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2023 Acura Integra pre-orders are overwhelmingly manuals

Acura says that customers placing reservations for the 2023 Integra are overwhelmingly choosing the manual transmission over the standard CVT, with a take rate currently hovering above 70%. While this certainly bodes well for the early model mix, it remains to be seen just how well the 6MT Integra will sell over the course of its projected lifespan.  Fun Fact: 2023 Integra reservations are trending over 70% 6MT! For historical context, the MT was around 50% of sales (‘86-‘01). pic.twitter.com/G1tSVJuxQ3 — Andrew Quillin (@andrewquillin) March 17, 2022 If we've observed anything about enthusiast cars and manual take rates over the years, it's that early numbers are not usually indicative of the long-term trend. Even Acura's own parent company experienced this recently when it saw manual share of the current Accord plummet after spiking when it debuted. The more enthusiast-focused Integra should be able to hold on to its stick-shift buyers for longer, but we're skeptical that its long-term share will approach the 50% it enjoyed in previous generations.  That said, manual buyers are out there. Just look no further than Subaru, which absolutely shames every other mainstream automaker. Yes, Subaru — the company that decided to saddle the top-trim WRX with a CVT, of all things — regularly sees manual take rates of 75% (or more) for the BRZ and 90% for its WRX line. Rest in peace, STI.  Related Video 1999 Honda Civic Si | Retro Review

Mid-engine Honda sports car surfaces in EU patent drawings

Based on new patent drawings, Honda clearly isn't done with sports cars. The design you see above was registered and published by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and was first reported by AutoGuide. The drawings show a rakish, angular sports car design that is very clearly mid-engine. It could almost pass for a Lamborghini. But the name on the design is Honda Motor Company, and aside from the name, it bares a strikingly similar appearance to a mid-engine design found in a Honda patent two years ago. In fact, the only major difference between this car and the older one (seen below) is the lack of a windshield and top. The shape of the lights and the grille, as well as the front fender vent and character lines running from it, are reminiscent of the S660 kei roadster for Japan. The large, angular intakes look more related to the Acura NSX, though. View 6 Photos Unlike the previous patent renderings of the car, this one has an interior, and the inclusion of it may be why the top and windshield are absent. The interior also leads us to believe that this design is for an upcoming concept. The steering wheel is a small, rectangular piece similar to what you would find in an F1 car or Indy car. The seats also look like thin buckets designed to be as sporty and light as possible. A production version would probably have a bit more cushioning and a round wheel. It does look like there is a pushbutton transmission setup in the center console like current Acuras, though. So what does this mean? Honda is clearly still working on this design, and based on some of the more radical design choices for the interior, we're likely looking at a concept car that will show up in the next couple of years. Whether a concept will lead to a production car is tough to say. There's definitely room in Honda's global sports car roster between the S660 and NSX for something in between, and Honda has reported that it's getting pressure from dealers for sporty cars. The exterior design isn't so extreme it couldn't be tweaked for production, either. There have also been rumors that Honda is preparing a mid-engine hybrid sports car with the Type R's turbocharged four-cylinder. Honda also holds a trademark for the name "ZSX," which fits the naming scheme of the NSX and old RSX, but at least in Europe, Honda has held the trademark since 2009. We'll just have to wait and see what Honda does.

Junkyard Gem: 1995 Acura Integra SE Sport Coupe

When Honda introduced the Acura brand to North America for the 1986 model year, there were just two models we could buy here: the Legend luxury sedan (developed in partnership with Rover and sibling to the Sterling 825) and the Civic-based Integra. Most Integras we've seen on the street for the last couple of decades have been the third-generation models sold from the 1994 through 2001 model years, and — like their Civic counterparts — plenty of them have held together well enough to rack up impressive mileage totals. Here's a '95 Integra SE coupe that came close to the 350,000-mile mark during its 27 years on the road, found in a Northern California self-service yard a couple of weeks back. In 1995, the SE trim level was near the top of the American Integra hierarchy (just below the soon-to-be-famous GS-R), priced at $19,890 for the Sport Coupe three-door with five-speed manual transmission. That's about $35,895 in 2022 dollars. Hey, Emperor Akihito's daily-driver was a '91 Honda Integra sedan, so that's a lot of prestige for the price (yes, yes, the Emperor of Japan rides in the back of a Toyota for official duties, but we never could buy a new Toyota Century here). With the Special Edition, you got all the luxury features of the mid-grade LS (including power moonroof, air conditioning, cruise control, and anti-lock brakes) plus 15" alloy wheels, fat Michelin tires, a big decklid spoiler, and a six-speaker AM/FM/cassette audio system. The GS-R's 1.8-liter VTEC engine made 170 horsepower in 1995 (having swapped a '96 GS-R engine into a '92 Civic hatchback, I can tell you it's a pretty wild powerplant by middle-1990s standards), but the non-VTEC version that went into the saner Integras was rated at just 142 horses. The Civic Si that year had a mere 125 horsepower and far less luxury than its wealthier Integra brother, but it also cost just $13,450 (about $25,160 today). These cars were built very well and lasted for decade after decade if not abused, and this car benefited from owners that took good care of it. Unfortunately, the craze for hot-rodded Hondas really got rolling in the middle 1990s, and many of these cars met unhappy endings involving crashes and/or exploded engines. It wasn't many years ago that a car like this would have been stripped clean by junkyard vultures within hours of landing in a California self-serve car graveyard.