- Styling: Track Vs. Street
- Interior: Performance Or Comfort
- Performance: Type S Stands For Sound
- Pricing & Verdict: Which To Get
Honda now builds two spectacular performance cars. Which should you buy?
With the arrival of the 2024 Acura Integra Type S, the Honda Motor Company now has two epic sports cars geared toward driving enthusiasts. The Integra Type S is heavily based on the 2023 Honda Civic Type R, but the two cars offer different flavors of performance. Whereas the Type R goes wild with a massive rear wing and bright red racing seats, the Type S treads more maturely in the pursuit of daily driving comfort.
CarBuzz has now driven both cars, so we can delve into the subtle differences and help you make an informed decision on which one to choose. This comparison will discuss the objective features of the Type R and Type S as well as our subjective opinion of which one we'd buy.
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Styling: Track Vs. Street
These two cars may share a platform, but the Integra is far more than a Civic Type R with Acura badging. Both are wider than their pedestrian counterparts; the Type R is 74.4 inches wide, and the Type S is wider still at 74.8 inches. The Civic's fenders appear “massaged” into the bodywork, whereas the Integra's wheel arch flares bulge out like a monster trying to escape.
The biggest styling difference exists at the back, where the Type R has a massive wing mounted to the hatch. Acura offers a carbon fiber spoiler for the Type S, but it's nowhere near as boy-racerish as the wing on the Type R. Sitting in the school pickup line, the Integra is far less likely to draw judgy stares from the other parents.
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Interior: Performance Or Comfort
Many buttons, switchgear, and technologies are shared between the CTR and ITS. The two only differ in a few areas, including the seats and materials. If you live at the race track, the Type R's bright red sport seats do a phenomenal job holding the driver in place. For daily driving, they can get a bit tiresome and will be a nightmare to keep clean. Acura's seats are far more livable and offer heating for the driver and passenger. Oddly, only the driver's seat offers power adjustment (even though the Integra A-Spec has a power passenger seat), but the Civic's seats are both fully manual.
In terms of materials, the Integra gets some nice leather on the dash to match the seats, and unlike Honda, Acura offers three different interior colors, including red, black, and white. The Type S gets a perforated steering wheel with optional heating and a suede-wrapped wheel. It also benefits from a 16-speaker ELS Studio 3D audio system that sounds way punchier than the Bose system in the Type R. If you prefer the aluminum shifter from the Type R, Acura offers a similar one as a dealer accessory.
The only other key interior difference lies in front of the driver. The Integra gets a head-up display, but the Civic features a Track Mode for the digital gauge cluster with bright shift lights above it. We wish Acura would have integrated a shift light into the HUD or offered a more tachometer-focused setting for the cluster.
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Performance: Type S Stands For Sound
The Integra Type S shares the 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder VTEC engine with the Civic Type R, but it dials up the output to 320 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque. The Civic Type R, for comparison, produces 315 hp and the same amount of torque. Acura achieved the extra power with a high-flow exhaust system that delivers pops and bangs on the overrun, but not in a simulated fashion. Instead of getting an identical three or four pops every time, it organically delivers them at random based on throttle load. The Type R's muted exhaust note was always its most glaring flaw that the Type S completely fixes.
Both cars ride on adaptive suspension with various modes, and Acura tuned the Type S to be softer in each one. For daily driving, the Type S is more compliant without sacrificing the sharpness on a curvy road. The Type R might feel sharper on the track, but we'd have to drive them back-to-back to know for sure. Unless we planned to track the car every weekend, we'd enjoy the Type S more on the street.
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Pricing & Verdict: Which To Get
The Civic Type R costs $43,795, while the Integra Type S starts at $50,800. For $7,000 more, the Integra gets heated leather seats with a power driver's seat, a throatier exhaust, more power, a head-up display, a superior sound system, softer suspension, and other tuning changes.
Buyers who simply want a sharp driver's car and don't care about the luxury features would be wise to save seven grand and get the Type R. Anyone who plans to use this as a daily driver or a family vehicle may want to consider shelling out more for the Type S.
It may be impossible to find either car at MSRP without a dealer markup, but assuming that price difference remains, we'd personally be willing to pay it. For the exhaust sound alone, the Type S delivers on its admittedly hefty price tag. It's sharper than an Audi S3, BMW M235i Gran Coupe, or Mercedes-AMG CLA 35, and more comfortable than the Civic Type R. The Integra Type S might be the greatest front-wheel-drive car ever made. It's the one we'd choose.
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Keyword: Acura Integra Type S Vs. Honda Civic Type R: Is The Integra Worth The Price?