You’ve likely seen it teased in a few TV spots because the car’s about to hit the showrooms, but the rollout for the new-generation 2023 Acura Integra has more lofty aspirations, pun fully intended. That’s because the juiced-up subcompact is making its motorsport debut at just about the same time during the The Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado. It’s hugely historic, and not just for Acura, because this year’s event marks the 100th running of “The Climb to the Clouds” along the now-paved road snaking up the side of what many still respectfully call Unser Mountain, in honor of the clan’s long domination of the climb.
Massaged by Honda Performance Development, a pair of Integra TLX Type S sport sedans will join Acura’s planned five-vehicle assault on Pikes Peak. If the livery looks familiar, that’s because it’s a salute to the colors of the first Acura factory race car, which was a first-generation Integra. On the hill, both Integras will makes use of factory-spec turbocharged 1.5-liter engines and six-speed manual transmissions. Acura engineers will be behind the wheel of both cars, one of which will serve as the Pikes Peak pace car.
Jim Donnelly On Wheels 