2025 Integra Type S | I really wanted to like it.

[shownfu]

A brand new 25' Integra Type S in Apex Blue, I drove off the lot just 6 months ago, last week was picked up by Carvana. It had 5K on the odometer.

I really wanted to like it. The motor, trans, and handling are all exceptional. Short gearing, smooth shifting, and enough power to have fun. Braking feel and power is top notch. The best part is it looks absolutely stunning, especially in blue.

But a comfortable car to live with daily, it is not. There are a lot small things that add up to be a whole lot of compromises. These are things that just simply worked in previous cars.

- Punishing ride for passengers. The road noise and stiffness (even in Comfort) is jarring, especially for backseat passengers. Sport Plus is teeth chattering.

- Useless washer fluid spray. Absolutely stupid design that does not clean the windshield.

- infotainment. Android Auto failed twice, to the point that it required a Factory Reset of the infotainment for it to work again. This also meant losing all my other vehicle settings. The ambient lighting color can't be changed. The screen is low quality. The ELS system in here is not comparable to ELS in other Acura products we've owned. It's lower quality and sound.

- Very small gas tank. The good MPGs are negated by a tiny tank that requires refilling at the frequency of a lower MPG vehicle with a larger tank.

- Cheap seats in a decently high performance car is disappointing. Seats neither hold me in particularly well nor are comfortable for long drives.

- Blind Spot Monitor is poorly calibrated. The warning light stays illuminated beyond a reasonable distance. It makes you second guess is a vehicle has truly snuck up, when in most cases there is an enormous amount is space to move over.

- Amenities, lack of. No memory seats between two frequent drivers gets old quickly. No rear air vents. No Homelink.

For us, it was just too many compromises. It was too far of a departure from what we're used.
If you're used to your Lexus or BMW products, or even just high trim level Honda and Toyota products, I think you'll find you agree with some points.

There were two other Apex Blue DE5s on Carvana with under 8K miles. There will soon be 3!

I posted this review on an FB page for DE5s, but it got deleted. Leaving it here incase it helps others.

Sponsored

 

[NoelPR]

- Punishing ride for passengers. The road noise and stiffness (even in Comfort) is jarring, especially for backseat passengers. Sport Plus is teeth chattering.
Is a more serious than average sport car
What were you really expecting?

- Useless washer fluid spray. Absolutely stupid design that does not clean the windshield.
Mine clean fine

- infotainment. Android Auto failed twice, to the point that it required a Factory Reset of the infotainment for it to work again. This also meant losing all my other vehicle settings. The ambient lighting color can't be changed. The screen is low quality. The ELS system in here is not comparable to ELS in other Acura products we've owned. It's lower quality and sound.
True but I can live with it. Still sounds better than average.

- Very small gas tank. The good MPGs are negated by a tiny tank that requires refilling at the frequency of a lower MPG vehicle with a larger tank.
Again, is a sports car. They will not redesign the shell to accommodate a bigger tank and add more weight. This platform has limited payload.

- Cheap seats in a decently high performance car is disappointing. Seats neither hold me in particularly well nor are comfortable for long drives.
True but I can live with it.

- Blind Spot Monitor is poorly calibrated. The warning light stays illuminated beyond a reasonable distance. It makes you second guess is a vehicle has truly snuck up, when in most cases there is an enormous amount is space to move over.
I prefer over-sensitivity to a lack of it. Safer for us.

- Amenities, lack of. No memory seats between two frequent drivers gets old quickly. No rear air vents. No Homelink.
Agree with the memory seats complain. I don't need homelink and the rear a/c vents are nice to have but the car have pretty good internal circulation. My rear passengers don't complain about heat during the hot summers of FL.



Is clear that you aren't a sports car person. True high performance cars come with compromises in comfort. Acura gave us a less boy racer CTR and I'm glad it exists.

 

[Victorofhavoc]

Yes, this all sounds right.

I had to stop thinking of this as a comparison to a German luxury car, or even a German economy car. It simply is not even close at a base level as a daily car. As a driver's car it's great.

To be fair, after 12 hrs of sound deadening some things can improve, but you shouldn't have to go through that effort.

Sadly, though, what else do you buy? Outside of moving to an actual sports car (and typically older ones), there's nothing else to buy that's a decent driver's car first

 

[bigfx]

Yes, this all sounds right.

I had to stop thinking of this as a comparison to a German luxury car, or even a German economy car. It simply is not even close at a base level as a daily car. As a driver's car it's great.

To be fair, after 12 hrs of sound deadening some things can improve, but you shouldn't have to go through that effort.

Sadly, though, what else do you buy? Outside of moving to an actual sports car (and typically older ones), there's nothing else to buy that's a decent driver's car first

2nd this thought, the type s is spartan compared to other options out there. The truth is value has been destroyed with inflation where a m3 started under 65 a couple of years back is now at least mid 70’s and up. The type s is a value option in that you can get them right at 50k pretty easily which when compared to the r option wise makes it a better deal. Let’s all be honest though if there was a 50k or 60k rear wheel drive 6 speed the s would probably not be the pick a lot of people choose. I’m happy with my s and will keep it for the long run but I won’t fool myself thinking this a luxury car.

 

[SilverRocket]

All the complaints you've voiced are to a certain degree valid, but remember they are opinionated. What's not okay for you might be perfectly okay for others.

Quite simply the car is not for everyone.

Any ideas what you will be replacing it with or has the white Supra already done so?

 

[ChromaPop]

What I don't understand here is that 90% of your quibbles were obvious before you even bought the car, you knew those items did not exist and were that way if you had test driven the car at all and looked at the spec sheets. And now you eat the highest depreciation expense of the car in the first 6 months to move on. For me I knew it had a small gas tank but I don't use it as a commuter car and sometimes my gas in the tank becomes 3 weeks old. I knew it wasn't the best for rear seat passengers but I knew I rarely have them. If you think the car has a punishing ride in Comfort Mode then you definitely didn't want a sports car of any kind. My wiper blade cleaners work more than adequately, and I think the stereo is great as I was not expecting a Burmeister. As for the blind spot light indicator in the side mirror, I feel like most cars leave those on for quite a while. I hardly ever notice them because I try to be very aware of cars that are next to me and stay out of people's blind spots. One thing I'll give you is the road noise with the OEM tires but a lot of that can be solved with your second set of tires. The rest I think is mostly unfair expectations or a lack of pre-studying the car's features before buying. Now I wonder if you will go buy a slightly more luxurious car with a features you want but then say to yourself, "Man, I wish this car was as fun to drive as that Acura Integra Type S was."

 

[Rz2Gd]

Not going to comment on the entirety of the post, but I will address the Homelink concern.

I've had that option on most of my cars for the past 20 years. It's not offered here. However, it does support it. You can buy the Honda Accord mirror and wiring harness for about $200 and it's an easy install.

Yes, if you're not mechanically handy then there's an issue there. But the option is normally a $500 option on purchase, so if you can do it yourself (I did and wasn't that difficult), you can save $300.

 

[Irishmykl]

"- Amenities, lack of. No memory seats between two frequent drivers gets old quickly. No rear air vents. No Homelink."

Kinda suprising because the Aspec Tech Integra has memory seat function for 2 people, but it also has other things the Type S doesnt like a sunroof, and a 3rd seatbelt/space in the rear seats. Those are compromises you make for the Type S over the regular A Spec.

As mentioned before the Rear Vents and Homelink can be easily retrofitted thanks to other Honda/Acura models cross compatiblity.

 

[egxflash]

Let’s all be honest though if there was a 50k or 60k rear wheel drive 6 speed the s would probably not be the pick a lot of people choose.

This. Like most things, there's a little bit of truth on each side. OP, I think most of your complaints are valid, but I mostly agree with the seats and build quality.

I also agree with the responses that some are trifling. But I've noticed a level of white knighting on behalf of the DE5 here, as if it's the greatest thing on the road. It reeks of the other forum in here from the guys that unironically think this platform is the GT3RS with 4 doors.

The truth of the matter is it's a great driver's car like @Victorofhavoc mentioned, but not a pure sports car where so many sacrifices have to be forgiven. But at the end of the day, I didn't really have options if I wanted a capable, fun to drive performance vehicle that was offered in a manual and can comfortably fit two carseats in the back (and isn't a Hyundai) so here we are.

 

[creaturemachine]

Again, sports car thing to save weight.

Lol what? I'll bet any money it's the same part as every other civic. Keep thinking it's a sports car though, or that any of the design decisions are for weight. More like value engineering.

 

[NoelPR]

Lol what? I'll bet any money it's the same part as every other civic. Keep thinking it's a sports car though, or that any of the design decisions are for weight. More like value engineering.

Sir, this car has limited payload capacity. Weight plays a big role here.

The performance metrics, particularly in the handling department, contradict your attempt to downplay the sporty capabilities of this platform.

 

[shownfu]

All great points being made. As the title states, I really wanted to like it, hence why I bought it hoping I could learn to live with the compromises. It would be a great 3rd car, but wasn't for us. It was one of two primary cars. The Supra is the 3rd car. The DE5 I'm sure works great for some, but I wanted to share my take on it for future prospective buyers that may be in the same state of mind.

It boils down that the DE5, in my opinion, is an amazing vehicle IF it's not a primary vehicle. Weekend cruiser, Auto-X, occasional track days, etc... Yet, it tries to be it with half baked comfort creatures. On that note, an FL5 CTR is perhaps in line in the far far future when prices come down drastically.

I also got a great deal on the DE5 and a great offer to sell it so the hit was minimal and worth it to me.

 

[egxflash]

All great points being made. As the title states, I really wanted to like it, hence why I bought it hoping I could learn to live with the compromises. It would be a great 3rd car, but wasn't for us. It was one of two primary cars. The Supra is the 3rd car. The DE5 I'm sure works great for some, but I wanted to share my take on it for future prospective buyers that may be in the same state of mind.

It boils down that the DE5, in my opinion, is an amazing vehicle IF it's not a primary vehicle. Weekend cruiser, Auto-X, occasional track days, etc... Yet, it tries to be it with half baked comfort creatures. On that note, an FL5 CTR is perhaps in line in the far far future when prices come down drastically.

I also got a great deal on the DE5 and a great offer to sell it so the hit was minimal and worth it to me.

It's my 2nd car which I drive 2x during the workweek and take out sometime on the weekend and I already feel like I visit the pump with it too often.

The tank is fine on the civic that gets like 30+ mpg. On this car, it's too small.

 

[optronix]

What is there to say to this? I disagree completely that it isn't good for everyday use. It's perfect for everyday use for someone who wants to actually USE the car. The car isn't for everybody, and frankly I'm tired of defending it.

I love the car, had it over 2 years and it effectively cured my chronic car-swapping syndrome and I came from a litany of FAR more expensive cars, so anything I say will come off as "white-knighting" or "gatekeeping" anyway.

 

[ChromaPop]

All great points being made. As the title states, I really wanted to like it, hence why I bought it hoping I could learn to live with the compromises. It would be a great 3rd car, but wasn't for us. It was one of two primary cars. The Supra is the 3rd car. The DE5 I'm sure works great for some, but I wanted to share my take on it for future prospective buyers that may be in the same state of mind.

It boils down that the DE5, in my opinion, is an amazing vehicle IF it's not a primary vehicle. Weekend cruiser, Auto-X, occasional track days, etc... Yet, it tries to be it with half baked comfort creatures. On that note, an FL5 CTR is perhaps in line in the far far future when prices come down drastically.

I also got a great deal on the DE5 and a great offer to sell it so the hit was minimal and worth it to me.

Wow I have to completely disagree with this. For someone who is a car enthusiast that is only able to own one car as in a primary car, I don't think it can get much better. You get something extremely sporty and fun to drive with a manual transmission, the ability to seat four, haul large Costco Loads in the hatch with seat(s) down, all with a touch of luxury. For those that need a single car solution and want all of those aspects I don't think you can find a better one.

Sponsored