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Acura Integra's racing hopes hinge on Honda

The 2023 Integra has mostly failed to create the stir from long-time enthusiasts that Acura had hoped it would. However, all is not lost; Acura could perhaps regain some street cred if they took the Integra racing, like they did with the Integras of the 80s and 90s. Brand head Jon Ikeda wants to take the 'Teg to the track, but it all depends on whether the leadership at the American Honda mothership permits it. "We want to race this thing, but maybe the Honda PR and marketing guys might have different ideas," Ikeda told Road & Track. That's because the Integra is largely a 2022 Civic Si with a hatchback form factor and new sheetmetal. Honda already sells a Civic Type R race car in several tunes for various classes in the TC America touring car series. That was based on previous-generation Civic, but in all likelihood will continue the program with the latest gen. A racing Integra, then, would seem redundant. On the other hand, Acura has been highly active in motorsports, from 24 Hours of Daytona-winning IMSA DPi prototypes to NSX GT3 race cars to Pikes Peak hill-climbers. Even Honda's F1 cars were re-branded with Acura livery at last month's U.S. Grand Prix in Austin. And it's not like the Integra doesn't have a long history in motorsports. The nameplate as competed in various North American series from SCCA Pro Rally to IMSA sedan to the Import Drag Racing Championships. Perhaps the most well-known Acura Integras to race, though, were Peter Cunningham's white and neon orange RealTime Racing Type Rs that dominated the SpeedVision World Challenge championships around Y2K. Ikeda has said before that he wants Acura to be the performance brand of Honda, and a rumored Integra Type S is in the works with a more potent engine, possibly a version of the upcoming Civic Type R's mill. "We're the performance division of Honda," Ikeda emphasized to R&T, "So we're not going to shy away from Honda, you know? We're going to just have a little bit more fun." While an admirable goal, the brand will struggle if it's merely the performance arm of Honda. It has to be about performance cars, period. That was part of Acura's magic in the 90s; it offered products that, while sharing components with Honda, were distinct and had their own personalities. The Integra was Civic-based, but it had noticeably better handling, more power, and unique design.

Acura doesn't have plans for a new MDX hybrid

Besides an entirely new platform, suspension, and a turbocharged Type S model coming soon, the 2022 Acura MDX is new in another way: it seems to be losing its hybrid trim level. During a media roundtable, Acura's global development lead confirmed that there are no plans for a hybrid version of the new MDX. Part of the reason for the lack of a hybrid for the new MDX is the aforementioned Type S model. The Acura development lead noted that the outgoing MDX Sport Hybrid is the current sporty, high-output version of the crossover. That mantle is now being taken over by the Type S with its turbocharged 3.0-liter V6. The new Type S makes 355 horsepower and 355 pound-feet of torque, which also represents a large power increase over the Sport Hybrid's 321 horsepower and 289 pound-feet. The Type S won't be able to do everything the Sport Hybrid could do, though. While official fuel economy numbers haven't been revealed, we're confident the Type S won't be able to hit the 27 mpg combined of the hybrid. The Sport Hybrid's powertrain was also quite interesting, as it combined its 3.0-liter naturally aspirated V6 with a trio of electric motors. A single motor worked in conjunction with the engine to power the front wheels, and one motor each powered the rear wheels and provided torque vectoring. It was sort of like a backwards NSX. While Acura doesn't have plans for a hybrid right now, it is possible the brand could change its mind. And in an ever electrifying world, it would be surprising if we never saw a hybrid MDX return. Related Video:

The all-women Acura NSX team previews a way forward for racing

DAYTONA, Fla. — There is a team at the 24 Hours of Daytona that's just like any other team, with experienced drivers who rightly earned their spot in the top endurance racing series in America. They are prepared to run a full season in a competitive car, and they even set the fastest time in their class at the pre-season Roar Before the 24 test. The only difference between this team and any other is that its drivers happen to be women. We went to Daytona to talk to them about their journey to the race. The No. 57 Heinricher Racing with Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo team features a roster of talented, experienced drivers: Katherine Legge, Simona de Silvestro, Bia Figueiredo and Christina Nielsen. While there have been four other all-women lineups at Daytona before, the No. 57 team is the first to be considered truly competitive. Team founder Jackie Heinricher, a biotech CEO who has raced in Ferrari Challenge, Global Rallycross Lites and Lamborghini Super Trofeo, was coached by Legge. Two years ago, she had the idea to run a car full of women – and not just a token effort, but rather a car full of drivers who could win. "The car does not know your gender, and I feel as if this sort of professional effort legitimizes that in a way that's particularly important and inspirational outside of racing," Heinricher told Autoblog. Heinricher had seen Legge struggle to get the right funding for rides before, so she didn't want to limit this team to whoever could pay. So, she first lined up the funding, thanks largely to support from primary sponsor Caterpillar. It took awhile, though, as many companies simply told her that they were out of racing sponsorships entirely. "I think perseverance might be the most underrated human quality," Heinricher said. "I just didn't give up." After funding was in place, she found a competitive partner in the Meyer Shank Racing crew, whose owner Michael Shank has run a pair of factory-backed Acura NSX GT3s in IMSA's GTD class since 2017. The GT3 shares an engine and turbo with the road-going NSX but ditches the hybrid system, making it about 670 pounds lighter. The No. 57 car is an EVO variant, which Legge helped develop, and it features improved aerodynamics to better suit it to the mix of pro and amateur drivers who take shifts racing in the GTD class. Legge had been on Shank's NSX team for the past two years as well, so Heinricher reached out to her for help assembling women who truly had the ability to win.