Acura has revived the “Integra” name, last used in 2001, for a new entry-level luxury four-door hatchback to replace the lackluster ILX within Honda’s luxury-brand lineup. Just like two decades ago, the Integra serves as an upscale version of the Honda Civic. We found the new Integra to be a capable and fun car to drive, with good fuel-efficiency and easy-to-use controls. But it’s short on refinement, comfort, and flair for a sporty model from a premium brand.
The front-wheel-drive Integra comes with a 200-horsepower, turbocharged four-cylinder engine shared with the sporty Civic Si. It’s paired with either a continuously variable transmission (CVT), or an extra-cost-option slick-shifting six-speed manual (a rarity these days). The Integra trails some rivals in terms of instrumented acceleration numbers, posting a 0 to 60 mph time of 7.7 seconds, but we found that it works just fine during normal driving. We don’t like that the CVT causes engine revs to constantly rise and fall on long uphills, with just slight changes in throttle position, a trait which gets exacerbated when the car is pushed hard. At least fuel economy is respectable, at 31 mpg overall in our testing.