Acura Looks to Jump Start ILX With More Power for Less Money

CALISTOGA, CA – The Acura ILX sedan debuted in May 2012 on the early wave of entry-luxury models arriving in the U.S.

But brand executives admit the car was more entry than luxury.

“There were some real changes in the market from the time when we were first planning the 2013 ILX,” Gary Robinson, manager-Acura product planning, tells media here during a ’16 ILX preview. “(Planning) started right in the middle of the economic crisis, and at that time there was kind of a lack of other luxury cars in this space.”

Other models that were in the segment were “pretty sparse,” he says, which laid the framework on which Acura built the ILX.

But the segment quickly shifted with the arrival of the Audi A3 sedan and debut of the Mercedes CLA, entry-luxury cars that set a new bar for the segment, Robinson says.

At the same time, non-luxury compacts rose in features and price, narrowing the gap with the ILX.

“Cars like the (Honda) Civic, (Ford) Focus (and) Mazda3 all moved up in terms of their positioning, in terms of their price, in terms of their content. It’s not unusual at all to find $30,000 or near-$30,000 cars (among those models),” Robinson notes.

Now he believes Acura has corrected the luxury shortfall with the ’16 ILX officially on sale today in the U.S.

Buyers’ No.1 gripe with the ’13-’15 model was its lack of power, Acura says, so the brand significantly increased performance, not by installing a new engine, but by making the model’s 2.4L direct-injected DOHC I-4 the only mill available and mating it solely to an automatic transmission.

The 201-hp 2.4L in the ’16 ILX replaces the ’15’s base engine, a 150-hp 2.0L SOHC I-4.

The ILX debuted with a hybrid powertrain that was discontinued at the end of the ’13 model year. The 2.4L’s 6-speed manual transmission is gone with the end of the ’15 model, as it had at most a 5% take rate in a given month, Acura says.

That 201 hp now is meted out through Acura’s 8-speed DCT. The 2.0L had a 5-speed automatic.

The 2.4L makes 180 lb.-ft. (244 Nm) of torque at 3,600 rpm, compared with 140 lb.-ft. (190 Nm) at 4,300 rpm with the 2.0L.

Brand officials say the ILX now is at the top of its class in balancing  performance with fuel economy, with 0-60 mph (100 km/h) time improving 2.5 seconds to roughly 7 seconds and 29 mpg (8.1 L/100 km) combined fuel efficiency, up from 28 mpg (8.4 L/100 km) in the outgoing model.

The 1.8L turbocharged Audi A3, the car the new ILX was benchmarked against, has a 0-60 mph time of about 8.5 seconds, based on Acura test data, and achieves 27 mpg (8.7 L/100 km) combined. The A3 also offers 2.0L turbocharged diesel and gasoline engines.

Other performance enhancements for the ’16 ILX include firmer, more direct steering, the latter achieved through a bigger rear-member upper in the front subframe.

New A-Spec Trim Package Added, 2.4L Pricing Dropped

To raise the car’s interior luxury quotient, Acura is introducing a new A-Spec trim package, which adds gray stitching in an X-pattern on the steering wheel and parking-brake lever, perforated faux suede seats, silver-metallic trim, black headliner and aluminum pedals.

The center stack in all ’16 models gets a large touchscreen that replaces a knob controller in the ’15 model. A smaller screen remains atop the center stack, giving navigation and menu-item info.

Acura says the ILX now boasts 12% greater torsional rigidity, and the brand foresees a “Good” rating on the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s difficult small-overlap front crash test, which mimics a collision with a narrow object such as a post. Acura structural engineers boosted material thickness and specified hot stamping in key areas, such as the A-pillar, in the effort to achieve a Good rating, Robinson says.

Styling changes made to the ILX intentionally align with its big brother, the new-for-’15 TLX, Robinson says, and include the addition of a 3-dimensional grille that will make its way to all Acura models, larger lower intakes and new alloy wheel designs.

The brand’s signature JewelEye LED headlights now have a continuous light pipe instead of the individual-dots look of the outgoing model.

LED taillights also have been tweaked and now are red-and-white vs. all red, and the rear bumper protrudes outward more than previously.

“We wanted to significantly increase the premium feel” so it is apparent when viewing the car from 50 ft. (15 m) down the road, says Mike Accavitti, Acura senior vice president.

Many industry-watchers thought ’13 ILX pricing was too high given its relatively weak base engine and lack of standard content, so Robinson touts new advantages over competitors.

The outgoing ’15 2.4L ILX with its 6MT is $29,350 to start. The ’16 ILX with the same engine and the 8-speed DCT, plus more standard features such as a power moonroof and the JewelEye headlights, is $27,900, just $850 more than the base-grade ’15 2.0L ILX.

“(And that’s) $2,000 cheaper than the Audi A3, and $3,500 cheaper than the CLA’s new price point,” Robinson says. The ’15 A3 starts at $29,900 for a 1.8L model and the ’15 CLA begins at $31,500 for a model fitted with a 208-hp 2.0L turbo I-4.

Adding Acura’s suite of safety technology, AcuraWatch Plus, raises the ’16 ILX’s base price $1,300.

The ’16 Premium grade of the ILX is $29,900 and includes standard leather seating, blind-spot information, a driver memory seat and a 4-way power passenger seat, as well as SiriusXM radio and an auto-dimming rearview mirror.

The Tech Plus grade is $32,900 and has navigation, a 10-speaker Panasonic ELS audio system, and AcuraWatch Plus as standard equipment.

Adding the A-Spec package to the Premium and Tech Plus grades costs $1,990 and $1,490, respectively.

Accavitti isn’t talking sales targets for the ’16 ILX, except to say he hopes to grow volume.

At its original launch, Acura said it wanted to sell 30,000 ILXs annually, but volume never came close to that.

WardsAuto data shows the best year was 2013, when 20,430 were sold. ILX sales last year fell 12.6% to 17,854, and were down 17.6% last month vs. January 2014, to 992 units.

In comparison, the Audi A3 tallied 22,250 last year.

The Mercedes CLA bested both the Acura and Audi, with 27,365 units in 2014.

CLA sales were flat in January at 2,383, while the A3 dipped 1.6% to 2,491.

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