Thursday, August 22, 2013

2013 Acura ILX Hybrid

2013 Acura ILX Hybrid
2013 Acura ILX Hybrid 
Acura ILX Hybrid Mid-level luxury brands have always had to do a bit of leg work to distance themselves from their more common cousins. Thanks to generation after generation of pervasive badge engineering (much of it from the Big Three), buyers can't be blamed for looking at brands like Buick, Lincoln, Infiniti, Lexus and yes, Acura as tarted up versions of Chevrolet, Ford, Nissan, Toyota and Honda products.
For much of its lifetime in the automotive landscape, however, Acura has excelled at putting distance between its offerings and that of its parent company thanks to cars with superior driving dynamics, quieter cabins and clean, attractive aesthetics. Yes, outliers and dull spots can be found in the company's recent track record, but by and large, Acura products remain situated well above the Honda rabble.
2013 Acura ILX Hybrid
2013 Acura ILX Hybrid
When the brand announced it was getting serious about the luxury small car game with the ILX, those of us with a set of the company's keys in our past couldn't help but envision an honest successor to the long-dead Integra. Turns out, that wasn't what Acura had in mind. As you've likely heard by now, the ILX is the least premium vehicle to wear the Acura badge in some years, but where the standard car falls flat, the ILX Hybrid may have room to excel.
Hybrid buyers are typically willing to sacrifice some measure of handling, cabin refinement and performance for fuel economy, and that seemingly lends this model a real shot at giving hybrid hardware from Lexus a run for its money.

Acura kept hybrid badging to a minimum with a simple pair of emblems on each fender paired with another on the trunk lid.

2013 Acura ILX Hybrid trunk lid
2013 Acura ILX Hybrid Trunk Lid
From the outside, the ILX Hybrid hides its Civic roots well enough. That's thanks to an attractive take on Acura's corporate fascia. With the shield grille somewhat tamed and an upkick along the lower valance, the vehicle's nose is fairly attractive. Swept-back projector headlamp arrays pull the eye toward the sedan's side, where a character line wanders from just behind the front wheel well to just north of the taillamps.
Acura also kept hybrid badging to a minimum with a simple pair of emblems on each fender paired with another on the trunk lid. Visually, they're the only indication this is anything other than a standard ILX. Well, those and the tiny 16-inch alloy wheels on our tester. We haven't seen rollers this petite on a luxury car since velour was a regular contestant on option sheets.  The sizable sidewalls on the 205/55 R16 all-season tires certainly don't do anything to make the car look premium, though we don't have any harsh criticism for the split five-spoke wheel design.
From the rear, it's clear Acura designers have finally begun to move back to basics, choosing clean lines and attractive taillamps over an abundance of angles. The look won't stand out in a crowd as particularly attractive or memorable, but it won't send the contents of your stomach scrambling for air, either. Given creations like the ZDX, we're grateful for small mercies.

The cabin is choked with materials that are unbecoming of a vehicle with a price tag over $35k.

2013 Acura ILX Hybrid Cabin
2013 Acura ILX Hybrid Cabin
But it's indoors where the ILX Hybrid begins to show its common blood lines. The cabin is choked with materials that are unbecoming of a vehicle with a price tag over $35,000. While the steering wheel, shift knob and handbrake lever receive nice leather and the dash is attractive enough, everything onboard simply feels half a step below the rest of the Acura line – it doesn't feel cheap so much as thoroughly Honda.
The leather seats are comfortable enough, but seem to be wrapped in the same hide found in a top-trim Accord. That's fine for a budget midsizer, but it's more problematic for a sedan with an Acura badge on the nose. The good news is that there's plenty of space inside.
The ILX Hybrid delivers ample head- and legroom for front-seat passengers, and the rear bench serves up 34. 1 inches of rear legroom. That's over an inch more than the comparably priced 2013 Lexus CT 200h hatchback, though the Lexus comes out on top in rear headroom. Still, with 35. 9 inches worth of space for lofty hair, the ILX Hybrid isn't exactly cramped. Where the model does suffer, though, is cargo capacity.
Engineers have trimmed the trunk capacity from 12. 4 cubic feet to 10 cubes to make room for the battery pack, and that number drops even further with the addition of the optional Technology Package.The extra gear cuts trunk space to 9. 8 cubic feet. For comparison's sake, that's nearly five cubic feet less than a pint-sized Nissan Versa.


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