2014 Acura ILX: What's Changed

• Most significant changes: More standard features 
• Price change: $1,000 increase
• On sale: Tuesday 
• Which should you buy, 2013 or 2014? The 2014 gets more features for a minimal price increase.

Acura launched its new entry-level sedan in 2013, but it hasn't exactly been lighting the sales charts on fire. For 2014, the base ILX gets more standard features, "providing more content and value for the luxury brand's gateway sedan," the automaker said in a statement.

The compact sedan gets eight new standard features for an extra $1,000. Model-year 2014 base models start at $27,795, including an $895 destination fee; model-year 2013 models started at $26,795. New standards include 17-inch alloy wheels, new leather seating surfaces and leatherette door liners, an eight-way power driver's seat, heated front seats, a multiangle rearview camera, a new audio-system subwoofer and a noise cancellation system. These features were previously available as part of the Technology or Premium packages.

Model-year 2014 lineup pricing is below and includes destination; the compact sedan goes on sale Tuesday. Acura says information on the 2014 Acura ILX Hybrid will be announced at a later date.

Best Hybrids for the Money 2013

Gas prices remain volatile, but even so, no one expects prices below $3 per gallon ever again, and many parts of the country consistently see prices near or above $4. As much as ever, shoppers need to know how effectively hybrids deliver efficiency for your dollar — if they do at all.

To determine if a hybrid's added expense is worth the cash, we devised an efficiency-cost rating to reflect efficiency bang for your overall buck.

It's simply the combined city/highway mpg divided by the base price (MSRP plus destination charge). We then multiply that number by 1,000. This formula can be applied to any type of vehicle, hybrid or not. A high mpg rating and low price provide a high efficiency-cost rating. A higher score is the better score.

We don't account for equipment levels, quality judgments, cost of ownership or any variances from EPA mileage estimates. The goal here is to pay the least for the most mileage, barring all other considerations.

January's Fastest- and Slowest-Selling Cars

If Toyota's genie-granting Super Bowl XLVII ad got you thinking about the RAV4, you might have to wait for your local dealer to ramp up stock. The automaker's redesigned SUV was January's fastest-selling car, averaging just five days to move. It joins a number of 2013 redesigns: the Ford Fusion Hybrid, Land Rover Range Rover, Mercedes-Benz GL-Class, Toyota Avalon, Toyota Avalon Hybrid and Nissan Pathfinder. All seven cars saw substantial January sales improvements — beyond the industry's 14.2% overall gain, in fact.

Winter months had all-wheel drive in high demand; twelve of January's 18 fastest sellers offered it. Even luxury SUVs like the Mercedes GL-Class and Land Rover Range Rover, whose prices extend into the six-figure range, took little time to sell. January marks the GL's fourth month as a mover, and if that's any indication, the Range Rover, which went on sale in December, will likely stick around for a few months.

On the flip side, the Acura ILX had its fourth month among the losers (in ILX or ILX Hybrid form). Sales for the Civic-based premium sedan outpaced Acura's other sedans last month, but the car sold slower than it took for the Superdome's lights come back on. Buick's competing Verano took 49 days to sell — 44 days less than the Acura. Unsurprisingly, the Verano outsold the ILX by more than a 2-to-1 ratio in January.

2013 Honda Accord, Acura RDX and ILX to Offer Apple's Siri

Later this year, Honda will integrate the iPhone's Siri artificial assistant into the 2013 Accord, as well as the 2013 RDX and ILX from the automaker's Acura luxury division. If you have an iPhone 4S or iPhone 5 running the latest operating system, Siri can read incoming text messages, respond to texts and emails, add calendar appointments, check the weather, give sports scores or stock quotes, find points of interest, announce turn-by-turn directions or make a phone call over the car's Bluetooth system — just by pressing the steering-wheel Bluetooth button for a few moments. It's all part of Apple's new Eyes Free mode, which works while your smartphone screen stays dark.

Pricing for the dealer-installed option is still pending, Honda spokeswoman Robyn Eagles said. The news follows a similar announcement from GM, with other automakers — Audi, BMW, Chrysler, Jaguar/Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz and Toyota, according to Engadget — set to follow.

Honda's Ohio Plant to Build Accord Hybrid

Call it a hybrid hat trick: Honda announced today that it will manufacture the 2014 Accord Hybrid at its auto plant in Marysville, Ohio, becoming the automaker's third hybrid model to be built in the U.S.

Honda stated in a news release that it will invest $23 million and hire about 50 new workers at the plant, which will undergo a 95,000-square-foot expansion to accommodate the hybrid-production processes. Like the 2014 Accord Plug-in Hybrid sedan, the new Accord Hybrid will use Honda's first two-motor hybrid system, which teams a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine with a 124-kilowatt electric motor.

With the news that Marysville will manufacture the Hybrid Accord, it becomes the first of its four Ohio plants — only the second in the U.S. — to manufacture a Honda hybrid. The automaker's Greensburg, Ind., facility, which makes both the Civic Hybrid and Acura ILX Hybrid models, was the first plant in North America to manufacture a Honda hybrid. In the past three years, Honda has announced more than $800 million in investments at its Ohio plants, which manufacture nearly 700,000 vehicles and more than a million engines and automatic transmissions a year, the automaker stated.

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December's Fastest- and Slowest-Selling Cars

Automakers won't report December sales results until later today, but we have data on the month's fastest and slowest sellers. The redesigned Toyota Avalon hit dealerships in the first week of December, and it stormed the fastest-selling list, with regular and hybrid versions averaging just eight days apiece on dealer lots. Shoppers moved toward the Ford F-Series Super Duty pickup truck, too. That’s likely a result of an improved construction market; November housing starts hit their second highest rate since mid-2008.

The redesigned Mercedes-Benz GL-Class, which hit dealerships in September, spent its third month among the fastest sellers; the new-for-2013 Subaru XV Crosstrek also marked its third month on the list. Of the 18 fastest-selling cars, 10 were repeat performers, with such regulars as the redesigned Subaru Impreza and new Scion FR-S. The Kia Soul's severe mileage downgrade doesn't seem to have sapped demand, and neither has the popular hatchback's age. It debuted way back in early 2009, but in December it placed among the fastest sellers for the third month in a row.

NHTSA Adds Six Models to Five-Star Award List

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released a crop of new crash-test scores for several all-new or recently redesigned vehicles.

Audi's A4 sedan earned five stars across the board, including in front, side and rollover crash tests. Other vehicles earning the safety agency's top overall score are the 2013 Dodge Dart sedan, the 2013 Ford Focus sedan and hatchback, the 2013 Buick Verano sedan, Acura's new 2013 ILX and ILX Hybrid sedan, and Hyundai's redesigned 2013 Santa Fe Sport SUV.

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Regular Cars that Take Premium Gasoline

It's common to see "requires 91 octane gasoline for best performance" on the fuel door of sports or luxury cars. So, we scratch our heads when we see the same premium recommendation on a family car, hybrid or non-performance car. According to AAA's FuelGauge Report, the price difference between regular and premium gas is 32 cents nationally. Spending an additional $4.80 on a 15-gallon refuel isn't an insignificant amount of money, and you could save it if you buy a similarly efficient car at a similar price that runs on regular gasoline. 
 
Below is a list of cars that you may not guess recommend or require premium fuel. The manufacturer's fuel recommendation from the owner's manual or consumer website is listed alongside each vehicle. 

Cars.com Family Reviews the 2013 Acura ILX

The all-new 2013 Acura ILX is a compact sedan that’s based on the popular Honda Civic. This luxury five-seater is short on high-end features for its high starting price of $26,795, says Cars.com Family reviewer Carrie Kim. The ILX’s interior is better suited for date night than carpool. Carrie and her toddler fit well in the ILX, but if they added another passenger, it felt cramped.

2013 Acura ILX Review

Four More Vehicles Named IIHS Top Safety Pick

Although the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's crash testing recently became tougher, its Top Safety Pick list has just grown by four vehicles: The Acura ILX compact sedan, Ford Escape compact crossover and performance coupe twins Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ get the group’s top safety honors.

Each vehicle received the highest score of Good in front, side, rear and rollover crash tests. The rollover test includes a roof-strength test; to pass, a vehicle's roof must be able to withstand the force of four times its weight.

The coupes and sedan are all-new vehicles for 2013; the Escape was redesigned for the new model year and its scores improved. In roof-strength tests, the previous-generation Escape received a the second-lowest Marginal rating; Escape Hybrid versions were rated Poor, the lowest rating. 

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