2013 Acura ILX 4dr Sedan w/Premium Package (2.0L 4cyl 5A)
I purchased the Acura ILX after owning a Jeep Grand Cherokee for seven years. I really wanted a new JGC Overland, but decided it made more economic sense to look for a comfortable 60 miles/day commuter that would still give the feeling I was driving a solid entry level luxury car with most of todays tech features. The ILX has a very well engineered interior that seems well above the luxury level of a Civic or other lower end cars and in line with most other cars up to about 40K. It is a very pleasant place to relax while commuting a couple of hours a day. With a low 30's budget I compared against the Audi A3, VW GTI, Lexus 250H, and Suburu Outback and decided this was the best choice.
The interior with exceptional sound system and solid tech engineering and layout sold me on this car. The ILX is not a 0-60 performance car, but it does perform very smoothly with more than adequate power to not constantly be wishing for more power to get safely on the highways or make other quick manuvers. It will effortlessly cruise at 80, and handled quite well when I pushed it on some curvy mountain roads on a great road trip to Colorado.
I have read numerous reviews that say the performance or luxury level is not commensurate with its price level, but I could not find all around better at this price level. The A3 had more zip with its turbo 2.0, but with same level of tech it was more like mid 30's so one would be trading interior tech for engine performance, not to mention that the interior did not seem near as well designed, or to have the expected reliability of the ILX. Bottom line is this is a great car if the best 0-60 times is not your prime criteria. For day-to-day commuting I do not miss the 5.9 0-60 straight line sprint of my old hemi jeep, and would not even trade it for my wife's even faster/better G37S.