Some good comments on your part. I agree with much of it....that Honda+ does indeed seem to be the Acura of today. What they lack in sheer Tier-1 status is made up for in superb build-quality.

BTW, though, the old Integra appealed to more people than just those who wanted Honda+. One of its core-groups of buyers, more often than not, especially with the two-door coupe, were backwards-cap guys like this:

 

if i'm opting for sportiness, i'd go with a Civic SI sedan and pocket the extra $6k. if i'm opting for luxury, i'd pay $3k more over the top fo the range ILX and get myself a TL 3.5 after all the incentives.

 

That's fine, if you can live with the TL's quirky and controversial looks. I'm not sure I could......to me, it looks like something out of a circus.

 

i know TLs are ugly, my wife drives one (the pre-facelift one) but, they're bang for the buck compare to the ILX 2.4

 

Mike, I'm not sure what a Civic goes for nowadays, but based on your test drive, do you think it's worth paying the premium for the ILX vs. a similarly equipped Civic?

 

Depends on what you want out of the car. If you just want a commuting or basic-transportation machine to get from Point A to Point B on weekdays, then save some money and get the Civic. The new Civic shows marked cost-cutting over its predecessor-model; the chassis/suspension is less-sophisticated, and the new interior is a cheap hard-plastic disappointment. But it would still make a fine commuter-car, and is available in high-MPG version even without buying the more-expensive Civic Hybrid. And the Civic, despite this year's cost-cutting, still shows the excellent Honda/Acura assembly-quality from the factory.

The ILX, on the other hand, drives more like an upmarket Civic than a real entry-level luxury-car, but its interior, IMO (especially in two-tone), is much easier to live with than the Civic's if you want a machine for more than just commuting....maybe for that extra-special Friday night date. Its paint-job, especially in black, also seemed better than the Civic's. The ILX comes with a longer Acura warranty then Honda gives, though what service is required may (?) cost more in an Acura shop. For simple things, like oil and other fluid-changes, you might (?) be able to take an ILX to a Honda service-shop and get the same job done cheaper. You can sometimes get Lexus service for less money at Toyota shops....you might also be able to do the same thing with Acura and Honda.

Last, of course, is your own budget, and what you can afford to actually write a check for or turn over for car-payments every month. The longer your loan is actually for, the higher the interest-rate is likely to be...that's why those 0%, 1%, and 2% factory-incentive loans you sometime see in dealer-ads are usually only good short-term. The longer you borrow the money for, usually the more you pay in interest. You could end up, in some cases, depending on the loan-terms, paying as much each month for a Civic as for an ILX.

As for my personal choice between the two cars, I'd like to see the ILX with a little more road/tire noise isolation and a sixth gear in the automatic transmssion, but, even as it is, I would find it more pleasurable to live with every day than the new Civic. If it were my money, I'd bite the bullet, spend a little more, and get the ILX. But my budget is, admittedly, not as tight as that of some other people, and I would not necessarily recommend doing that if your budget would be squeezed too tight each month. There are things in life, of course, that are just as important, if not more so, than spending money on a new car. Do it if you can afford it, but don't take it out of other cruicially important things.

Good luck, whatever your decision is.