I know I’m early but I’m willing to put down a deposit for an Integra Type R if anyone knows any dealers selling at MSRP
I’m in the Northeast but willing to travel a reasonable distance
No it doesn’t. It just means you are too cheap to buy the proper German or Italian equivalent. Even the Lexus equivalent is noteworthy most of the time. My first sales gig was at an Acura dealer and the product is just rebadged Hondas on old platforms with a brand that lives solely in the past. Acuras are not even sold outside of North America. Even Buick is sold overseas. That should tell you all you need to know.
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To be fair that was Acura from the mid 2000s up to around 2019 or so. Early Acura had some bona-fide hits such as the Legend (2 door coupe w/stick anyone?) the Integra Type R, etc. Then they devolved into not having much interesting and lately they seem to be doing well with the TLX etc.
Yeah I know and I agree with you. I should clarify it a bit more. I meant more than everything else “VW” has to offer inside and out to the buyers who aren’t enthusiasts that are shopping the two. Very few would cross-shop between VW and the German luxury brands, but some might do between VW and Acura, especially the case with the Integra vs Golf GTI so I thought we were just talking about those two…
BTW Acura did sell in China for many years, and they have unique models for that market as well called the CDX. They didn’t do too well though cuz richer Chinese shoppers usually prefer the Germans, especially Audi. Not sure if they pulled out of the market of China as of right now, but the new TLX and MDX are all absent, the 2019+ RDX were sold tho.
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Not a TLX fan. I think the RDX and MDX are solid options and I would consider buying one for my wife. But as an enthusiast, Acura needs to do something special besides the NSX (I would rather buy a 911 or R8 for the same money). Rebadging old Honda platforms, which are not build for performance, is the wrong answer IMO and my problem with Lexus/Mercedes performance cars too (trying to make a luxury platform performance). The point of luxury brands is to push the latest and greatest for whatever they are offering. Be the guinea pig for Honda and develop a new platform, tech, engine, etc.
I worked for Acura for all of 3-4 months, so a small sample size but most of my clients were cross shopping with Audi and BMW mostly with the occasional mass market brands. More often than not the conversation ended if they didn’t buy because the Germans had better performance, interior, design, tech, etc OR they though the Honda, Mazda, etc was better value for money. Only people who really bought were not car enthusiast, but r/personalfinance enthusiasts who wanted a “luxury” badge without the price.
Also didn’t know that Acura was still going in China. I though they pulled out but they seem to sell about 10,000 a year there. Buick is killing it with over a million units a year.
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I think the integra outsold the TLX by 3 to 1 or something like that after it came out. Yes, it’s a new car, but TLX is kind of a weird one, A6 on the outside, A4 on the inside. Which translates to cramped interior and also hard to park… I had a 2021 A-Spec for about a year (fwd tho, darn!!!), and loved everything about it other than the driving experience. The Type-S was great if, without markups, I would happily get it 10k under the comparable Germans
HAHAHA yes! That’s a perfect description!
I feel like this going to be just like the Stinger or G70 - loved by motoring journos but no one will buy one.
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Just don’t get who wants to pay 40k for a 300 hp fwd sports car. If you’re in the market for a sports car, why wouldn’t you go with a mustang or camaro where you can have way more fun given rwd and more performance for similar dough.
Or yes pay more and get German equivalent that is much more polished and also rwd or awd which is generally biased rwd and again much more fun while being quicker.
I just don’t get “enthusiasts “ who want these cars. Fwd is a huge intrinsic limitation.
The reaction to the Integra has been pretty muted from the mags, so I suspect that, b/c the Type R already exists, the reaction will also be very muted to the Type S.
I think that this is part of the issue w/ Honda. With Genesis and Lexus around (and presumably also not quite as expensive as the Germans), what niche does Acura fill?
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I agree with you.
I got it because I love the design first. For around 45k MSRP, I get ventilated seats, a suite of nice driving assistant features, and an out-of-the-world good ELS speaker system, a nice red leather, and imo the most beautiful car for the class.
I’d like SH-AWD of course, it was not so accessible in SoCal.
That said, I’m definitely no enthusiast. I’m not a fan of Type-Rs, GTIs, GT3s, Gt500S, Hellcats whatever… Every time I floor it from a dig, the car goes pretty slow and the front wheel starts to spin I’m like haha yeah it’s not a driver’s car. But I don’t really mind as I let the car pretty much drive itself with adaptive cruise and land keep assist on the freeway.
Obviously I’m the minority, as Acura doesn’t sell so many of those lol…
Acura has been losing customers year after year because other rivals are creating a better value/experience. The MDX type S is another example, I could take that 70k and get an X3 M for almost the same amount of money!
I’d argue that at least Acura is trying to go in the right direction while Lexus is a complete lost cause. Absolutely not a single interesting model across the entire lineup. I could see myself grabbing an Integra Type S if the right deal came along. Lexus doesn’t sell a single car I’d want anymore.
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The thing is that boring but reliable/comfortable/low-maintenance/high resale value/etc. is presumably what most of the car-buying public (at least in the US) want (which is why Lexus sells so well here).