New Acura ILX remains familiar
2020 model has plenty of safety tech, ffeatures a fresh face,
Following a thorough refresh last year, the Acura ILX enters the new decade largely the same as the 2019 model.
It squares off in a smaller market now than it did when it launched in 2013. Volvo killed off the S40 just the year prior, with the closest modern equivalent being its XC40 crossover. Buick dropped the Verano a few years ago, too, and enters 2020 with an exclusively crossover-based lineup. You’re probably sensing a trend here.
But Acura remains committed to its traditionally shaped models and, for now at least, that makes the ILX the leastpricey point of entry for the Japanese brand. It shares its platform with the previous, ninth-generation Honda Civic.
Can those economy-car bones put up a fight against the tougher entry-level luxury segment of 2020? We spent a week with a fully-loaded ILX A-Spec, complete with Technology Package, to find out.
Afresh face, decent space It might have one of the oldest skeletons on the market, but the ILX certainly doesn’t look it. The recent facelift brought it in line with the brand’s latest design language and to our eyes, it might be the best canvas for the style. The beaky nose of the launch model is out and a pentagonal grille is in, with jewel-like headlights framing it. Acura’s cleaned up the tail, too, moving the plate down to the bumper. A demure, gloss-black lip spoiler sits atop the trunk — no faux carbon fibre here — though it looks positively extroverted compared to the single, tiny exhaust tip. Bathed in Apex Blue Pearl and sitting on 18inch, 15-spoke wheels, the ILX is a handsome ride.
The red interior certainly makes a statement when you pop the door open, too. It doesn’t last very long, however: look to the dated dash architecture and you’ll be reminded of the old bones of the ILX. It’s busy, full of buttons and feels closer to a Honda than a true competitor to the techy Mercedes-Benz A-Class and clean Audi A3. Those leather and microsuede seats are comfy and supportive though, holding you in place through the corners and keeping numbness at bay on long highway stints.
On the plus side, there’s a surprising amount of space. At 4.62 metres nose to stern, the ILX is larger than either of the Germans. Its 2,670-mm wheelbase outstretches the Audi’s 2,635, though stops shy of the newer Merc’s 2,728. The Benz shades it on front headroom, too (1,023 mm versus 965), but the Acura outpoints them both on shoulder room and legroom (1,412 mm, 1,075 mm, respectively). Rear-seat accommodations are naturally a little tighter, with head and shoulder room dropping 50 mm, and legroom chopped to 863 mm. Overall, the ILX and the Germans are all within a few centimetres of each other for second-row passengers. The stylish uptick of the ILX’s window line only happens beside their heads, too, which means there’s a good amount of natural light back there. The trunk is a perfectly usable 348 litres.
More tech toys and safety Our tester arrived in rangetopping A-Spec, er, spec, complete with the Tech Package. This $1,400 option over the A-Spec Premium adds a 10speaker audio system, Acura’s 3D navigation system, realtime traffic updates, an 8.0inch centre display and a colour display nestled in the dials. Premium models and up include updated audio (including Android Auto and Apple CarPlay), blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert.
The base model doesn’t include the smartphone mirroring abilities, which feels chintzy in a luxury model, even an entry one. It does feature the full AcuraWatch suite of safety aids, which includes lane-keep assist and departure warning, adaptive cruise control, emergency braking and forward collision warning.
The optional rear cross-traffic alert is a boon in Toronto during the first real snowfall of the season. It has an impressive range, picking up errant cyclists on downtown streets and unseen cars in tight underground parking garages.
We couldn’t warm to the infotainment system. The two-screen approach is frustratingly unintuitive: controls for the top screen are mounted below the lower one, which is a touchscreen. We’re sure you’d eventually get used to it, but we spent more time than we care to admit fiddling with the lower screen via the scroll wheel and prodding at the top screen.
The native nav system is cumbersome, with odd zoom amounts. It’s laggy, too, something that permeates the rest of the menus, though to a lesser extent. The ILX can’t compete with the new AClass’s ease of use here. We stuck to Apple CarPlay as much as we could. How does it drive? We had the ILX for a week in December in Toronto. A fresh blanket of snow started it off, before quickly devolving to piles of brown slush. Needless to say, we weren’t going to be testing it for peak lateral gs.
That being said, all the right ingredients are there. Honda knows how to build an entertaining front-drive chassis. The KA24 engine, here putting out 201 hp and a stout 180 lb-ft, is the last of the old-school, natasp four cylinders from the Big H. There’s no longer a rowyour-own transmission option, but there’s an eight-speed dual-clutch.
The results were mixed. On Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4 winter tires, the ILX rode with a pleasant firmness that suits that A-Spec badge. There was a noticeable amount of road noise, especially at highway speeds, but it’s hard to say how much of that was due to the cold-weather rubber. Same goes with the steering response: the electrically assisted rack has a solid amount of heft to it, though little in the way of feedback. It feels commendably light because, well, it is: a fully loaded A-Spec with the Tech Package comes in at 1,428 kg.
Honda has put together one of the smoothest dual-clutch units in the business in the ILX. DCTs tend to trip up at low speeds, but the one in the
ILX never set a foot wrong, feeling just like a traditional auto when trundling around in traffic. More of a knock against its sporting pretensions is its manual mode though: requesting a shift up or down leads to a wait time of around half a second, if not more. We tried it twice before just leaving the eight-speed to its own devices.
The 2.4-litre is smooth, and feels every one of its quoted pony count. It makes itself known when pressed, but doesn’t have the sort of singing voice that makes that a positive. It’s emblematic of the ILX’s larger issue: it falls between two stools. It’s not as overtly sporty as something like a Civic Si, but it doesn’t provide the cocooned progress of pure luxury, either. That blend may be a selling point to you, or it can make the ILX feel like a car of two personalities.
Over the test week, we managed 8.0 L/100 km. That’s better than the combined 8.6 Acura quotes (9.9 city, 7.0 highway), likely thanks to predominantly highway driving.
The verdict The ILX is a fun but flawed machine. It feels like what it is: a fancy Honda Civic.
That’s not a knock, per se: as nice as the Civic currently is, there isn’t an analog for the
ILX in its current lineup. If you want something sportier (yet thousands cheaper) there’s the Si, with a slick-shifting sixspeed manual and a muscular 1.5-litre turbo engine. Prefer more luxury? You could load up a non-Si Civic Sedan with every bell and whistle and still come up shy of the A-Spec Tech’s $38,096 (including $2,206 in destination). You’d be saddled with a CVT instead of the dual-clutch, in addition to less power and — to our eyes — worse looks. The Civic does outpoint its lux sibling on fuel mileage though, with regular fuel to boot.
And zee Germans? Just getting in the door of the Audi A3 requires $36,595 (including $2,095 destination in Ontario). The A-Class is slightly more, at $37,085 ($2,095 destination here, too). Neither will match the Acura’s safety-tech bundle without diving into the expensive options list. They can’t outperform it, either, at least not in front-drive forms, though the A3 does post better fuel-economy figures. It’s on its way out now anyway, with a new model set to arrive soon, sharing its platform with the new mark 8 Golf. The A-Class is the one to beat: that digital dash is a big draw, and the driving experience in the new model is much improved over what came before. Plus, you get to say you own a MercedesBenz. Don’t underestimate the lure of that last bit for most people.
If you grew up during the import sport compact scene of the ’90s, loved it and want to temper that with a dash of grown-up — but only a dash — you could do a lot worse than putting the Acura ILX on your short list.