[ReverendHonda]

New forum member and first post. Longtime Honda guy, owned 4 Accords, and 1 Civic, in the past, and really liking the new Civic. Test drove a Civic touring last week and loved it.

Here's my question: how does the smoothness and quietness of the ride and the overall ownership experience compare to the new Acura Integra?

Does anyone own or have experience driving both who is able to comment? Trying to determine which would be a better fit for me.

Thanks very much!

 

[MGSBigBoss]

Acura is better in every way except that it is a hatch. Honda is better because it’s a sedan.

 

[ReverendHonda]

Acura is better in every way except that it is a hatch. Honda is better because it’s a sedan.

Any experience on which is quieter to drive? thanks!

 

[MGSBigBoss]

Any experience on which is quieter to drive? thanks!

I don’t have personal experience but I would assume the Acura has more sound deadening than the Honda which virtually has none. My civic si was kinda noisy on the drive but music drowns it out.

 

[cleanneon98]

Hatches are better, everyone agrees except one person. The Acura will be quieter for sure, but I didn’t think it was worth the money over the civic for the refinements you get

 

[ReverendHonda]

Hatches are better, everyone agrees except one person. The Acura will be quieter for sure, but I didn’t think it was worth the money over the civic for the refinements you get

Thanks for your response. I plan to test drive both tomorrow and see the difference. Thanks!

 

[Zeroptzero]

I always liked the small dealer experience with Acura many years in the past when I owned one, it is different than a Honda dealer IMO. You do pay money for that though in higher costs. Generally speaking I always found sedans (with a trunk) to be quieter than hatchbacks, but if the Acura has more sound deadening underneath that may help, I don't know the specifics so you should find out on any test drive you can arrange. Good luck.

 

[JHH]

I prefer the interior of the Civic, specifically the dashboard. I also prefer the Civic hatch better because it has a larger opening and a lower lip making for easier entry. That said, I like the available technology on the Integra such as HUD that is unavailable on the Civic. If only we could design our own cars and have them built from the ground up just the way we want them.....

 

[wilbur_the_goose]

Check out the YouTube video from my favorite reviewers:

 

[cleanneon98]

Great vid^^^

also recommend the below, from another great group (tedward and the topher and daily motor have covered these cars extensively). Personally I went CVT but the comparison is still very relevant and not manual specific.

 

[mfuller]

Hatches are better, everyone agrees except one person. The Acura will be quieter for sure, but I didn’t think it was worth the money over the civic for the refinements you get

It's not a question of better or worse (although, I personally agree with MGSBigBoss) - some of us just prefer the looks of the sedan over the hatch. It's also not that there aren't good-looking hatches; I think the 1st and 3rd-generation Mazda 3 hatches were quite handsome, and the VW GTI is a perennially good-looking hatch. I can't exactly put my finger on it, but the proportions of the Honda/Acura hatches are just a bit off to my eye.
But, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

To the OP - I think if you like how the hatch looks, you should get the Acura. The interior is quite a step up (it's nicer than the Civic Touring trim), and the ELS sound system is pretty great. The Civic Touring sedan does come with extra sound-deadening material (unlike all other Civic trims), so ride comfort/quietness is pretty close. Acura is considered a premium brand, so your dealer experience may be better, but it's not a guarantee.
If you prefer the sedan body style, as you've discovered, the Civic Touring sedan is hardly poverty-spec.

 

[cleanneon98]

It's not a question of better or worse (although, I personally agree with MGSBigBoss) - some of us just prefer the looks of the sedan over the hatch. It's also not that there aren't good-looking hatches; I think the 1st and 3rd-generation Mazda 3 hatches were quite handsome, and the VW GTI is a perennially good-looking hatch. I can't exactly put my finger on it, but the proportions of the Honda/Acura hatches are just a bit off to my eye.
But, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

To the OP - I think if you like how the hatch looks, you should get the Acura. The interior is quite a step up (it's nicer than the Civic Touring trim), and the ELS sound system is pretty great. The Civic Touring sedan does come with extra sound-deadening material (unlike all other Civic trims), so ride comfort/quietness is pretty close. Acura is considered a premium brand, so your dealer experience may be better, but it's not a guarantee.
If you prefer the sedan body style, as you've discovered, the Civic Touring sedan is hardly poverty-spec.

Style wise yes it’s subjective. Practicality wise, the hatch wins, not even close. My brother in law has the touring sedan, I have the touring hatch. He was helping us move and the amount of stuff that we couldn’t fit through his trunk opening was obscene, even medium size boxes just didn’t fit in the trunk. The sedan is better if you’re packing in luggage due to extra length, but for most people who need to carry the occasional odd sized item, hatch all day. I transported a 65” tv in box in mine, and dozens of Home Depot runs

 

[Luna]

Any experience on which is quieter to drive? thanks!

I've owned an Si and an Integra, the Integra is definitely quite a bit quieter than the Si. It's not like a Maybach or anything, but on the highway there's substantially less road noise and the better sound system in the Integra makes for a much better highway car imo. Haven't tested a Touring for comparison though.

 

[MGSBigBoss]

While the hatch is a little bit more spacious in the rear compartment for loading things like that, you sacrifice privacy, which I prefer to have having by a separate compartment truck

 

[Luna]

While the hatch is a little bit more spacious in the rear compartment for loading things like that, you sacrifice privacy, which I prefer to have having by a separate compartment truck

The hatch in the Integra (and presumably the Civic hatchback) has a detachable privacy screen, you can't see anything in the "trunk" with it attached. And "a little bit more spacious" than the trunk in the sedans is an understatement imo. You can fit things that are a lot bigger and more oddly shaped compared to the sedan. Ex. the medium sized moving boxes in the attached pic

Also attached a pic out of the back window because I couldn't get a good pic from the outside

 

[MGSBigBoss]

The hatch in the Integra (and presumably the Civic hatchback) has a detachable privacy screen, you can't see anything in the "trunk" with it attached. And "a little bit more spacious" than the trunk in the sedans is an understatement imo. You can fit things that are a lot bigger and more oddly shaped compared to the sedan. Ex. the medium sized moving boxes in the attached pic

Also attached a pic out of the back window because I couldn't get a good pic from the outside

I did not know that about the Acura. That’s a nice set up.

 

[ReverendHonda]

You guys are awesome! Thanks so much for all the ideas and impressions.

I had hoped to do the back to back test drives today but need to wait a week due to some family obligations. Will keep you posted. And I welcome any additional thoughts or photos!

 

[cleanneon98]

Just a few of the loads I’ve carried, no way a sedan can touch that. There’s a few correct things here and a lot of wrong info. In theory the sedan can be quieter, but comes with louder (and objectively worse) tires that make the sedan louder than the hatch. Privacy in the trunk is a non issue. Yes the integra is quieter, but the overall feel wasn’t 7k better in the loaded Acura vs the loaded Civic. The stereo was better, but the Bose is far from Bad. And my opinion and totally subjective, but I prefer the styling of the Civic inside and out, to the Integra too. The integra gets a little more power, which is counteracted by added weight, and it feels the same as the civic. Integra has a higher load lip which makes loading stuff considerably harder vs the civic

you’ve really gotta drive both, I drove the Acura while I was waiting for my civic to come in, cause the civic was delayed and I thought let me maybe cancel that and get the Acura, and that’s where my opinion comes from it just wasn’t that much better for the price, but I think a lot of that comes from the civic already being so so good

 

[ReverendHonda]

Just a few of the loads I’ve carried, no way a sedan can touch that. There’s a few correct things here and a lot of wrong info. In theory the sedan can be quieter, but comes with louder (and objectively worse) tires that make the sedan louder than the hatch. Privacy in the trunk is a non issue. Yes the integra is quieter, but the overall feel wasn’t 7k better in the loaded Acura vs the loaded Civic. The stereo was better, but the Bose is far from Bad. And my opinion and totally subjective, but I prefer the styling of the Civic inside and out, to the Integra too. The integra gets a little more power, which is counteracted by added weight, and it feels the same as the civic. Integra has a higher load lip which makes loading stuff considerably harder vs the civic

you’ve really gotta drive both, I drove the Acura while I was waiting for my civic to come in, cause the civic was delayed and I thought let me maybe cancel that and get the Acura, and that’s where my opinion comes from it just wasn’t that much better for the price, but I think a lot of that comes from the civic already being so so good View attachment 14302
View attachment 14303
View attachment 14304
View attachment 14301
View attachment 14300

Are you saying that the tire quality and quietness is inferior on the Sedan Touring vs. the Hatch Sport Touring? Or vs. the Integra?

 

[Eldahank]

I haven’t driven the Integra but I got the civic touring hatch 6MT recently. A 6MT was top priority for me, and in hindsight the Integra is something I wish I’d text driven (price delta not that much considering markups). The touring civics are supposed to have more sound deadening than lower trims, but I find it still pretty loud at highway speeds, so points to Integra most likely. I prefer the interior design of the civics. But the Integra strikes me as a great mix between the civic si performance capabilities, and the nicer amenities of the civic touring trims. If you go for an Integra, the rev match of the Integra and LSD will make it a ton more fun than the civic sedan touring. And you’ll have the cargo flexibility of the hatch (which just about looks like a sedan in this generation).