Review: 2026 Acura Integra A-Spec 6 MT - Are You SURE You Want This Car With a Stick Shift?

It’s a carefully-guarded secret in the automotive content industry, but I’ll let you in on it. To apply for membership and learn the special handshake, you must pass a two-question test. 
1) Would you ever choose an automatic over a stick shift?
2) Would you ever choose any other vehicle style other than a station wagon?

Somehow, I squeaked in, even though I think stick shift transmissions should be killed in any car that is not a rear-wheel drive coupe weighing under 3,000 pounds. But what do I know? I’ve only owned a Supra, a Civic Si, a Miata, and even a pickup truck with a stick shift. One thing is for certain: the staff over at Road and Driver magazine all pass the litmus test with flying colors. When they are not talking about the skidpad adhesion of minivans, they are blathering on about how every car they test would really be better with a stick. And a wagon-body.

Let’s have a light and lively look at the Integra 6MT and see what we found while driving it. Every step of the way, we are gonna talk about the stick. So buckle up, Bucko.

2026 Acura Integra A-Spec 6 MT - The Powertrain
The Integra has a 1.5-liter turbocharged engine that can create 192 lb-ft of torque at just 1,800 RPMs. This is a gem of an engine, and perfectly suited to a vehicle of this type. It enables you to have that strong sensation of thrust at low RPMS, rather than having to wind out the engine on every shift. If you want to wind the car out, you can do so up to 6,000 RPMs.

2026 Acura Integra A-Spec 6 MT - How’s the Gearbox?
The transmission is a six-speed manual, which matches revs when you downshift. If you appreciate a perfect snickety-snick shifter that always seems to beg for the next position in the slushbox, this is what you’ve been dreaming of. The synchros work their magic unless you are ridiculously abrupt with your gear pulls and pushes. If you can’t feel like a hero in this car with this gearbox, you need some lessons. You can TURN OFF the auto-rev match in the infotainment screen’s systems settings. Act accordingly.

2026 Acura Integra A-Spec 6 MT - Can You Skip Shifts?
In the real world, not the one those fellows from Road and Driver live in, most driving is mundane. The Integra’s engine torque is excellent because, around town (behind school buses, following the mail truck, creeping up to lights to wait another cycle), you can shift 1-3 or 1-2-4 and the Integra never bogs down or lugs as long as you do it right. I skipped as many shifts as I could in town. The Integra’s torque makes this stick shift tolerable in traffic and in daily slogs.

2026 Acura Integra A-Spec 6 MT - What About When You Send It?
When the road magically opens up and gives you space to run and have a little fun, the stick in the Integra is wonderful. You can instinctively shift with no tachometer needed. Zing, shift, zing, shift, zing, shift, and now you are way over the speed limit, so you shift to fifth or sixth gear and chill. Approaching corners, you can downshift to your heart’s desire, but the Integra will do the rev-matching for you. This messed me up at first. I match revs out of habit. Not always heel-toe style. Rather, I prefer to double-clutch or just goose the throttle at the right instant. It takes a bit of re-learning, but once you learn the methods, it’s brilliant. Honda knows how to make sticks, and this is one you will love when you are pushing the car around and having a good time with it. As I mentioned above, the rev-match can be shut off.

2026 Acura Integra A-Spec 6 MT - Is it Easy to Reverse?
Reverse can be a bit funky in some cars equipped with stick shifts. We’d say the Integra is about as good as it gets. R is down and to the right of all the other gears, as shown in our image. We never accidentally grabbed R while driving forward, so I can’t tell you if the lockout is idiot-proof. Ask your dealer. What we can say is that it is pretty easy to grab R while you are in motion, doing rapid K turns in your driveway or out in the wild.

2026 Acura Integra A-Spec 6 MT - Power Parking Brake
One thing we are on the fence about is the power parking brake. We enjoy yanking up the handbrake on manual cars, and doing handbrake turns as a big part of my teen years. If you can’t flat-spot new tires, why even buy them? Am I right!? In the 2026 Integra, the parking brake is power-actuated, and it is located in a good spot. It’s next to the shifter, not hidden up under the left half of the dash in the dark. So using it is pretty simple. Honda is the king of ergonomics, after all. But the joy of that yank is gone (pardon the inference). Also gone is the cumbersome handbrake lever cluttering up your center console, so that’s a plus.

2026 Acura Integra A-Spec 6 MT - Is This Test Guy Just a Loser?
I’m being honest here about what it’s like to test the 2026 Integra and its stick-shifted manual. Am I just some old fart who has lost all the joy in life and wants all cars to be soulless Teslas that drive themselves? Nah. I do still enjoy stick shifts in many cars. Top among them would be the Miata. If I were going to own a GR86 or BRZ, I would only get the stick if it were to be strictly a weekend fun car. If I were going to commute in a GR86, I would not buy a stick shift. Heck, I probably would not even buy a GR86, now that I think about it. The Miata is a stick-shift-only car in my book, with exceptions for those who are physically unable to operate one.

I dislike sticks in muscle cars, and I've driven all of them. Mustang GTs, special Mustangs made by Shelby and Rousch, Corvettes of all types, SRT cars from Dodge that start with the letter H, and the craziest Camaros ever sold in the modern age. None of them is made better by a stick in my opinion. I like small, light, underpowered cars with sticks. Cars with insane power and torque do not need sticks to be fun, and they are slower when equipped with them. The Integra is a front-drive car with decent power and good torque, so I’m sort of on the fence about whether a stick makes it fun, except for one big elephant in the room.

2026 Acura Integra A-Spec 6 MT - The Alternative to the Stick - Dreaded CVT
If the alternative to the stick in the Integra were an 8-speed, geared, automatic with paddles and a great Sport Mode, I’d choose the auto any day of the week. However, the choice you are given when you shop for an Integra is a six-speed continuously variable (CVT) transmission or a stick. It’s a choice I’d prefer not to make. Looking on the bright side, at least there isn’t a horrible and ridiculous DCT in the mix. Those are the worst of all possible options, and thankfully, Acura didn’t make that bad choice like so many other automakers. Would I ever spend my own money on a premium sporty vehicle with a CVT? I never have, and I can’t see myself doing so. They make sense in utility cars and crossovers of moderate price points, and Toyota’s geared e-CT is brilliant, but I loathe belt or chain-driven CVTs in premium vehicles. The best you can hope for is not to dislike it. Nobody says at a neighborhood barbecue, “Oh, I just love the CVT in my pricey sports sedan.” Nobody.

2026 Acura Integra A-Spec 6 MT - Please Tell Us Your Thoughts
I think I’ve given all I can in terms of impressions of the 6MT in the 2025 Integra A-Spec. The car costs about $41K, including special paint, Destination and Handling, and Dealer Doc Fees. We want to hear from you. Please drop us a comment and let us know whether you’d opt for the stick in this 2026 Integra, and if so, why. 

John Goreham is the Vice President of the New England Motor Press Association and an expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE int). In addition to his fourteen years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can connect with John on LinkedIn and follow his work on his personal X channel or on our X channel. John employs grammar and punctuation software when proofreading, and he sometimes uses image generation tools.