1991 Acura Legend L Coupe 2-door 3.2l on 2040-cars

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2023 Acura Integra Review: Can it possibly fill an icon's shoes?

Pros: Civic Si performance with greater refinement; sweet manual transmission; thrifty fuel economy; versatile hatchback Cons: Underwhelming base equipment; cramped rear headroom; some cheap interior bits in back; a CVT, really? For those of a certain age and/or certain automotive fandom, the 2023 Acura Integra represents the return of an icon. Yes, the Integra is back, and as it was in the very beginning, it’s a four-door hatchback that can be both an enthusiastsÂ’ darling or just a well-made, well-equipped compact car for those who want something a little more premium than a Honda Civic. And that last comparison is key, because the Acura Integra is basically a Honda Civic thatÂ’s been thoroughly worked over with a totally different body, stiffer structure and different(ish) interior. Admittedly, the Civic is a great place to start, as itÂ’s a terrific little sedan/hatchback that arguably outpaces its competition and does a pretty good job of being a well-made, well-equipped compact car itself. There really wasnÂ’t that much for Acura to do to rework the cabin for luxury duty, though itÂ’s certainly best realized with the optional Technology package and there are some areas (like the back seat) where the luxury touches could have been further applied. From a mechanical perspective, the Integra specifically builds off the Civic Si. It has the same 200-horsepower turbocharged engine and front-wheel drive, but with a saucier exhaust and CVT as standard. A six-speed manual is available, but only on the range-topping A-Spec with Technology package. The A-SpecÂ’s adaptive dampers also do a better job of both road-holding and ride comfort. Honestly, thereÂ’s nothing wrong at all with seeing the Integra as a more refined Civic Si. As it was in the past, the new Integra is both a luxury-adjacent sedan and a sport compact car. That means it can be a ritzier alternative to the Civics of the world, a more budget-conscious alternative to the Audi A3s, or Acura/HondaÂ’s answer to the Volkswagen GTI and GLI. No matter what you compare it to, though, we think the new Integra is a winner. Welcome back, old friend.   Interior & Technology   |   Passenger & Cargo Space   |   Performance & Fuel Economy What it's like to drive   |   Pricing & Trim Levels   |   Crash Ratings & Safety Features What's new for 2023? The Integra is an all-new model. It technically replaces the ILX, however, which was similarly a Civic-based compact Acura.

Junkyard Gem: 1987 Acura Legend Sedan

Honda beat Toyota and Nissan in the race to bring a luxury marque to North America, introducing us to the Acura brand for the 1986 model year. Acura shoppers could buy a luxed-up, more powerful Civic (the Integra) that year, while the real high-rollers went for a smooth-looking, V6-powered luxury sedan co-developed by Rover and Honda: the Legend. That was quite a leap for a company that had been selling tiny cars with two-cylinder motorcycle engines just 15 years earlier, but the 1973-1985 period had been spectacularly good times for Honda. The early Legend sold very well in California, and that's where I found this high-mile '87 a couple of months back. While the Legend had the same underlying chassis structure and engine family as the Rover 800 (known as the Sterling in North America), the Honda-grade build quality and non-Lucas electrical components of the Legend meant that it outlasted its Rover cousins by decades and hundreds of thousands of miles. This one didn't quite make it to 300,000 miles, but 281,032 miles blows away the readings I see on most 1980s junkyard cars not made by Mercedes-Benz. It's hard to imagine a prestigious luxury sedan with three pedals these days, but plenty of the early Legends were sold here with the five-speed manual transmission. Starting in the early 1990s, though, nearly all U.S.-market Legends had slushboxes (though the manual could be had all the way through the final Legends of 1995). Every Legend ever made came with a V6 engine. This car has a 2.5-liter DOHC rated at 151 horsepower, while the 1987 Legend coupe got a 2.7 making 161 horses. Other than the worn-out front seats, the interior in this car looked fairly decent when it arrived in its final parking space. Most super-high-mile cars I see in junkyards aren't very trashed-looking, presumably due to owners who took good care of them for decades (I do see the occasional exception to this rule, of course). The body shows no rust, as you'd expect in California, but the paint hasn't fared so well over its 33 years. It's the performance sedan making European automakers uncomfortable. Unlike many of the wild Japanese-market car ads of the 1980s, Honda pitched the JDM Legend in a most dignified manner. Featured Gallery Junked 1987 Acura Legend Sedan View 15 Photos Auto News Acura Automotive History Classics Acura Legend

Comparison test: 2019 Acura RDX vs. compact luxury SUV competitors

Truth be told, if we were to compare the all-new 2019 Acura RDX with those compact luxury crossover SUVs it would most likely be cross-shopped against, you'd be looking at a different list. Even Acura admits that Lexus and Infiniti are the most likely bogies, but with the 2019 RDX, Honda's luxury brand is attempting to attract those customers who think as much with their hearts as with their heads. And for the most part, those folks have been buying from German brands: the Audi Q5, BMW X3 and Mercedes-Benz GLC-Class. So, to show how the new RDX compares to them, Acura actually provided examples of each during the recent press drive along with a Volvo XC60. All were determined to have greater emotional appeal than the last RDX, and we would certainly agree. For, as much as the previous-generation RDX made sense on paper, it was really hard to get excited about it. And when you're paying extra for a luxury vehicle, shouldn't you get a little excited? Well, as luck would have it, Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski and I were on hand in Whistler, British Columbia, for the press launch. We didn't have an abundance of time in each RDX competitor, but in conjunction with our usual comparison chart, our impressions should provide a good first taste of how the new RDX compares. Performance and fuel economy Contributing Editor James Riswick: On paper at least, the RDX is gutsier than its comparably powered European rivals. It also weighs the same or less, which logically should mean it'll be the quickest in a straight line. During my brief drives, though, I'm not sure it really stood taller than the three Germans. It at least matches them for smoothness, which is something that can't be said about the Volvo. Fuel economy is lower than them all when you consider all but the Mercedes come standard with all-wheel drive. It's also worth noting that all the competitors are available with engine upgrades, and unless Acura's forthcoming resurrection of Type S models includes the RDX, it should stay that way. Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski: Line 'em all up in a drag race, and I have a feeling the Acura would squirt away to victory. A good bit of that, though, would be due to its 10-speed automatic transmission, which offers a huge spread of ratios and fires off extremely quick shifts. In the real world, I'd guess fuel economy will be similar across the board, so I'm willing to call that category a draw.