1998 Acura Integra Reviews, Pricing & Specs

I have owned 3 of these cars now. They are getting harder and harder to find in good condition as many have been modified. They are a joy to drive, especially the manuals. Handling is great. I think they have a great look to them as well. Very easy to perform repairs to. I believe it was one of the greatest car to come out of the 90s and it’s much better than the newer cars of today. May 24, 2024

I really enjoyed having this car for the past few years. There wasn't anything I couldn't do in it either, I fit a wheelbarrow in the trunk, went offroading (not because I wanted to), went to import car cruises...etc. I met lots of new people just because they liked my car. It never really broke down on me and left me stranded, and when something did break, i could find the part and get it fixed usually that day.Feb 26, 2012

When I bought it I never thought I'd have it so long. Now with a family and the odometer clicking ever higher its time to let someone else take the reigns. The car has continually amazed me with its great performance and fuel economy. The only real money that I've ever had to put into it was normal maintenance items (water pumps/timing belts). Jan 16, 2012

Before I begin, I just want to let anyone who reads this know that this is not from an everyday driver standpoint. Most people buy a car to get from point A to point B. I am not one of those people; I buy a car knowing I am going to enjoy it for whatever reason I want to purchase it for. I am a car enthusiast, and proud of it. The Acura Integra, considered by many to have been produced in the heyday of Acura's production era. Back before Acura's has ridiculous looking rear ends and hideous looking front noses. The Acura Integra was produced between 1987 and 2001, with three different generations in total, and a fourth that it loosely related, the Acura RSX, made from 2002 to 2006. The first generation was from 87-89, the second from 90- 93, and the final one from 94-01. We will be reviewing the third generation here. During the third generation, there were six different models: the RS, LS, SE, GS, GS-R, and Type-R. The GS was introduced when Acura decided to change the SE badge to GS. The first four models share a 1.8L 16 valve DOHC inline four engine, producing 142hp. They have an optional five speed manual or four speed auto, with gear selection for 1, 2, and even 3, with D4 being the standard Drive gear. The GS-R also came with a 1.8L 16 valve DOHC inline four motor, but it also came with what Honda called VTEC: Variable Vale Timing and Electronic Control. This allowed the motor to produce 170hp, and was only mated with a five speed manual transmission, with shorter gear ratios than the standard four models. It has a redline of 8100 RPM's, with VTEC engaging at 4400 RPM's, and the secondaries in the two-stage intake manifold opening up at 5800 RPM's. The final model, the Type-R, was the king. This car used the same motor as the GS-R, but thanks to lighter and reworked internals, different cams, and shorter intake runners, this model produced a whopping 195hp, and has a redline of 8400 RPM's. It is also mated only to a five speed manual, with even shorter gear ratios than the GS-R. Unlike the GS-R however, it has a single stage intake manifold, and VTEC engages at 6000 RPM's, which meant the car focused on top end power. The Type-R is also revered as the "Best Handling Front Wheel Drive Car Ever", and was called so a decade after production. While FWD may not be synonymous with handling, a ten year old front wheel drive car claiming such a title is nothing to sneeze at by any means. The Type-R is revered as the "Holy Grail" of Integras, and was only made between 1997 and 2001 in limited numbers, with no model for 1999 being released in the U.S. So, how fast is it? It is by no means a drag race car, but it's certainly no slouch. A good driver can get this car from 0-60 in about 6.5 seconds, and since it isn't limited by a governor, it will go all the way to 150 MPH if given enough road. At the time the motor was in production it has more horsepower per liter than a Ferrari of the same era. Modifications for this car, even though it is over ten years old, are still plentiful, and with a few properly added bolt-ons, you can have a fast car that will still take corners quite well. The motors for these car are great for turbo charging, natural aspirations, and even have supercharger applications. There are so many different parts for these cars, that you can build the motor any way you want, with whatever parts you want, and change them on whim if the mood strikes you. However, these cars also have a lot of interchangeable parts with Honda Civics, which makes them high theft cars in a lot of areas. Be sure to install security to prevent yours from being stolen. Now, I mentioned before that this car cornered well. You must have thought I was pulling your leg, but in fact I was not. While a stock Integra may have understeer, as almost every FWD car does, there are easy steps you can take to counteract this. Changing the rear swaybar to a thicker application, changing out and adjusting the suspension, and weight reduction are just a few ways you can make your Integra handle so much better than stock. If a stock Type R claimed the title of "Best Handling Front Wheel Drive Car Ever", imagine how much better it would be with a bit of modification? Speaking of modification, these cars are easy to work on, and make great cars to fix and learn to fix cars in general. That is, if you need to fix them. Honda's are known to have great build quality, and the Integra is no exception. I've owned my 13 year old Integra for 2 1/2 years, and besides regular fluids and essentials such as brakes and rotors, all I've had to change were the front wheel bearings. I've drained the battery overnight before, and after giving it a jump start, it was fine. I still use the same battery to this day, showing not only good battery quality, but a great alternator as well. Now, usually with a foreign car, when it needs to be repaired, you would think you'd have to take it in to a shop and pay lots of money for parts from whatever country they're made. This is not always the case though. As I mentioned before, the Integra is a great car to work on, but it is also easy to repair or replace things in your driveway! There are many resources out there that give you instruction on how to fix your Integra, saving you costly labor fees. Now for a brief word on safety. I owned a previous Integra to the one I have now. It was a two door SE model. I was driving to school one afternoon, when someone decided to make a left turn in front of me without looking. Slamming on my brakes and knowing I wouldn't stop in time, I collided with the Ford Fusion at 40 MPH, sending the Fusion skidding down the road, and leaving me with an Integra with a busted up front end. What kind of injuries did I sustain? None. The airbag went off, the seat belt held me in place, and I was unscathed except for having the wind knocked out of me and a sore shoulder for a week. I completely trust these cars with my life, and do so every day I go out. Do you think I'd buy the same kind of car again if I didn't think it would keep me safe? I am completely confident in the safety of these cars, and always will be. Speaking of safety, the Integra comes standard with two front airbags, one driver and one passenger. In terms of emergency braking, and brakes in general for that matter, I've had several close calls, and all have been avoided thanks to the good brakes or great handling my Integra has. All four wheels are disc brakes, so no need to worry about heavy drums to mess with. So what about styling? In my opinion, I think it's a sexy looking car, with its simple rear end and four headlight setup in front. Don't like how the front end looks? You can buy what we call the "JDM Front", which is what the Japanese decided to use instead of what some call the "bug eye" front end. It is a simple rectangular headlight setup, which is also popular with many people, but will set you back about a grand if you choose to buy one. The interior is where I'm sure many will differ from me. Cars these days have a thousand and one gadgets, all capable of performing what I think are unnecessary tasks. The Integra is from an era where such things were still being introduced. It has climate control, cruise control, power steering, ABS, power windows (optional), power locks (also optional), air conditioning, and that's about it. It obviously has a radio, which comes with either a cassette or CD player depending on the year. The interior comes in either cloth or leather, and it has two cup holders in front, which are pretty much only good for holding cans of soda in today's world of oversized drinks. So you might be asking, where's the traction control? Where are all of the fancy driver aids that you might expect in an Acura? Well guess what? It doesn't have them, and I'm glad it doesn't in my opinion. The Integra isn't meant to be a full fledged compact luxury car; the Type-R only car with Suede seat cloth, optional A/C, and no cruise control! The Integra is a blend of everyday comfort and spirited sportiness. It's meant to get you where you want to go in comfort, and put a smile on your face while doing so if you ask it to. Likewise, it rides on a double wishbone suspension coilover suspension, not like MacPherson's, which most cars these days use to transport their passengers in better comfort, by sacrificing performance. But to be honest, at least from my point of view, I don't find the ride to be uncomfortable. I like having a suspension that communicates to me what the road is like, and performs when I ask it to. So what about performance? Is it fun to drive? Be all means! There isn't a day that I don't drive this car where it doesn't put a smile on my face. The handling is precise and the car goes where you turn the steering wheel, with little to no correction needed. It gets up and goes when you ask it to, and will keep going. I am a spirited driver, and I drive so pretty much every time I can when the weather permits. This car has never disappointed me, and I doubt it ever will to be honest. While you're having all of this fun, you can look forward to getting good gas mileage, with 25 city and 31 highway estimated by the EPA, which is quite accurate. If you baby the car, you can get even more, and even if you thrash it for half of the gas tank, you can still achieve averages of 28 MPG. I have no problem averaging 300 miles per tank, and the tank holds 13.2 gallons. I've taken this car on several trips in excess of 100, 200, even 700 miles, and I've only needed to fill up once or twice. Speaking of road trips, I love taking long trips in my Integra. Every year I drive 700 miles to the mountains for some winding mountain road driving, and the trip is not unbearable. It is a compact car, so taller and larger people than I should probably keep that in mind, but even so, I have several friends who are bigger than I and enjoy taking trips in their Integra's just as much. It's not the most comfortable seating on the road, but it gets the job done. Cargo capacity for this car is pretty good for a compact car in my opinion. It won't be a Ford Taurus obviously, but I've seen people fit Christmas trees into their Integra hatchbacks just fine. Speaking of which, the Integra comes in either a two door hatchback model, or a four door sedan model, which is what I have. The coupe is able to hold slightly more cargo, and odder shaped cargo at that. However, if you carry more than one passenger, you'll want the four door, as getting in and out of the back of an Integra hatckback is not fun, even for a 5'3" 110lbs person such as myself. I should also mention road noise. The hatachback doesn't have this problem, but the four door model is designed a little differently, and has frameless doors. This allows air to sometimes go between the door and the rubber seal, among other things, and you do hear wind noise on occasion. However, this can once again be solved, as the sedan has optional door visors than can be installed, and the coupe does as well. Well, I think I've finally run out of things to say about this wonderful little vehicle. Thank you for reading all of it, and I hope I have helped you learn more about this car.Nov 10, 2011

Nice car recommended Try to find one like this? Hard to find 2004 Acura RSX with only 89k miles, milano red, moonroof, customer wheels with new tires and in excellent condition. Hurry in today, these cars do not last long here on our lot! Elite Motorsports sells only clean title vehicles. All vehicles comes with a warranty and free AutoCheck history report. Extended warranties available up to 4yrs unlimited mileage. Special Financing as low as 3.99% wac. Thank you for shopping with us, we appreciate your business!Jul 08, 2011

my 98 integra type R is a factory built race car. i have modified the suspension,brakes,and engine from factory to gain even more performance from this vehicle. the car has been lowered on skunk2 shocks that replace the whole factory shock/strut assembly. i have also installed a skunk2 chamber kit to avoid uneven tire wear. i have reinforced the the vehicles frame by utilizing a rear x brace and tower bars and a number of other suspension components. the brakes where upgraded to slotted rotors and different pads for racing have been installed. my engine is a fully built b18c-5 motor im running a turbonetics t3/t4 turbo on 11.5psi 450 wheel hp.....Oct 24, 2010

Performance - Could use a little more power under VTEC, with better tires it can handle pretty well. Build Quality - Odd squeaks and rattles in the interior, not bad for a 11 year old car Appearance - JDM front would be better of course but I don't mind the USDM front. Interior layout is really nice and simple. Cost of Ownership - Gas milage is pretty good if I actually drive efficiently, no real problems other than the things after the engine swap but so far it's been fine. Fun Factor - VTEC is hilarious Sep 21, 2009

Performance: The throttle is snappy like an all motor engine should be. But it is the non-vtec engine. It's not the most powerful engine Acura has offered. It could use just a little bit more torque. Build quality: Fantastic however, the interior cabin could be quieter. Appearance: Simple flow is all I have to say. Cost of ownership: Integras are relatively well priced these days. However, finding one that isn't abused is rare. They make pretty decent gas mileage if you're not a lead foot and the maintenance is pretty easy on the wallet. Fun factor: Being the non-vtec Integra, it could use more torque for more spirited driving. The handling is pretty good but the steering is a little vague.Aug 10, 2009

I bought my Integra in April of 2006 with 80,000 miles on it. It's an automatic, silver with black interior, and is in great condition. I would definitely recommend this car to anyone that would love a sporty sharp looking car. I've put 17' low profile tires and aftermarket wheels on it, along with halo headlights and white taillights, and decals on the front and back windows. I wish I knew how to drive a stick, because I would much rather have a 5 speed so I could race. It gets decent gas mileage and I haven't had any problems with upkeep or repairs.Nov 07, 2008

Was pretty nice for a 1st car and one thats 10 years old. The car could literary stop on a dime. Although it was small it was a very well built car and the frame was strong and sturdy. I once rear-ended a guy and my front bumper just got unclipped. No dents and very minor scratches. The car handled pretty well too. I only wish it had more power. In terms of appearance. this can be a very good looking car if you play around with some things. I had just a grille on the stock bumper, window tint, after market angel eyes, tinted tail lights, and 17" motegi mr7 rims. the car honestly turned heads everywhere i went. I was really happy with the gas mileage. i drove it a lot and only had to gas up once a week. It really didn't cost me much to maintain the car. It was always working and started every cold morning. Very fun car if it's your firstJul 23, 2008

I've owned a 1987, 1988, 1989, and now this 1998 Integra and I'll buy another one when this one plays out. I bought it with 98000 miles and it now has 127000 and plenty of life left in it. I've done routine maintenance plus a new battery and new tires. The only non-routine work I've had done is a thermostat. I took it to the dealer for oil changes (employee discount) and even they couldn't nitpick it for other work that needed to be done. Mar 09, 2008

The stock GS-R is a fun, well handling car for a front wheel drive car. It is good looking and is fairly economical. Reliability is great except for the stock radiator which is almost guaranteed to break at about 100k. After some minor bolt on parts I've freed some high end power. Also some suspension mods reduced the severe understeering and created a great handling car. I wish I could have more horsepower, but for what it is I enjoy it very much. Feb 13, 2008