Does the 2023 Acura Integra fix the Civic Si’s enthusiast disappointments?

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The new Acura Integra has arrived, and to quite the clamour. Sweeping up awards from publications across North America, the Integra has been praised for its premium comforts, sporting character, and competitive equipment. 

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The brand is on a good track here, and after the bitter disappointments of the new Civic Si, it needed to be. Unfortunately for enthusiasts, for all that the 2023 Acura Integra Elite A-Spec rights its platform-sibling’s wrongs, it still leaves a lot to be desired. 

As a premium compact sedan, the new Elite A-Spec does a lot right. The Integra builds on the excellent 11th-generation Honda Civic, a vehicle that we’ve praised for its intuitive interfaces, trustworthy and communicative driver assists, spacious and user-friendly interior, and even a surprisingly pleasant CVT. Five-door liftback models offer heaps of cargo capacity to boot, and all with a bit more refreshing character than you’ll see out of a comparable Toyota. 

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Shoppers looking a step up from the Civic Touring should find welcome comforts here, with an attractive leather package and front- and rear-seat heating at the ready. The Elite A-Spec techs this up with wireless device charging and a very sharp head-up display, which projects an unusually clean image without polluting night vision with a black square. 

Entry-level 2023 Acura Integra models start from $36,725 in Canada, while the A-Spec carries a modest bump to $39,425. Shoppers seeking the manual transmission may have to sacrifice a limb or minor extremity to pay for the Integra Elite A-Spec, which runs from $44,925 with either the six-speed manual or that same CVT. As an Expert™, I’d suggest that the left pinky is the least important to the Integra’s control layout. 

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As a compact sport sedan, the Integra has a little more to live up to — especially at the ~$45K pricetag for the manual- and LSD-equipped Elite A-Spec trim. Following the disappointments of the new Honda Civic Si, the Integra had the opportunity to address that car’s obnoxiously overweighted steering, mood-sapping rev hang, underwhelming throttle map, jarring torque curve, and abandonment of the previous generation’s adaptive dampers. The Integra hits only the last of these, reintroducing adaptive damping but otherwise largely replicating the Si’s driving character with a whiff more sound deadening and significantly stronger 16-speaker audio for transit between jaunts.

First and most apparent of these is the car’s steering. The FE/FL-platform cars use modern electric power steering, as is becoming the norm across most of the industry. These systems are simpler than conventional hydraulic steering setups, eliminating the need for a belt-driven pump and leak-prone oil lines and reservoirs — and all with the advantage of better computer and traction-control integration, not to mention mechanical advantage and precision of control. 

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The drawback, however, is in these racks’ digital character: even mapped to the normal ‘comfort’ setting, the new Civic platform’s steering is my least favourite offering on the market today. Though still mechanically linked to the road, the use of an electric servo reduces sensations to those of a force-feedback video-game steering wheel. Recognizing the lifelessness of these configurations, Honda has tried to simulate ‘weight’ by mapping artificial resistance curves into the FE/FLs’ feedback profiles. Like an Instagram filter laid on too heavily, the result is steering that feels needlessly stiff. It responds like derealization at best; a parody of a bad sim-racing rig at worst. 

Reducing the urgency of this dearth of feeling, fortunately, is the inclusion of the Si’s standard limited-slip differential. This welcome final-drive feature helps to more equally allocate the 1.5L’s skippy torque to both front tires, reducing wheelspin (and the need to feel it from the first moment). Off-throttle, the Integra’s 60:40 weight distribution privileges turn-in, while this differential enables a slightly quicker return to gas on exit — though the car does remain inherently understeer-prone if cranked too heavily. 

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Stuffing the gas, drivers will find torque quickly but abruptly. The Integra employs the same 1.5L turbo four as the Civic, tuned like the Si to 200 horsepower and 192 lb-ft of torque. It pulls with a sharp climb to peak torque right around 2,000 rpm, then just as steep a drop back down to a reasonably flat profile until a smaller blip up and down just past 4,000. Horsepower tracks a straighter VVT-managed path, with less dramatic highlights at those same points. Applied to the tarmac with a flat foot, drivers will find some lightened-flywheel jitter but little in the way of exhilaration. 

Enjoyment of the 1.5’s power is further impeded by the carryover of the Civic Si’s annoying rev hang. Hit the clutch on an upshift and the engine holds revs up through a gradual fade, a measure which plays nicely with emissions components but costs drivers the satisfaction of the lightened fly’s readiness to drop speed at the drop of a clutch. Disable auto-matching in hopes of connecting more closely with the car and this condition is even more noticeable; there’s simply no escaping all of the modern nannies. 

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Mercifully, this lacklustre pedal character and output are again offset somewhat by a pleasing six-speed manual transmission. The Integra notches stiffly into gear, with just enough space between positions to feel tight and sporty while remaining comfortably intuitive to the casual driver. Drivers interface through a pleasantly hefty milled gear knob and an easy, teachable clutch. It’s a respectably balanced setup, affording good enthusiast engagement while remaining approachable and comfortable for the everyday journey or lay-driver. 

Similarly comfortable is the Integra’s resurrection of active damping. Honda’s decision to cut this feature from the new Civic Si was frustrating, that car’s ride bumping along a spectrum of compromise that leaves it too stiff for everyday comfort, yet too soft for enthusiast poise. The Integra Elite A-Spec picks up that slack with driver-adjustable damping, enabling the Integra to ride winter potholes with a faster rate’s grace or slow and stiffen at a moment’s notice. 

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The Integra Elite A-Spec certainly makes some incremental improvements over the Si, but the real news here is in its comforts. For the leisurely driver, powerful upgraded audio and attractive leather pair with the assurance of Honda’s excellent ‘catcher’s mitt’ airbag and the Integra’s high safety accolades.

Stepping back, the Integra Elite A-Spec resolves into a fine value for a commute-focused family buyer who’d like a touch of dynamism on occasion, but a tricky proposition to brand loyalists seeking an enthusiast sedan between the Si’s tepidity and the Type R’s outright aggression. 

If you’re serious about FWD sporting performance, save a few thousand and grab the wicked Hyundai Elantra N. The Toyota GR Corolla Core is a distant but like-priced alternative, albeit without anything near the office-lot dignity or rear-seat comforts of the comparatively plush Integra. If you can stretch a few thousand more, the excellent new $50,050 Honda Civic Type R is an absolute hoot, if still outwardly adolescent. Ultimately, the Type-R-engined Integra Type S is soon to arrive with a stepped-up 320 horsepower, albeit surely for a good bit more money.