2026 Acura Integra Review
The 2026 Integra A-Spec continues Acura's self-rediscovery with good power, agility, and practicality.
Jim Resnick
QuickTakes:
The 2026 Acura Integra rekindles a fire sparked in the 1980s and '90s, when the practical, sporty hot hatch wooed budding enthusiasts. While the latest Integra remains happy to carry groceries, it's also eager to take the long way home.
Acura relaunched the Integra nameplate for 2023, replacing the ILX. All 2026 Integras now include a larger 9.0-inch infotainment touchscreen, wireless phone charging, and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity as standard equipment. The A-Spec models continue with a turbocharged 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine, but they now come standard with ambient interior lighting, a new body kit, and black 18-inch wheels.
In manual A-Spec form, the Integra blends the responsive handling, braking, and power expected of a hot hatch with exceptional highway manners. However, I was slightly let down by its bland engine note and some reluctant automated-driving assists.
Jim Resnick
About the 2026 Acura Integra
The 2026 Integra lineup starts with the base Integra at around $35,000, with the A-Spec and Type S climbing the cost and performance ladder. The hot-rod Type S starts at roughly $55,000, including the destination charge to ship the car to your local dealership from the Marysville, Ohio, factory that builds it.
For this Integra review, I tested the A-Spec version in Arizona. The only option was Urban Gray Pearl premium paint, bringing the manufacturer's suggested retail price to $40,995, including the $1,195 destination charge. Acura provided the vehicle for this Integra review.
Jim Resnick
The Integra Gets a Low-Key Look
Acura sharpens the Integra A-Spec with a few visual touches. I think the gloss-black exterior trim and 18-inch wheels look tasteful rather than shouty, and set it apart from the base trim.
Inside, the Technology Package's seats feature contrasting stitching and the ambient cabin lighting adds a touch of spice. The interior plastics, fabrics, and metals look and feel of good quality, but I didn't find them outstanding.
Jim Resnick
The driver and front-passenger seats offer abundant bolstering for firmer placement when zigzagging over fun, twisty roads. The range of adjustment provides plenty of leg- and headroom, though I could have used more incline adjustment to better support my legs.
The Integra's rear-seat room felt shy of the mark. I'm mostly legs, but my head pushed into the headliner when sitting normally. Meanwhile, rear legroom proved adequate — with a caveat. In order to extricate my feet from under the front seat, I had to point my toes ballet-style because the rear foot box was too small.
True to its ancestor, the 2026 Integra's hatchback reveals a long cargo area with 24.3 cubic-feet of space. It was spacious enough back there to fit my guitar and related music gear for a concert without folding the rear seats, which is impossible in my son's Volkswagen GTI hatchback.
Because the Integra is unique in the subcompact luxury sector, there are no direct premium hatchback competitors. The Mazda 3 and VW's GTI are close enthusiast-oriented hatchbacks, and offer 20.1 and 19.9 cu-ft of cargo space, respectively.
Jim Resnick
The 2026 Acura Integra Gets Faster Infotainment
For 2026, Acura livens up the onboard tech with a faster processor, quickening responses to user input. I relied on Apple CarPlay and my ancient iPhone 12 Mini for navigation in the Integra. Despite the phone's senior status, the Acura paired well with it, serving up a seamless phone, navigation, app, and music experience.
The Technology Package's ELS Studio audio system uses 16 speakers and 530 watts, but I found the sound mediocre. High midrange and low treble frequencies — where definition for vocals and most instruments live — sound like a cross-talking mess. I cut the mids and highs to try to clean it up, but this system would likely disappoint Grammy-winning engineer Elliot Scheiner, for whom Acura devised the sub-brand.
Jim Resnick
The AcuraWatch suite of advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) comes standard on all Integras, with a couple of exclusions. Acura deletes the low-speed following and traffic jam assists on manual transmission cars, likely because bringing a vehicle with a traditional clutch to a complete stop while in gear would stall the engine.
The AcuraWatch ADAS performed adequately for the most part, though there were some exceptions. The lane-departure warning and lane-keep assist proved finicky about engaging and staying engaged, for example, and behaved as if the system could not see lane lines unless they were freshly painted or sharply contrasting the pavement's blacktop.
Also, when the adaptive cruise control adjusted the Integra's following speed, it felt more abrupt than some other systems I've recently tested. But the most alarming moment of my test came when the ADAS incorrectly identified a vehicle far ahead of the Integra.
While approaching an intersection, the Integra mistook a stationary truck at a red light for being in my path and slammed on the brakes. This truck was not in my lane and was indeed behind its own limit line.
I reflexively tapped the brakes, thinking I had cruise control engaged (I didn't), and then quickly reapplied throttle so no one following me got too close. This happened only once, so I assume it was an aberration, but it nonetheless caused alarm. Even ignoring this scenario, the Integra's ADAS features lacked the fluidity of other systems I've used.
On the plus side, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) gives this car its highest five-star safety rating, and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) gives the 2026 Integra a Top Safety Pick rating for the 2025 calendar year.
Jim Resnick
The Integra Has Driving Flair to Spare
Like the base model, the A-Spec uses a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder making 200 horsepower and 192 pound-feet of torque. That power flows to the front wheels through a continuously variable automatic transmission or a six-speed manual with a limited-slip differential. The test vehicle's Tech Package adds an adaptive suspension and Comfort, Normal, Sport, and Individual driving modes, firming up damping and sharpening throttle response.
The Integra also feels structurally stiff, which improves handling, braking, acceleration, and even ride comfort. On twisty roads, I found its handling agility, grip, and responsiveness top-notch. Highway comfort would suit a larger, less sporty car, and there was little tire noise, even on rough, abrasive surfaces. And with four driving modes, you can soften the suspension's stiffness.
Jim Resnick
There's something right in a world where you can still buy a new car with a rewarding manual transmission, rather than just an amorphous automatic. Jokes about clutch pedals and stick shifts being 2026's anti-theft devices notwithstanding, the Integra's precise six-speed highlights the joy to be found in mechanical connection.
The pedal pressure required to engage and disengage the clutch is baby-breath soft, which doesn't help with discerning where the clutch starts to bite. It does reveal itself after a while, but driving would feel even more fun with a more communicative clutch.
The turbo engine delivers good power, but throttle response can be sluggish at times, and selecting the Sport driving mode helps only a bit. Perhaps worse, the engine sounds dull. There's none of that 1990s Acura VTEC engine music.
The EPA estimates 30 mpg in combined city and highway driving for the Integra A-Spec manual. I recorded 29.4 mpg on my own combined route.
Jim Resnick
Is the 2026 Acura Integra A-Spec a Good Car?
Pairing the crisp six-speed manual gearbox, a powerful and efficient engine, a well-sorted suspension, and the practical form factor of a hatchback — unlike the traditional trunks of competitors such as the Audi A3 or BMW 228 Gran Coupe — the 2026 Integra A-Spec scores high points. My only three criticisms (clutch feel, engine sound, and selective ADAS lethargy) do little to detract from the Integra's overall goodness.
Written by humans.
Edited by humans.
Jim ResnickFrom racing exotic sports cars, to ranking new cars, to peeling back layers of cover up in an exhaust emissions scandal, Jim has chronicled the automotive sector for decades. Jim has also worked inside the corporate headquarters of three carmakers, and therefore understands how the automotive sausage is really made. But Jim’s affinity for vehicles takes a back seat to finding the truth and the cultural implications of modern transportation. He has also lectured at universities to engineering and policy students and faculty on the industry’s relationship with legislation in the wake of the diesel exhaust emissions scandal several years ago. Put simply, Jim reports on autos, mobility, tech, car culture, and the traffic jam of topics within.
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