You expect crossovers, maybe a sports sedan…but a sports coupe?
Every automaker needs a halo — and that’s exactly what the NSX (below) is. There, you get just 350 examples of a 600 horsepower supercar, but does it make sense to build a new sports coupe? We’ve seen the Acura TLX Type S sedan, then expected (and received) the MDX Type S crossover, because performance crossovers are a thing. But now, the Integra is making a comeback in 2022.
Yes, that Integra.
This is definitely out of left field, and a sign that Acura’s continuing to dig back toward its performance and enthusiast roots. Beyond this teaser, there’s little technical information as to how the brand will follow up one of its biggest icons. That said, vice president Jon Ikeda promised it would embody the fun-to-drive spirit and DNA of the original, and we can see the TLX-like styling — with the Integra name carved into the bumper like the cars of yesteryear.
Odds are, we’re looking at a hot front-wheel drive (possibly all-wheel drive) model that shares its platform with the updated 2022 Honda Civic. It will still be a coupe, naturally, and have a turbocharged engine, paired to — fingers crossed — a 6-speed manual transmission. In other words, think of it as Acura’s complement to the Civic Si and Type R. That could possibly explain why Honda decided to kill off the Civic Coupe in this generation as well, beyond the low take rate. Make the coupe a more premium, enthusiast’s proposition for the relative few who actually want to go that route, and hey presto, you have the Integra.
Whichever direction Acura decides to move here, it will be exciting to see the Integra (and its inevitable Type S variant) back on the roads.
