commasign

Hi everyone,

Longtime lurker, first time poster. Just bought the ILX Hybrid Tech. Sorry, no pics until 5 posts I guess. My own car is the 2012 TL SH-AWD Advance and the ILX is the wife's. Few quick notes after spending a few hours with the ILX.

Instant MPG at cruising speeds is right on the 40MPG bar and moves towards the 80MPG bar depending on how hard you press on the pedal.

There's a high pitched sound when breaking (regenerative breaking system). Not annoying, just surprised the wife first time we heard it.

Random items
- no power adjustment for passenger seat
- no 2 driver seat memory option
- while driving, Nav system doesn't allow input of a new address using dialpad (you can use voice I think, or you can select an address from addressbook), I guess they don't want you to get in an accident and maybe they assume there's no one in the passenger seat to input an address with you?
- only 1 power outlet
- there's TPMS indicator, but not the instant 4 tire pressures
- Nav screen map guide options is like the MDX (lists all of the upcoming turns) rather than the TL
- the rear seat area floor is flat like the Civics, makes it feel more roomy

The above are minor annoyances. The tech is otherwise just like the TL with the addition of SMS and Pandora. The ride is very quiet. In S mode the throttle feels responsive (almost too anxious to please - I think mostly it's just decreasing the delay). D mode is fine for commuting. Econ mode will get some getting used to.

Will post pics when I can.

neuronbob

Welcome to AZ and thanks for offering your driving impressions. I believe you are the second Hybrid owner on the forum. You also seem to be confirming that Acura was in the money or underestimating the hybrid's mileage.

Good on Acura for that!
TPMS but no pressure readings? Boo in a luxury car.

BTW, you can post pics at any time by hosting elsewhere and using the [IMG] and [/IMG] tags.

pickler

ILX-h should give you good mileage if you drive it mostly city. its a great car for rush hour traffic or busy city streets. its comfortable and efficient. great choice.

terdonal

Welcome to the forum.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

Congrats on your purchase!

commasign

commasign

Sorry, too small. Second try:

terdonal

Nice duo!

the_razor

really nice pics congratz
Look at the grill work Acura has put... I like the updated version better has more details and depth btw which one do you like the TL or the ILX grill?

commasign

The ILX grill seems to have a little more gap at the top, i.e. the TL grill is a tighter fit. I think they both look great now.

Colin

Looking at the rear 3/4 I never noticed how similar the two C Pillars are. I always thought they looked totally different.

commasign

Nice pickup. Hadn't noticed that. Yes, I love the family resemblance both on the inside and outside.

Colin

It has to be the angle of the picture you took. I noticed the smallish similarity in the way the C Pillar arch extends into the trunklid on the ILX. Nice pair of cars!

Rocket_man

One of the nicest looking hybrids on the market. And the reported mileage is impressive.

And it looks very nice in white.. Are you paying attention Weather??? You are missing this one from your collection.

commasign

Yep. Very pleased with the way it looks. I think people will continue to complain about the specs and pricing, but they definitely got the styling right.

killix52

How many miles are you getting per tank?

dominik331

Totally agree. I do like the looks of the ILX and the white is very attractive.

Welcome and Congrats.

Ken1997TL

Very nice! How's the power? My wife's CR-Z has plenty even on 5% inclines on the interstate. It is a manual transmission though.

commasign

LOL. We're still on the first tank. Wife doesn't drive very far for work.

commasign

Hard to give it a fair assessment since this is the only hybrid we've ever driven and my other car is a TL. No issues merging or passing on the freeway though.

4cruizn

Gorgeous duo! Love the OEM underbody kit on the ILX. The TL one will take some getting used to. Very nice. Glad you're enjoying the new ride.

commasign

Updates:

1st tank of gas, premium from dealer, 37mpg
2nd tank of gas, regular unleaded, 39mpg

This was almost exclusively on Normal mode. We did not use Econ or Sport modes (except occasionally playing around). Daily commute is about 2-3 miles of city streets and 15 miles of highways with mild to moderate traffic in each direction.

Random thought about some of the criticism of the ILX in general and the hybrid model specifically... While the 111hp is underwhelming, the 127 lbs-ft torque is quite reasonable. It's actually the same amount of torque as the old 1994-2001 Integra (127 LS/GS, 128 GS-R, 130 Type-R). Granted, the ILX is 300 lbs heavier, but the torque is available at much lower RPMs (i.e. 127 lbs-ft available at 1000rpm on the ILX vs 5000-6000rpm on the old Integras). So the power is there, it's just purposely dampened by the throttle response (especially in Normal and Econ modes) to save gas.

neuronbob

Colin

Not bad. I'll share this. Our 6MT CR-Z has a handy MPH screen that shows the average Miles Per Hour on a given tank. We consistently show 30 MPH on our 40 mile round trip. This includes (apparently) equal amounts of time at 60 MPH and time stopped in traffic. We are doing about 39-40 MPG. Interestingly, this car is rated for 31/37/34 so we're exceeding the 'city' figure by 9 MPG if you consider an average speed of 30 MPH 'city driving'. If you take it as 'combined', we're bettering it by 5-6 MPG. It makes me wonder if we placed the ILX Hybrid in our commute, could we get to 44-45 MPG?

ressling

Good looking rides. Love the TL! Enjoy your new "toys"

commasign

Just refilled. So this is my 3rd tank of gas. To summarize:

1st tank - dealer provided - premium unleaded - 37mpg
2nd tank - Chevron - regular unleaded - 39mpg
3rd tank - Chevron - regular unleaded - 41mpg

I'm impressed that the actual fuel economy matches or exceeds the advertised fuel economy. Wish my TL could do the same.

rickpoole

Are these figures from the MID or computed from miles driven / gallons used? All Acuras we've owned show about 10% higher MPGs in the MID than actual. If that is the case then the real mileage would be 35-36 on regular. Based on my experience with my TL using regular vs premium a 10-15% loss of MPGs on regular vs premium would be about right. If these are actual computed mileage using regular that is a very good sign for the ILX.

commasign

These MPGs are from the MID. Will try to calculate actual with the next tank.

rxj27

Hi fellow Acura enthusiasts! New owner of an ILX hybrid tech. Wanted to share my experiences including motivation to get this car.

As a recently married 28 year old male I was pretty set on buying a new TSX. However, wife wanted an eco friendly hybrid...Knowing that I was fighting a losing battle we went to look at the Prius and the Camry. Instantly, we both hated the cheap interior feel of the Prius (the C and the V). The Camry hybrid XLE had the luxury feel that we wanted but was too large a car. The fact that Camry's are ubiquitous around our neighborhood also made it feel like a boring me-too car. In addition, to the Toyotas, we also checked out the Civic hybrid. It again felt hard and cheap on the inside (would give it the edge compared to the Prius C). We seemed destined and resigned to buy the Camry XLE...Until, I convinced my wife to go to the Acura dealer for S&Gs (we didn't know a thing about the ILX hybrid at the time due to lack of any sort of advertisement). Luckily for us, the salesman steered us to the ILX hybrid immediately. Our instant impressions:

1. Interior had the right luxury feel with XM radio and navigation (two musts for my wife)
2. Size of the car was right (we are both under six feet and don't normally transport other people in the car)
3. No noticeable lack of power during our test drive around the city (we both live in the city and do mostly urban driving so HPs were a unneeded and unwanted feature due to the diligence of our metro police speed traps)
4. Sleek looking unique design
5. Hybrid engine to satisfy my wife

We signed the papers that night and after a month of ownership we are both still in love with the car. Our one month impressions after 3 tanks of gas (2 premium and 1 regular sandwiched in between) and 1300 miles:

1. Highway MPGs are vastly underrated. We consistantly average 42 highway MPGs (calculated both by the MID and by hand)
2. City MPGs are right around 39-40 depending on gradation.
3. No issues merging or passing on the freeway (feels slightly underpowered going up inclines at highway speeds)
4. No recall notices for the door latches..yet
5. I laugh every time I read that the Buick Verano is competing for the same market. Never did Buick even pop up in our conversations about getting a new car. Probably biased in that fact... but for people in their late 20's Buicks don't exactly have the sex appeal (or any appeal at all).

Will post pics soon...

terdonal

Congrats and welcome.

dominik331

Welcome and congrats.

Unfortunately for Buick that's how many 20-30s buyers think of them and that's an image that they are trying to shake off, but regardless of how good or bad the Verano might be, it is still competition.

Did you try the Lexus CT at all?

rxj27

Did not check the Lexus CT at all. The hatchback design was a turnoff...Only reason we checked out the Prius was because it is the "gold standard" for hybrids (wasn't impressed at all). Realistically, the Camry XLE was the only other option for us.

Unfortunately, for Buick having Shaq and Peyton Manning brag about legroom and country music, respectively, isn't going to change its image anytime soon no matter what the "car experts" believe.

neuronbob

Welcome to AZ!

Spirited Driver

Neuronbob, I'm a long time, big time NETS fan. Can't wait till the start of the season.

rxj27

Thanks! Actually grew up in Cleveland and still huge Browns, Indians, Cavs fan. Noticed that quote from Gilbert...probably time to change it after the 2013 moHEATos.

commasign

Congrats. We're in the same demographic. My wife was coming from a 1G TSX and didn't want anything bigger (i.e. no 2G TSX or TL). So the ILX hybrid was the perfect size, had enough power to be a commuter car, and looks nice (unlike any other compact hybrid available right now). Plus we wanted to stay in the Honda/Acura brand.

rickpoole

We test drove the ILX Hybrid 3 times and have not figured out how to do this while the car is in motion.

When on a long trip in my TL we'll look at exits 30-60 minutes ahead to see what restaurants and/or hotels are there and are easy to get to. We use the nav system to pick the icon and call them for info or to make reservations.

In the ILX we can do this while the car is sitting still but once it is in motion trying to move the cursor to a specific icon seems to be impossible. When you try to move the cursor a small amount it jumps a few inches in that direction. No one from the two dealers we've talked to can figure out a way to do it via the keys or via voice commands. Calls to Acura tech support have not been returned after 2+ weeks.

Has anyone figured out a way to do this?

Ken1997TL

There's a possibility the navigation is limited to voice commands once it's in motion. Honda is one of the last companies to do this and the ILX may be one of the first to do so.

rxj27

My wife and I had similar issues with the navigation at first. We have made a concerted effort to scroll for destinations before leaving our home while car still in P. At first it seemed to be a major detriment but now I realize that it's probably for the best. Hopefully, other 20-30 year olds will attest to the fact that we all have some level of ADHD. Driving is the one activity in our day that pretty much demands full attention. I'm glad they've incorporated this SAFETY feature. On the other hand I wish there was a way to disable it. For the time being google maps on the iPhone is sufficient and probably faster and more accurate.

Colin

I just tested this. While the car was in motion I was able to use the interface dial to move the cursor around the map. i did notice that it liked to "snap" to streets (Which then highlighted blue) versus stopping in the middle of an open section of the map.

I've written this reply elsewhere, but I will reiterate. While the car is in motion, you may use voice commands to find restaurants while on the move. I would recommend the "find nearest [insert restaurant type] restaurant" command.

As an alternative, while the car is in motion, you can use the interface dial to find all locations by category. What you cannot do while the vehicle is in motion is access the street level commands. So, while in motion you cannot manually enter a street name, letter by letter.

In my driving life I've seen numerous changes to what we can and cannot do in the car. can remember when it wasn't against the law to put a kid in a car without a car seat. I can remember when it wasn't against the law to not wear a seatbelt. I can't remember when it wasn't against the law to hold your mobile phone while driving. I can remember when it wasn't against the law to play your car stereo loudly. So, while there is currently no law against operating a navigation device while in motion, can you see the possibility that such a law could be created? Personally, I think it's better that they exclude what they're going to exclude now, rather than take it away with some future software update. at least this way, you know what you can and cannot do ahead of time. Before you buy.