I have driven most of those cars back then and I can tell you that they all had their pros & cons.
If you've driven them back-to-back as Car & Drive did and myself as well, you'd see what they liked in the Acura Integra.
The engine was sweeter, rev'd higher & smoother making the car feel faster than it was and always wanted you to push it harder...and you could!
The HONDA engines back then seemed as though they had no rev limit and could climb to the moon. And they could do it without breaking.
When you would travel at hiwy speeds such as 70-80 mph, they also seemed as though they could radar blip to 100 mph all while feeling that they were only traveling half that speed due to their suspension design. Honda's were just different then compared to their direct competition.
Today, the competition is so much closer that there is little difference in the way one vehicle feels compared to the other.