Direct comparison: Civic Type R vs. Integra Type S (Throttle House review)

I’d love to know what octane they ran in both cars. Entertaining video otherwise. Seems like Thomas is warming up to the FL5 at least!

CTR said:

I’d love to know what octane they ran in both cars. Entertaining video otherwise. Seems like Thomas is warming up to the FL5 at least!

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93 octane. See 5:57 of the video.

It's inevitable to compare the ITS and CTR. But you can't go wrong with either. A lap time would be cool too... Honda didn't design these cars to drag race.
"They didn't get this, because they couldn't get that." @ 21:45. Honestly it's a win-win, the ITS is obviously faster in a straight line and a more comfortable option in Canada (at least I've come to understand that) compared to in the States.

And this little in-company "competition" that many on the forum feed into, may drive prices down, which is obviously a good thing.

Xchax3 said:

It's inevitable to compare the ITS and CTR. But you can't go wrong with either. A lap time would be cool too... Honda didn't design these cars to drag race.
"They didn't get this, because they couldn't get that." @ 21:45. Honestly it's a win-win, the ITS is obviously faster in a straight line and a more comfortable option in Canada (at least I've come to understand that) compared to in the States.

And this little in-company "competition" that many on the forum feed into, may drive prices down, which is obviously a good thing.

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If you watch the video to the end, they did do a lap time and both cars had the exact same time down to the 100's of a second!

Xchax3 said:

It's inevitable to compare the ITS and CTR. But you can't go wrong with either. A lap time would be cool too... Honda didn't design these cars to drag race.
"They didn't get this, because they couldn't get that." @ 21:45. Honestly it's a win-win, the ITS is obviously faster in a straight line and a more comfortable option in Canada (at least I've come to understand that) compared to in the States.

And this little in-company "competition" that many on the forum feed into, may drive prices down, which is obviously a good thing.

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Yup, really glad they both exist. FL5s are unicorns here in Canada, so for many of us, it’s either the ITS or drive something else that’s less practical and/or with an inferior manual gearbox.

As for the video: Been waiting for this one as well since they’re one of my favourite channels - Had a feeling they delayed it in order to do a comparo. Now only waiting for Everyday Driver’s review.

Hundredth of a second.

Same track, same driver same tires. Not same day but 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

Can we leave this alone now? You get $7k worth of pleather and stereo and heated seats out of the Acura, and you either like the way one looks or the other.

The fact these two cars, the CTR and ITS exist is worthy of a celebration.

wrxdev13 said:

The fact these two cars, the CTR and ITS exist is worthy of a celebration.

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It's an embarrassment of riches for an enthusiast right now. With electrification on the product roadmap for all manufacturers, it's impressive the ICE options that are still available and many with manual transmissions. I honestly didn't think we'd be here. It feels like the 90s/early 2000s right now with all the options. There are as much, if not more, options for enthusiasts.

Clark_Kent said:

It's an embarrassment of riches for an enthusiast right now. With electrification on the product roadmap for all manufacturers, it's impressive the ICE options that are still available and many with manual transmissions. I honestly didn't think we'd be here. It feels like the 90s/early 2000s right now with all the options. There are as much, if not more, options for enthusiasts.

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Hahaha! That’s a little bit of a stretch, but I’m with you on the sentiment and “competitiveness.”

Back then you could get soooooo many cars and trucks with a 5 sp manual (sometimes a 6 sp). This was back when manuals were better than autos in many ways, including fuel economy. One could get an entry level vehicle with a 5 sp, modify it, tinker with it, and have some great fun. Not to mention there are so many makes/models of enthusiast cars back then that no longer exist in any form. Mistubishi, for example, is a shell of what it once was. It was a great time for enthusiasts both wealthy and those on a budget. In that sense, the budget enthusiast is almost completely underserved today. Prices have crept up a bit (even when adjusting for inflation) and there are VERY few new, entry/budget, vehicles in general that even have a manual as an option. Can one even get a base Civic, Corolla, or Sentra, (R.I.P. Lancer), with a manual today? I honestly have no clue, but I kinda don’t think so…and those are just 4 examples of the “gateway drugs” that were once commonly available.

Regardless, I’m happy that we (still) have great choices for attainable, enthusiast, vehicles…CTR and ITS included. It is a fun time and a little nostalgic!

Clark_Kent said:

It's an embarrassment of riches for an enthusiast right now. With electrification on the product roadmap for all manufacturers, it's impressive the ICE options that are still available and many with manual transmissions. I honestly didn't think we'd be here. It feels like the 90s/early 2000s right now with all the options. There are as much, if not more, options for enthusiasts.

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The main problem is lack of availability (especially at MSRP) for many of these cars. The seldom FL5 that pops up is going for ~$80k here in Canada.

Negitoro7 said:

The main problem is lack of availability (especially at MSRP) for many of these cars in Canada. The seldom FL5 that pops up is going for ~$80k here in Canada.

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I added the words in bold to clarify things a bit. From my reading, it sounds really wild in Canada and I cannot begin to understand how frustrating that is. The FL5 is an outlier; however, many of these cars in the United States can be had for MSRP. You may have to put in some work, but it's possible. There a lot of people who complain about how bad the pricing situation is, but they won't put in the work to find a deal a few states away or even across the country. There are also some who refuse to wait. The days of driving to your local dealership and just picking up a car off the lot are over for the foreseeable future.

TypeRD said:

Hahaha! That’s a little bit of a stretch, but I’m with you on the sentiment and “competitiveness.”

Back then you could get soooooo many cars and trucks with a 5 sp manual (sometimes a 6 sp). This was back when manuals were better than autos in many ways, including fuel economy. One could get an entry level vehicle with a 5 sp, modify it, tinker with it, and have some great fun. Not to mention there are so many makes/models of enthusiast cars back then that no longer exist in any form. Mistubishi, for example, is a shell of what it once was. It was a great time for enthusiasts both wealthy and those on a budget. In that sense, the budget enthusiast is almost completely underserved today. Prices have crept up a bit (even when adjusting for inflation) and there are VERY few new, entry/budget, vehicles in general that even have a manual as an option. Can one even get a base Civic, Corolla, or Sentra, (R.I.P. Lancer), with a manual today? I honestly have no clue, but I kinda don’t think so…and those are just 4 examples of the “gateway drugs” that were once commonly available.

Regardless, I’m happy that we (still) have great choices for attainable, enthusiast, vehicles…CTR and ITS included. It is a fun time and a little nostalgic!

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Nah I agree with CK above, this is a true golden age.

There are some serious rose-colored glasses going on with the 90s cars. They weren't good! Sure they were amazing for the time, but compared to today, oh hell no.

Take the MKV Supra. Many people are coming around to that car, which is great. I'll be the first to say I liked it before it was cool, because the initial impressions from "enthusiasts" for that car were NOT favorable. Now that it has a (from what I hear tremendously good) manual transmission, the sentiments are going to improve...

But I shouldn't have to tell you what a MKIV Supra goes for these days. I know there are many factors that go into that, but you can't tell me nostalgia isn't the primary driver. But from a performance/driving dynamics perspective, it's not even competitive with an Infiniti Q50.let alone a MK V. No one talks about a Q50 being amazing... and it certainly wouldn't go for over $100k on BaT... body roll was horrendous, tire technology was LOL...

That's just one data point but you can see where I'm going hopefully. Yeah manuals are going away- but dude, the writing has been on the wall for that for at least 10 years now. Ever since you couldn't get a major supercar with a manual (or even a 911 Turbo...), because dual-clutch is quite simply a better performing transmission. Sure there's still the tactile joy that enthusiasts want, but the market for that has dwindled and it should come as zero surprise. There aren't that many of us out there...

But for those who are, there are AMAZINGLY GREAT options.

Could you IMAGINE what a 2024 Integra Type S would represent if it cruised through a typical weekend night meetup of the late 90s, early 00s?? Let me remind you, mid 13s was a truly fast tuner car back then. But to get a 90s/00s car to carve up a back road or a track the way a CTR/ITS does would require severe compromise in driveability.

We have it really great.

One thing I am missing though is naturally aspirated engines. There is a legit point to nostalgia...

Right. Agree. Technologically we’re in a much better place. But in terms of availability of (new) enthusiast options especially at entry level, not so much. That’s all I’m tryna say. There are few cars from back then that hold-up today. No 90’s rose colored glasses here.

TypeRD said:

Hahaha! That’s a little bit of a stretch, but I’m with you on the sentiment and “competitiveness.”

Back then you could get soooooo many cars and trucks with a 5 sp manual (sometimes a 6 sp). This was back when manuals were better than autos in many ways, including fuel economy. One could get an entry level vehicle with a 5 sp, modify it, tinker with it, and have some great fun. Not to mention there are so many makes/models of enthusiast cars back then that no longer exist in any form. Mistubishi, for example, is a shell of what it once was. It was a great time for enthusiasts both wealthy and those on a budget. In that sense, the budget enthusiast is almost completely underserved today. Prices have crept up a bit (even when adjusting for inflation) and there are VERY few new, entry/budget, vehicles in general that even have a manual as an option. Can one even get a base Civic, Corolla, or Sentra, (R.I.P. Lancer), with a manual today? I honestly have no clue, but I kinda don’t think so…and those are just 4 examples of the “gateway drugs” that were once commonly available.

Regardless, I’m happy that we (still) have great choices for attainable, enthusiast, vehicles…CTR and ITS included. It is a fun time and a little nostalgic!

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I understand what you're saying but I'm only looking at performance vehicles, not your Civic DX or Chevy S10 equivalent with a manual transmission. I view the performance vehicles that have been retired as zero sum. Sure Mitsubishi has disappeared from the performance fold and other models, but there are now offerings that didn't exist previously across the price spectrum. You have the Civic Type R, Elantra N/Kona N, BMW M2, GR Corolla, GR86, Mazda 3 Turbo, Subaru BRZ, Porsche 718 - all with manual transmissions. These vehicles are net new and not modern versions of longstanding models. Toss in the automatic transmission/DCT options and the numbers start to climb even higher.

EDIT: I want to be clear, I purposefully excluded the Integra Type S. No disrespect or shade at all. I only left it off the above list because I view it as an extension of previous Acura models (Integra GSR, Integra Type R, RSX Type S).