Acura ILX strikes balance
The competition for the hearts, minds and wallets of car buyers often begins with the superficial. It's a gut response to how it looks. Whether that's sporty or elegant, the exterior is subliminal shorthand for how we hope to be perceived.
Take the Acura ILX, which, for its 2016 refresh, strives for the pre-parent market with a compact sedan that is subtly sexy yet practical, athletic yet modestly upscale.
Similar to the newly redesigned Toyota Camry and the most recent upgrade of the Honda Civic, Acura has embraced the idea of a more dramatic commuter car entrance with an overhaul of the front end. Gone are the humdrum headlights in favor of bejeweled almondine LEDs that beckon drivers to the optical illusion that it is wider, lower, more capable of slaloming through traffic with style.
It's a design that squarely targets millennials who, having clawed their way into the workforce while the economy was in ruins, are now driving the white-hot market for cars with a luxury pedigree and affordable price.
For 2016, the ILX remains front wheel drive, but those wheels are now slightly larger and powered with a 2.4-liter, direct-injected four-cylinder that makes 34 percent more horsepower and is even more fuel efficient than the 2-liter engine of the 2015 model.
But that's just gravy. Recognizing that a young buyer's heart and prospective financing are often won — or lost — within the first 50 feet of a test drive, Acura has paired its more premium engine with an 8-speed dual clutch transmission that is itself enhanced with a torque converter to deliver power more quickly. What that means behind the wheel: satisfyingly sprite pickup that's a better match for the understated sportiness of its exterior. Finally, it seems, there's an entry-level Acura that's worth the price premium over the Honda Civic.
Understanding that buyers who have yet to experience a midlife crisis value technology above all else, the ILX includes more digital doodads as standard equipment, including a rear-view camera, Bluetooth, USB port and mini jack for an iPod or iPhone.
While the profile, performance and on-board tech of the 2016 ILX are impressive for the price, its interior should have been stepped up. The dashboard display is colorful and easy to read, but the steering wheel feels cheap and the car's controls, overall, look and feel common rather than elegant.
