Acura Hints at Relaunch of the Integra

1994 Acura Integra GS-R (Credit: Acura)

Everyone knows that Acura has fallen into a boring, non-compelling, no-good rut that has lasted for years and years. Aside from having some of the ugliest front ends in the industry, Acura vehicles overall don’t exude much in the way of excitement. It’s a sad truth considering that Acuras used to be so much more interesting.

The good news is that Acura executives know this. With the brand being managed separately from the Honda brand, big changes are coming. One of these is the final launch of the NSX halo car. Apparently, another at least potential change that might be coming is the relaunch of the Integra, a car that is still highly favored among car thieves.

Car and Driver spoke with Dave Marek, who is the chief designer at Acura, and learned some interesting tidbits. He didn’t say too much, but he did say that not only will the brand have a halo car, but also an accessible sport car. That more affordable model supposedly won’t be coming until 2017, even though the NSX launches in 2015.

Supposedly, the update for the ILX will take the small car in a sportier direction. While the sedan won’t be a hardcore performance model by any stretch of the imagination, it will at least hint at things to come.

So Acura might actually become exciting again, providing people with some affordable fun and nice features. Marek did admit in the interview that Acura has become too expensive while forgetting its enthusiast following, which has led to stagnation. Hopefully that means the future holds some reforms in those areas. A new Integra could help set off a fiery reform and maybe make Acura more relevant today.