The yet-to-be-revealed Acura Integra, which will be launched in the US, among other places, does not only hark back to the past with its name. The Integra also gets a manual gearbox.
Acura makes no mistake about this and shows on photo and video the shift knob of the manual six-speed gearbox that will soon be delivered in the Integra. That the luxury brand of Honda is taking this step is quite remarkable, because the new Acura Integra will be a five-door liftback, just like the first generation of the model.
That makes for a rare combination, because in the US manual transmissions are actually only supplied in real sporty types such as Mustangs and BMW M products and rough terrain executioners like the new Ford Bronco. There are also a number of ‘compacts’ that you can order with a manual gearbox, such as the Toyota Corolla. Until recently, Acura rival Genesis G70 was also available with a manual gearbox, but that changes with the very extensive facelift of that model.
Of course Acura does not get a top seller with a manual Integra, but the brand seems to jump into a niche that has been abandoned by almost every other car manufacturer. The new Integra will be available in China in addition to the US, although it is questionable whether that also applies to the manual transmission. Acura, and therefore the Integra, is not coming to Europe.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl