Finally moving on from the DE5

[optronix]

This actually came pretty suddenly. The psychology of a car enthusiast should be studied, and I'm so glad I'm not like this with women.

I'm in the process of trading out of yet another car. The Integra held my attention fully for almost 3.5 years. The longest I've owned a car since I was a broke junior enlisted sailor who couldn't afford to serially car-hop if I wanted to.

I'll just come out with it- it's the best car I've ever owned. And I've owned some good ones.

So why am I moving on from it? I clearly love the car and have been one of the most active members on this forum since the car was announced. Well, the one thing the car can't do is put the top down. That's not an offense- in fact there's no way I'd want it to be offered as a convertible. I'm fine with it not having a sunroof! But... I've worked myself into a tax bracket where I can justify purchasing an additional car to provide - to me - this essential motoring capability. The problem for the Integra is that the car I chose to suit the open-air need happens to overlap heavily with other things the Integra does well. How I went most of my car-loving life without experiencing an MX-5 is a travesty. They really are just that good at being "the answer" from a pure driving perspective.

So really what this translates to, is I no longer have a need for a manual-only "driver's car". I have two of them now, and literally have experienced in the past few weeks the agony of staring at the registration screen for an autocross trying to decide which car I want to bring. Couple that with my long-term assessment that for every performance modification you make you strip a little more of its soul away from being a good road car, and my eyes started to wander.

I'm probably on record somewhere suggesting that if I didn't need a manual I would almost surely have picked a different car. The ones I'd put at the top of that list are the Audi RS3 and the Alfa Giulia Q4. Only one of those is worth even thinking about owning as a primary vehicle. Probably a bit of timing too because Throttle House just recently did a review of the 2026 RS3 and some of the changes to the chassis tuning piqued my interest. So that's what I'm doing.

The Integra Type S truly did every single thing I asked from it, and snapped me out of a terrible streak of cycling through cars. If I hadn't have bought the Mazda I wouldn't have even thought about moving on from it, in fact was hotly anticipating news of the 2027 changes and almost surely would have just got a new one. But now, as I wait for the dealer to install tint and all-season tires on my Mythos Black Metallic RS3, I have a few days left to be weirdly emotional with an inanimate object.

Also I will have some wheels up for sale in a couple days.

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[nttran98]

Ultra banger cuzz, I guess youre tasting everything whilst having the health and youth to enjoy it.

 

[asone]

I hear so many good things about Audi RS3. Good luck with it when you get it.
I traded in '20 Miata that I had for 6 years to get the Type S, and I miss it.

 

[Tw1stedlog1k]

You know I've always felt this car did everything well so it overlaps with a lot of cars, whether we want to admit it or not. I can see why people cross shop it against other cars out of its performance and price class.

Listen, enjoy those cars in good health and keep us updated on how you're terrorizing the Audi boards.

 

[DK 24LC ITS]

I especially liked the bit you said about slowly making the car less daily-able. I'm looking to do just the minimum stuff to make it a little better for casual track days (not trying for lap records) but I fully daily the car. I have only done the PRL RMM so far and already notice more buzzing, etc...which isn't too bad. I'm considering the 27WON strut bar and maybe a thicker rear sway bar. I won't be doing coilovers, and I may or may not tune it in the future.
In your opinion, where is that line where it was annoying to daily? What mods do you recommend and which would you avoid if doing it again?

 

[peterfromsd]

What?! No M2 Xdrive to throw into the mix with the RS3? Blasphemy

 

[optronix]

I especially liked the bit you said about slowly making the car less daily-able. I'm looking to do just the minimum stuff to make it a little better for casual track days (not trying for lap records) but I fully daily the car. I have only done the PRL RMM so far and already notice more buzzing, etc...which isn't too bad. I'm considering the 27WON strut bar and maybe a thicker rear sway bar. I won't be doing coilovers, and I may or may not tune it in the future.
In your opinion, where is that line where it was annoying to daily? What mods do you recommend and which would you avoid if doing it again?

Great question, but it is going to depend on an individual's expectations for how they use the car.

For me, the springs started me down the path to ruination. I felt like I needed the springs to get the car to look the way I wanted; the factory wheel gap and offset were just insufficient for me- I tried to just cure the offset with aftermarket wheels but it wasn't enough. To be clear, I was not interested nor had any expectation the springs would help improve performance in any way. The problem though is that with the springs came horrendous understeer that was immediately noticeable during my first autocross (important to note though- I'm not convinced I would have noticed the understeer at all had I not used the car for autocross). So then I needed to correct this with more aggressive front camber... that worked but I was still overlooking the roll center correction, and the ball joints weren't adjustable enough... and the ride was noticeably degraded vs OEM so I tried the DSC controller which helped a little... I could continue but you probably get the picture.

But where I 'll elaborate a bit- what really started to kill the experience for me was actually the tires. 275 RE-71RZ on this already-not-quiet car are just so damn NOISY. But... I loved the way the car looked on the 18" CE28Ns, and how responsive the car felt just every time you turned the wheel. So that really was where the line was drawn- I loved the performance aspects of having the tires on the car but the noise kept me from wanting to drive it more often.

But keep in mind, that problem could easily be solved by just putting some PS4S or other "normal" 300TW tire on... which actually I even have available just on a set of 19" Apex VS-5RS. But that tire wouldn't work for me for autocross. I had to make an active choice...

I honestly would have just accepted it if I never got the Mazda. And been happy about it. In fact, I would have just went straight to coilovers and roll center correction, and a rear bar... and probably on and on. That would have been acceptable if it was still my only car.

But having the Mazda available- especially after I just got a more aggressive alignment (you can adjust camber from the factory on an MX-5!) and some stickier tires- it just made that compromise feel unnecessary to the point of silliness.

What?! No M2 Xdrive to throw into the mix with the RS3? Blasphemy

I still need 4 doors... and (subjectively of course), the modern BMWs still have faces only a mother could love.

Also worth mentioning, I've owned several Audis in the past, including an S3 that I actually very much adored for what it was. Which was an augmentation to a 981 Boxster GTS. So this is kind of an inverse reimagining of that garage setup- the RS3 is a clear upgrade over the S3, but the MX-5 isn't quite the pure sports car that Boxster was- BUT I don't get hives thinking about taking it on a race track or putting miles on it. I think it'll work out.

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