Sporty fun with access to the Acura brand
It was the Civic and Accord that established Honda as an automotive presence in the United States in the mid-'70s, and it would be the Integra that would lead Acura's quest for legitimacy in the mid-'80s. And Honda needed Acura to succeed if for no other reason than that it had too many cars to sell and not enough dealers to sell them.
It's impossible to separate the history of the Integra (which evolved into the RSX) from the birth of Acura itself. So first, a little trip back two decades to the business pages.
The birth of Acura
In the early '80s, the popularity of Japanese brands with American buyers was undeniable and increasing. GM, Ford, Chrysler and the United Auto Workers still had plenty of political pull, however, and together they were pressing politicians to impose import quotas on Japanese cars. To avoid such a dire predicament, the Japanese makers agreed to voluntary import restrictions beginning in 1981. In 1984, for instance, only 1,850,000 cars would be imported into the U.S. from Japan and just 360,000 of those would be Hondas.
For Honda, the restrictions were ominous because while its cars were popular in the United States, they weren't so popular in Japan. The company was (and still is) dependent on America for its profits. So the company built a big assembly plant the first for a Japanese manufacturer in America in Ohio that by 1983 was churning out up to 300,000 Accords, and constructed another plant in Canada to build Civics. With those plants working, Honda could pump 700,000 cars into the U.S. market during the 1986 model year, even though the company could only import fewer than 400,000.
But Honda only had 800 dealers across the country nowhere near enough to move that much metal. Honda could have established a lot more Honda dealers, but that wasn't likely to make the 800 they already had too happy. The solution to this problem, Honda decided, was to establish Acura as a second distribution channel that would sell more upscale vehicles under a different name.
"Some 3,000 applications for Acura dealerships which may not be combined with any other car dealership, even Honda's have poured into Honda's Gardena, California, offices," Fortune Magazine reported in a 1985 article. "Robert and John Eagle are typical of the fervent group: 'We went for the Acura dealership because Honda is behind it,' says Robert, who, in partnership with son John, owns Honda and Acura franchises in Dallas and Houston. 'We have very high customer satisfaction with Hondas,' he adds. The Acura franchises cost the Eagles $3.5 million. 'I know we might lose a little money for the first few months with Acura,' says Robert, 'but long range it will be one of the most sought-after franchises in the country.'"
In fact, those first Acura dealers would have to be at least 10 miles away from the closest Honda dealer. "We don't expect buyers of Acura models to be those who are likely to come into a Honda dealership," explained Clifford G. Schiffsen, then a senior vice president at American Honda, to Business Week in 1985.
When Acura opened its dealers' doors in 1986, the first two cars in the new division's line were the small Integra coupe and sedan hatchbacks, and the luxuriously large Legend sedan. The Legend would eventually evolve into the RL and the Integra would become the RSX.
First-generation Integra: 1986-1989
The first Integra in 1986 was a straightforward car. "The foundation of the Integra models is Honda's highly adaptable and capable Civic chassis," wrote Car and Driver upon its introduction. "The three-door version is based on the 96.5-inch wheelbase of the Civic four-door sedan and five-door wagon. The five-door Integra rides on a 2.8-inch-longer version of the same chassis. Both models employ the Civic's strut front suspension, located by lower control arms and sprung by torsion bars. The Civic's power-assisted rack and pinion steering is standard. In the rear is the familiar coil-sprung rigid axle located by two trailing arms and a Panhard rod; just as on the Civics, the ride-side trailing arm is free to rotate on the axle tube, preventing the axle's torsional rigidity from restricting suspension motion."
The Integra shared a lot with the Civic but it was also better than that car. The brakes were upgraded to larger discs up front, and discs replaced the Civic's drums in back. The tires were big (for that time) P195/60HR14 Michelin MXVs. But the biggest step forward was under the hood.
The Integra engine was based on the 1.5-liter all-aluminum four then being installed in the Civic but it displaced 1.6 liters, wore a new twin-cam 16-valve head and had programmable fuel injection. That all resulted in 113 horsepower at 6250 rpm (22 more than the '86 Civic CRX Si's injected 1.5-liter SOHC four) and 99 pound-feet of peak torque at 5500 rpm.
The DOHC 1.6 was a civilized engine, too. "Mated to a five-speed gearbox," wrote Road & Track in its test of a five-door '86 Integra RS, "the engine propels the Integra deceptively quickly. It's actually faster than it feels, perhaps because of its quiet smoothness, flat torque curve and aggressive gearing. While the linkage is slick and the ratios great for getting you up to speed, we'd like a more relaxed 5th gear. Turning 7000 revolutions per minute smoothly is a fine achievement in an engine, but why must we use nearly 3000 of them to cruise at 55 mph?"
The Integra wasn't perfect, but it was closer than most small cars had ever come. Many observers found the styling boring and the "DOHC Programmed Fuel Injection" lettering plastered on the cars' sides was just dopey. The interior didn't stray far from Honda's established themes, the ride was well controlled and the handling was the best in its class. And it was pretty quick, too. Car and Driver's Integra LS 3-door hit 60 mph in 8.8 seconds and ran the quarter-mile in 16.5 ticks at 82 mph.
In total, Car and Driver was impressed. "The Integra's 16-valve engine technology has been racing around European and Japanese streets and Formula 1 circuits for a few years, so it lands in America fully matured," the magazine concluded. "The modest Civic underpinnings have been elevated to a new plateau with minor refinements and a major upgrade in rolling stock. The interior fittings and exterior decor have class without being crass. The real magic, however, comes from refinement. The Integra's engine matches its suspension which jibes with the cockpit, which makes sense with the exterior envelope. What we have here is an automobile so nicely integrated that even its name fits."
The original Integra would change little over its four years in production. It was always offered in two trim levels (base RS and upscale LS) and in only the 3- and 5-door body styles. The interior was refined with a few minor tweaks in 1988 and a "Special Edition" SE coupe was offered during that model year. But otherwise it was very much the same car during 1989 that it was in '86. That was just fine.
Second-generation Integra: 1990-1993
"Though the base model is priced only slightly higher than last year's model," explained Road & Track at the introduction of the second-generation 1990 Integra, "it's a longer (by 3.9 inches), lower (by 0.7 inch), wider (by 1.8 inches), roomier car with styling cues that say upmarket Acura rather than reconfigured Honda." The first Integra was so good, that it was stunning how much better the second Integra could be.
While the 3-door hatchback body style returned, the 5-door was gone in favor of a conventional 4-door notchback sedan. Both RS and LS returned as trim levels, too, but a new GS now hovered above them and brought some real luxury to the line.
Based on the new-in-'88 Civic, the structure of the second-generation Integra was, said Acura, up to 30 percent stiffer than the original, and 90 percent more resistant to torsion stresses. The new suspension used A-arms (double wishbones) up front instead of MacPherson struts and the rear suspension was now fully independent with one trailing arm, two lateral links and one toe-control link per side. The original Integra's suspension was well sorted and expertly tuned, but the new one was all that as well as sophisticated and technologically advanced.
The front suspension design allowed a very low hood line and a very low cowl that gave the car a unique profile that would typify Honda and Acura vehicles through the '90s. Throw in thin pillars in the greenhouse and frameless window glass and the Integra's appearance was unique. "On both the hatchback and the sedan," explained Car and Driver at the time, "the glass extends up out of the doors with no metal surrounding it. When the windows are up, they press against a complex and highly resilient seal attached to the body's door opening... The benefits are obvious. The pillars look slimmer. The side glass fits nearly flush with the outer surface of the body. And when the door is open, the part above the beltline intrudes less into your entry-exit space."
But what stood out most about the new Integra was its all-new, all-aluminum 1.8-liter DOHC 16-valve four-cylinder engine. The new engine wasn't based on a Civic power plant, and beyond being bigger it was more efficient, producing a full 130 hp at 6000 rpm and 121 pound-feet of peak torque at 5000 rpm. Still, things would get even better.
"What we have here is the definitive luxury econobox," summarized Car and Driver. "That may sound like an oxymoron, but it perfectly describes the new Integra GS."
After carrying over through 1991, 1992 brought the first appearance of Honda's Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control (VTEC) scheme to the Integra. Fitted to a 1.7-liter version of the Integra engine, the VTEC system boosted output to a full 160 hp that's 95 hp per liter. At the time that was the highest specific output of any normally aspirated automotive engine for sale in North America. Even better than the 3.0-liter V6 in Acura's near exotic NSX sports car, which introduced VTEC to America the year before.
Installed in the new Integra GS-R, the VTEC engine's 8000-rpm redline was thrilling. "The result is an engine with outstanding smoothness, response and flexibility," gushed Road & Track. "Peak torque is 117 pound-feet generated at 7000 rpm: good but not spectacular. What's notable is its Kansas-flat distribution of torque across the rev scale, with more than 100 pound-feet on call at just 2500 rpm... GS-R owners can enjoy the VTEC engine and keep a low profile, because exterior changes are thankfully subtle: slightly more aggressively styled front and rear bumper caps, body-colored side moldings, plus VTEC and GS-R logos... At an estimated $17,000, the Integra GS-R should whet the appetites of more than a few enthusiasts Acura hopes to devote 10 percent of Integra production (400-500 cars a month) to this high-performance model. For the little bit of Senna in all of us, that's heartwarming news."
A "Special Edition" Integra coupe with a unique rear spoiler and wheels was produced during 1993, but the line was otherwise unchanged. It would be tough to top this Integra. And topping the GS-R in particular was almost unimaginable at least to those of us outside Honda's engine lab.
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It was the Civic and Accord that established Honda as an automotive presence in the United States in the mid-'70s, and it would be the Integra that would lead Acura's quest for legitimacy in the mid-'80s. And Honda needed Acura to succeed if for no other reason than that it had too many cars to sell and not enough dealers to sell them.
It's impossible to separate the history of the Integra (which evolved into the RSX) from the birth of Acura itself. So first, a little trip back two decades to the business pages.
The birth of Acura
In the early '80s, the popularity of Japanese brands with American buyers was undeniable and increasing. GM, Ford, Chrysler and the United Auto Workers still had plenty of political pull, however, and together they were pressing politicians to impose import quotas on Japanese cars. To avoid such a dire predicament, the Japanese makers agreed to voluntary import restrictions beginning in 1981. In 1984, for instance, only 1,850,000 cars would be imported into the U.S. from Japan and just 360,000 of those would be Hondas.
For Honda, the restrictions were ominous because while its cars were popular in the United States, they weren't so popular in Japan. The company was (and still is) dependent on America for its profits. So the company built a big assembly plant the first for a Japanese manufacturer in America in Ohio that by 1983 was churning out up to 300,000 Accords, and constructed another plant in Canada to build Civics. With those plants working, Honda could pump 700,000 cars into the U.S. market during the 1986 model year, even though the company could only import fewer than 400,000.
But Honda only had 800 dealers across the country nowhere near enough to move that much metal. Honda could have established a lot more Honda dealers, but that wasn't likely to make the 800 they already had too happy. The solution to this problem, Honda decided, was to establish Acura as a second distribution channel that would sell more upscale vehicles under a different name.
"Some 3,000 applications for Acura dealerships which may not be combined with any other car dealership, even Honda's have poured into Honda's Gardena, California, offices," Fortune Magazine reported in a 1985 article. "Robert and John Eagle are typical of the fervent group: 'We went for the Acura dealership because Honda is behind it,' says Robert, who, in partnership with son John, owns Honda and Acura franchises in Dallas and Houston. 'We have very high customer satisfaction with Hondas,' he adds. The Acura franchises cost the Eagles $3.5 million. 'I know we might lose a little money for the first few months with Acura,' says Robert, 'but long range it will be one of the most sought-after franchises in the country.'"
In fact, those first Acura dealers would have to be at least 10 miles away from the closest Honda dealer. "We don't expect buyers of Acura models to be those who are likely to come into a Honda dealership," explained Clifford G. Schiffsen, then a senior vice president at American Honda, to Business Week in 1985.
When Acura opened its dealers' doors in 1986, the first two cars in the new division's line were the small Integra coupe and sedan hatchbacks, and the luxuriously large Legend sedan. The Legend would eventually evolve into the RL and the Integra would become the RSX.
First-generation Integra: 1986-1989
The first Integra in 1986 was a straightforward car. "The foundation of the Integra models is Honda's highly adaptable and capable Civic chassis," wrote Car and Driver upon its introduction. "The three-door version is based on the 96.5-inch wheelbase of the Civic four-door sedan and five-door wagon. The five-door Integra rides on a 2.8-inch-longer version of the same chassis. Both models employ the Civic's strut front suspension, located by lower control arms and sprung by torsion bars. The Civic's power-assisted rack and pinion steering is standard. In the rear is the familiar coil-sprung rigid axle located by two trailing arms and a Panhard rod; just as on the Civics, the ride-side trailing arm is free to rotate on the axle tube, preventing the axle's torsional rigidity from restricting suspension motion."
The Integra shared a lot with the Civic but it was also better than that car. The brakes were upgraded to larger discs up front, and discs replaced the Civic's drums in back. The tires were big (for that time) P195/60HR14 Michelin MXVs. But the biggest step forward was under the hood.
The Integra engine was based on the 1.5-liter all-aluminum four then being installed in the Civic but it displaced 1.6 liters, wore a new twin-cam 16-valve head and had programmable fuel injection. That all resulted in 113 horsepower at 6250 rpm (22 more than the '86 Civic CRX Si's injected 1.5-liter SOHC four) and 99 pound-feet of peak torque at 5500 rpm.
The DOHC 1.6 was a civilized engine, too. "Mated to a five-speed gearbox," wrote Road & Track in its test of a five-door '86 Integra RS, "the engine propels the Integra deceptively quickly. It's actually faster than it feels, perhaps because of its quiet smoothness, flat torque curve and aggressive gearing. While the linkage is slick and the ratios great for getting you up to speed, we'd like a more relaxed 5th gear. Turning 7000 revolutions per minute smoothly is a fine achievement in an engine, but why must we use nearly 3000 of them to cruise at 55 mph?"
The Integra wasn't perfect, but it was closer than most small cars had ever come. Many observers found the styling boring and the "DOHC Programmed Fuel Injection" lettering plastered on the cars' sides was just dopey. The interior didn't stray far from Honda's established themes, the ride was well controlled and the handling was the best in its class. And it was pretty quick, too. Car and Driver's Integra LS 3-door hit 60 mph in 8.8 seconds and ran the quarter-mile in 16.5 ticks at 82 mph.
In total, Car and Driver was impressed. "The Integra's 16-valve engine technology has been racing around European and Japanese streets and Formula 1 circuits for a few years, so it lands in America fully matured," the magazine concluded. "The modest Civic underpinnings have been elevated to a new plateau with minor refinements and a major upgrade in rolling stock. The interior fittings and exterior decor have class without being crass. The real magic, however, comes from refinement. The Integra's engine matches its suspension which jibes with the cockpit, which makes sense with the exterior envelope. What we have here is an automobile so nicely integrated that even its name fits."
The original Integra would change little over its four years in production. It was always offered in two trim levels (base RS and upscale LS) and in only the 3- and 5-door body styles. The interior was refined with a few minor tweaks in 1988 and a "Special Edition" SE coupe was offered during that model year. But otherwise it was very much the same car during 1989 that it was in '86. That was just fine.
Second-generation Integra: 1990-1993
"Though the base model is priced only slightly higher than last year's model," explained Road & Track at the introduction of the second-generation 1990 Integra, "it's a longer (by 3.9 inches), lower (by 0.7 inch), wider (by 1.8 inches), roomier car with styling cues that say upmarket Acura rather than reconfigured Honda." The first Integra was so good, that it was stunning how much better the second Integra could be.
While the 3-door hatchback body style returned, the 5-door was gone in favor of a conventional 4-door notchback sedan. Both RS and LS returned as trim levels, too, but a new GS now hovered above them and brought some real luxury to the line.
Based on the new-in-'88 Civic, the structure of the second-generation Integra was, said Acura, up to 30 percent stiffer than the original, and 90 percent more resistant to torsion stresses. The new suspension used A-arms (double wishbones) up front instead of MacPherson struts and the rear suspension was now fully independent with one trailing arm, two lateral links and one toe-control link per side. The original Integra's suspension was well sorted and expertly tuned, but the new one was all that as well as sophisticated and technologically advanced.
The front suspension design allowed a very low hood line and a very low cowl that gave the car a unique profile that would typify Honda and Acura vehicles through the '90s. Throw in thin pillars in the greenhouse and frameless window glass and the Integra's appearance was unique. "On both the hatchback and the sedan," explained Car and Driver at the time, "the glass extends up out of the doors with no metal surrounding it. When the windows are up, they press against a complex and highly resilient seal attached to the body's door opening... The benefits are obvious. The pillars look slimmer. The side glass fits nearly flush with the outer surface of the body. And when the door is open, the part above the beltline intrudes less into your entry-exit space."
But what stood out most about the new Integra was its all-new, all-aluminum 1.8-liter DOHC 16-valve four-cylinder engine. The new engine wasn't based on a Civic power plant, and beyond being bigger it was more efficient, producing a full 130 hp at 6000 rpm and 121 pound-feet of peak torque at 5000 rpm. Still, things would get even better.
"What we have here is the definitive luxury econobox," summarized Car and Driver. "That may sound like an oxymoron, but it perfectly describes the new Integra GS."
After carrying over through 1991, 1992 brought the first appearance of Honda's Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control (VTEC) scheme to the Integra. Fitted to a 1.7-liter version of the Integra engine, the VTEC system boosted output to a full 160 hp that's 95 hp per liter. At the time that was the highest specific output of any normally aspirated automotive engine for sale in North America. Even better than the 3.0-liter V6 in Acura's near exotic NSX sports car, which introduced VTEC to America the year before.
Installed in the new Integra GS-R, the VTEC engine's 8000-rpm redline was thrilling. "The result is an engine with outstanding smoothness, response and flexibility," gushed Road & Track. "Peak torque is 117 pound-feet generated at 7000 rpm: good but not spectacular. What's notable is its Kansas-flat distribution of torque across the rev scale, with more than 100 pound-feet on call at just 2500 rpm... GS-R owners can enjoy the VTEC engine and keep a low profile, because exterior changes are thankfully subtle: slightly more aggressively styled front and rear bumper caps, body-colored side moldings, plus VTEC and GS-R logos... At an estimated $17,000, the Integra GS-R should whet the appetites of more than a few enthusiasts Acura hopes to devote 10 percent of Integra production (400-500 cars a month) to this high-performance model. For the little bit of Senna in all of us, that's heartwarming news."
A "Special Edition" Integra coupe with a unique rear spoiler and wheels was produced during 1993, but the line was otherwise unchanged. It would be tough to top this Integra. And topping the GS-R in particular was almost unimaginable at least to those of us outside Honda's engine lab.
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