#acura

Hi there! Remember that podcast we did a few weeks back? Well, we’re back with more.

There’s also more to come.

There is seemingly no end to the number of toys and tools automakers have at their disposal when developing new cars at places such as Honda. Wind tunnels – those development halls, not local politicians – have been around for decades but have seen an array of advancements in tech over the years. Today, Honda opened a state-of-the-art facility at its campus in Ohio.

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.

The upcoming Acura Integra is slated to be available with the company’s Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD), according to a report circulating on one of the forums managed by our corporate parents.

As a lifelong Snow Belter, I’ve long considered myself a fairly good snow driver – and I’ve long understood the need for winter tires, even over all-seasons in some cases. A recent trip to the ski town of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, courtesy of Bridgestone, confirmed some of what I already knew – and taught me some new things in the process.

For example, one can be a pretty good snow driver, and yet be pretty far from excellent. More on that in a bit.

Honda has filed to trademark ADX with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), presumably so it can use the name for an upcoming luxury model. While Honda has previously sold vehicles with alphanumeric monikers ending in the letter X, that’s literally Acura’s entire lineup and it’s supposed to be delivering a few new models to round out its rather limited selection.

Last night’s unveiling of the new Integra in L.A. wasn’t a surprise, given the number of teasers released by Acura over the last few weeks. There was a general consensus it would be a four-door hatchback of some ilk, and would very likely share many parts with other members of the House of Honda.

The 2023 Integra (technically a prototype but we all know that 99.9 percent of this vehicle will make production) did indeed appear as a four-door hatch – thankfully not as a tall-riding crossover – complete with a turbocharged engine and manual transmission. This didn’t stop keyboard warriors bleating from the depth of their parent’s basement that “ThIs Iz NoT a ReEl AcUrA” thanks to the 2023’s abundance of doors compared to the 3rd-gen coupe everyone remembers.

Here’s a newsflash for all those nimrods: The Integra has always been available with four doors.

Today’s Buy/Drive/Burn trio are near-premium sedans from the midsize segment. This set was a suggestion from commenter CoastieLenn on our B/D/B entry from last week. The year is 2011 – does Acura, Audi, or Volvo get the Buy nod?

If you were hoping the returning Acura Integra would be the peppy, three-door liftback everyone coveted 20 years ago, we may have some bad news for you. Based on the latest teasers coming from the Honda Motor Company, the fifth-generation model will likely harken back to the five-door vehicles that rarely saw themselves equipped with aftermarket body kits or cold-air intakes and barely received any screen time in the Fast & Furious films.

Rather than focus on the cars of the 1990s ( arguably the high-water mark for the Integra), Honda has decided to base the new model on the first-generation and even included a photo of the 1986 Acura Integra RS 5-Door in the latest marketing materials to drive the point home.

The 2022 Acura RDX is restyled, gaining new duds that are meant to ape the larger MDX.

A special-edition model is part of the offering for this year, too.

Mid-size luxury sport sedans sometimes come up short when it comes to the sport part of the equation. Acura’s TLX, for the most part, does not.

Yeah, I know, I just gave away my conclusion upfront, thus violating a basic guideline of writing a review. Stick around to find out why I came to that conclusion after the local press fleet tossed me the keys all those months ago (hence the snow).

Last week, we reported on Acura’s plans to bring back the Integra. In the article, I hinted at how Acura can go about getting it right.

I’d like to expand on that.

The Acura Integra is back, officially.

Having recently revived the Type S moniker for its performance products, Acura is keen to get the label on the famed NSX before it’s discontinued. The mid-engine, hybrid-electric sports car will be leaving us next year. But not before the Honda Motor Company attempts to build the finest example ever to grace the pavement.

Acura has said the vehicle will be produced in limited quantities, with a scant 350 units being the outside envelope. However, 300 of those are supposed to be reserved for the United States, where take rates are higher and consumers appreciate salt-of-the-earth supercars that don’t need to have Italian roots or cars to be manufactured in places with long, European-sounding names. The NSX is assembled at Acura’s Performance Manufacturing Center in Marysville, Ohio, where the town motto happens to be “Where the Grass is Greener.”

Despite issuing some of the most realistic messaging pertaining to electric vehicles you’re likely to encounter within the automotive industry, Honda has started to come around to making bold commitments that it’ll probably have to revise. In April, the company stated that it wanted EVs and fuel-cell vehicles to make up 40 percent of all new-vehicle sales by 2030 — with the figure climbing to 100 percent by 2040.

Right now, its alternative energy products include the Honda Clarity and marvelously executed Honda E (neither of which are likely to be available in your area). But more vehicles are coming and the brand recently announced the starting point for the business’ battery-electric offensive targeting North America. The whole shebang is supposed to kick off in 2024 when the all-electric “ Prologue” goes on sale.