2023 Acura Integra: Return of the Entry-Luxury Sport Hatch

by Tim Healey

Published: March 10th, 2022

2023 acura integra return of the entry luxury sport hatch

We’ve been hearing a lot about the 2023 Acura Integra all year, and now the wraps are off, officially.

The entry-level luxury/sport hatch will, as rumored, offer a manual transmission, though it won’t have all-wheel drive.

Like the previous entry-level Acura, the ILX, the Integra appears to be heavily based on the Honda Civic, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Acura claims the Integra will be the only hatchback in its segment.

Pricing starts at around $30,000. Underhood will be a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder (yes, it has VTEC, yo) making 200 horsepower and 192 lb-ft of torque. A continuously-variable automatic transmission with paddle shifters is standard, with a six-speed manual available. The manual will get a helical limited-slip differential.

Adaptive damping will be available and the car will have Comfort, Normal, and Sport modes. A-Spec cars will get an “Individual” mode, as well. That A-Spec package will also give the car gloss-black trim, a lip spoiler, unique badging, and special 18-inch wheels. For other trims, the Integra will come with 17s standard and 18s and 19s optional.

Standard on the interior are a 10.2-inch digital gauge cluster, 7-inch infotainment screen, Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto. A larger infotainment screen, wireless phone charging, Alexa voice recognition, head-up display, and premium audio are available.

AcuraWatch driving-assist is standard, with an all-new single camera being used to power features like collision-mitigation braking. A-Spec cars get low-speed braking control and front and rear parking assist. Other driver-aid features include traffic-sign recognition, traffic-jam assist (CVT only), adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist, and blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert.

There will be LED lighting all around, including the fog lamps, and the rear gets dual exhaust finishers.

The Integra will be built in Marysville, Ohio, alongside the TLX.

Our initial “hot take” — or this author’s, anyway — is that the car will be a dressed-up Civic, and that’s just fine. The budget buyer will be just fine with the Civic/Civic Si, while luxury buyers or those who like the Acura’s looks better will be well-suited with an Integra. The Integra might compete well with the Subaru WRX and Volkswagen GTI/Golf R, depending on how the performance versions price out, though we can’t help but note the Civic Si offers similar performance for less than the Integra’s base price.

Acura is taking reservations now — and the first 500 folks get an NFT (barf). Deliveries are expected to begin sometime this spring.

[Images: Acura]

#2023AcuraIntegra #Acura #FutureCars #Integra #NewCars

Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

More by Tim Healey

Comments

Join the conversation

2 of 68 comments

Speedlaw on Mar 13, 2022

Darn. I'd actually hoped for content. I get a CVT. That goes in the Nissan Rogue, that is aimed at payment buyers who don't care about driving. Another triumph of Acura marketers over Honda engineers. Really guys, a CVT ? You couldn't find real gears for the Integra ???? I puke every time I see a Benz with a lit star......talk about automotive insecurity.

Like Reply
Garrett on Mar 14, 2022

I have to laugh at everyone opining on what the Integra was intended to be, citing examples that weren’t even the first generation. When my parents bought our 1986 Legend, I spent plenty of time sitting in the Integra in the showroom. It was nice, but it didn’t wow me like the Legend did… Fast forward to the 1992 model year, and I test drove an Integra. And ended up favoring the Mitsubishi Eclipse. The Integra was a good car, but it didn’t have the wow factor for a while. This current one looks to be the same. A good car, with good performance, that offers a nicer experience than a Honda. And that’s fine. What appeals to me is the hatch, and the available manual transmission. That being said, I’ll be waiting for an SH-AWD variant, preferably in a Type S….unless I can move to a warmer climate where I don’t need to mess with AWD.

Like Reply

Recent Comments

Bouzouki Cadillac (aka GM!!) made so many mistakes over the past 40 years, right up to today, one could make a MBA course of it. Others have alluded to them, there is not enough room for me to recite them in a flowing, cohesive manner.Cadillac today is literally a tarted-up Chevrolet. They are nice cars, and the "aura" of the Cadillac name still works on several (mostly female) consumers who are not car enthusiasts.The CT4 and CT5 offer superlative ride and handling, and even performance--but, it is wrapped in sheet metal that (at least I think) looks awful, with (still) sub-par interiors. They are niche cars. They are the last gasp of the Alpha platform--which I have been told by people close to it, was meant to be a Pontiac "BMW 3-series". The bankruptcy killed Pontiac, but the Alpha had been mostly engineered, so it was "Cadillac-ized" with the new "edgy" CTS styling.Most Cadillacs sold are crossovers. The most profitable "Cadillac" is the Escalade (note that GM never jack up the name on THAT!).The question posed here is rather irrelevant. NO ONE has "a blank check", because GM (any company or corporation) does not have bottomless resources.Better styling, and superlative "performance" (by that, I mean being among the best in noise, harshness, handling, performance, reliablity, quality) would cost a lot of money.Post-bankruptcy GM actually tried. No one here mentioned GM's effort to do just that: the "Omega" platform, aka CT6.The (horribly misnamed) CT6 was actually a credible Mercedes/Lexus competitor. I'm sure it cost GM a fortune to develop (the platform was unique, not shared with any other car. The top-of-the-line ORIGINAL Blackwing V8 was also unique, expensive, and ultimately...very few were sold. All of this is a LOT of money).I used to know the sales numbers, and my sense was the CT6 sold about HALF the units GM projected. More importantly, it sold about half to two thirds the volume of the S-Class (which cost a lot more in 201x)Many of your fixed cost are predicated on volume. One way to improve your business case (if the right people want to get the Green Light) is to inflate your projected volumes. This lowers the unit cost for seats, mufflers, control arms, etc, and makes the vehicle more profitable--on paper.Suppliers tool up to make the number of parts the carmaker projects. However, if the volume is less than expected, the automaker has to make up the difference.So, unfortunately, not only was the CT6 an expensive car to build, but Cadillac's weak "brand equity" limited how much GM could charge (and these were still pricey cars in 2016-18, a "base" car was ).Other than the name, the "Omega" could have marked the starting point for Cadillac to once again be the standard of the world. Other than the awful name (Fleetwood, Elegante, Paramount, even ParAMOUR would be better), and offering the basest car with a FOUR cylinder turbo on the base car (incredibly moronic!), it was very good car and a CREDIBLE Mercedes S-Class/Lexus LS400 alternative. While I cannot know if the novel aluminum body was worth the cost (very expensive and complex to build), the bragging rights were legit--a LARGE car that was lighter, but had good body rigidity. No surprise, the interior was not the best, but the gap with the big boys was as close as GM has done in the luxury sphere.Mary Barra decided that profits today and tomorrow were more important than gambling on profits in 2025 and later. Having sunk a TON of money, and even done a mid-cycle enhancement, complete with the new Blackwing engine (which copied BMW with the twin turbos nestled in the "V"!), in fall 2018 GM announced it was discontinuing the car, and closing the assembly plant it was built in. (And so you know, building different platforms on the same line is very challenging and considerably less efficient in terms of capital and labor costs than the same platform, or better yet, the same model).So now, GM is anticipating that, as the car market "goes electric" (if you can call it that--more like the Federal Government and EU and even China PUSHING electric cars), they can make electric Cadillacs that are "prestige". The Cadillac Celestique is the opening salvo--$340,000. We will see how it works out.
Lynn Joiner Lynn JoinerJust put 2,000 miles on a Chevy Malibu rental from Budget, touring around AZ, UT, CO for a month. Ran fine, no problems at all, little 1.7L 4-cylinder just sipped fuel, and the trunk held our large suitcases easily. Yeah, I hated looking up at all the huge FWD trucks blowing by, but the Malibu easily kept up on the 80 mph Interstate in Utah. I expect a new one would be about a third the cost of the big guys. It won't tow your horse trailer, but it'll get you to the store. Why kill it?
Lynn Joiner Just put 2,000 miles on a Chevy Malibu rental from Budget, touring around AZ, UT, CO for a month. Ran fine, no problems at all, little 1.7L 4-cylinder just sipped fuel, and the trunk held our large suitcases easily. Yeah, I hated looking up at all the huge FWD trucks blowing by, but the Malibu easily kept up on the 80 mph Interstate in Utah. I expect a new one would be about a third the cost of the big guys. It won't tow your horse trailer, but it'll get you to the store. Why kill it?
Ollicat I am only speaking from my own perspective so no need to bash me if you disagree. I already know half or more of you will disagree with me. But I think the traditional upscale Cadillac buyer has traditionally been more conservative in their political position. My suggestion is to make Cadillac separate from GM and make them into a COMPANY, not just cars. And made the company different from all other car companies by promoting conservative causes and messaging. They need to build up a whole aura about the company and appeal to a large group of people that are really kind of sick of the left and sending their money that direction. But yes, I also agree about many of your suggestions above about the cars too. No EVs. But at this point, what has Cadillac got to lose by separating from GM completely and appealing to people with money who want to show everyone that they aren't buying the leftist Kook-Aid.
Jkross22 Cadillac's brand is damaged for the mass market. Why would someone pay top dollar for what they know is a tarted up Chevy? That's how non-car people see this.