Compare the2023 Honda Civic SiVS 2022 Acura ILX

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Honda Civic Si have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Acura ILX doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Civic Si are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The ILX doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Honda Civic Si has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The ILX doesn’t offer knee airbags.

Using vehicle speed sensors and seat sensors, smart airbags in the Civic Si deploy with different levels of force or don’t deploy at all to help better protect passengers of all sizes in different collisions. The Civic Si’s side airbags will shut off if a child is leaning against the door. The ILX’s side airbags don’t have smart features and will always deploy full force.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Civic Si has a standard rear cross-path warning system, which uses sensors in the rear bumper to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. Rear cross-path warning costs extra on the ILX.

The Civic Si’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The ILX doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the Civic Si and the ILX have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems and rearview cameras.

Honda pays for scheduled maintenance on the Civic Si for 2 years and 24,000 miles. Honda will pay for oil changes, lubrication and any other required maintenance. Acura doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the ILX.

There are almost 4 times as many Honda dealers as there are Acura dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Civic Si’s warranty.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Honda vehicles are better in initial quality than Acura vehicles. With 9 fewer problems per 100 vehicles, JD Power ranks Honda higher than Acura.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Honda vehicles are more reliable than Acura With 14 fewer problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, J.D. Power ranks Honda higher than Acura.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2021 Auto Issue reports that Honda vehicles are more reliable than Acura vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Honda 23 places higher in reliability than Acura.

The Civic Si’s 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 12 lbs.-ft. more torque (192 vs. 180) than the ILX’s 2.4 DOHC 4-cylinder.

On the EPA test cycle the Civic Si gets better fuel mileage than the ILX (27 city/37 hwy vs. 24 city/34 hwy).

The Civic Si has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The ILX doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Honda Civic Si higher (6 out of 10) than the Acura ILX (3). This means the Civic Si produces up to 23.4 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the ILX every 15,000 miles.

The Civic Si stops much shorter than the ILX:

For better traction, the Civic Si has larger tires than the ILX (235/40R18 vs. 215/45R17). The Civic Si’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the ILX (235/40R18 vs. 225/40R18).

The Civic Si’s tires provide better handling because they have a lower 40 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the ILX’s standard 45 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Civic Si has standard 18-inch wheels. Smaller 17-inch wheels are standard on the ILX.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Civic Si’s wheelbase is 2.6 inches longer than on the ILX (107.7 inches vs. 105.1 inches).

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Civic Si is 1.1 inches wider in the front and 1.5 inches wider in the rear than on the ILX.

The Civic Si’s front to rear weight distribution is more even (60% to 40%) than the ILX’s (63% to 37%). This gives the Civic Si more stable handling and braking.

The Civic Si handles at .97 G’s, while the ILX A-SPEC pulls only .83 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

To almost totally eliminate engine vibration in the passenger area, the Civic Si has a liquid-filled front engine mount. The liquid helps further dampen engine harshness. The ILX uses conventional solid rubber engine mounts.

Because it has more passenger and cargo room, the EPA rates the Civic Si a Mid-size car, while the ILX is rated a Compact.

The Civic Si has 7.3 cubic feet more passenger volume than the ILX (96.6 vs. 89.3).

The Civic Si has 4 inches more front hip room, 1.4 inches more front shoulder room, 1.2 inches more rear headroom, 3.4 inches more rear legroom and 2.4 inches more rear shoulder room than the ILX.

The Civic Si has a much larger trunk than the ILX (14.4 vs. 12.4 cubic feet).

The Civic Si’s standard folding rear seats are split to accommodate bulky cargo. The ILX’s standard single piece folding rear seat is not as flexible; long cargo and a passenger can’t share the rear seat.

The Civic Si’s power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch or automatically. The ILX has a lever-type parking brake that has to be strenuously raised to engage properly. It has to be lifted up more and a button depressed to release it.

While driving with high beams on, sensitive light sensors standard on the Civic Si detect other vehicles which could be blinded and automatically switch to low beams. The ILX doesn’t offer automatic dimming high beams.

The Civic Si will cost the buyer less in the long run because of its superior resale value. The IntelliChoice estimates that the Civic Si will retain 53.1% to 53.47% of its original price after five years, while the ILX only retains 44.39% to 46.52%.

IntelliChoice estimates that five-year ownership costs (depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel, fees, repairs and maintenance) for the Honda Civic Si will be $1129 to $6798 less than for the Acura ILX.

Consumer Reports® recommends the Honda Civic Si, based on reliability, safety and performance.

The Civic Sport was chosen as one of Car and Driver’s “Top Ten” for 2 of the last 5 years. The ILX has never been a Car and Driver “Top Ten” pick.

The Civic Si was chosen as one of Automobile Magazine’s “All Stars” for 2 of the last 26 years. The ILX has never been an “All Star.”

A group of representative automotive journalists from North America selected the Civic Si as the 2016 North American Car of the Year. The ILX has never been chosen.

The Honda Civic outsold the Acura ILX by almost 17 to one during the 2022 model year.