Acura released the essential technical data and first images of its all-new Acura Integra Type S this week ahead of its first public outing scheduled for this weekend at the IndyCar Grand Prix of Long Beach. As expected, this new luxury sports compact targets purists with a standard six-speed manual transmission and a recipe largely borrowed from the Honda Civic Type R.
The beating heart under the hood in which is cut a large air extractor is thus the same 2L four-cylinder turbocharged cousin. In its case, power is boosted to 320 hp, a mere 5 hp more than the Type R, and torque is identical at 310 lb-ft. This cavalry drives the front streets only and the kick is contained by a limited-slip differential. This Acura also has adaptive damping.
Like the Civic Type R, its curved fenders reflect the widening of the tracks compared to the standard livery. They increase by 89 mm at the front and 48 mm at the rear. Significantly larger openings in the front fascia expose greater sensitivity to thermal management. Acura estimates that they increase swallowed airflow by 170%. Moreover, note the presence of a seemingly more opulent passenger compartment which incorporates bucket seats and a heated steering wheel at the front, elements not present in the Civic Type R. Despite this slightly more accomplished luxury, the Integra barely weighs 14 kg more than the Civic.
Acura didn’t outline its pricing strategy, but we should logically expect a higher price than the Civic Type R listed at $51,945. On sale from June.
