2016 Acura ILX First Drive Review

by Lyndon Bell

・

February 10, 2015

・

7 min. Reading Time

2016 Acura ILX ・ Photo by Acura

When Acura launched as Japan’s first premium marque in the United States back in 1986, it offered two models. These were the full-size Legend, which is today’s Acura RLX; and the compact sporty Integra. Over the ensuing years, Acura has fielded a variety of nameplates in this space, among them RSX and TSX in addition to the subject of this 2016 Acura ILX first drive review.

RSX and Integra developed large followings among younger people, particularly the tuner crowd. But when the more refined TSX and ILX emerged, they didn’t quite have the edginess of Integra and RSX. Further, the 2013 ILX was identifiably related to Honda’s Civic. While Civic is a brilliant car in its category, when you start talking entry-luxury performance models, Civic doesn’t measure up.

This new ILX reflects an attempt to redress those issues, wile more thoroughly embracing the desires of today’s younger buyer. To this end, the 2016 Acura ILX offers a broad array of cutting edge technological comfort, convenience, and safety features; along with a more powerful engine and a more responsive transmission.

Will this be enough to revive the spirit of the Integra and the RSX?

Well—read on…

Models & Pricing

With a base price of $27,990, ILX certainly hits the relatively affordable button dead on. Standard features include full power accessories, LED headlights, a power moonroof, a power driver’s seat, heated exterior mirrors, automatic wipers, cruise control, voice to text capability, and Bluetooth audio/telephone connectivity.

Other equipment offerings include heated front seats, keyless entry and pushbutton start, active noise control, a GPS-linked automatic climate control system, a touchscreen interface, and stylish LED accent lighting.

For $29,200, you can add the optional AcuraWatch Package, which gets you smart cruise control, lane keeping assist, a multiview rear camera, road departure mitigation, collision mitigation with forward collision warning, and pedestrian sensing. That’s a lot of good gear for “less” than $30,000. We say “less” because with the applicable $920 in destination fees it’s over $30,000, though you probably won’t see it advertised that way.

The $29,900 Premium Package adds blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic monitoring, HD radio, Siri Eyes Free, a power actuated front passenger seat, Homelink, and offers Acura’s smartphone-linked navigation system as an option.

For more performance-oriented drivers, the $32,900 A-SPEC package adds 18x7.5-inch alloy wheels, sport seats with faux-suede inserts, fog lights, side sills, a tail spoiler, and aluminum pedals.

The Tech Plus Package, at $32,900 gets you all of the above, plus Acura’s cloud-based connected car system—AcuraLink. Go Tech Plus with A-SPEC; you’ll be looking at $34,890. So basically, you can get a fully loaded ILX for right around $35,000.

Photo by Honda

Design

To give ILX something of a more substantive appearance, the front of the car was retrofitted with Acura’s multi-element “Jewel-Eye” LED headlight array, a redesigned grille treatment with a more convincing incorporation of the Acura “shield” grille treatment, a reworked lower fascia, and a set of 10-spoke 17-inch wheels (for the base ILX). The rear fascia was treated to a facelift as well, with matching LED taillight arrays, and a revised lower apron.

The overall result does up the ante on the look of the car. For the record, the ILX has always been a handsomely chiseled piece. With these new enhancements, it looks more expensive than it did previously and is distanced a bit more convincingly from the Civic.

While definitely a product of the three-box school of design, the flowing lines of the Acura, rising up from the road and rippling rearward as they do, definitely strikes a performance-oriented chord. The new front-end treatment handily supports Acura’s assertion of the ILX as a performance oriented model, albeit one with sophistication and a degree of consideration given over to comfort as well as capability.

Photo by Acura

Features & Controls

One thing Honda does really well is craft an interior with the needs of the driver placed first and foremost. The ILX is a brilliantly executed example of this. The thick-rimmed steering wheel is fitted with an array of controls for secondary functions. While at first glance it looks somewhat busy, over the day of driving we spent with the car it became somewhat intuitive.

We do think the stitching on the steering wheel is a bit on the aggressive side as the texture of it became somewhat intrusive. Perhaps a subtler pattern would still convey the luxurious feel the designers were after, without imposing upon the driving experience. Paddles behind the steering wheel actuate the dual clutch automated manual transmission, while a pair of large highly legible gauges dominates the instrument panel with readouts for road and engine speed.

To the right of the wheel — atop the dash — is a full-color monitor for the navigation system, audio system and etc. BTW, the internal navigation system offers traffic information and rerouting, The secondary touchscreen monitor underneath it is configured primarily for source and feature selections. The Honda engineer with whom we spoke about the dual monitor configuration explained by keeping the map and other provided information closer to the windshield, your eyes can glance back and forth more easily, with minimal distraction from the road. Spreading the functions over two monitors keeps the selection function closer to hand while the consultation function can take place closer to the road.

Photo by Honda

Comfort & Cargo

Happily, four reasonably sized adults can ride in an ILX in relative comfort. Rear seat passengers will need the front seat passenger to be familiar with the concept of generosity, but not so much so they’ll feel particularly put upon. Head and shoulder room are good at all four seating positions—ditto ingress and egress.

Storage bins are fitted to all four doors, there’s a map pocket fitted to the back of the front passenger seat where it can be more readily accessed by the driver, and Acura provides belted positions for three rear seat passengers. (Though frankly the car is better suited to four than five.)

The new ILX is considerably quieter in operation than the model it replaces thanks to the incorporation of an active noise cancelling system, thicker front windows, more sound deadening materials, and Acura’s noise attenuating wheels. These are fitted with inserts to dampen noise transmission through the wheels into the cabin of the car from the road. These features make the ILX considerably more comfortable to occupy.

Cargo capacity is about average for the category at 12.3 cubic feet in the trunk.

Photo by Honda

Safety & Ratings

Standard safety features include a full complement of airbags (including multiple threshold bags for front seat passengers), ABS, traction control, stability control, a rear view camera, electronic brake distribution, brake assist, LED daytime running lights, tire pressure monitoring, hill start assist, and Honda’s motion adaptive steering

Motion Adaptive Electric Power Steering (EPS) initiates steering inputs to prompt the driver to steer in the correct direction during skids and in slippery road conditions. In a skid, should the driver attempt to overcorrect, or respond improperly to the direction of the impending slide, motion adaptive steering automatically initiates steering inputs aimed at prompting the driver to steer in the correct direction.

Optional safety features include forward collision warning, pedestrian sensing, collision mitigation, lane departure warning, lane keeping assist, road departure mitigation, blind spot monitoring, and rear cross traffic monitoring.

While crash test results for the 2016 ILX have yet to be released, Honda reinforced the body structure of the car to beat the highly rigorous small overlap frontal offset crash test conducted by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety. Honda’s internal testing indicates they were successful. Company spokespeople expect ILX to earn Top Safety Pick + status from the Institute; in addition being recognized as a five-star car by NHTSA.

Photo by Honda

Engine & Fuel Economy

New for 2016, Acura’s ILX gets a slightly detuned version of the four-cylinder engine fitted to its larger TLX sister car. For ILX duty, the direct-injected 2.4-liter inline four-cylinder engine produces 201 horsepower at 6,800 rpm and 180 ft-lbs of torque at 3,600 rpm. This represents a power increase of 51 horsepower and 40 ft-lbs of torque more than the previously fitted 2.0-liter inline four was capable of generating.

Feeding the front wheels is a new eight-speed dual-clutch transmission with a torque converter and paddle shifters. This effectively gives the ILX the best of both worlds; manual shifts when wanted, automatic shifts when needed. This adds considerably to the sporting orientation of the car.

Fuel economy is rated at 25 miles per gallon in the city, 36 on the highway, and 29 combined. Over the course of our day — mostly spent driving rather briskly on winding mountain roads — we averaged 25 miles per gallon.

Photo by Honda

Driving Impressions

All in all, this 2016 Acura ILX is a marked improvement over the outgoing model. The electric power steering delivers nice responsiveness, is wonderfully linear, and while lacking the “lively” feeling of non-electric systems, loads up nicely in the corners, and transitions with considerable alacrity in back and forth situations.

The increase in torsional rigidity makes itself quite evident in back to back driving with the previous car. In a nutshell, the ’16 feels more solid overall. Honda’s engineering team reworked the suspension somewhat as well, and this makes itself most evident in the fact the ILX stays nice and flat in most cornering situations, yet still delivers a supple ride. Comfort was not sacrificed in the quest for higher cornering speeds.

The braking system is resolute, true, and demonstrated fade-free performance in rather heavy use, even when called upon to burn off speed repeatedly on some exceptionally challenging sections of road.

We love the sound of the engine at higher revs, but Honda always delivers in that regard. Be apprised though, as the horsepower/torque figures attest, if you’re looking to get and maintain maximum thrust, you will spend a lot of time on the back side of the tachometer. While the torque peak kicks in at 3,600 rpm, you really don’t feel the engine pulling until you’re closer to four grand, and the reline is seven. So you’ll be running your ILX quite hard. Again though, the good news is it sounds absolutely wonderful doing so.

Long story short, this is a competitive sport sedan. It’s not the fastest one you’ll find. And yes, the Germans outshine the Acura. But for the money, you’ll be hard pressed to find a better-driving car with similar levels of equipment and a premium badge at the price.

Photo by Honda

Final Thoughts

Frankly though, those who are actively looking for the edginess of the original Integra and RSX will probably be left wanting. The ILX is good, but is a bit more “mature” in comparison to those cars. The good news for Acura is most of the people who fondly remember Integra and RSX are aging baby boomers who will probably be quite satisfied with the combination of sportiness and luxury delivered by the ILX—at this point in their lives.

Meanwhile, those highly coveted younger buyers, say perhaps moving up from their Civic Si to something a bit more substantive, but still craving that performance edge, will find in the ILX the next logical progression in terms of their maturation as drivers. The ILX is definitely more sophisticated, offers all of the latest in driver assistance technology, looks good, and goes down the road with serious intent when called upon to do so.

What’s more the upgrades to the interior add a nice touch of substance, though in our estimation still falling a notch below the leaders in the entry-luxury segment (read Audi A3, MBZ CLA and even VW GTI). Those cars do cost more when equipped similarly, so it becomes a question of perceived quality over quantity. This, most emphatically, is not to say ILX has quality issues, the Germans just look more expensive inside.