1992 Acura Integra GS review from North America

Only routine items on a high mileage vehicle -- in the order that they happened to occur.

Only thing I never replaced was the ABS sensor -- which just meant the light stayed on in the instrument cluster. Never really liked it when the car could be brought to a dead stop on the gears alone in the snow -- driven just right.

The cigarette lighter is always fun around the un-initiated -- in its younger days, it actually made its way clear to the back of the car. Just a wacky fit-and-spring job I suppose. Great fun on the freeway at 70mph (...or faster) though!

Acura owners (of all types) everywhere tell me that the power antenna design team should be lined up and summarily executed. I found however, that the radio worked just as well without an antenna as it did with one. So maybe we can leave the poor guys alone.

In all the time I have owned the car she has never required more than $300 worth of maintenance in a year, or (unless on road trips -- 32 miles/gallon, measured) more than $40 worth of gas per month.

Bought mine from the original owner (look for these -- there are still some around) exactly 7 years to the date he drove it off the showroom floor. Fully loaded 5-speed. $5'000. Never looked back.

In the first three gears, there is almost nothing on the road this car has not tried on for size and held its own or better against. It's just FFFFUN!! (After third gear, be cognizant of the number of cylinders and displacement you are up against -- if the road isn't straight, be advised, you are still in it!)

Do not buy this car unless you are ready, willing and able to keep her centered between 3'750 - 6'000 rpm on the tachometer. Do not be afraid. There is a gift of speed from 4'000 rpm and up-wards. And this was not even the v-tec motor!

Original owner advised me to think about replacing the clutch as he had not seen fit to do so since he bought the car in '92. Drove her myself, and did not see fit to do so either. She is still on the same damn clutch she left the factory in Japan with -- 201000 miles ago!

Mine could feel a bit a like a skateboard at times -- this is no Lexus. But h-a-l-l-e-lu-j-a-h!!! Because most Lexi can't do what this car can do in most any conditions, on any roads. For handling, I hope like hell I will eventually be able to find something that handled like this one did (and "yes" -- I have driven the vaunted 3 series, and I beg to differ only in direct comparison with an Integra). I loved the weight in the wheel. And barring a single lane road, I only ever made U-turns -- rarely obliged to K-turn with the turning circle on this machine.

This was also, in my humble opinion, the best looking of the Integra line.

Drive one. Buy one. Love one.