The elephant in the room this week is obviously the new Acura Integra. We thought about asking how Honda could have done better or, why automakers were constantly disappointing enthusiasts, but we felt that that horse had been well-beaten. So instead we’ll ask about the good times, especially since Integras seem to be another one of those cars that everyone either owned, or knew someone who owned one.
What’s your fondest memory of the Acura Integra?
The best comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What JNC should receive a lifetime achievement award for design?”
If we based it solely on the number of comments, Mazda would far and away be the winner. Both the Miata and RX-7 got plenty of votes, with MikeRL411, speedie, and RotorNutCase, nominating the former, and dankan, Jeremy A., and f31roger raising a hand for the latter.
However, Toyota sedans had a strong showing as well, such as with Nigel‘s nod for the Toyota Celsior/Lexus LS400. Shaun was so close to winning with his vote for the Crown, but alas, it never came in a V12. Instead, the prize goes to Al, who casts a vote for the humble Corolla:
Well, I have to say the Corolla. It has been there forever, and it is the only one from Japan to be able to rival and oulast the Beetle. At the end, a design must be functional, nice on the eyes, and be able to withstand the evolution of the times. Those are the designs that last, the ones that blend and turn into the daily furniture of our lives.
I thought Toyota 2000 GT, Cosmo 110, MX5, RX-7, NSX, R-34, but those are the icons, the ones you frame in. They are the ones that most of us admire, but they are not furniture. Those are frames on your wall, that you look when specifically thinking on them.
A Corolla is there, naturally, like the table and the chair you’re in. I have only few memories on my RX7 or MX5. However, I have plenty on a Corolla, growing up. You barely even notice them now, as they fit like a glove in your ciry’s landscape. Never out of place.
Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!
Sadly, I think the fondest memory I have of an Integra is the deep want for one. In the mid-late 1990s I really, really wanted a GS-R 4-door. For some reason, it struck my 17-yeard old self as the perfect balance in a car as practical transport that was also something for the enthusiast. It wasn’t the Type-R, but the idea of air conditioning and day-to-day practicality seemed smarter as living in Canada made me realize that sometimes the world outside just sucked, so you needed something livable inside to counter that.
And nothing I’ve seen since really improved on that Integra GS-R as a solution. Sure, there are now cars which are bigger that do that. Some have plenty of screens and phone integration. But they don’t solve the issue any better for all that. So, I still want that GS-R, even though at this point it wouldn’t even be viable as the only car option for the family I have now.
Fondest memory of my Red 1990 Acura Integra GS is the fact that my ride was FINALLY a live example of my passion for driving. Before that I owned a Mazda 626 and even now, I’ve had mostly family sedans, some sporty, but nothing like a 2 door coupe with a screaming vtec engine. Yes, I’m aware the GS wasn’t the one that got people excited but that was what was real for me. The induction noise…the subtle vibrations of the engine…the crips 5 spd, I can go on and on.
I didn’t have the car for too long unfortunately so no driving trips but just the mere task of reminiscing owning this car and what it felt like is the fondest memory in itself. So much so that I had to YouTube Best Motoring and Top Gear to go back in time.
It was the third-generation Integra that really brought me into the import tuning scene. Since I obviously couldn’t “pay to play” I was relegated to high school levels of car customization, namely clear corners, fuba antennas, cutting springs, the squash air fresheners, fog lights, and racing stickers galore. The latest issue of Bay Area’s then “Tuning Concept” magazine, going to the car shops to look at the shiny exhausts, hiding the car magzines behind our textbooks in class…
If you say the word “Integra,” it will definitely spark the 90s for me.
Around the turn of the millennium, I was living in a rural area where there were no Japanese cars, much less Integras. But I wanted an Integra so badly. I’d travel an hour and a half to the nearest bookstore that sold Super Street and Import Tuner just to see how people were modifying their Integras. Then I moved to a major city for college, and it had a Japanese car scene. One of my college roommates my freshman year had a two-year-old Acura Integra GS-R, in red. His older brother worked at an Acura dealership, so it was loaded up with OEM Type-R parts, had coilovers, Racing Hart C-5’s, and a Tanabe Racing Medallion exhaust. That car was just so cool, and I treasured every time I got to ride in it. Hearing the engine hit VTEC going under overpasses was one of the coolest experiences ever. And his car was super-respected by everyone, not like my “Old 80’s Toyota” that everyone thought was a piece of junk (In actuality, a mint-condition A70 Supra Turbo sport-roof 5-speed; the world was a different place then.)
Unfortunately, my roommate wanted his parents to buy him a new Audi. But they wouldn’t because his GS-R was perfectly fine. So when our city got hit by massive rainstorms, his Integra ended up being “accidentally” driven through two feet of standing water that was sucked in through his cold air intake and hydro-locked his engine. Weeks later he got his new Audi. Saddest end to a dream car I’ve seen.
That is a crime against humanity.
Learning how to drive stick in a first gen.
Taking my prom date our in a second gen.
Getting a street racing ticket against a third gen.
Blew a ton of fuses and not knowing what to do in a fourth gen (RSX).
Good times…
Mine is pretty simple. My first ride in a friends DA6 Honda Integra XSi. In fact, it’s a specific moment that I can remember clear as day. Leaving from the Ti Rakau Drive/Reeves Road intersection going over Waipuna bridge. First at the lights, no cars in front. Through the intersection in first with the foot flat I hear the induction noise build through the lower revs. This sounds great! A Honda with free intake is a thing of beauty. The revs build, the tacho sweeps to 6000rpm and HOLY CRAP THE GATES OF HELL JUST OPENED! The symphony of the exhaust from the back and the induction in front is something else, and just gets better all the way to 8000! He grabs second then third, as we head up the long incline to the bridge my entire world is dominated by these noises, and I know that I will never forget this feeling. And I’m right. Twenty-something years later, I can still remember it clear as day.
It was the last car my mother drove.
1986: Walking or riding my bike from school, I’d admire these new Integras almost daily. They reminded me of the CRXes I saw in magazines years prior, the ones that Australia never got.
I’d later learn they were closely related, sharing the 3rd gen Civic platform.
Feb ’97: My DA9 CRX is stolen. I borrow the family Ford-badged 323 sedan and go car shopping.
Test driving a high-mileage AE86 didn’t impress my girl, less so when moderate braking saw the driver’s side glass slide forward and smack the front glass channel…salesman conceded “it could probably use new front shocks soon.”
Same day we test-drove a 1986 Integra SX (as sold in AU). It lacked power-steering and A/C, but felt tight and responsive. Maybe peppier than I recalled my CRX feeling in the lower gears. Figured that might be final-drive related, or the fact it had the “brown-top” ZC16 which was slightly less hobbled by emissions.
Wonderful car, wasted on basic commuting duties. However, the lack of A/C and my girl not coming to grips learning to drive a manual saw me selling it after only 8 months and buying an automatic ST162 Celica.
My grandmother bought a 1st gen when it released, and still drives it to this day. I even helped her upgrade it to some slick LED headlights too! now whenever my friends see it they say “YOOOO GRANNY GOT THE TEGGY”