What luxury car?

The cool thing about luxury cars is that their features eventually trickle down to regular cars. The problem with luxury cars is that once their features have trickled down, they're not so special anymore.

This cropped up when Matt said his favorite compact luxury car or all time remains the Acura Integra. Jeb_Hoge wasn't so sure that the Integra really qualifies as luxury, though.

Neutral: I had two Integra hatcbacks...a 1st gen and a 2nd gen. My dad had a 2nd gen sedan. They…

I had two Integra hatcbacks...a 1st gen and a 2nd gen. My dad had a 2nd gen sedan. They certainly were nice to drive and fling around, but I'd have a bit of a hard time applying the "luxury" label to them because my current first-gen Mazda 6i is as nice and outspecs them on features.

There was also a 10 year gap between the 2nd gen integra and the 1st gen Mazda 6i. I would also say …

There was also a 10 year gap between the 2nd gen integra and the 1st gen Mazda 6i. I would also say that my BRZ is nicer and outspecs my e34 on features, but one is a legit "luxury car" and the other is nowhere close. The DC2s were fairly lux for a mid 90s car in GS-R trim, and had a "luxury" badge. It was certainly on par with the G20. The closest comparison to a Mazda 6 would have to be an RSX since they were produced at the same time.

Maybe the Integra was luxurious for its time, after all. That said, it has indeed lost pretty much all of its luxuriousness.