This is the 2013 Acura ILX, a new entry-level sedan that will arrive this spring with a price "well under $30,000" according to Acura. The cynical among you will no doubt refer to the ILX as Acura's Civic, and to some degree you would be right.
Then again, it's more than just a rebadge job. Just looking at it will tell you that. There are enough new lines on this car to give it a look of its own, one that is decidedly better than the Civic. Acura didn't get specific when it came to drivetrains, at least not in terms of horsepower figures, but most of the engine displacements look familiar.
The base engine will be a 2.0-liter four-cylinder, while the optional engine will displace 2.4 liters. There will also be a hybrid model with a 1.5-liter gas engine. So a step above the Civic, but nothing ground-breaking here.
We didn't get a chance to see the interior, but given that Acura calls this car a concept, it probably doesn't have anything resembling the final setup. To say that it will be nicer than the Civic isn't exactly a stretch, however, so use your imagination. With sales slated to begin this spring, it won't be long before we find out for sure.
roar02ram says:
04:29 PM, 01/ 9/12
Thank heavens Acura cleaned up its styling language! Now about this whole concept...umm...
...then again, back in the day, Infiniti sold a lot of G20s and Audi sold a lot of cloth-upholstered A4 1.8Ts...
cubozoan says:
07:42 PM, 01/ 9/12
this looks really good. i was really expecting a Civic wearing an Acura badge, but this is impressive. in fact, this looks so good that the people over at Road & Track have mistaken it as the TSX replacement. maybe what they should do is to rebadge this car, strip it of the luxury stuff, and replace the current Civic w/ it. i wonder if there'll be a Type S version; that'd be pretty awesome. and I in ILX is obviously trying to conjure up memories of the Integra
billt9 says:
10:22 PM, 01/ 9/12
This is boring.
Looks like a Sebring roofline with a Future body kit.
bankerdanny says:
07:27 AM, 01/10/12
A fine looking little sedan. Now, about the name made up of randomly generated letters, how can Acura believe that this approach still makes sense?
BMW: 1,3,5,6,7 smallest to largest
Mercedes: A,B,C,E,S smallest to largest
Saab (pre-death) 9-2, 9-3, 9-4, 9-5, 9-7 smallest to largest
Volvo: 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 smallest to largest
Acura: ILX, TSX, CL, TL, RSX, RL, who the heck knows? I would add Lincoln too, but really, who cares about Lincoln?
ctpaul says:
07:39 AM, 01/10/12
looks like Honda is following the old GM practice of making a spinoff of each of its cars for all of its divisions - admittedly it does not look much like a Civic and Acura has done a decent job of styling, but how will the car really differ? Nowadays most manufacturers are making all the luxury options once reserved for the luxury division (if they had one) available in all models (see Kia Hyundai among others). SO you don't need an Acura priced car for those anymore. So what will make this better and one wonders if it is better, other than simple content, why didn't Honda simply make the Civic better? As to the actual styling, looks like a Mazda 3 with a somewhat better nose, and that is a nice looking car but how many years old now? It is sad that we now complement Acura just for not being outright ugly.
ed124c says:
07:53 AM, 01/10/12
Are we to assume that the 2.4 engine is the Civic SI engine? It better be. But even the Accord's 2.4 gets 190 hp, so anything over that would be a bonus... I guess.
legacygt says:
07:59 AM, 01/10/12
So Acura is chasing Buick into the segment of economy cars re-badged as luxury. The question is not whether or not there is a market for these cars. There may be one. The question is whether or not they are good for these brands which, right or wrong, are not perceived as true luxury players like Lexus and the Germans. Re-packaging a budget-oriented car may not be the right choice for two brands that are struggling to cement their luxury chops.
throwback says:
08:00 AM, 01/10/12
I guess this means the TSX is toast. Donna, you'll be able to get a TSX wagon pretty cheap in about a year.
zeniff says:
08:18 AM, 01/10/12
Looks nice (even with the beak. Can't believe I'm saying that). In the end, this is what the redesigned Civic should have been.
blackdynamite1 says:
08:31 AM, 01/10/12
Acura would rather forget about the good times (Legend, Integra, NSX), and get on with their miserable lives (ILX)
BD
bestjinjo says:
08:40 AM, 01/10/12
One of the best looking Acura cars in years. It might not set the world on fire, but it has that modern elegance that was missing in all the recent Acura cars. Looks miles better than the previous Civic --> Acura rebadge. Well done. The engines are not anything special though.
blueguydotcom says:
08:41 AM, 01/10/12
I think this is a nice little car and exactly what Honda needed to do. Essentially they're bringing back the Integra. That was a great car in the 90s and Honda/Acura made a big mistake ditching it.
Acrua is not chasing anyone into rebadging. Their cars were upscale/rebadged Hondas in the 90s. And they were fantastic cars! The original Legend and Integra were damn good cars - sporty, nicely equipped, uspcale but not expensive, easy to maintain. They were great tweener vehicles for people who wanted more than a traditional Honda but they didn't want to dump stupid cash into an unreliable heap like an Audi or BMW.
I'm all for Acura going back down this path. But they must deliver on it. Make the ILX noticeably better inside than the Civic. Make it tighter, quicker, better handling for only a couple grand more. 23-24k without navi. 25k with navi or just do a fully equipped one for 25-26k (all the little doohickey). Hell they could finally do what should have been done long ago - make navi standard equipment on entire lines of cars. Cheap, simple technology so stop tacking on 2k for nothing.
cr_driver says:
08:45 AM, 01/10/12
Ok, a glorified Civic, thank goodness.
On a serious note, it does look good.
half_ton says:
08:58 AM, 01/10/12
Does anyone other than me remember when cars had actual NAMES?
ILX, ATS, MKR, RDX . . .
g35buf says:
08:58 AM, 01/10/12
Time to give credit where credit is due...I like it.
I'm a FORMER Honda/Acura devotee (4 new H & A vehicles between 2001-2004) but I've been critical of the cheese grater designs and general 'lack of effort' on Honda's part (I will admit my daily driver is a 2010 Ridgeline but we own 2 VWs as well and several other brands since 2006).
I like the look, the Civic power trains are perfect for the times and the fact they'll probably be building this in Indiana assures its viability for costs/profits.
Open question: Will this be the new Canadian-market Civic-based CSX? It's built along side the Civic in Alliston, ON.
Looks good IMO and very interested to drive/view in the flesh...
stovt001 says:
09:07 AM, 01/10/12
It looks good, but the TSX was already pretty entry level as it was and rebadging a Civic just sinks Honda/Acura deeper into the lost mojo hole than they already were.
duck87 says:
09:15 AM, 01/10/12
I'll be honest, it's sort of handsome but also boring. It doesn't have the same sort of teutonic curves you find on the A4, but then again, I can see this easily competing against the C250/300s, BMW 323is, and Lexus IS250s out there. What Acura really needs in order to sell this to the public is pricing, interior and features. At least the TSX/TL confusion is gone, I think the TL will shrink a bit, and the RL will have to literally be all new.
blueprint1 says:
09:28 AM, 01/10/12
cubozoan: R&T made no mistake, the TSX is in fact being replaced by the ILX in NA. The current, bigger TSX took a bite out of beaked TL sales, so out it goes, rave reviews and all.
From a Canadian perspective, the EL / CSX series was a tremendous sales success up here and brought most of the volume to Acura dealerships. Of course, gas is 30% dearer here, so small luxury cars are the key to volume for high-end brands. The dud of the line-up is still the RL.
From a Honda fan's perspective, this should have been the Civic. The rear view shown here reminds me of my beloved '95 Civic LX sedan.
bonzjr says:
09:43 AM, 01/10/12
OK this is not bad at all. At the right price it looks pretty promising.
The name though... erm... ewwww.
You couldn't just call it the TSX (after killing the current one, then shrink the TL to its old size when it's replaced in late 2013, then the RL has more breathing room when its replacement comes out, and so on)?
Or better yet... how about... Integra? 'Memba that?
stovt001 says:
10:05 AM, 01/10/12
It looks good, but the TSX was already pretty entry level as it was and rebadging a Civic just sinks Honda/Acura deeper into the lost mojo hole than they already were.
huyracing says:
10:08 AM, 01/10/12
looks nice. the I in ILX probably is for Integra. the TSX is actually an Accord in Japan. RL is a Legend. Our Accord is an Inspire. See they have names, just not in the US.
exnevadan says:
10:24 AM, 01/10/12
nice looking exterior, even the nose is pretty clean
add decent motor, six speed manual, sport seats, change the wheels and call it TSX (or Integra)
coolb944 says:
10:52 AM, 01/10/12
This is a very nice, clean design. I actually really like it. Fits the language set by the NSX concept, and looks so much better then the RDX rehash they showed yesterday.
car_lover_87 says:
10:54 AM, 01/10/12
Honda ILX vs BMW 128i
mini23 says:
11:23 AM, 01/10/12
Good looking car. 150% better looking then the Civic it is based on. I hope they build it.
Acura has been suffering from confused marketing and real styling challenges as of late.
This might be a return to what made them great to begin with. I just hope they don't keep the stupid
2 tiered dashboard of the Civic.
dm7279 says:
11:55 AM, 01/10/12
This looks sharp. I was considering a TSX for my next vehicle, this may work as well for less $$. The 2.4L is clearly the TSX/Civic Si engine, but what is the 2.0L? I assume the low power K20 engine, like the one that was used in the base 02-06 RSX or 02-05 Civic Si, but could it be the first appearance of one of Honda's new engines?
wikiwiki says:
11:58 AM, 01/10/12
Very nice. A lot better looking than the new Civic. I guess it better be since it's an Acura.
prof1111 says:
12:20 PM, 01/10/12
Would have been a real head turner in 2010.
urbanxj says:
12:21 PM, 01/10/12
This is the first Honda product I've liked in a very long time; I wonder how Honda will manage to mangle it before it enters production.
oh, and I agree with everyone else - these letter designations are indiscernible among the product range. It other words, they’re stupid.
wikiwiki says:
01:06 PM, 01/10/12
I agree withthe letters and other nonsense. Just put a name on the product.
What do you drive?
An Acura ILX-T-MPX F.
What the hell is that?
vs.
What do you drive?
An Acura Integra.
Nice.
Same goes for all these American/Aisian brands too. It's dumb and offers no conneciton with the cars. The Euro cars can keep it since they started it and it kind of makes some sense. Kind of.
blueguydotcom says:
01:10 PM, 01/10/12
wikiwiki - agreed. The number/letter thing is massively overdone. Everybody is copying the german style and it just doesn't work for every damn car.
bodyblue says:
01:40 PM, 01/10/12
"Acura: ILX, TSX, CL, TL, RSX, RL, who the heck knows? I would add Lincoln too, but really, who cares about Lincoln?"
Have you checked the sales of Acura VS Lincoln lately?
gtrguy2012 says:
01:56 PM, 01/10/12
They need to make the Si's 2.4 standard for this car IMO, make it the old TSX.
bankerdanny says:
04:14 PM, 01/10/12
@BB: Acura's slow slide into irrelevance doesn't make Lincoln any better.
lake3 says:
06:04 PM, 01/10/12
It looks really good, and I agree with the comments saying that this is how the Civic should of looked.
huyracing says:
03:48 AM, 01/11/12
NSX is New Sportscar Xperimental, but the rest is just jibberish. RSX was an Integra, TSX is an Accord (OUR Accord is an Inspire), RL is a Legend...
flicmod says:
06:38 AM, 01/11/12
People seem to forget that when the Integra nameplate died in the early 2000's that the RSX and TSX were the official replacements of that car. RSX = Integra coupe; TSX = Integra sedan. And since that change, the TSX has proven to be the more-popular of the two models. Yes, the tuner crowd was shorted when the RSX was officially killed a couple years ago, and I personally think Acura would be well-suited to bring back a small performance coupe (RWD or FWD) to fill that void.
All that to say: I cannot imagine the ILX being a replacement for the TSX. Given what I stated above, and given the fact that if the TSX were to be replaced it'd leave a gaping hole in the price points of Acura's line-up, I see the ILX being simply an entry-level vehicle that Acura sorely needs as the TL and TSX have consistently slid up the price scale over the last two generations. If the ILX fills the 25K-30K price range, I'd consider the ILX to be a perfect compliment to what Acura already has.
So, possibly the 'I' in ILX IS heralding back to the Integra name, but perhaps only because that's the price-point that they wish to fulfill once more.
rwright100 says:
08:35 AM, 01/12/12
I suppose this looks better than the Acuras of late, but that hidous beak has to go!
willjam71 says:
03:15 PM, 01/15/12
Honda/Acura continues it's decent into an also-ran with this design. Rear reminiscent of a Kia, side contours look like a Buick, and the front is still the homely looking Acura we have had to deal with the last few years.
It could be so much better. Some aspects are nice enough, but it still falls short. And on a Civic platform instead of Euro-Accord. I guess that means goodbye to independent front and rear suspension set-ups.
Have owned several over the years, but have not for awhile. I will not be going back to the dealer anytime soon with these designs either. Did you see the RDX? Ugh!