2013 Acura Ilx Review 2013 Acura Ilx Review 6 Speed
Months in Fleet: 17 months
Current Mileage: forty,106 miles
Average Fuel Economy: 28 mpg
Average Range: 356 miles
Service: $620
Normal Wear: $0
Repair: $0
Damage and Devastation: $181
When Acura'south ILX sports sedan arrived for 2013, nosotros harbored few hopes that it would exist a new-age Integra. We did figure at least ane version would be fun, an expectation that sprung from the being of the effervescent 201-hp, 2.4-liter four-cylinder and half-dozen-speed manual on the powertrain roster. It's the same pairing as plant on Honda'southward Civic Si, and we figured that such an ILX would combine the bubbly personality of the Si with the interior comforts that accompany Acura badging. We were right, although that doesn't tell the whole story.
Zing Zing Zing
In the ILX lineup, the 2.4 is bachelor only with a stick, and non ane logbook entry failed to heap praise on the rev-happy 4-banger or the smooth-shifting gearbox. We loved popping into the meaty sedan for jaunts around Ann Arbor, largely because of this powertrain combo. And, thankfully, that gluey feeling in the transmission nosotros reported in the last update can be chalked upwardly to cold atmospheric condition—shift feel was as slick as ever once temperatures returned to what Michiganders refer to as mild.
The yin to the ILX'south charming about-town yang is its childish beliefs on the freeway. At highway speeds, the auto'southward short gearing and lack of taller overdrive ratios keeps the ii.4-liter turning well north of 3000 rpm in 6th gear. A number of logbook scribblers admitted to reaching for a taller gear on the interstate, but to find they were already in sixth. Such engine drone—non to mention the ample volumes of route and wind noise—is awfully unbecoming of a model from a luxury brand, fifty-fifty one touted as a junior sports sedan.
Even when emphasizing the "junior" in junior sports sedan, the ILX never quite lived up to expectations. The Acura's electrical power steering is parking-lot low-cal at initial turn-in but then loads upward unnervingly as input is added. Quick changes in direction are met by slow responses from the combination of steering, suspension, and tires, and information technology'due south non long earlier requests and the car's reactions are out of sync.
However, the ILX showed improvement in some functioning metrics every bit its stay with us wore on. Braking was markedly better, lopping 18 feet from the initial 70-mph-to-0 stopping altitude, down to a respectable 166. This can likely be explained past the wear of the ILX'due south Michelin Pilot HX MXM4 all-season tires, whose blocklike tread pattern tin squish when fresh, reducing grip levels and stretching braking distances. Later on xl,000 miles, this safe wore and after stiffened, yielding significantly improved performance, farther evidenced past an increase of 0.02 g in roadholding grip to 0.83.
Every bit for the powertrain, the 0-to-threescore-mph sprint improved past 0.2 second, to 6.2 seconds, and the quarter-mile time dropped by 0.ane to 14.ix seconds at a speed of 96 mph—1 mph faster than in our initial testing. Fuel economy rose from 27 mpg during the first portion of the ILX's stay to 28 mpg by the time twoscore,000 miles rolled around.
The ILX proved to be largely trouble-complimentary, and its five visits to the dealer were relatively gentle on our wallet. Our commencement trip at 8710 miles included an oil alter and tire rotation—besides as a new set of front door latches per a recall—and gear up us dorsum $71. We returned roughly 5000 miles later on to gear up a passenger-side front-door lock that went on strike and to diagnose a vibration at speed. The techs institute and fixed (under warranty) a loose door-lock connection and discovered a nail in the right rear tire that was also fixed gratuitous of charge; all four wheels were balanced, which price us $74. At 17,435 miles, a scheduled maintenance visit to change the oil and rotate the tires turned upwards a slightly bent rim and a bubble in 1 of the tires. The new rubber rang upward at $107. We were back once again at 26,826 miles for some other oil change and tire rotation and to have the motel and engine air filters replaced. At that point, we complained that the passenger seat wobbled in its tracks but were told it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Our final visit (at 36,197 miles) was for a $151 oil change, vehicle inspection, and tire rotation.
Badge for Your Cadet
The ILX let us down again one time we focused on the "L" word—that'd be luxury. Equally nosotros've lamented in this car'south introduction and update, Acura doesn't offer navigation with the 2.four-liter with transmission-transmission combination—inexcusable for a make fighting to remain relevant in the luxury segment. "When navigation tin exist had in a Nissan Versa sedan, navigation should exist available in an Acura, regardless of which engine is under the hood," opined one logbook entry. The five-inch infotainment display that did come with our car looked and behaved as if it were a decade old, as well.
Perhaps our biggest upshot with the Acura ILX is that its most endearing feature—the drivetrain—can be had in a couple of less-expensive Hondas. The cheaper-and-bigger option is the Honda Accord Sport, which utilizes a similar powertrain, albeit detuned by 12 horsepower, while offering more interior space and improved efficiency for $5915 less. Of course, the other car is the Civic Si sedan, which costs $6590 less than the ILX, and for an extra $1500, Honda volition even equip your Si with navigation. At $25,005, that's a relative bargain compared with our $30,095 ILX.
Neither of those Hondas has leather seating, pushbutton start, or dual-zone climate control, the sort of stuff that's mandatory in the luxury realm, but as our leather-upholstered chairs suffered visible wear and were cited for a lack of support and overall comfort, one could argue that some of the ILX's luxury trinkets aren't necessarily up to snuff.
We applaud Acura for being amidst the first to join the rapidly growing meaty luxury-sedan arena, but as in other segments, the brand's unexciting styling and production-planning missteps are pregnant handicaps. For the ILX, they're even more than glaring in the face of the new, premium small cars from Audi, Mercedes, and BMW.
Months in Armada: 1 month
Electric current Mileage: 2162 miles
Boilerplate Fuel Economy: 27 mpg
Average Range: 356 miles
Service: $0
Normal Wear: $0
Repair: $0
Just over a decade ago, Acura's lineup included the NSX and Integra—both among the most rewarding cars in their segments and two fairly iconic pieces of machinery. Since and then, Honda's luxury make has introduced a line of funky-faced, tweener-sized cars that James Spader talks upwardly in TV ads. Away from the audio booth where Spader records his solicited praise, however, the reality is that Acura's lineup isn't quite what it used to be.
Only things might be looking upwards. Acura volition before long bring us a new NSX; it currently offers i of the few sporty wagons in our market; and it has delivered a new entry-level sedan, the ILX. We knew the latter wouldn't be another Integra, but i ILX in detail—the one that shares the Civic Si's 201-hp, 2.4-liter four-cylinder and vi-speed manual—had us interested enough to order an example for a 40,000-mile exam.
A Adequately Big Kitchen Sink, just No Drain
A recap of the ILX line: Box stock, the base of operations model—motivated past a 150-hp, 2.0-liter iv-cylinder tied exclusively to a five-speed automatic—starts at $26,795. A hybrid is available and borrows its engine and electric-motor combo from the Borough hybrid. All ILX models include every bit standard USB and auxiliary jacks, keyless entry and start, dual-zone climate control, and a ability sunroof.
Cars like ours, with the Civic Si powertrain, come up ane style, combining the higher up kit with the Premium package, which adds an eight-fashion power driver's seat, heated front sport seats, leather upholstery, a 7-speaker audio arrangement with satellite radio, a rearview photographic camera, 17-inch aluminum wheels, fog lamps, and xenon HID headlights. The 2.4 is the only ILX that's bachelor with a manual, which should explain by itself our option of long-term trim. Our ILX is therefore both as barebones and as loaded as it can be and stickered at $30,095.
Yous might notice one particular clearly absent from our otherwise well-equipped car: a navigation organisation. Nav is unavailable with the hottest engine, beingness restricted to the 2.0-liter and hybrid models' Technology bundle, which also includes a fancy stereo, a GPS-enabled climate-control function that accounts for the location of the sun (!), and voice controls.
At least time spent lost is spent in comfortable and supportive front end seats, and the six-speed manual'due south short throws and the 2.4-liter'southward enthusiasm to zing through its power ring—typical Honda, in other words—have been universally praised. Sprints to lx mph pass in six.iv seconds, the quarter-mile is reached in fifteen.0 seconds at 95 mph, and the ILX tops out at an electronically limited 138 mph.
Hoping Something Grows on Us
We have logged several demerits. The ILX lags backside its powertrain partner, the Si, on the skidpad, achieving 0.81 k compared with the Si's 0.88, and several of our tribe have bemoaned the soft tires and the squishy suspension on this sportiest of ILXs. The steering is very light and loads and unloads unpredictably as you punch in lock, and quick requests for directional changes can send the rear cease into a corkscrewing movement. (These and other dynamic quirks were noted in our test of a different 2.four-liter ILX, besides.)
Rear riders take voiced complaints about the roominess of their accommodations. Our plainly-jane infotainment setup is like those in most current Acuras and Hondas in that it largely feels outdated, with ane logbook scribbler being "amazed at how well the eye screen renders album fine art from an iPod merely otherwise suffers from an interface that looks and acts 10 years old." After a twenty-four hours spent baking in Michigan's hot summer sun, the cabin starts to olfactory property like someone is storing leftovers under the commuter'due south seat. Not pleasant.
Finally, a semiaggressive exhaust note is joined past a tiresome buzziness from underhood during top-gear 80-mph cruises, at which betoken the engine is spinning at 3500 or so rpm. The sound isn't as refined every bit it ought to exist in this segment; luxury—entry-level, sporty, or otherwise—doesn't sound like a Civic Si. Peradventure this has caused some short-shifting among our normally redline-happy drivers, as the ILX has returned 27 mpg combined so far, four below the 31-mpg EPA highway rating.
The preeminent question concerning the ILX two.four is whether it tin can successfully blend Civic Si fun with a near-luxury experience. Thus far, we'd say, "Not quite," simply the car has 38,000 miles to change our minds.
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Source: https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a15111063/2013-acura-ilx-24-premium-long-term-test-wrap-up-review/
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