Driven: 2023 Acura Integra A-Spec

We were shocked and appalled. The first time we fired up the 2023 Acura Integra A-Spec with Technology Package, put it into gear, and cruised down the street to the nearest highway, we couldn’t believe how light and faint the clutch pedal was, or how unnecessarily tough and notchy the shifter felt. If you’re going to revive such a badge, and promise enthusiasts you’re listening, these two crucial inputs must be bang-on—might as well drive any other car that’s auto only, especially when the price tag starts at $35,800.

However, once we were able to make a spirited right turn onto an on-ramp and bring it up to highway speeds, things started to look up.

The Integra transmitted a lot of the road’s surface to our fingertips and the steering’s weight felt quite on-point. Its action was light at low speeds, loaded up in corners, and confidently weighted on the highway, which is the ideal setup in any new car.

Then, there’s the ‘Teggy’s power plant. It’s the turbocharged 1.5-liter four-cylinder found in many Acura and Honda vehicles. Despite not producing that great of a tone, it makes a  sprightly 200 horsepower and 192 pound-feet of torque—plenty adequate for this 3,073 compact sedan. It hits 60 mph from a standstill in 7.5 seconds, which is a little slow, but the low-end torque makes it feel quicker than it actually is.

The car felt stable and confident on the road in any scenario, but we still weren’t sure what to think of it. Did Acura pull off reviving the Integra name? After a long afternoon on some twisty mountain-top roads, they absolutely did.

The Acura Integra handled brilliantly, and paired so well with the standard helical limited-slip differential. Despite some lean and roll in the corners, it had so much grip steaming along with all the gusto on 215/50/17 Continental all-season tires. The chassis was just so playful, and wrote checks that the Contis had a lot of trouble cashing, all while communicating so much of the road’s miniscule topography. We had almost as much fun wheeling it through our favorite roads as we did the 2022 Toyota GR86, which is high praise considering how much we love that flat-engined, rear-wheel drive hero.

To top it all off, the Integra in this spec was very well equipped. It features quality interior materials, comfortable seats, great ergonomics, great rear-seat room, and great infotainment, and more. We initially questioned whether it was a worthwhile upgrade over its chassis-mate the 2022 Honda Civic Si, however, the real comparison is with fellow entry-level luxury platforms like the Audi A3, Mercedes-Benz C Class, and BMW 330i. Sure, it’s front-wheel drive, but so is the base A3 (and Quattro, essentially), and we’d say that it’s a solid value over the lot.

Our only real gripes with the six-speed manual 2023 Acura Integra were its light clutch and too-notchy shifter, but everything else about it made up for these. We eventually got used to the clutch pedal, and some surprisingly thrilling launches ensued.