It’s a cop-out transfer to say there gained’t be a loser in a comparability take a look at between two automobiles, however when the pair is as comparable to one another as these are right here, it wouldn’t be a shocking conclusion. However we’re not cop-outs, and there’s a winner to be picked between the Honda Civic Kind R and Acura Integra Kind S.
Anyone purchasing for one ought to deeply think about the opposite. Even in case you’re a hardcore Kind R homer, you’re assured to seek out function and positives within the Kind S. Unusually, it’s the Acura that comes throughout as extra boy-racer in particular person. Positive, it doesn’t have a giant wing, however the stuck-on-looking widebody, muscular hood vent, dramatized rear diffuser and accessible bronze wheels lend it a tough edge that the smoothed-over Kind R simply doesn’t match. The Civic speaks efficiency extra subtly with flowing fenders, a smaller grille and simplified design language. All the pieces is purposeful, and it scratches a sure kind of itch the Kind S doesn’t fairly attain.
That Honda and Acura provide each of those automobiles in any respect is a blessing in itself – there wasn’t a Civic Kind R within the U.S. lineup previous to 2017 and it’s a must to return to 2001 for the final Integra Kind R. To say it’s time to be a Honda fanatic can be an understatement.
2nd Place: Acura Integra Kind S
The Kind S doesn’t earn its second-place standing as a result of it being demonstrably worse to drive than the Civic Kind R. Arguably, the Kind S is the superior car to drive once you’re away from a racetrack or pristine pavement. No, the primary cause it fell was as a result of it didn’t fairly dwell as much as the promise of being a extra daily-driver-ready, “luxurious” model of Honda’s hottest hatchback.
The Integra Kind S has energy seats, however not the memory-programmable ones that come on the non-Kind S. It makes use of the weird four-seat configuration of the Kind R as a substitute of creating itself a extra helpful five-seater like different Integras. The backseat expertise is hardly luxurious both, as Acura doesn’t embody rear vents or USB ports for charging, limiting its use as a child hauler. There’s no sunroof accessible, not at the same time as an choice like on the usual Integra. You might even make an argument that the Integra’s inside trim isn’t as good because the Kind R’s, as Acura plasters piano black and a plasticky grey materials throughout versus the Kind R’s candy metallic weave gear encompass and flat black sprint trim accented by racy pink LEDs.
The worth delta between the 2 automobiles is $6,105, which buys you 5 further horsepower, the aforementioned energy driver’s seat, heated entrance seats (coated in leather-based and suede), a head-up show, ELS 16-speaker audio system and full LED exterior lights. After all, it drives a little bit in a different way, too, with an improved trip by way of a damper tune that makes on a regular basis driving extra civil. The softer tune (in each drive mode) versus the Kind R hardly appears to decrease its dealing with expertise on the highway, although it makes attending to and from the canyons extra nice.
Bumpier roads are dispatched with much less violent bouncing or skipping round, making the automotive simpler to drive rapidly in these conditions. We didn’t carry the pair to a monitor, however the distinction there in trip management is sure to be minute, with the Kind R taking a slight edge as a result of its stiffer suspension and massive wing for better stability.
Chances are you’ll not discover the Acura’s further 5 horsepower (its 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four produces 320 hp and 310 pound-feet of torque), however its meatier torque curve within the low- and mid-range means you would possibly discover it lighting up the entrance tires earlier or exhibiting a smidgen extra torque steer accelerating via a nook. It’s not essentially a nasty factor, however these are the tiny variations you discover when driving the 2 back-to-back on the identical roads.
What’s abundantly clear immediately is how significantly better the Kind S sounds from the manufacturing facility. Acura matches a extra aggressive exhaust and pairs it with an engine tune that produces an array of pops and bangs once you swap it into the extra aggressive drive modes. The Kind R simply sounds boring as compared.
We’d be remiss if we didn’t point out the better growth prices and a spotlight to element paid to the Kind R’s exterior design. Honda went out of its solution to engineer a brand new rear door on the Kind R that completely flows with its a lot wider rear fenders, making a seamless and clear search for these rear hips. Acura, however, went full Hellcat with the Kind S and fairly actually caught on some wide-body flares to the identical rear door that’s fitted to another Integra. It comes off as low-cost in comparison with the Kind R’s much more elegant answer, and we’d wager Acura’s design workforce needs it had been in a position to pull off the identical feat.
First Place: Honda Civic Kind R
The added gravitas of driving a Kind R smacks you within the face from the second you slide into the high-bolstered buckets that put the Integra’s extra sedate seats to disgrace. Its pink carpet, pink seats, pink Honda badge and the numbered plaque on the sprint guarantee you understand this front-drive sizzling hatch isn’t like different Hondas. You then fireplace the automotive up, and the hits hold coming. Shift lights arc throughout the highest of the instrument cluster in race automotive model, and a beeeep performs out conveniently at redline in case you end up so engrossed within the dealing with that you just overlook to seek out the following gear. A singular digital cluster view amps up the environment with a horizontal tachometer and all of the important temperature knowledge one would possibly want on the monitor (to not point out the LogR app that Acura doesn’t provide).
These are all main pluses for the Kind R over the Kind S, and for the hardcore fanatic, maybe convincing sufficient to make you go up the Integra’s numerous niceties. The Civic hardly wants these “upgrades” anyway, because the suede seats don’t get chilly like leather-based in winter, and Honda installs a really respectable Bose audio system within the Kind R that’s nice to hearken to already.
However these automobiles are about driving, and the Kind R does that half higher than another front-drive manufacturing car on the planet. The transmissions is likely to be equivalent, however the Kind R’s knob and shift really feel is a bit sturdier and stable than the Kind S shifter. Each of those automobiles are about as critical and unflappable in corners because it will get, although it’s not possible to overlook the slight little bit of added stability from the Kind R in lengthy sweepers. The Honda’s aero bundle is visibly much more intense than the Integra’s, and we wouldn’t doubt if it’s making the Kind R really feel simply that little bit extra glued to the highway, as it would certainly do on the monitor.
The one space the place the Kind R struggles in comparison with the Integra is on significantly bumpy stretches that present simply how stiff the suspension is. It’s right here that we’d slightly be wheeling the Kind S to raised sop up the large highway undulations and imperfections that find yourself jostling you round within the Kind R. You don’t essentially lose tire contact patch and grip, nevertheless it positive does shake a driver’s confidence to drive rapidly.
Sound will all the time be subjective, and it may even be a dealbreaker between these two. The Kind R’s exhaust sounds glorious exterior the automotive, however you gained’t hear something over the blaring simulated engine noise inside. It’s simply not as gratifying to hearken to because the crackly and rorty tone exiting the Acura’s triple suggestions. If sound is what you need, although, that’s simply solved with an aftermarket exhaust that’ll out-trumpet the Integra’s inventory pipes.
These two are so just like drive that the one method you’ll find yourself liking one’s driving traits greater than the opposite is by nit-picking minute (typically ridiculous) particulars. The Civic’s stiffer dampers make it really feel the tiniest bit sharper on a smooth-as-glass highway. The brakes? Properly, they’re precisely the identical and also you gained’t discover a distinction. Sticky Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires give each automobiles an equal quantity of grip, and good luck looking for a distinction in acceleration. The Integra has 5 further horsepower, nevertheless it additionally weighs 31 kilos extra. You’d be hard-pressed to inform a distinction in a race and not using a stopwatch. Each automobiles use the identical aggressive limited-slip differential that yanks you thru a nook and brake-based torque vectoring that helps pivot you thru any twist and switch with alacrity. Visibility out of the Civic is a smidgen higher, however once more, nit-picking.
What this comparability comes right down to greater than the rest is worth, appears to be like and simply how spicy you need your FWD Honda expertise to be. When you can afford each, purchase the one you favor the appears to be like of probably the most. Objectively, although, the Kind R’s decrease beginning worth makes it robust to present the nod to the Integra – particularly when the Civic entices you with these lovely and near-perfect pink seats. And whereas many are unlikely to care, the Kind R’s hatchbacked cargo space is superior to the Integra’s. Not solely is it greater, however the Acura’s annoyingly excessive liftover peak makes it laborious to hoist issues inside.
If Acura added a couple of extra luxurious options and gave it some correct bucket seats, this dialog might be a little bit nearer to a real tie or even perhaps an Integra victory. And if Honda continues to tick the Kind R’s worth upwards, the worth proposition may dwindle additional. However Honda and the Kind R deserve the nod in the present day, which solely appears becoming. The Kind R must be the most effective front-drive fanatic car on the planet, and it fulfills the prophecy.
