Long(er) term impressions

[TheRas900]

I would say the clutch is easier in traffic with the type s since it doesn't need to travel as much. It's firmer but not heavy. Feels better built.

Thanks for this helpful extra comment.

 

[bpebler]

I'm going to miss driving the car this week.. some how the ECU shipped itself to Cali.

It just up & decided to go put on some fancy clothes!

 

[Integra23]

It just up & decided to go put on some fancy clothes!

Crazy but true. Hopefully it comes back happy and singing a new tune.

 

[bpebler]

Crazy but true. Hopefully it comes back happy and singing a new tune.

Now, that's a good one.

 

[neuronbob]

Enjoying the shifter. No rattles at a little over 300 miles. Clutch is nice and light compared to S2000 and NSX. What an excellent daily driver this is.

 

[sfedai0]

Enjoying the shifter. No rattles at a little over 300 miles. Clutch is nice and light compared to S2000 and NSX. What an excellent daily driver this is.

How much lighter can it be? The S2k clutch was super easy. No harder than a typical civic back then.

 

[chenc544]

Drove my ITS home yesterday on a 12 hr ~850 mile road trip. Here are my impressions from that drive.

• Love the autonomous driving aids for the long road trip. Didn't use the adaptive cruise control much since I was trying to vary the RPM for the break-in but the lane keep assist is such a pleasure to use on a long drive even without the cruise control. Turned both on towards the end when it got dark and it pretty much drove itself. On the other hand, turned off the lane departure warning after a hour, annoying.
• Gears are very short. 1st gear is over before you know it and 80 mph is dead on 3k at 6th gear. There is absolutely no need to downshift for highway passing on 6th gear. You can quickly get into triple digit without even trying. To be honest it might be a smidge too short, I'm not sure there is a lot of difference between 5th and 6th. Would be good to have 6th a little taller actually but understand that it's the Type-R gearbox that's probably tuned for the track.
• Clutch is very light and doesn't have much if any feel for the engagement point. Noticed the same thing in FK8 actually so I'm assuming it's a Civic/Type-R thing. Not a big fan and will probably take me a little to get use to it to drive it smoothly while taking it easy. The flip side is driving in the traffic is a breeze.
• The steering is almost telepathic with amazing grip level for street use. You can definitely feel the LSD when powering out of a corner. I'm used to AWD and RWD cars when powering out of a corner so was a little surprised when doing the same on the ITS and feeling the LSD.
• The driver seat is very good for a long trip on the back. The 4-way lumbar support makes a big difference. I usually have pretty bad backpain when driving for that kind of time/distance but not in the ITS yesterday. The seat bottom on the other hand is pretty firm. My butt was definitely sore after the long drive, which was a little unusual for me.
• This car gets ATTENTION! 5 min after I got on the highway, a NA1 NSX driver gave me a knowing wave as he drove by. Then 2 Infiniti G37 and a BMW F-series coupe, obvious out on a cruise, sped up to catch me and then slow down to take pictures near KC. Stopping at a BBQ joint for lunch a TLX driver noticed the ITS and waved. Then coming out from lunch another guy in SUV asked me if that's the 300 hp Integra. Literally 5 min later while getting gas the gas station attendant came out to ask about the car. Another gas stop, another lady asked what kind of car is it. Crazy...
• Speaking of gas, man is the gas tank in the ITS small. Fill up is ~12 gallons when just about empty. Cruise range is about 300 miles for me on the trip. Average 26-27 MPG doing 75-80 MPH most of the trip. Dropping down to 65 will get you >30 MPG. And the car doesn't really "coast" very much at that speed when off gas. Makes me wonder what the drag coeff is on the car or see above about the short 6th gear.
• Got a little buzzing noise coming from passenger side seat belt anchor I think. Will have to hunt it down if it gets worst.
• Comfort mode suspension setting is still surprisingly sporty. Good and bad since it gives you good handling but definitely not a GT car when pavement is not smooth. Probably contributes to the rattling noise over time.
• $52.6K MSRP with color option and destination still feels ~$2-3k high, especially with some of the missing features from A-spec, but it has an unique market position. If I had come across the right used F36 440i GC I would probably have gotten that instead. I lucked out and was able to get the ITS at MSRP with no accessories so that was too hard to pass up. I think what that really says is the CTR at $44k MSRP is a very good deal, except of course no dealer is selling them at MSRP.

 

[bpebler]

Drove my ITS home yesterday on a 12 hr ~850 mile road trip. Here are my impressions from that drive.

• Love the autonomous driving aids for the long road trip. Didn't use the adaptive cruise control much since I was trying to vary the RPM for the break-in but the lane keep assist is such a pleasure to use on a long drive even without the cruise control. Turned both on towards the end when it got dark and it pretty much drove itself. On the other hand, turned off the lane departure warning after a hour, annoying.
• Gears are very short. 1st gear is over before you know it and 80 mph is dead on 3k at 6th gear. There is absolutely no need to downshift for highway passing on 6th gear. You can quickly get into triple digit without even trying. To be honest it might be a smidge too short, I'm not sure there is a lot of difference between 5th and 6th. Would be good to have 6th a little taller actually but understand that it's the Type-R gearbox that's probably tuned for the track.
• Clutch is very light and doesn't have much if any feel for the engagement point. Noticed the same thing in FK8 actually so I'm assuming it's a Civic/Type-R thing. Not a big fan and will probably take me a little to get use to it to drive it smoothly while taking it easy. The flip side is driving in the traffic is a breeze.
• The steering is almost telepathic with amazing grip level for street use. You can definitely feel the LSD when powering out of a corner. I'm used to AWD and RWD cars when powering out of a corner so was a little surprised when doing the same on the ITS and feeling the LSD.
• The driver seat is very good for a long trip on the back. The 4-way lumbar support makes a big difference. I usually have pretty bad backpain when driving for that kind of time/distance but not in the ITS yesterday. The seat bottom on the other hand is pretty firm. My butt was definitely sore after the long drive, which was a little unusual for me.
• This car gets ATTENTION! 5 min after I got on the highway, a NA1 NSX driver gave me a knowing wave as he drove by. Then 2 Infiniti G37 and a BMW F-series coupe, obvious out on a cruise, sped up to catch me and then slow down to take pictures near KC. Stopping at a BBQ joint for lunch a TLX driver noticed the ITS and waved. Then coming out from lunch another guy in SUV asked me if that's the 300 hp Integra. Literally 5 min later while getting gas the gas station attendant came out to ask about the car. Another gas stop, another lady asked what kind of car is it. Crazy...
• Speaking of gas, man is the gas tank in the ITS small. Fill up is ~12 gallons when just about empty. Cruise range is about 300 miles for me on the trip. Average 26-27 MPG doing 75-80 MPH most of the trip. Dropping down to 65 will get you >30 MPG. And the car doesn't really "coast" very much at that speed when off gas. Makes me wonder what the drag coeff is on the car or see above about the short 6th gear.
• Got a little buzzing noise coming from passenger side seat belt anchor I think. Will have to hunt it down if it gets worst.
• Comfort mode suspension setting is still surprisingly sporty. Good and bad since it gives you good handling but definitely not a GT car when pavement is not smooth. Probably contributes to the rattling noise over time.
• $52.6K MSRP with color option and destination still feels ~$2-3k high, especially with some of the missing features from A-spec, but it has an unique market position. If I had come across the right used F36 440i GC I would probably have gotten that instead. I lucked out and was able to get the ITS at MSRP with no accessories so that was too hard to pass up. I think what that really says is the CTR at $44k MSRP is a very good deal, except of course no dealer is selling them at MSRP.

Wonderful info!

Actually...Mungenast Honda sells the CTR at MSRP. I passed on a white one a couple months ago for the ITS. They aren't taking any orders, even from local ol' me saying that it will take them 2 years to catch up on orders.

 

[Azkyrie6]

Wonderful info!

Actually...Mungenast Honda sells the CTR at MSRP. I passed on a white one a couple months ago for the ITS. They aren't taking any orders, even from local ol' me saying that it will take them 2 years to catch up on orders.

Same here at the local dealerships, they stopped taking orders on waitlists as they didn’t want to hold onto deposits when it’s unlikely they’ll be able to people their allocations any time soon

 

[bpebler]

Same here at the local dealerships, they stopped taking orders on waitlists as they didn’t want to hold onto deposits when it’s unlikely they’ll be able to people their allocations any time soon

Yeah, that sucks. But oh well, I suppose. Gives me time to figure out second car options maybe

 

[Azkyrie6]

Yeah, that sucks. But oh well, I suppose. Gives me time to figure out second car options maybe

If it’s the ITS you want, then wait to get it, because spending on a different car while looking back on the ITS wishing you had it isn’t worth it. For me there’s zero cars out there besides the ITS and I have zero regrets getting it

 

[bpebler]

If it’s the ITS you want, then wait to get it, because spending on a different car while looking back on the ITS wishing you had it isn’t worth it. For me there’s zero cars out there besides the ITS and I have zero regrets getting it

Same here. I'm just talking about a second car to the ITS. Mine will be here Tuesday. Like an FK8 or FL5. I've been also heavily considering a 94-01 GSR or Type R with the AWD kit.

I'm basically going from 3 custmized vehicles (tuned V8, frame off Jeep build, & truck) to 1 with the ITS. It will be weird not having a second one.

 

[Azkyrie6]

Same here. I'm just talking about a second car to the ITS. Mine will be here Tuesday. Like an FK8 or FL5. I've been also heavily considering a 94-01 GSR or Type R with the AWD kit.

I'm basically going from 3 custmized vehicles (tuned V8, frame off Jeep build, & truck) to 1 with the ITS. It will be weird not having a second one.

Ah, well if it’s a second car then there’s depends on your needs. One sports car makes the most sense financially for me as it took a lot for the wifey to be okay with it. If I got a second car it’d be a large winter car or a truck. Kids and carrying stuff around

 

[suzysparks]

Drove my ITS home yesterday on a 12 hr ~850 mile road trip. Here are my impressions from that drive.

• Love the autonomous driving aids for the long road trip. Didn't use the adaptive cruise control much since I was trying to vary the RPM for the break-in but the lane keep assist is such a pleasure to use on a long drive even without the cruise control. Turned both on towards the end when it got dark and it pretty much drove itself. On the other hand, turned off the lane departure warning after a hour, annoying.
• Gears are very short. 1st gear is over before you know it and 80 mph is dead on 3k at 6th gear. There is absolutely no need to downshift for highway passing on 6th gear. You can quickly get into triple digit without even trying. To be honest it might be a smidge too short, I'm not sure there is a lot of difference between 5th and 6th. Would be good to have 6th a little taller actually but understand that it's the Type-R gearbox that's probably tuned for the track.
• Clutch is very light and doesn't have much if any feel for the engagement point. Noticed the same thing in FK8 actually so I'm assuming it's a Civic/Type-R thing. Not a big fan and will probably take me a little to get use to it to drive it smoothly while taking it easy. The flip side is driving in the traffic is a breeze.
• The steering is almost telepathic with amazing grip level for street use. You can definitely feel the LSD when powering out of a corner. I'm used to AWD and RWD cars when powering out of a corner so was a little surprised when doing the same on the ITS and feeling the LSD.
• The driver seat is very good for a long trip on the back. The 4-way lumbar support makes a big difference. I usually have pretty bad backpain when driving for that kind of time/distance but not in the ITS yesterday. The seat bottom on the other hand is pretty firm. My butt was definitely sore after the long drive, which was a little unusual for me.
• This car gets ATTENTION! 5 min after I got on the highway, a NA1 NSX driver gave me a knowing wave as he drove by. Then 2 Infiniti G37 and a BMW F-series coupe, obvious out on a cruise, sped up to catch me and then slow down to take pictures near KC. Stopping at a BBQ joint for lunch a TLX driver noticed the ITS and waved. Then coming out from lunch another guy in SUV asked me if that's the 300 hp Integra. Literally 5 min later while getting gas the gas station attendant came out to ask about the car. Another gas stop, another lady asked what kind of car is it. Crazy...
• Speaking of gas, man is the gas tank in the ITS small. Fill up is ~12 gallons when just about empty. Cruise range is about 300 miles for me on the trip. Average 26-27 MPG doing 75-80 MPH most of the trip. Dropping down to 65 will get you >30 MPG. And the car doesn't really "coast" very much at that speed when off gas. Makes me wonder what the drag coeff is on the car or see above about the short 6th gear.
• Got a little buzzing noise coming from passenger side seat belt anchor I think. Will have to hunt it down if it gets worst.
• Comfort mode suspension setting is still surprisingly sporty. Good and bad since it gives you good handling but definitely not a GT car when pavement is not smooth. Probably contributes to the rattling noise over time.
• $52.6K MSRP with color option and destination still feels ~$2-3k high, especially with some of the missing features from A-spec, but it has an unique market position. If I had come across the right used F36 440i GC I would probably have gotten that instead. I lucked out and was able to get the ITS at MSRP with no accessories so that was too hard to pass up. I think what that really says is the CTR at $44k MSRP is a very good deal, except of course no dealer is selling them at MSRP.

Great write up. I picked mine up on Saturday and had a 4 hour, 275 mile drive home. Great observations. I did notice that once I started going over 75mph, the gas tank started to empty pretty darn fast. I had to fill up about 30 miles from home just because I’m not one to run it until empty. I haven’t driven a manual car in over 14 years (pretty much gave them up when our daughter was an infant), but it was like riding a bike, it comes back to you. But, practice makes perfect and boy does this car make me want to go for a drive. I also agree with you that it’s a bit overpriced, but what are you going to do? They are a dying breed. But I look at it and it brings a smile to my face. We also have an MDX Type S in the garage and I love that too. Acura makes some great cars. This PRP ITS was just calling my name. Of course my husband thinks I’m nuts (probably am) and says the car is mine!!!

 

[bpebler]

Ah, well if it’s a second car then there’s depends on your needs. One sports car makes the most sense financially for me as it took a lot for the wifey to be okay with it. If I got a second car it’d be a large winter car or a truck. Kids and carrying stuff around

Absolutely! My wife has a Durango. It's ok, but really not big enough on the inside. My father in law has the same truck as me here on the property (just not as cool ) & he barely ever uses it so I thought - ya know, I should get rid of my truck for something fun since I don't really NEEEEEED it