A rumor surfaced on Tuesday night that the new 2023 Acura Integra would be getting the automaker’s “Super Handling All-Wheel Drive” system following the discovery of a dealer page in Wisconsin on the new model. However, it seems the communication was a pure mistake, as we reached out to Acura and they outright denied the story.
“The Integra will continue a tradition of being one of the best driving, front-wheel drive vehicles on the market. We look forward to sharing additional details on the all-new Integra soon,” a spokesperson told Carscoops.
Being that Acura’s response was a bit iffy, our editor-in-chief John Halas pressed and asked if they meant it was just a mistake by the dealer, to which the spokesperson replied, “Correct. Also, when I go to the website I’m unable to find the SH-AWD mention so it appears it has been updated.”
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The rumors started swirling after information from a Wisconsin-area Acura dealer stating that the Integra would get the popular feature was picked up by IntegraTalk.com, which still has a screenshot of the original post. “When winter rolls around and covers the roads with rain, ice, and snow, you’ll be happy to have the available Super Handling All-Wheel Drive system to increase your traction in these circumstances and prevent any sliding,” the dealer stated.
Here’s a snapshot of the since corrected passage from Acura of Brookfield’s webpage:
While it’s not completely unbelievable that a more premium version of a popular FWD compact would gain AWD, the Civic itself, upon which it is based, does not offer it. Furthermore, we’d find it a bit hard to believe that it would be combined with a manual gearbox. Still, who knows what Acura has planned for the future but, for now at least, it seems that this was a simple mistake on the part of a local dealer.
Those who are disappointed to find out that their favorite retro-revival won’t be getting AWD can at least take solace in the fact that the FWD setup coming to the Integra is a pretty good one, not to mention it will be available with a six-speed stick shift. The outgoing Civic Type R was the fastest front-wheel-drive car ever to rock up to a number of tracks around the world.