Review: The 2024 Acura Integra Type S Ain’t For Everyone
Automakers usually go out of their way to satisfy the largest possible audience, but sometimes they say, “take it, or leave it.â€
The 2024 Acura Integra Type S is an example of the latter. It’s a high performance version of the compact four-door that brought the classic name back to the lineup last year for the first time since 2001.
The Ohio-built $51,995 Integra Type S comes standard with a 320 hp turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine that powers the front wheels through a six-speed manual transmission, and Acura won’t sell you one with an automatic. Even if you ask nicely. Or beg.
It’s meant to be as pure of a driver’s car as a luxury vehicle can and is aimed squarely toward enthusiasts at the expense of the non-believers. Aside from the colors and a few appearance accessories, there are no options. But it is well-equipped.
Along with the powertrain, which uses a limited slip differential for improved traction, the Integra Type S has a digital instrument cluster, a head-up display and a lane-centering adaptive cruise control.
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Oddly, there isn’t a power front passenger seat, but the deep buckets are appropriately supportive for a sports car. Rear passengers get a lot of legroom for a compact, but six-footers will be tapping their heads on the ceiling. Despite looking like a bench, there are technically only two seats sets and seatbelts back there. Instead of a center armrest, cupholders are embedded in the hump that reminds you not to use it.
Behind the 60/40 split seatback is a 24.3 cubic-foot cargo area that’s accessed through a raked liftback that gives the Integra a statelier shape than the more upright hatchback design of the racier Honda Civic Type R with which it shares its platform and powertrain.
A large front grille opening and vented aluminum hood improve cooling for its very power-dense engine while also reducing aerodynamic lift. An elaborate rear diffuser bookending a triple exhaust helps keep the rear end planted at high speeds. The Integra Type S can reach 167 mph and accelerate to 60 mph in about five seconds along the way there.
Flared fenders stretch the bodywork nearly three inches wider than the regular Integra’s. It wraps around a computer controlled adaptive suspension and 19-inch wheels shod in Michelin Pilot Cup 4S summer performance tires. Braking is handled by 13.8-inch discs with Brembo calipers up front, and 12-inch discs in the rear.
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Luxury comes first and you have to switch the drive mode from Comfort to Sport or Sport+ to unleash its full fury, which includes firming up the suspension and opening an exhaust valve to turn up the volume. Sport+ takes it a step further by letting the pipes snap and crackle like an old tuner car when you let off the throttle. Overall, it feels geared more toward today’s IMSA sports car racing fans than the “Fast and Furious†folks past Integras appealed to.
The shifter and clutch are impeccable in the Acura/Honda tradition. You barely have to move your wrist to change gears and the clutch is light with perfect take-up. Even sitting in stop and go traffic is hardly a bother. A rev-matching system for downshifts smooths out the operation even farther, but can be turned off if you don’t mind heel-and-toeing the widely spaced gas and brake pedals.
The ride is compliant in Comfort mode and not too harsh in either Sport setting, but noticeably stiffer. There’s grip-a-plenty to go around and the front wheels do a good job of handling the 310 lb-ft of torque getting thrown at them, but do feel like they want to go straight when you’ve got your foot to the floor. You can also chirp the front tires on the first-to-second shift if you don’t lift at the engine’s 6,500 rpm redline.
It isn’t meant to be a track day car, but the cornering limits are high and it stays neutral all the way up to them before giving in to predictable understeer. Its happiest place is a winding road where it gets you into the groove and makes you wish it would never end, but will eventually be cut short by a 24 mpg combined fuel economy rating.
This Integra Type S is definitely more civilized than its predecessors of decades past, but will still egg you into trouble if you let it. It’s also a unique proposition in today’s marketplace, where premium competitors like the Audi S3 and BMW M235i Gran Coupe only come with automatic transmissions and front-wheel-drive.
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In a way, the standard 200 hp Integra that can be ordered with either an automatic transmission or a six-speed stick with adaptive suspension for about fifteen grand less is a closer option to cross-shop. It’s more than enough fun most of the time, but a level down on performance and visual pop.
Someone at Acura obviously prefers the Type S and thinks a few of you will too.
2024 Acura Integra Type S
Base price: $51,995
Type: 4-passenger, 4-door, front-wheel-drive liftback
Engine: 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder
Power: 320 hp/310 lb-ft
Transmission: 6-speed manual
MPG (city/comb/hwy): 21/24/28
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