In March 2006, the Honda Motor Company celebrated an important milestone: the 20th anniversary of their luxury brand, Acura. Created to give Honda aficionados an opulent make that they could be proud of, Acura has successfully expanded the company’s reach far beyond more prosaic models such as the Civic and the Accord. Today, Acura is a very different brand than the company that was birthed in 1986. Let’s take a glimpse at Acura’s past, their present line up, and what the next 20 years may bring for this esteemed Japanese automaker.

Back in 1981, Honda saw an opportunity opening up for itself that no one in Honda’s headquarters wanted to miss out on: building and selling luxury cars to American consumers. Mercedes and BMW were both gaining traction in the U.S. as American luxury brands Cadillac and Lincoln sputtered and lost market share. Honda was already receiving widespread consumer acceptance and critical acclaim for the three models it was then selling in the U.S., so the decision to market more expensive and upscale cars was viewed as a strong possibility.

When Honda management decided to go with the upscale brand, they did this knowing that the cars would eventually have to stand apart from Honda in order to command the higher prices. Simply selling up market Hondas as Acuras would not work. Instead, each car was outfitted and retuned to compete directly against the leading luxury cars of that time.

The first two models to be sold as Acuras were the Legend, a V6 powered sedan and coupe, and the Integra, which was essentially a three door coupe based on a Honda Civic platform. Later, the NSX two seat roadster was brought out to battle Porsche and the Vigor sedan was introduced to fill the gap between the Integra and the Legend.

Over time, the various model names were dropped and replaced by vehicles with 2 or 3 letter designations. The Vigor became the TL, the Legend became the RL, and the Integra the RSX. Today, the MDX SUV, RSX sport compact, and TSX sedan, join the three other models to comprise the current Acura line up. A slightly smaller SUV, the RDX, will be joining Acura’s line up later in 2006.

The future of Acura looks bright despite strong worldwide competition. Although Honda jumped into the market a few years before Nissan rolled out it Infiniti division and Toyota its Lexus line, Acura has trailed its Japanese competitors for over a decade now. Some critics have contended that this misstep has hurt Acura, while others see it as a typical conservative Honda decision to expand the Honda brand instead. Read the rest of this entry »

The Acura Integra, manufactured by Honda and sold globally, was primarily a hatchback vehicle. It was Acura’s most cost effective model to hit the auto market in 1986. The Integra was launched to compete with the likes of Volkswagen Golf GT, which dominated the hatchback segment in the 1980s. Nowadays, the Integra is sold as a sedan, rechristened as the RSX in the North American markets.

Acura Integra Performance Parts: Various Models

The first Acura model was introduced in March 1986. It was a 3-door hatchback, with an engine capacity of 1.6 liters, a DOHC 16-valve 4-cylinder, 113 hp @ 6250 rpm, 99 lbs-ft @ 5500 rpm. It had an original transmission of 5-speed manual/4-speed automatic. In 1988, the output was increased to 118hp and torque of 103 lbs/ft.

The 5-door version was launched in 1988 and had a 1.6-liter DOHC 16-valve 4-cylinder, 113 hp @ 6250 rpm and 99 lbs/ft @ 5500 rpm. The original transmission was 5-speed manual/4-speed automatic. The Integra 3-door was given a facelift in 1990, with an improved capacity of 1.8-liter DOHC 16-valve 4-cylinder, 130 hp @ 6000 rpm and 121 lbs/ft @ 5000 rpm, with a 5-speed manual/4-speed automatic transmission.

Prior to being phased out in the rest of the world except North America, the Sports Coupe and the Sports Sedan were launched in 1994 and they remained on the market till 2001. The Coupe came in two variants with capacities of:
1.8-liter DOHC 16-valve 4-cylinder, 142 hp @ 6300 rpm, 127 lbs-ft @ 5200 rpm (RS, LS)
1.8-liter 16-valve VTEC 4-cylinder, 170 hp @ 7600 rpm, 128 lbs-ft @ 6200 rpm (GS-R)

The Sports Sedan also came in two variants of:
1.8-liter DOHC 16-valve 4-cylinder, 142 hp @ 6300 rpm, 127 lbs-ft @ 5200 rpm (RS, LS)
1.8-liter 16-valve VTEC 4-cylinder, 170 hp @ 7600 rpm, 128 lbs-ft @ 6200 rpm (GS-R)

Acura Integra Performance Parts: Body Parts Read the rest of this entry »