Acura ILX to Be Built in Indiana

Acura’s recently announced entry-level luxury sedan, the Acura ILX, will be built in America, the company said. The move marks the fifth vehicle from Acura — joining the MDX, RDX, ZDX and TL — that will be built in North America. The Acura RL and Acura’s current entry-level car, the TSX, are built in Japan.

The ILX will be offered in three powertrains, and one will include a hybrid system. The hybrid model will also be built in America, and it will be parent company Honda’s first hybrid model assembled in the U.S. The Honda Insight and Honda Civic Hybrid are built in Japan.

The ILX will be built at Honda’s relatively new Greensburg, Ind., plant, which currently builds the Honda Civic. The ILX will be based off the Civic platform but will look nothing like the current Civic or the Canadian-marketed Acura CSX (which is essentially a Civic clone), Vicki Poponi, American Honda assistant vice president for product planning, told Automotive News.

The ILX will go into production in the spring. The model will accompany a totally redesigned RDX based off the restyled 2013 Honda CR-V, which will also arrive at dealerships around the same times as the ILX.

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Acura Bringing Three New Vehicles to 2012 Detroit Auto Show

NHTSA Gives 2011 Acura MDX 5-Star Crash Rating

The 2011 Acura MDX received an overall rating of five stars in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s new crash-test rating system, the safety agency announced today.

The MDX’s overall composite score is composed of a four-star frontal, four-star rollover and a perfect five-star rating for the combined side pole and barrier tests. The side barrier test is an area where other vehicles have shown weakness with the safety agency’s new testing format. The side pole test simulates a 20-mph side-impact crash into a 10-inch-diameter pole or tree at a 75-degree angle just behind the A-pillar on the driver’s side.

Cars.comparison: 2010 Acura MDX, 2010 Buick Enclave, 2010 Lincoln MKT

Skyrocketing fuel prices a few years back created a stigma around driving large luxury SUVs. In response, automakers launched a fleet of car-based family haulers to fulfill the demand for improved fuel economy but still maintain the overall size, ride height and comfort levels that SUVs owners have grown accustomed to. In our latest Cars.comparison, we test three seven-passenger luxury crossovers. Check out and see which model is the best at hauling a large family in style. 

Cars.comparison: Large Luxury Crossovers

2010|Buick|Enclave

2010|Lincoln|MKT

2010|Acura|MDX

2010 Acura MDX Video

Cars.com senior editor David Thomas explains why the 2010 Acura MDX is a luxury crossover with pretty good value, especially if you get the Technology Package. Check out this video to find out why the package is well worth the $3,000 and why families with more than two children may want to skip the MDX and look at other crossovers.

Cars.com Reviews the 2010 Acura MDX

The Acura MDX could be seen as the standard-bearer of the luxury crossover segment. Since its introduction, though, competitors have made every effort to overtake it. Cars.com senior editor David Thomas reviews the 2010 MDX and explains why he’s come to expect so much from it, as well as what changes can be found for the 2010 model year.

2010 Acura MDX Review

Cars.com Podcast: 2010 Jeep Patriot, 2010 Acura MDX, 2010 BMW X5 M

The 50th Cars.com podcast takes on three crossovers of varying stripes, from the lowliest Jeep Patriot to the performance heights of the BMW X5 M. Somewhere in between is the Acura MDX.

You can download the podcast via iTunes here or listen in your browser by pressing the play button below.

Cars.com Podcast #50

Cars Not Ready for iPad

I had only been in the 2010 Acura MDX for only a day, but one of the first things I wanted to do was check out if my iPad worked with the car’s entertainment system. Acura has updated the navigation and stereo system for the 2010 MDX (also in the new ZDX), and the screen is much sharper than anything Honda or Acura has produced in the past, and I would now say it’s on par with every other manufacturer.

However, the iPad did not work despite its built-in iPod app. The setup is similar to the iPhone, which works flawlessly with the MDX. In fact, you can control your iPhone or iPod content via voice commands in a very similar fashion to Ford’s Sync system.

Sync is also not compatible with the iPad via USB, but the Bluetooth streaming music option does work with the iPad. Acura has the same Bluetooth music capability, but I could not get the iPad itself to find the car’s Bluetooth signal.

Recall Alert: 2010 Acura MDX

Acura has issued a recall for 644 MDX vehicles from the 2010 model year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Certain models built between Oct. 7 and Nov. 14, 2009, may have a missing bolt that’s supposed to attach an interior trim piece to either the driver- or passenger-side A-pillar. If the vehicle is involved in an accident and the airbag deploys, the trim piece may break free of the A-pillar, which greatly increases the risk of injury to the driver and front seat passenger.

Dealers will inspect the interior trim piece and install a bolt if it’s missing. The inspection and any repair is, of course, free. Owners may contact Acura at 800-382-2238 or NHTSA’s hotline at 888-327-4236.

Pricing Announced for 2010 Acura MDX

Acura announced that the 2010 MDX luxury SUV will have a starting MSRP of $42,230, not including an $810 destination charge. For 2010, the MDX gets a new grille and other exterior enhancements as well as a new six-speed automatic transmission, which bumps up its fuel mileage by 1 mpg.

This is a decent increase in starting price from the 2009 model, which had a base of $40,990. The 2010 MDX tops out at $53,775 with both the Advance and Entertainment Packages.

The 2010 Acura MDX went on sale last week.

2010|Acura|MDX

Acura Makes Bluetooth, XM, USB Jack Standard

Acura will deliver three favorite consumer options standard in all its 2010 models. Hands-free Bluetooth connectivity, XM Satellite Radio and an iPod/USB adaptor will be standard across the line.

The XM radio comes as a free three-month trial subscription, which customers can then opt to keep or cancel depending on how much they use the system versus their iPods (or how much time they spend jabbering away on their Bluetooth-connected phones). Prices for these options usually range from $200 to $500 for each, which makes their standard inclusion a pretty good deal.

The only exception will be the base-level Acura MDX. This trim of the MDX will have XM and Bluetooth but not a USB input. We think this one exclusion seems strange, especially given that this trim accounts for 20% of MDX sales.

Still, Acura is savvy to usually include three of the most desired vehicle options — when it comes to entertainment and convenience — in its standard package.

Acura Makes XM, Bluetooth, iPod Adaptor Standard for 2010 (Gearlog)