Whereas the original TSX begged you to play, though, the ILX asks politely, then keeps quiet when you show no interest.  Actually, it never quite keeps all that quiet. In sixth gear, the engine is buzzing like it’s in fourth. In fourth, it makes you want to hurry up and shift to sixth. The engine isn’t even halfway to its 7100-rpm redline at 80 mph, but the aural feedback suggests otherwise. It also suggests, inaccurately, that this engine has a turbo feeding it. Weirdness.

The ILX Hybrid carries a little more weight, about 100 pounds, more than the Civic Hybrid, which does not entirely explain the fuel economy difference. The Civic Hybrid gets 44 mpg in city and on highway, where the ILX Hybrid only gets 39 mpg city and 38 mpg highway. In my driving, which was biased toward traffic-heavy freeways, the trip computer ended up at about 36 mpg. Although, below the EPA estimates, the ILX Hybrid still showed itself to be frugal with the gasoline.

Finally, a semi-aggressive exhaust note is joined by a tiresome buzziness from the underhood during top-gear 80-mph cruises, at which point the engine is spinning at 3500 rpm or so. The sound isn’t as refined as it ought to be in this segment; luxury—entry-level, sporty, or otherwise—doesn’t sound like the Civic Si. Perhaps this has caused some short-shifting among our usually redline-happy drivers, as the ILX has returned 27 mpg combined so far, just four below the 31-mpg EPA highway rating.

The 2012 Acura ILX will appeal to buyers who want thrifty fuel economy and are looking to step up to a luxury brand. Acura touts the car's value, but we feel it is priced too close to, and even on top of, the more substantial TSX. The ILX does have a premium cockpit, but engine performance doesn't match the price, leaving rivals such as the Audi A3, Volkswagen Jetta GLI, Buick Verano and even Acura's own TSX as better alternatives.

Despite an attractive design and cushy interior, Acura's * * 2013 ILX compact sedan lacks the features and performance to compete with the best small premium sedans.

The ILX is the first misstep in Acura's reboot, which will include several new models over the next few years. It's smaller and less expensive than the TSX that has been Acura's entry model.

Twenty years on, DeMatio again drove an Acura compact luxury car home from the office. Only rather than a 130-hp two-door, this time he drove a 201-hp four-door. "I really like the ILX," he says. "Gearchanges are lovely, and the engine happily revs to 7000 rpm or lopes along at 6000 rpm in fourth gear at 85 mph." Yeah, he probably hit 85 mph on the same deserted stretch of Huron River Drive he's been piloting for decades, but everyone in the office is guilty of flatfooting in the ILX.

I love the ergonomically friendly interior. (Really, has Acura ever done a bad interior? I can't think of one.) Still, Acura is never quite sure of itself, so at the top of the car's center stack of instruments, they've put in big lettering, "PREMIUM AUDIO SYSTEM." Really, Acura, show some restraint. And get your designers to work on the mid-cycle exterior freshening of the ILX, to make it look sportier and more distinctive.

Perhaps the lack of an available navigation system will deter some potential buyers from the manual transmission model, but the ILX offers every other option I would personally want in a small luxury car. In fact, the size of the ILX is 1 of its best attributes. The car is easy to park, nimble on a tight road, and there's plenty of room inside for 4 adults. Fuel economy isn't stellar at 31 mpg highway, but my mixed driving easily matched or exceeded the EPA combined rating of 25 mpg despite my frequent excursions past 7000 rpm. Unless you're dead-set on rear-wheel drive, this is easily a frontrunner in the $30k sporty luxury sedan class.

To be clear, it's not as if the ILX is some kind of breakthrough. It's just a good little luxury car that you want to drive quickly. In other words, it's an Acura. Welcome back.

Even when you settle into a cruise, the thing won't shut up. Our ILX 2.4 is really loud, particularly for a compact sedan with luxury aspirations. We questioned whether our ears were simply too delicate, until the new Buick Verano Turbo showed up at the office. "The Verano Turbo is a better small luxury sedan -- it's quieter, smoother, and rides better," says associate editor David Zenlea. The fact that the ILX growls while the Verano whispers makes the Buick the superior choice for those downsizing from larger luxury car.

The ILX is fun, it's nimble, and, even though engine noise can be overbearing at times, it's refined. Acura did a good job creating a cohesive package for younger buyers to upgrade to without depriving them of all the flavor of a sport sedan. "No other automaker offers a four-cylinder and manual transmission as entertaining as Honda, and I credit the company for offering it in a car that's nicer and more refined than the Civic Si," says Zenlea, "but the truth is it needs to be nicer still." Other than sound deadening, what are some other areas that could use improvement? Find out more in next month's update.

Another thing we can report on the plus side of the ledger is the ILX can do a pretty mean burnout. I was told by a certain Acura PR person who shall remain nameless that it can lay an impressive patch, so naturally I had to find out for myself. Yep, he's right, it sure can. I had that tire spinning furiously on the way out of the AutoClub Speedway lot.

Most of the driving I've been doing lately has been out on L.A.'s mean highways, and while the left leg can get a workout at times in the inevitable stop-and-go, I've found the six-speed to be one of the easiest to modulate setups out there. It's a breeze to push it lightly when the going is slow, and when you want to get aggressive, the clutch pedal/shifter action is a cinch to wind out quickly and effectively.

Surprising, and puzzling, the ILX Hybrid’s fuel economy rating is 39 mpg city/38 highway and 38 combined while the Civic Hybrid bests those numbers with 44/44/44. The ILX does weight around 100 pounds more than the Civic but we’ve not learned what accounts for the discrepancy.

Our travels during a week with the ILX Hybrid racked up 379 miles, 187 miles on Interstates, the balance was mixed in town and some highway miles. Results? Our combined fuel economy was 41 mpg, three mpg more than the EPA’s estimate.

When we topped up with gas, divided the miles driven by the number gallons the results were 29.4 mpg. Certainly not close to the 41 mpg the Hybrid delivered the week before, but it was a decent 4.4 mpg increase over the EPA’s estimated 25 mpg.

While other ILX models are going after customers looking for either an affordable luxury car or a fuel-efficient hybrid sedan, the 2.4 model finds harmony between sport and luxury. Normally, playing the middle of the field is a good way for a car to make compromises on both ends, but the ILX does a fine job of balancing luxurious comfort with supportive sportiness.

During our week with the ILX 2.4, the fact that it's basically a fancier Civic Si stuck in the back of our heads, but time and again, this Acura impressed us with how much it didn't feel like a sportier version of an entry-level compact. Acura's crew surely deserves the lion's share of the credit for this, as the ILX has been given a beefier front stabilizer bar and a quicker ratio for its power steering than the Si. Even the sound quality inside the cabin is more of what we'd expect from a luxury car, the result of acoustic glass used for the windshield and the audio system's Active Sound Cancellation.

We complained that the car's engine was noisy in last month's update, and we've noticed that a lot of ambient noise worms its way in as well. "The ILX is in desperate need of sound insulation," says Floraday. Managing editor Amy Skogstrom agrees, saying that highway crosswinds caused a racket. She also called out the grainy rear-view camera, which deputy editor Joe DeMatio had previously harped on as well: "At night, what you see looks like a fuzzy old black-and-white movie on a crappy old TV."