Acura’s Racing a Nearly Stock 2023 Integra Up Pikes Peak
What’s happening
Acura is bringing its new Integra out to play.
Why it matters
The car is largely unmodified, showing the potential of the car with just a few upgrades.
2022 marks the 100th running of the race up Pikes Peak, this year formally called The Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, brought to you by Gran Turismo. That mouthful describes the most iconic, most famous hillclimb in the world, and it’s no wonder that the world’s biggest manufacturers are increasingly using that 12-mile, 156-turn winding road as an exhibition for their latest and greatest.
This year, Acura’s bringing its new toy out to play and, impressively, the company’s engineers are more or less leaving it alone. It’s a 2023 Integra with an unmodified engine, meaning 1.5 liters of turbocharged twist delivering 200 horsepower and 192 pound-feet of torque.
That’s delivered just to the front wheels, upgraded 18- by 9-inch HRE units wrapped in Pirelli racing slicks. To cope with the extra grip, Honda Performance Development has tweaked the suspension and front differential, plus added better brakes at all four corners.
New wheel and seats plus the requisite cage, but most everything else here is left alone.
Acura
The interior, too, has seen some tweaks but is largely stock. Yes, there’s a requisite cage and harness-compatible racing seats up front, but otherwise the dashboard and everything else is intact.
A black shift knob replaces the leather and aluminum unit you’ll see at the dealership, but the six-speed manual transmission is stock. On the outside, the car is wrapped in a red, white and gray livery inspired by Parker Johnstone’s back-to-back IMSA championship-winning Integra. Those wins came in 1987 and 1988, the first just one year after Acura’s 1986 launch.
Keeping the new Integra good company will be a pair of TLX Type S sedans and NSX Type S coupes, plus a third NSX Type S for good measure, this one serving as the official pace car for the event.
The race event kicks off June 26 and Acura engineer Paul Hubers will be the lucky one behind the wheel.
