We introduce our latest fleet member,
the Acura ILX, plus updates on the BMW 328i, Dodge Charger, Infiniti JX35, and
Land Rover Range Rover Evoque.
Acura ILX
Luring young buyers to a luxury marque is
nothing new for Acura. The brand made its bones in 1986 as the first luxury
division from a Japanese automaker, entering the U.S. market with a two-car
line up: the full-size Legend sedan and the entry-level Integra hatchback. When
the Integra was first introduced, editor-in-chief Jean Jennings described it as
“essentially a new skin smoothed carefully over a collection of Civic pieces.”
More than a quarter century later, Acura is following the same template with
its new ILX, a compact luxury sedan that aims to please those who have stopped
worrying about acne and started worrying about mortgages.
Acura
ILX
Whether the ILX can be as successful as the
Integra is still an open question, but after his first drive in the new Acura,
associate editor David Zenlea reported that it “is not some kind of
breakthrough, but it’s a nice little luxury car that you want to drive quickly.
In other words, it’s the car we’ve wanted Acura to build for a while.”
Whereas the original Integra debuted with a
single powertrain, the ILX has three available engines, all plucked from the
current Civic. The base ILX is offered with a stroked version of Honda’s
1.8-liter four-cylinder, here displacing 2.0 liters, and the Hybrid - Acura’s
first - takes its powertrain directly from the Civic Hybrid. Those two models
should account for a majority of ILX sales, but we opted for the car that Acura
built to bait young professionals who color-match their neckties to their
Piloti driving shoes. The top-tier model’s engine and transmission are
transplanted from the Civic Si, which means the 201-hp, 2.4-liter four-banger
that rocks two cams instead of one can be had only with a six-speed manual.
The
ILX's exterior straddles the line between sporty and luxurious, while the
interior sits somewhere between luxurious and "Honda functional.” That
glut of buttons on the center stack? Not our favorite.
Our car arrived wearing an attractive coat
of crimson garnet paint and a price tag of $30,095. That’s $3300 more than a Base
Model, but the price bump adds a number of high-end features beyond the hot
engine: heated front seats, a seven-speaker audio system, leather upholstery,
Sirius XM satellite radio, a rear view camera, xenon headlights, and fog lights.
That’s in addition to standard features like a power sunroof and keyless
ignition. Not bad for a gateway car to the chic life, but there’s one glaring
absence from that list: navigation. It can be paired with either of the other
engines but not this one. That’s still a lot of luxury for a compact car,
though, and the interior wears its glitz almost as well as the exterior does.
The ILX doesn’t have any of the Civic’s bodywork, pulling only from the Acura
look book, complete with the omnipresent beak grille and rear fender kicks like
those on the slated-to-die ZDX.
In her first drive of the Integra, Jennings
said “a stronger design statement would move the Acura line farther away from
its honest but humble roots.” It surely has, but the ILX again proves what can
be done with some lifting, tucking, and coiffing. It remains to be seen, however,
if the callow crowd will go after Acura’s bait or simply nibble without biting.
The Specs
·
Price: $30,095
·
Engines: 2.4L I-4,
201hp, 170 Ib-ft
·
Drive: Front-wheel
·
EPA mileage: 22/31 mpg
Fleet update
Range Rover Evoque
Range
Rover Evoque
Miles to date: 18,863
Ryan Gosling nursing an injured puppy to
health while humming Harry Connick Jr.’s discography wouldn’t be as attractive
to women as the Evoque. For men, swap Gosling with Mila Kunis and HCJ with the
Black Keys.
7231: "Steering errs on the side of lightness
but is just as enjoyable as the the BMW Xl's hefty helm."
8510: Flight canceled, associate web editor
Donny Nordlicht says screw it and drives to Nashville, Tennessee. After 1058
miles at an average speed of 69 mph and getting 27 mpg, only the Evoque suffers
- from a cracked windshield.
9552: Rotary shifter is still annoying.
12,377: Creative director Kelly Murphy spots a giant brown bear during a
trip to Yellowstone. Stuffed, but a brown bear nonetheless.
13,008: Kendrick Lamar's new album, Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City, sounds
spectacular coming through the Evoque's optional seventeen-speaker system.
15,758: Senior editor Eric Tingwall:
"What's blocking the rear window? The cargo cover? Some dislodged trim
piece? Nope - the rear window is just that small."
Infiniti JX35
Infiniti
JX35
Miles to date: 15,882
With seating for seven, the JX is our go-to
vacation vehicle and is quickly racking up the miles.
3089: New York bureau chief Jamie Kitman:
"It reminds me in function and performance of my 1995 Mercedes-Benz E320
wagon - big, solid, lots of room, and 20 mpg no matter how you drive.”
5359: “Infiniti’s VQ V-6 sounds just as
coarse as ever, and the continuously variable transmission it’s attached to
makes the howl even worse."
7025: Copy editor Rusty Blackwell: “I cannot
wait until my youngest can wear wireless headphones so my wife and I can listen
to something other than Doc McStuffins or WordWorld."
Blackwell later discovers that two growlers of beer fit perfectly in the
under-floor storage area. Win for dad.
7576: First scheduled service costs $76.86.
Purchase and installation of trailer-tow package costs $932.50.
11,115: Tim Jennings, husband of the
editor-in-chief, takes the JX on a pheasant-hunting trip to South Dakota with
beloved pooches Bob and Ray.
BMW 328i
BMW
328i
Miles to date: 21,793
The 3-series hath not fallen from grace.
Our Luxury model is just too tame for our blood. Let Tingwall explain:
14,887: “The road/car/driver connection is
gone. The steering wheel follows orders diligently but never contributes to the
conversation. The engine is so quiet and smooth that you don't know if it’s
running at 2000 rpm or 6000 rpm until you look at the tachometer. These
characteristics might be categorized as ’refinement,’ but I consider them ’mistakes.”’
15,221: Low-coolant-level warning light comes
on. Dealership technicians have no idea why and give the car back to us.
16,670: 328i makes a trip to GingerMan Raceway,
wins brownie points for its on-track tossability. Run-flat tires ruined.
20,647: Coolant gremlins attack again! Back to
BMW, which proves futile - again.
21,540: Managing editor Amy Skogstrom: “When
iDrive was first introduced, we panned it for being overly complicated. Now,
the system is among the best in the business. Hold onto hope, MyFord Touch.”
Dodge Charger
Dodge
Charger
Miles to date: 20,915
Nearing the end of its year, the black
Dodge still exudes a certain charm.
12,765: Airbag light comes on. Corroded sensor
needs cleaning. Light comes on again. Dealership replaces wiring harness.
13,008: Young boy thinks aloud, “Is that a Corvette or a Mustang?"
Kids these days.
15,982: Back to the dealership. We get a new
shifter assembly after "service shift indicator light” message pops up in
the gauge cluster.
17,444: Nap-loving deputy editor Joe DeMatio is
amazed by how far the cushy driver's seat reclines. "It’s better than
Delta Airlines' business class.”
18,056: In the People's Republic of Ann Arbor,
the black-on-black-on-black Charger commands a lot of respect.
18,899: We dig the racetrack taillights.
19,792: Tingwall likes the adaptive cruise
control: “It’s cheap, it works well, and you can shut it off."
20,223: All four twenty-inch wheels are bent.
We call Alloy Wheel Repair Specialists of Michigan to get them fixed. Repairman
feels bad for us and charges for only two wheels. It still costs $260.
