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The Acura Integra is coming back, but what exactly will it be?

Yep, the Acura Integra is back! Acura has offered limited information about the revival of its compact nameplate, and while we suspect it will replace the ILX outright when it debuts in 2022, Honda's luxury subsidiary has yet to cough up any more useful information. That's fine; it means we can fill the void with baseless speculation educated guesses as to what form the next-generation Integra will take.  While we're all excited about its resurrection, Autoblog is not a hive mind, and each of us has a different idea of what a new Integra could (or should) be. Here are our takes, for whatever they're worth, which could easily be absolutely nothing.  Associate Editor Byron Hurd: Yes, that's a photo of a CR-Z model at Honda's design studio. Bear with me here; I promise I'm going somewhere with this. Frankly, as cool as it would be to see Acura take the fight to the likes of the Audi A3, Mercedes-Benz CLA and BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe, I can't help but look at the (lack of) success of the ILX and wonder whether there's any hope for something so formulaic.  While I'm sure this will offend at least a few "purists," I'd love to see Honda leverage whatever equity the Integra nameplate has left to pivot its more mainstream cars toward electrification. Sure, an all-wheel-drive take on a Civic Si or Type-R sounds really cool, but how about an accessible fastback coupe or sedan with a scaled-down version of the NSX's powertrain, flipped front-to-back? Base it on a smaller (turbocharged?) ICE, stick the electrified axle in the rear, and voila. Ford has proven that hybrids don't have to be expensive; heck, even the CR-Z was cheap back in the day.  As bothersome as this idea may seem to the faithful, consider this: The ILX wasn't a bust because it was called "ILX." Small sedans just aren't worthwhile investments for automakers right now, so as abhorrent as hybridization or electrification may seem, the alternative could very well be a subtle crossoverification of the Integra nameplate. Does that sound more appealing? Because I sure don't think so.  News Editor Joel Stocksdale: So, just as was the case with the Integra and even the ILX, I have no doubt the new Integra will be based on the Honda Civic. And I think that will probably be a very good thing. The new 11th-generation Civic seems to be as good if not better than the outgoing one, so add some nicer interior pieces and some sound-deadening, and it should be a great, roomy entry-level luxury alternative.

2017 Acura MDX Sport Hybrid goes on sale in April for $52,935

If you like the hybrid tech of the Acura NSX, but don't need a six-figure, 191-mph supercar as your daily driver, you might enjoy the extra room of the Acura MDX Sport Hybrid. It uses the same SH-AWD system with three electric motors as its racier stablemate – and puts a naturally aspirated 3.0-liter V6 up front – but seats up to seven people. It goes on sale in early April, and Acura has announced a starting MSRP of $52,935. The MDX Sport Hybrid starts at $7,910 higher than the base, front-wheel-drive MDX, but only $1,500 more than the comparably equipped, non-hybrid MDX SH-AWD. It offers 31 more ponies, for a total of 321 peak horsepower and of 289 pound-feet of torque. It's less expensive than the other Acura to use the Sport Hybrid system, the RLX sedan, which starts at $59,950. (That car incurs a price premium of $5,500 over its P-AWS-equipped FWD base model; there's no non-hybrid AWD RLX.) The MDX Sport Hybrid gets an EPA-rated 26 mpg city, 27 highway, and 27 combined. Compared to the conventional MDX SH-AWD's 18/26/21 mpg rating, its biggest fuel economy gains are to be found in city driving. The Sport Hybrid's figures are even slightly better than the 25/26/26 mpg Acura expected when the car debuted in New York last year. The MDX Sport Hybrid should be fairly entertaining to drive, too, at least for a utility vehicle. It's Acura's most powerful SUV to date, and it offers four driving modes: Comfort, Normal, Sport, and Sport+. A seven-speed dual-clutch transmission handles the gear changes, but the driver can take control via a pair of paddles on the back of the steering wheel. The SH-AWD system's torque vectoring feature promises to help make the MDX proficient in the twisty bits, too. Related Video:

2020 Acura TLX PMC Edition Driveway Test | Shine bright like a ... ruby

Valencia Red Pearl. That’s the story with the 2020 Acura TLX PMC Edition. We got to see this limited edition TLX sedan at the New York Auto Show last year, but now itÂ’s in my driveway. The show lights donÂ’t do this paint justice. The setting sun reflecting off the deep and vibrant red ... now that's how this car is meant to be gazed upon. Like I mentioned in the video walkaround above, the TLX PMC Edition is hand-assembled at the Performance Manufacturing Center in Ohio. The body-in-white is trundled across town to the NSX supercar factory where those technicians do the rest to make it road-worthy. All 360 of them are being wrapped in their own special car covers and delivered to dealers on an enclosed truck to make sure it arrives without a single exterior flaw. About that paint Valencia Red Pearl is a $6,000 paint option on the Acura NSX. On the TLX PMC, itÂ’s $0. The paint process itself is time consuming and intensive. Acura says the vibrancy and high-color saturation is thanks to nano pigment technology.  “Engineered using mica, metal flake and super-high transparency nano pigments, the paint is applied using PMC's advanced robotic paint system in multiple base coats to enhance color intensity. This is followed by two clear coats to increase the paint's luster,” AcuraÂ’s description reads. 2020 Acura TLX PMC Edition View 43 Photos The five-day process is well worth it. IÂ’ve tried my best to illustrate it through photos and video, but itÂ’s still not representative enough of this red paint. It has a depth and shimmer to it, as if the body panels were a swimming pool, awaiting a cannonball dive into the deep end. This car being an exclusive, special edition vehicle hasnÂ’t destroyed the value proposition either. In actuality, the TLX PMC is the one to buy if you want a fully-loaded TLX. Acura doesnÂ’t allow you to option the A-Spec and Advance packages together with the standard TLX, but both of those are included with the PMC Edition. If you were able to combine all those packages, the final price would ring up to $50,650. The final price on our test car is $50,945, including the $1,995 destination charge on the sticker. Basically, youÂ’re getting every option in the book at around list price, plus all of the special PMC Edition extras for next to nothing. Why yes, of course weÂ’ll have the PMC Edition. It drives just like the TLX A-Spec — check out our full review of that car here.