What is the huge deal with the exhaust tips? Nobody cares but you...
The new RDX has a hidden exhaust as well, the dealer told me Acura is moving towards hiding the exhaust on all it's upcoming new models, not sure if that's true.
Are you guys a bunch of ricers or what? LOL!

 

I like the fact there is no exhaust tip.. makes the car look more luxurious in my opinion.

Plus it's one less thing to keep clean. .

 

+1

 

does this not look luxurious:

 

I think the exhaust on that car looks like an after thought. Just cut a hole for the pipes... and again.. try and keep all those creases clean.

I wouldn't mind if the car had a clean small tip for an exhaust, but the first person that puts a cannon or coffee can on the car purchased the wrong vehicle.

 

What does this have to do with the discussion at hand?

 

Good question...

 

it has to do with discussion because someone said this:

To which I rebutted: that even a $250k luxo coupe has exhaust tips. Thus, we can infer that had the ilx had tips, it could have retained it's "luxury" look. That point notwithstanding, currently, I don't think the rear looks luxurious....the front, on the other hand, looks gorgeous.

 

A lot of other people do care. If we all like the same thing, we would all be driving the same car with the same color and powertrain and there would be no options and trims.

 

well said!

 

You forgot the part where i said "In my opinion". I wasn't trying to start a war... i just like the fact we don't have exhaust showing.

Probably because I bought the 2.0L I don't see it as a sports sedan, so i don't care about the performance aspect of it showing.

If I had to put an exhaust, I would perfer like this (Going to steal a picture from a sister site...)

 

When you're buying the "performance" version of a car, it does make a big deal. Like I've said before, I could care less if they do that on the base & hybrid, but treat the performance version like you mean it, not just half ass.
I believe the hidden exhaust trick will be an Acura standard for the near future.
Ricer? Judging by the list of mods on your 2001 MY vehicle, aren't you the pot calling the kettle black?!

 

This is well and fine for the hybrid and base, since that's the economy message you're trying to relay w/ those trims. But the message is a bit muddled on the "performance" version.

I saw one of these in person the other day. Someone drove by as I was walking' the front end and side view are very nice. Then you get to the ass-end; it looks too round, frumpy and well, just pathetic. It's like the designers spent so much energy on the front 3/4 and were just too tired to think about the rear anymore.

 

^the rear does look bad...hence why I'm more concerned about getting the aero components than trying to squeeze performance out of the car.

 

But you saw the back before you bought it, right?

So you loved everything about this/your car except the exhaust tips? The moment you got it home you knew you would change them? Or is it because of the criticisms that you have encountered?

As a newbie car enthusiast, I am trying to understand the drive to change aspects of your car.

Its extremely fascinating to me because modifications make your car unique compared to other ILXs. But on the other hand, they are mostly for aesthetic purposes. So at the same time you are conforming to "established" standards (exhaust, body kits, drop, tires, tint, lighting).

 

I think that this car has virtues that make it great; but, like anything, there is room for improvement. Again, I should reiterate that I am happy with this car -- it is head and shoulders above anything else I was considering at the price point. But, as previoiusly mentioned, the exhaust is not much of a bother, but it is something that I'd like to remedy. More so, the suspension needs fine tuning.

 

Quick Paint Chop at work..


I think the way the back bumper rolls in there is room to make the exhaust look good.

 

Attachment 113558

 

Much more subtle variant.

 

 

Slammed? photoshop or actual shop

 

that's gotta be a shop, they increased the size of the stock wheels...that looks good!

 

Photoshop from another member of this forum.

Check those chrome tips!!!!

 

I bought this car as a commuter vehicle for the most part so the exhaust part of it wasn't a big deal.
Is the back end of the car ugly because it's hidden, not in my opinion...

 

I don't totally disagree with you, I just don't think it's a deal breaker.
I was kidding in my ricer comment to some degree which is why I ended with LOL...
I sold the CL in my avtar a few years ago, I bought it 11 years ago, I guess my priorities have changed a bit since then.

 

Here's my take on what's wrong with this car after driving it for 2 months. First the good:
- Engine and transmission are beautiful. Nobody does a 4cyl like honda!
- No turbo! (and I can't stress this enough, i'm a mechanical engineer, as much as I like power, any time you add complexity you lose reliability . . .)
- The ride quality if very nice for this class of car (i'm not talking about handling)
- Interior is extremely well done, lots of usable space, quality materials all around
- Fuel economy is great
- Exterior styling is imo very nice, not overdone like most cars coming out these days (that's right hyundai, i'm looking at you), better than acura's previous offerings.

There's a lot of stuff this car does well that people don't seem to appreciate. The negatives though, while more nit picky i find really put a damper on things:
- Front seats, though confortable, are too wide and lack support
- I have squeaks and rattles coming from the dash already . . . unacceptable
- Confusion about whether this car is luxury or performance. I bought the 2.4L which is sold as the more exciting version. Everything is good the way it is if you sell it as a luxury car save for a buzzy exhaust note (get's very annoying! Needs more growl). If you decide to sell it as a performance model though, then it should have visible exhausts, stiffer suspension (currently compliance isn't bad, but the body roll in corners is pretty terrible), audible exhaust note (I miss my 350z with nismo exhaust for this one . . . but that's not really a comparison), better tire fitment, etc.
- Wheel fitment is terrible, put the size of tires (i'm talking outside diameter) on that the designers wanted, not the accountants!
- first and second gear are geared too short for everyday livability (would complain less without the buzzy exhaust note ...)
- inconsistent brake feel, they feel great shortly after a couple hard stops, but get fairly mushy after a while
- LED taillights (will fix this on my own . . . details to follow when I find time to fix)
- Lack of bi-xenon HID, seriously, the only difference is an electromagnet that moves the shield down in the projector, seems like it would cost less to put these in than a separate headlight for high beams.
- Lack of exciting paint colours (here in Canada, you get white, grey, or black . . . or that purple/blue, dark blue only works when it doesn't have any hint of purple in it (See '03-'06 G35 for nice dark blue colour))
- No tech package option with bigger engine, would have bought it . . .
- Audio system is slow and unresponsive, especially when hooked up to an 80gb ipod.
- No way to access voice dial feature on smartphone, have to use the built-in one which is limited to 20(?) spots and has to be manually programmed
- Audio system already looks out of date when car is new (low res screen, lack of colour depth, crappy graphics).

All in, I'm still fairly happy with this car, but I don't have a love-it relationship with it. When buying a car, i was comparing it to: GTI (too expensive (about 6K more in Canada), german), WRX (crap interior, needed STI to get similar features (but end up with way more power), tiny), Focus ST (ford dealers are treating it like something special, can't get a hold of one), New Altima (I know, not the same class, but you can cross-shop in the same price range, cvt only, boring), mazdaspeed 3 (my mazda 3 was a rust bucket after 8 years, not willing to go through that again, pig on gas). Hopefully it grows on me over time, but for a commuter car, it seems to do quite well.

 

Forgot to add my complaints about the steering. While steering feel is pretty good off-center, it is extremely vague and over-boosted on center. Some of this (vagueness) may relate to the crappy michelin tires on the car.

 

My passenger side tweeter housing keeps on dismounting, the sunroof weatherstripping is fading and looks horrible, and the car occasionally grinds gears on quick 1st-2nd shifts...currently debating whether or not I want to invest money into modding the car.

 

My passenger side black plastic door trims seem to be faded and look like they've been sitting in the sun for years. Anyone else see the same on their door trims?

I've had several small things wrong so far with the car but I still like that car a lot.

 

My Moonroof trim is "sun faded" already as well.. car just rolled 540 miles this morning. That's quite pathetic. I took ito the dealer and all they said was if it starts leaking, bring it back.

The door trim.. are you referring to the b pillars? Vertical plastic piece at the back of the door? If so the only thing I would suggest is on eBay they sell the vinyl overlay for the pillars to make them glossy or matt black. The vinyl won't fade as fast.

 

Can you guys post any pics of your faded trims? I have had mine since July, around 2000 miles now, and have not noticed any weatherproofing fading (but might be more diligent about checking it now!). I park my car outdoors facing east with a large maple tree shading it until late afternoon. Are you guys parking out in full sun all day?

 

It appears my right side plastic black pillar was faded not due to sun exposure but to a defect (another item) in production. You can only really tell when its sunny out. Looks worn.

 

Couldn't agree more. This was my main issue with the ILX I tested, and it my biggest complaint about my TSX too. Honda does EPS better than some, but it should be better IMO. (I also agree the tires probably contribute to the numbness on center.)

 

We talking about the inside of the car or the outside?

 

Outside

 

Weatherstrip fading and rattles already??!! That's pretty bad for Acura quality assurance, not very befitting a near-luxury company and a 30K'ish price tag. And it shouldn't matter if you park in the sun every single day, not after x amount of MONTHS. After 5 or 6 years, I can understand, but not this. I didn't hear rattles on my old DC5S 'til about 2 years in and that suspension was a chiropracter's dream. It also spent about 1/2 of its 8 year life outside, never saw any fading in exterior stripping.

 

I've seen that pic before, that member also p-shopped what a coupe would look like. This exhaust setup looks great and is the way it should've been from the factory. Certain supporters can say how played out the dual exhaust thing is and how unique the ILX looks; IMO, it just looks uniquely horrible.

 

Are we referring to the black plastic garnish that goes between the windows on the front door and the windows on the rear door, otherwise known as the B-Pillar? If so, I don't show any signs of discoloration but if there was, I can't imagine anybody denying warranty coverage on that.

Back in 2004, we had problems with TL dashboards fading and turning white. After several months of swapping dashboards it was discovered that the only people that have the problem were people that use something like "armor all" on the dash. Moving them to an Acura supplied vinyl dressing solved the problem.

 

I still don't know why my sunroof weather stripping is fading. That's a big no-no with barely 2 months on the car and 1800 miles.

 

Went searching the interwebs... found another thread that seems to be applicable.

http://www.chargerforums.com/forums/...d.php?t=155607

The "faded trim" actually turned out to be dried soap and wax. They recommended Mr. Clean magic Eraser. Seemed to work judging from the before and after pics.