Tales from RMDE - 2023 Acura Integra
21 years.
It has been 21 years since Acura last sold a car badged Integra in the US market.
Enthusiasts remember the Integra coupe and sedan as a car that, along with the NSX, gave Acura its performance bonafides. It was that car, among some other Honda and Acura products, that made VTEC a household name and inspired a generation of enthusiasts of normally aspirated performance.
Then, in 2001, Acura killed the Integra along with their habit of giving actual names to their cars. In Japan, there was a 4th generation Integra…but here, in North America, we got that car as the RSX. Available only in 3-door hatchback form, that vehicle was plainly an Integra by another name. It would be the last time a hot small coupe would be sold by Acura in the US market.
Follow-on entry-level Acuras would carry names like TSX and ILX, the former a 4-door sedan sold alongside the 3-door RSX in the early 2000’s. None of these later cars had the performance chops of the fabled Integra.
Now, Acura has decided to drop the alphabet soup, dip into the past, and even put the name Integra on a hatch-back body-style (if only in 5-door form this time).
The original Integra was based on the Honda Civic platform. The new Integra is, unsurprisingly, based on the current Civic. It has more than a little in common with Honda’s hot version of that car, the Si. The Acura comes to market with the Si’s 1.5l turbo 4-cylinder and an available 6-speed manual transmission. A 9-speed CVT automatic is also available, if you are in to that sort of thing.
While that is a good start, in the last couple of decades, Acura and the luxury industry have shifted significantly. Cars are bigger and heavier. Everything goes faster and stops harder. Electronics pervade every aspect of the car from entertainment to safety.
In these ways, the new Integra is right in line with modern luxury. You will find automatic climate controls, a large infotainment screen with wireless Apple CarPlay, wireless Android Auto, and a wireless phone charging cubby in front of the shifter. If you still use cables for devices in the car, like an animal, it has dual USB ports for wired connections.
Our A-Spec test car came with seating swathed in bright red leather, heated in front. Entertainment duty is handled by Acura’s ELS Studio 3D system with over 700 watts and 16 speakers. The days of people replacing head units and speakers are behind us with these large touch screen systems - so it makes sense to sell an audiophile grade system from the factory.
The high-reving VTEC engines of old are out, the aforementioned 1.5l turbocharged 4-cylinder is in. The modern Integras do have the latest VTEC variable valve timing system, but they are not tuned to rev to the stratosphere like the cars of the past. In the place of raw RPM is power that comes on early (192 lb*ft of torque shows up down at 1800 rpm and stays all the way to 5000 rpm, but the 200hp peak is up at 6000 rpm). What we trade for that usable low-end power is a 6500 rpm redline - significantly down from the 8000+ RPM redlines of the past Integras. This easily accessed power allows a 6-speed manual Integra to get as much as 30 city mpg and 37 mpg on the highway.
The car we drove had both the A-Spec and technology packages. A-Spec brings 18” wheels (up from 17”) with wider tires (235 width all-season, up from the standard car’s 215’s). A-spec also brings other performance upgrades like a stiffer rear sway bar (18mm up from the standard 17.5mm) as well as a slightly faster steering ratio. Opt for the Technology package and the A-Spec car also gets an adaptive suspension that, along with the standard car’s selectable driving modes, adds an ‘Individual’ setting where you can mix and match performance settings instead of living with the pre-selected ‘Normal’, ‘Comfort’, and ‘Sport’. Those modes alter steering assist, throttle pedal aggressiveness, as well as interior lighting colors.
The Integra starts out at around $32000 (which is $3000 more than the Civic Si). This A-Spec with Technology Package rings in at a, still attainable, $37000.
While the Integra is a drivers’ car, it brings several features that help prevent collisions and unintended off-highway excursions. Three systems are all enabled by the Integra’s electric power steering and collection of sensors. ‘Traffic Jam Assist’, ‘Lane Keeping Assist System’, and ‘Road Departure Mitigation’ all help keep the car in its lane and on the road itself. ‘Collision Mitigation Braking System’, ‘Adaptive Cruise Control’, ‘Pedestrian Detection’, and the aforementioned ‘Traffic Jam Assist’ also use forward looking sensors to prevent collisions with cars and people in your path. The forward camera also enables a traffic sign recognition feature so the available head-up display can show you the speed limit on the current road.
Rear sensors provide monitoring of blind spots. Additionally, they can detect crossing traffic to help prevent backing out of driveways and parking spaces into oncoming cars. One more trick, is that the sensors allow the car to stop for you if you do not see an obstacle behind during a reversing maneuver.
That’s a ton of features that designers of the original Integra never imagined. A lot are simply the cost to be a entry level luxury car in the 2020’s. But does that result in a sports sedan that is worthy of the Integra name? Is this a car that truly lives up to the desires of driving enthusiasts of today and those that loved the Integra before?
Years ago, the Integra was a rip-snorting monster of a car. Kids fantasized about picking up one, used, so they could take advantage of all of Honda/Acura’s racing know-how by putting on a free flowing intake and exhaust, lowering the suspension, and adding fat racing rubber.
This isn’t really that car.
This car is smooth and comfortable. It is fast when it needs to be and handles well on twisting roads. It is a low to the ground sedan with sticky performance all-season tires. But it doesn’t remind you all the time that it is a performance sedan like the Integra of old. It goes and stops and corners well while being small enough to feel nimble and has room enough for small families.
And there is the secret to this car…this Integra isn’t the only thing that is 20 years older. It appears to be aimed squarely at those exact same kids who are also 20 years further along as well. They have families, they have obligations, they have much better paying jobs. They want something sporty that can be tossed around a mountain road, but won’t be taking this Integra to the track. They will appreciate the power and handling, and love that this car still allows the option to row your own gears.
They need that hatchback practicality but don’t want to be caught dead driving a ‘soccer mom’ RDX or MDX. Turbo power and light weight and a low center of gravity check a lot of boxes for the Integra buyer of old, but rear doors, a big cargo hold, and a long list of safety and technology features meet the needs of those same buyers 20 years later. Together, they make the Inegra an easy sell as a sporty family car.
This car will get the job done all week long while also making the driver (and even the kids) giggle on the weekends when the opportunity presents itself.
In that way, it is exactly the car that Integra owners or intenders of the past are likely looking for today.