1990 Acura Integra GS Takes Two Steps Forward and One Step Back

From the June 1989 issue of Car and Driver.

We have driven the all-new 1990 Acura Integra, and it is good. Damn good. And yet we’ve come away from our preview drive feeling disappointed.

More on that in a moment. First, some background. Even a casual reader will know that the old Integra was one of our favorite cars. Ever since its 1986 debut, the sporty hatchback from Honda’s upscale division has impressed us with its amazing combination of practicality, performance, value, quality, and refinement. We voted the Integra onto our Ten Best Cars list in 1987 and then again in 1988. The Integra failed to make the Ten Best cut for 1989, largely because of tough new competition in the sports-coupe ranks, but by then Honda had a new Integra waiting in the on-deck circle.

The newcomer is now at the plate and ready to swing. Ruthless in its product-introduction schedule, Honda replaces its major players every four years whether the scouting reports say “minor-league” or “all-star.” (And they almost always say the latter.) Thus despite the old model’s heady press notices, the 1990 Integra is new from the tire contact patches up. It sports a new engine, a pair of new transmissions, a new suspension, and a new interior. The Integra’s look has changed, too: the five-door hatch­back is gone, replaced by a new four-­door notchback sedan. The three-door hatchback remains, but it too is com­pletely restyled.

Based on the latest Civic platform, the new Integra is longer, wider, and lower than the old model. The new three-­door’s 100.4-inch wheelbase is almost four inches longer than the previous model’s, and the new four-door sedan’s 102.4-inch wheelbase is more than three inches longer than the extinct five-­door’s. Both models employ the Civic’s suspension pieces: unequal-length con­trol arms and coil springs up front and a multilink layout at the rear. The latter ar­rangement consists of a trailing arm, two lateral links, a toe-control link, and a coil spring at each corner. Each end wears an anti-roll bar, and gas-pressurized shocks are used all around.

The bodies that cover these worthy components are entirely new. Compared with the old Integra, which was sharp and angular, the new models are soft, round­ed, and smooth. Flush headlights replace the old car’s pop-up units. Frameless window glass tops the side doors. Neat, thin taillights grace the restyled rear end. The shapes look functional, and they are: the three-door’s drag coefficient is a low 0.32, and the four-door checks in with a 0.34 Cd.

The interior is all-new as well, but that doesn’t mean surprises. Logic continues to be Honda’s guiding design force. The gauges are large, clear analog dials; the switches are simple buttons and knobs that feel good to the touch. And thanks to a panel that cants toward the driver, all the controls fall within easy reach. Happily, Honda has replaced the old car’s mobile-home-grade door and seat mate­rial with a natty gray cloth that considera­bly improves the interior’s appeal. We still have a few minor gripes—the steer­ing-wheel spokes, for example, are set lower than we’d like—but overall this is a first-rate cockpit.

Despite increased interior room, the three-door hatchback remains best suit­ed to two passengers and their luggage. Normal-sized adults can fit into the rear seats, but they won’t want to sit in them for long. Cargo fits better: the rear seat splits 60–40 and can fold down com­pletely for extra storage space. Drivers who frequently travel with more than one companion will want the four-door se­dan. It can carry four adults comfortably, and it has an 11.2-cubic-foot trunk.

The new Integra is more potent than the previous model, thanks to a new six­teen-valve, DOHC 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine. The all-aluminum 1.8-liter puts out 130 hp at 6000 rpm—a ten-percent increase over the old 1.6-liter four. Torque is up 17.5 percent, to 121 pound-feet at 5000 rpm. The Integra de­livers that power to the front wheels through one of two new transmissions: a five-speed manual with revised ratios and a larger clutch, or a stronger yet more compact four-speed automatic with a lockup torque converter. A driver­-selectable Sport mode raises the auto­matic’s shift points and increases its responsiveness.

Whereas the old Integra offered two trim levels, the new Integra offers three. The base RS package includes such stan­dard items as fog lamps, tinted glass, a rear wiper-washer (on the three-door only), intermittent wipers, and motor­ized front passive seatbelts. The LS trim kit adds power side mirrors, an AM/FM stereo with cassette, a power sunroof, and a new electric-servo-controlled cruise-control system that’s said to be more accurate than the previous vacu­um-operated system. The new top-of­-the-line CS package includes all of the previously mentioned niceties plus alloy wheels, power windows, adjustable side bolsters on the driver’s seat, and—on the three-door model—a rear spoiler. Most important, all GS Integras come with Honda’s ALB anti-lock braking system as standard equipment.

Though we sampled both three-door and four-door Integras during our preview drive at Honda’s Tochigi proving grounds in Japan, we spent the bulk of our time in a top-model five-speed GS three-door. We never base our final conclusions on preview drives, but we came away from our experience in the three-door GS with a number of telling observations.

The new Integra exhibits all of the goodness of the previous model—and more. The new engine winds to its redline with all the smooth, effortless grace of the old 1.6-liter, and the five-speed box shifts with a slickness all but unmatched in the industry. Despite the extra power provided by the larger engine, however, the Integra still doesn’t feel like a class-beating performer. We didn’t have a chance to conduct any instrumented tests, but a few hand-timed acceleration runs showed acceleration from 0 to 60 mph in the low-eight-sec­ond range. We saw an indicated 126 mph on the Honda PG’s banked oval, a con­siderable improvement over the old car’s 112-mph top end.

Hustled around the PG’s twisty road circuit, the new Integra proved that Honda’s engineers have learned from past criticisms. The old car tended to lose its poise when pushed hard; the suspen­sion felt too soft for seriously sporting maneuvers. And the steering lacked the direct feel that serious drivers appreciate. Happily, both of those shortcomings have received attention. The new all-in­dependent suspension feels considera­bly tauter and more composed than the previous rigid-rear-axle layout. Bend into a tight corner and the new Integra responds with no theatrics. Understeer is still the prevalent cornering attitude, but there’s enough trailing-throttle over­steer to make the car tossable and easy to slide around. The GS’s standard 195/60VR-14 Michelin MXVs add to the fun, providing reasonable grip and predict­able limits.

A new variable-assist steering system all but cures our other major complaint. The old Integra’s steering system was precise but furnished little in the way of cornering information to the driver. The new system, which gradually feathers out the amount of power assist as speed in­creases, is vastly superior. The Integra now steers with an accuracy and smooth­ness approaching the high standards set by Honda’s own front-drive Prelude.

By now you’re probably wondering why we prefaced this report with a sour note. What’s not to like, you ask?

Our disappointment stems from the new Integra’s character. The cars from Honda’s Acura Division are supposed to deliver something above and beyond Honda’s standard offerings. For the Integra, that has always meant a little added zest—more spirit, if you will. And that strategy has worked. The strictly sensible folks who wanted a first-class, no-nonsense set of wheels bought Honda’s Accord. Enthusiasts, on the oth­er hand—those buyers swayed by the conspicuous growl of a DOHC engine and the rakish presence of a swept-roof hatchback—gravitated toward the sporty Integra.

The new Integra, however, is a mid­dle-of-the-road car. Granted, its styling is smooth and neat—there’s not a tacky line on the exterior. But the shape is conser­vative, even boring. Instead of looking dashing, the new Integra looks stocky. The wheel wells look too roomy (or may­be the tires are too small). The rear spoil­er spoils the clean rear end. The nose looks heavy. This is not an exciting car to look at.

Nor is it particularly exciting to drive. Prior to our preview, we had heard ru­mors of a hot 1.6-liter four-cylinder with variable valve timing and horsepower ga­lore. The rumors, it turns out, are true—if you live in Japan. Domestic-market Integras will get a potent 1.6-liter four that is said to produce almost 160 hp (Honda would not confirm the output at our preview). Our Honda hosts made the mistake of allowing us to drive this hot­-to-trot Integra on the Tochigi oval. That was all we needed to feel cheated. Fitted with this powerplant, the Integra comes alive. The variable-valve-timing 1.6-liter four screams to its 8000-rpm redline like a Formula 1 engine under an iron boot. And it easily reaches that redline in fifth gear. Talk about zest!

Unfortunately, Honda views the U.S. as torque territory. That means a larger­-displacement engine with lots of low-end grunt, not a high-revving 1.6-liter ban­shee that prefers manual transmissions to automatics. And so, unless U.S. de­mand is great enough, the sizzling 1.6-liter will remain a Japan-only treat.

Source: Reviews - aranddriver.com