Who wishes Acura made an Integra Type S?

[jd2157]

Really, this car is 2 seats short of an Integra Type R. Sure that’s arguable, but does anyone else wish Acura hadn’t copy-pasted the CTR but rather took the Accord 2.0T and made something to fill the gap between the Integra A spec and the CTR on power/price?

Instead, they seized the opportunity to increase their margins, like many do these days. I get it they’re in the business to make money and they’re doing the work smarter not harder thing by making fewer, but pricier, cars (and clawing back some $$ from ADMs at the same time). I can’t help but think a Type S with the bang4buck of a ~270Hp car priced between the Aspec and ITS, without limited production, does a lot more for the brand. It doesn’t just get people talking, it gets them walking into Acura dealerships… or does it? Maybe they were never going to sell that many because everyone wants SUV/EV these days so this WAS their best play for the ITS.

 

[wontondon]

No, cause then y'all would complain that it's just a rebadged version of the now extinct Accord 2.0.

You can't please everyone, but given that I was in the market for a FL5, this is a fantastic consolation prize.

 

[jd2157]

No, cause then y'all would complain that it's just a rebadged version of the now extinct Accord 2.0.

You can't please everyone, but given that I was in the market for a FL5, this is a fantastic consolation prize.

People gonna complain, true story ^^^. People like to do it and people like to click like on it.

Let’s imagine a world without manufactured scarcity where you could get that FL5… an ITS done in the same thinking as the RSX Type S makes sense and grows the brand more effectively… it’s what they used to do.

 

[ijm5012]

If they had taken the ~280hp K20C4/C6 from the Accord/RDX/TLX, offered it with the quicker shifting 10AT from the TLX-S/MDX-S in addition to the 6MT, and offered SH-AWD, it would've been a really interesting car.

Yes, it would've been heavier than the CTR, but the ITS is supposed to the car meant for the street, not the track.

But knowing what we know now, there's no way Acura could've spent the money necessary to do so (if they could even fit a rear differential in the car). Apparently the money to make the ITS was tight, and a lot of that was spent on the revised exterior, while carryong over a substantial amount of stuff from the CTR.

 

[RUNN1N]

I'm still truly baffled this thing has a 6MT rather than a 10AT--I thought for sure the CTR would be for the manual crowd, and the ITS would be for the automatic crowd. Two sides of a delightful coin, ya know?

Maybe next year. Not that I'm advocating for one less manual model in the world.

 

[ijm5012]

I'm still truly baffled this thing has a 6MT rather than a 10AT--I thought for sure the CTR would be for the manual crowd, and the ITS would be for the automatic crowd. Two sides of a delightful coin, ya know?

Maybe next year. Not that I'm advocating for one less manual model in the world.

They could've done both, like they do for the regular Integra (offer a 6MT or the 10AT).

Oh well, we should've known once the base Integra came out that the ITS was just going to be a badge-engineered carryover from Honda, but we tried to remain hopeful and optimistic.

Still, the thought of an Integra with SH-AWD to rival the AWD GR Corolla and Golf R would've been cool.

 

[wontondon]

If they had taken the ~280hp K20C4/C6 from the Accord/RDX/TLX, offered it with the quicker shifting 10AT from the TLX-S/MDX-S in addition to the 6MT, and offered SH-AWD, it would've been a really interesting car.

Yes, it would've been heavier than the CTR, but the ITS is supposed to the car meant for the street, not the track.

But knowing what we know now, there's no way Acura could've spent the money necessary to do so (if they could even fit a rear differential in the car). Apparently the money to make the ITS was tight, and a lot of that was spent on the revised exterior, while carryong over a substantial amount of stuff from the CTR.

Seems like the package of the 272hp K20 + 10 SPD auto was the expectation of the ITS a year ago, before spy pics of the triple exhaust came to light.

But if we considered adding sh-awd to the above, it would make the Integra a more functional/less expensive, hatch version of the TLX. Both of these cars may be competing for the same market segment.

Fully agree on the ITS budget being tight, but as Acura was pulling from the existing parts bin either way, I'm glad they went all out in the direction of the CTR, offering a lightweight platform with a high performance engine/suspension. This should help cater a more enthusiast/younger crowd than the TLX.

 

[ijm5012]

This should help cater a more enthusiast/younger crowd than the TLX.

Enthusiast crowd, yes. Younger crowd? I'm not sure how many young people are buying cars that cost $55k OTD.

Also, as a TLX owner, apparently I'm no longer part of the "young crowd", as I just turned a decrepit 34 years old.

 

[wontondon]

Enthusiast crowd, yes. Younger crowd? I'm not sure how many young people are buying cars that cost $55k OTD.

Also, as a TLX owner, apparently I'm no longer part of the "young crowd", as I just turned a decrepit 34 years old.

Yikes. I'm 36 and still think I'm part of the younger crowd.

 

[Integra23]

I will never grow up

 

[jd2157]

They could've done both, like they do for the regular Integra (offer a 6MT or the 10AT).

Oh well, we should've known once the base Integra came out that the ITS was just going to be a badge-engineered carryover from Honda, but we tried to remain hopeful and optimistic.

Still, the thought of an Integra with SH-AWD to rival the AWD GR Corolla and Golf R would've been cool.

Agreed, when the Integra was mostly copy/paste it shouldn’t have been a surprise when they did the same with CTR to ITS. Doesn’t make it a bad idea, I’m sure it was the best financial play. I too was hopeful they’d shake things up a bit… AWD would’ve been cool… 10AT I guess.

I guess Type R vs. Type S is really a chassis/susp/engine tuning exercise now. It’s confusing though, that wasn’t what Type S has been historically and the price delta between CTR and ITS doesn’t get you much… a new skin, a couple amenities, feels like most of it goes directly into Honda’s coffers because they can.

 

[ijm5012]

Agreed, when the Integra was mostly copy/paste it shouldn’t have been a surprise when they did the same with CTR to ITS. Doesn’t make it a bad idea, I’m sure it was the best financial play. I too was hopeful they’d shake things up a bit… AWD would’ve been cool… 10AT I guess.

I guess Type R vs. Type S is really a chassis/susp/engine tuning exercise now. It’s confusing though, that wasn’t what Type S has been historically and the price delta between CTR and ITS doesn’t get you much… a new skin, a couple amenities, feels like most of it goes directly into Honda’s coffers because they can.

Yeah, the $8k delta between the CTR and ITS gets you the Acura exterior (which I think looks better than the CTR), faux leather heated seats but they're not as sporty as the ones in the CTR, a HUD that is limited in what it can display, and the ELS 3D Stereo (which is a really great factory system).

To me it seems that Acura is trying to capitalize on the ADM that was seen with the CTR (why should the dealers get extra money, they literally do nothing), so they figured they'd pocket that rather than it go to the dealer.

What'll really be interesting is seeing how the cars move at these dealerships that require an ADM. I already think the ITS is a hard sell at $55k OTD, but there'll be dealers out there where it'll be $60 or 65k OTD, at which point you should be committed to a mental institution.

 

[KoukiVAB]

I think they should have done a 270hp 10AT Type S and called the 320hp one Type R.
I know Acura's only doing Type S now but bringing back the Integra nameplate didn't really make sense either lol

 

[ijm5012]

I think they should have done a 270hp 10AT Type S and called the 320hp one Type R.
I know Acura's only doing Type S now but bringing back the Integra nameplate didn't really make sense either lol

Why not, plenty of brands are bringing back classic nameplates after years/decades of some alphanumeric combination.

Integra certainly sounds better than ILX. I wish they would've brought the Legend nameplate back as well instead of TLX. I could see how it made sense for the first gen, where they combined the TL and TSX in to a single car. But now with the Integra in the stable, reviving the Legend nameplate would've been cool.

 

[Gregg]

Yeah, the $8k delta between the CTR and ITS gets you the Acura exterior (which I think looks better than the CTR), faux leather heated seats but they're not as sporty as the ones in the CTR, a HUD that is limited in what it can display, and the ELS 3D Stereo (which is a really great factory system).

To me it seems that Acura is trying to capitalize on the ADM that was seen with the CTR (why should the dealers get extra money, they literally do nothing), so they figured they'd pocket that rather than it go to the dealer.

What'll really be interesting is seeing how the cars move at these dealerships that require an ADM. I already think the ITS is a hard sell at $55k OTD, but there'll be dealers out there where it'll be $60 or 65k OTD, at which point you should be committed to a mental institution.

You also get longer periods for warrantees and roadside that's not insignificant when judging value of a new vehicle.