3 is a $44,000 car at currently available pricing, but its ultra-minimal insides make it feel ironically more premium. A trend is a trend, and in this context, the TLX's setup comes off as overly complicated. The future will entail less.

I don't think Acura has the best seats in the luxury segment, nor the flashiest appointments. But the carmaker tends to get everything just right, continuing Honda's long record of focusing on ergonomics.

When you get into an Acura, the learning curve is a bit steeper than it was in the pre-infotainment-system era, but it's still far less steep than with some other carmakers (BMW and Lexus, I'm looking at you).

Did I say that seats aren't the best? Okay, but these A-Spec sport saddles are pretty nice, with contrast stitching, piping, and Alcantara inserts. Also, they're heated and cooled — I appreciated the latter in some toasty NoCal sunshine.

From the driver's point of view, the cockpit is a pleasing combination of new and old, with the multi-screen infotainment system on the center stack but the central instrument cluster analog-style old-school. The leather-wrapped steering wheel has all the usual buttons to control vehicle functions, and the paddle shifters are sort of fun if you want to tackle the shifting yourself in manual mode.

A decent-sized moonroof prevents the black interior from feeling cavernous, and back seats are reasonably roomy.

The TLX's infotainment system checks all the boxes: navigation, SiriusXM radio, voice commands, Bluetooth connectivity, AUX/USB ports. Everything works well, although the overall interface, combining touchscreen and controllers, isn't as compelling as what's on offer from Audi or Cadillac, the luxury segment infotainment leaders.

But here's a twist: the TLX provides not one but two screens.

As you can see from the photo, I ran both audio and nav at the same time. But whats really cool is that you can use the upper screen to run Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, while keeping the lower screen devoted to Acura's own system.

I'm not a major CarPlay devotée, but my colleague Ben Zhang is, and he really liked this feature when he tested the TLX A-Spec in New Jersey after I drove the car in California. If you aren't going to go all in for CarPlay, Acura has sort of stumbled into an appealing arrangement with the dual screens.

Acura took it a little too far in a flashy direction with its prior front-end design, alienating some owners who have always liked the brand's sharp but non-Germanic looks.

Honda's overall problem with design had been that decades of competence had suddenly become boring. So Acura overreacted and has now retreated.

The result is a fairly well-designed car that blends clean lines with a touch of aggression — but just a touch. And check out those "jewel eye" LED headlights! Very sleek and contemporary, although, one could complain that they're out of scale when compared to the badge,

The TLX replaced the TL in 2015 and was quickly greeted with the usual sighs about how Acura is never going to top the Big Four luxury automakers: Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, and Audi. Along with Infiniti (Nissan's luxury brand), Acura has long strived to replicate Lexus's achievements, but of the Japanese carmakers, only Toyota has truly cracked the luxe code.

This is a misplaced lament. Acura has been around since Ronald Reagan was in the Oval Office and over the decades has sold many vehicles, including the much-loved Legend and Integra. The brand has its own thing going, and in my view, it's different from Lexus's "Don't think about it" approach toward luxury and the Germans' focus on driving performance.

I gave some serious thought to buying a used luxury sedan a few years back — certified pre-owned luxury cars are great deals — and Acura was my first stop. Yes, rear-wheel-drive is nice, but if you're mainly going to be navigating freeways and urban/suburban roadways, you don't really need it, and having to send power to the back wheels adds mechanical complexity.

Acura's solution is to use its front-wheel-drive platforms to host AWD technology. You either buy this or you don't. And as Acura once pointed out to me, Infiniti's decision to go RWD hasn't really helped it to conquer the BMWs and Mercedes of the world.

Ultimately, you're getting a much nicer Honda in the bargain if you go for an Acura like the TLX. If that sounds like a compromise, it isn't, unless status ranks higher than common sense. Hondas are a superb baseline; Acura's are better.