Third Generation Acura Integra Review

66 Responses to “ Third Generation Acura Integra Review ”

Pages: « 1 2 3 [4] 5 6 7 » Show All Reverse Order

• jd arms :
  April 28th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
  
  

  I had a later version of these cars, the RSX-S for slightly less than a year. Strictly a love-hate affair. I was 38; she was 21.

  The driving was great; she knew all the right buttons. I loved the light weight, great stick-shift, wonderful handling, Spartan nature of the interior, VTEC, and surprisingly utilitarian hatch. The car was fun in the sack…I mean a twisty, two-lane country road.

  But living together on a daily basis - her immaturity really grated on me after a while. I hated the road noise, the stiff ride during routine commuting, the weak stereo, the lack of four doors, the lack of torque, and fact that I had to wring her out to 6800 rpm (with the accompanying cop attracting noise) to get maximum power. Plus, the RSX-S seemed to have a roving eye toward a younger guy with saggy clothes and a sideways baseball hat who would bling her out and take her to the (race) club.

  Bottom Line: She was a nice car, and we had some good times, but I found myself longing for something with a little more depth, maturity and refinement; something that would be just as comfortable with a copy of the NY Times (on the passenger seat) and a cup of coffee (in the cupholder) as it would be tearing up the backroads after a fill-up of high-octane cocktails.

  Our breakup was amicable; sometimes I see her around and think of what was, but then my eye turns back to my G35 and I realize we were made for each other.

  Someday though, I’m going to have an old RSX or Integra as my third car beater, and I’ll take her out to the country and fling her through some turns just for old times’ sake.

• TEXN3 :
  April 28th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
  
  

  The first car I bought was a polar white 1990 Integra GS coupe. Bought it from the neighbor in Houston in 1999, with 36k on the clock and in need of a little TLC. Paid $4600 for it. Put another thousand for a new AC compressor, belts, fluid change, brakes, and some other minor items.

  Car was packaged perfectly, especially considering it was from 1990. Power windows/locks/sunroof, factory CD player, cruise control, driving lights, lumbar adjustment, double-wishbone suspension, 4-wheel disc brakes, 130hp 1.8l with 5-speed moved the car along just nicely, no VTEC needed to drive around town or on the highway. But would have been nice on the back rroads.

  Made several trips from Houston throughout Texas and the southeastern US. Never skipped a beat.

  Only modifications were some Hella 3-inch driving lamps mounted in the front grill…looked pretty cool too. And some BFG Comp T/A all-seasons, with a full-size spare.

  Moved to SLC, Utah in 2002, had the car pretty well loaded but other items were on the moving van. Car ran nicely throughout 27 hrs of straight driving…back never got too sore and legs never got tired.

  Still returning 32 mpg on the highway and never had an issue climbing the Rockies or driving through the Wasatch and Uintahs either.

  Top of the radiator cracked, $400 to replace…did love the sound of dual fans running at their highest speed. Thought I was in a Cessna!

  Took several trips to Washington/BC, southern Cal, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, and Idaho through my college days… with the seats folded, you had exactly 6 ft for sleeping room (1 please).

  At 102k miles, the clutch had to be replaced and the T-belt. Well worth the money…did much of the other maintenance on my own. $800 for everything. A/C had to be recharged as well.

  Major snow storms hit Utah one year but the car did well on all-seasons, thanks to it’s nimbleness and ease of control. Always keeped chains, only used once in 7 years.

  But, even at that time on it’s original suspension, joints, bushings, shocks…etc. The car still handled well and went down the road smoothly. The rear bushings would creak a bit in the winter, the passenger side window would whistle a little, and the engine would idle a little rough when the A/C was on. But other than that, it was just an amazing car! The line of sight was superb with the hood in sight, gauges perfectly laid out, HVAC in reach.

  I did love that car, but with a new job in Boise and two degrees, it was time to move on. I bought a Mazda 3 GT wagon…since I had a good discount through my company with FoMoCo. The new Honda offerings were a bore (except the EP3 Civic Si hatchback but those were hard to find). The new Civic or RSX is in no way like the 2nd and 3rd gen Integra, they lack the “feel” and relative ease of use.

  The best thing about the Integra was it’s level of equipment, it’s relative refinement and handling that was on-par with new compact cars of 1999, and it’s low-cost of ownership. Finally, I put over 100k miles on it in 7 years and the total cost, minus fuel and fluids, was less than $7k. Can’t beat that nowadays.

  I sometimes wonder if I should have kept it, but the Mazda 3 has been great so far and it has almost 40k miles after 2 years. And, except for the Integra, my family has had Fords (and a few Mercedes sedans)…maybe it’s loyalty.

  Integra= the best FWD car that Honda produced. Maybe it’s nostalgia saying so. You can go bigger, better, more powerful, etc… but the simpliness and practicality of the Integra is what made it so great. Attention to detail. Like an older BMW, you can tell the engineers had the upper-hand in the development and design of the vehicle.

• campocaceres :
  April 28th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
  
  

  Having only ever driven my sister’s automatic version of this car I will say this: I found the car to be very boring. I also always found the interior to be very boring as well- just a big depressing gray mass. Other than that, though, excellent car- handsome exterior, practical, good mileage, good visibility, great reliability. This one deserves the praise it receives.

  I would also like to comment that I’m really starting to enjoy these older car reviews; how do the new cars stack up compared to the old ones? In this case, I’d say this one is still giving new cars a run for their money, at least in terms of quality.

• DearS :
  April 28th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
  
  

  I bought my 92′ integra with 180k plus miles, traded it (for a motorcycle) with a 190k plus miles with no problems (ever). I liked it a bit. Although I wish mine had more steering feel in certain areas. Its was great in back roads though.

• Joe O :
  April 28th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
  
  

  JD arms -

  You said, “fact that I had to wring her out to 6800 rpm (with the accompanying cop attracting noise) to get maximum power.”

  The RSX-S had an 7900 or 8100 rpm redline (7900 for 02-04, 8100 for 05-06). Maximum power came on at 7800 rpms and maximum torque at 5800 rpms.

  Everything else you said sounded spot on, but I don’t know too many RSX Type-S owners who would forget that it rang out to 8000 rpms….

  Joe

• jd arms :
  April 28th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
  
  

  Joe O -

  In order to generate torque, the engine on my ‘03 RSX-S had to be over 6000 rpms. Max horsepower was over 7000 and it didn’t redline until even higher.

  I was 37 when I bought it used. It was stock. It was fun, but that engine was just shrill at those rpms, and I just felt like I was forcefully aging the car ahead of it’s time even though I knew the engineers designed it that way.

  The engine needed to be over 4000 at all times, and that was loud…fun, but loud.

  Great car though.

• whatdoiknow1 :
  April 28th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
  
  

  Joe O :
  April 28th, 2008 at 3:35 pm

  JD arms -

  You said, “fact that I had to wring her out to 6800 rpm (with the accompanying cop attracting noise) to get maximum power.”

  The RSX-S had an 7900 or 8100 rpm redline (7900 for 02-04, 8100 for 05-06). Maximum power came on at 7800 rpms and maximum torque at 5800 rpms.

  Everything else you said sounded spot on, but I don’t know too many RSX Type-S owners who would forget that it rang out to 8000 rpms….

  Joe

  I think he means that 6800rpm is where the fun begins!

  I guess I am one of the few folks here that are not too concerned with “peak” HP. Look, if I by a car with an 7500rpm redline and it makes maxium HP at 7400rpm, maxium HP is all but theoretical to me because I am NOT going to take my car up to 7400rpm on a regular basis. Since I aint racing, 7400rpm and 7600rpm are the samething to me, it is no different than 7500rpm v. 7501rpm. Yet 7501rpm is in the danger zone and 7500 is not (I know, I know, fuel cut-off and all).

  I have driven enough modern mutli-valve engines to understand the issue is how much power is being produced at 3000 to 5000rpms. An S2000 is a very good example. At 5000rpms the S2000 is easily making over 150hp, which is quite a lot in a under 3000lbs car given it a feel like a super-miata. On the otherhand an S2000, IMO NEVER feels like a 240hp car and would have been far more FUN if Honda had tuned it out to a more realistic 200hp. with a much better torque band and lower power peak.

• Joe O :
  April 28th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
  
  

  Whatdoiknow -

  I think that was Honda’s rationale behind making the S2000 a 2.2 liter instead of a 2.0 liter and moving the redline downwind….

  Like I said, I own a k20z3 engine (06 Civic SI). Between some short gearing, a solid powerband, and under 3000 pounds this is without a doubt one of the peppiest N/A engine under 2.4 liters.

  The second cam switchover occurs at 5800 rpms; that’s where it goes from making ~140 HP (at 6000 rpms) to ~200 HP (at 7800 rpms). But below 5800, it’s essentially a stronger regular Honda Civic. Quite peppy. 0-60 in 8 seconds peppy.

  By the way, I cruise around in the 3000-5000 rpm range all the time, sure. But I regularly go up to 8000 rpms when I need maximum acceleration. If I owned a BMW 328i (50% more displacement), I would most likely do the same thing….to 7000 rpms….for that maximum acceleration. When needed. They have about the same acceleration times.

  Lastly…again, the statement “In order to generate torque the engine had be over over X rpms”….well, the engine produces essentially the same amount of torque at 3000 rpms as it does at 5000 rpms as it does at 7800 rpms. Right around 135-140 lb/ft. It just produces more and more HP the faster you spin it :)

  I’m not a high rpm fanboi. I dream of a bmw twin turbo engine. I own a Subaru Legacy GT. But I do want to clear up misconceptions :)

  Joe

• Nemphre :
  April 28th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
  
  

  I had a GSR model. Personally I think the engine really sucks. It sounds terrible and it has zero torque. Yeah, it went to 8100 RPM, but if it doesn’t pull, I could care less. Granted I did regularly get 33+ MPG. Also, the “leather” seats available on the GSR were junk. I’m convinced that it was actually vinyl. The seats were also so hard that I was convinced that I was sitting on stone slabs at times.

  I think the Prelude was a better car. It rides better, handles/steers better, the engine sounds better and has more torque, and it has more comfort and refinement. The teg does have better fuel economy, a better shifter, more headroom, a hatchback, and the wheel tilts higher.

• jd arms :
  April 28th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
  
  

  Joe O -

  Another great thing about my RSX, resale value.

  I owned it for 10 months and sold it for a little more than I bought it.

Pages: « 1 2 3 [4] 5 6 7 » Show All Reverse Order

Leave a Reply Back to Top

You must be logged in to post a comment.