Made the jump to the type s after 1 year ownership of a 25 cvt aspec tech Integra. Wanted to write an unbiased review of the cvt model for anyone considering it.
PROS
-Transmission feels dull from a quick start but does a pretty good job of getting you around town. I really cant understand the hate around especially if you aren't looking for a "sports car". The midrange in the car is great with the cvt. Paddleshifters are decent. Shifting thru ur gears doesnt help the dull launch at all. In fact I feel as if it may be making it slower. the only acceptable usage I found for it is "downshifting" when getting ready to pass on the highway. Engine revs nicely and I feel a slight torque boost as needed. Ive driven the prior model ILX with the dct. I do think that transmission would be a step up from the cvt but unsure if it would provide the same torque feeling the k24 has in its early gears due to smaller displacement 1.5t. Overall this thing is smoooooth!
-ELS sound system. Great! I love all types of music. It's balanced, clear, and vibrant. Dont have too much to compare to but I do work with audio a lot and I enjoy the soundstage in the car. Most cars I enjoy keeping the audio eq at mid level balance but I def prefer turning up the treble and bass in this car. Bass is a little underwhelming so dont expect anything much from the sub.
-Proportions. Easy to drive, easy to get around- Its a small car, a tad bit long if you ask me but very easy to get adjusted to in the city. I dont have to parallel park much so length hasn't been much of an issue. Hood is a little long, you will have to get adjusted to that. Great visibly except for the hatch section but not a deal breaker by any means.
-Looks are killer. Seriously, it's a classy looking civic. what more can you ask for. Clean body lines, shiny paint options with red, blue,black,white, and grey. Almsot has a coupe like look except 4 doors.
-Hatch space. This is amazing. Coming from a rav4 prior, this saved my life so many times. You would be surprised how much you can fit in this car when you fold the seats. I moved across state and managed to fit all my belongings in the car ( I dont have any furniture haha)
-driving assist features. ( cruise control & steering assistant) makes my long highway trips an ease. It's like autotune for steering. Just be careful it tends to shut off randomly if the road has a curve anything more than gradual.
-MPG. I put 19000 miles on it and never reset my trip mpg meter. I do a lot of highway almsot every week as well as daily city commuting. I was averaging 32 mpg for both city and highway and I didnt exactly drive it like a grandma. I would step on that peddle time to time.
CONS
-Road Noise is unbearable on concrete roads. Like seriously. It's supposed to be an entry level luxary car. Least acura could have done is done a better job sound deadening. Its not too bad in the city (low speeds) or tar roads but still has to be the biggest detractor.
-No rear ac vents? Really? Ridiculous. Most of us bought the car knowing we needed 4 doors aka more than 1 passenger. Accord gets it. Why doesnt the luxury civic get it.
-CVT. If your looking for a sporty feeling this isnt going to do it for you. The slow engagement of the cvt paired with the turbo lag nature really feel like the gas pedal does what you ask for a whole second and half after you ask for it at least in the earlier part of the power band.
-Rattles. The dash rattles, the door rattles, els top ceiling speakers rattle, seats rattle. I can imagine it only gets worse over time haha.
All in all it served me well but I got the car thinking it was the perfect economy sports car. Maybe it will be for some people.
Regardless of how well it treated me, I knew this wasn't the sporty car I was desiring so I made the jump. If you have any questions feel free to ask. Been in the 6mt type s for a week and it basically has all the same cons minus power and transmission. But when your looking for power your willing to overlook a few things.
my advice to anyone in acura. Get rid of the base model, make the aspec tech the base model. add rear ac vents, make a new trim with cooled seats, heated steering, and extra features the top trim. Remove the 1.5t cvt combo and maybe give it the 10 speed and k20 motor found in the accord 2.0t (detune it a little for better mpg).
Im sure a lot more people would consider it then!
comparing to the type s.
pros-
Power. it's there. it pulls. its not torque push feeling but it gets there. torque steers as well. Night and day difference. what the cvt integra will be groaning and struggling to do the type s does with ease
Transmission- love the 6mt. enjoying the feeling of shifting thru the gears but having a little bit of a learning curve coming from an old 5mt civic ex. The clutch just bites. Im used to slipping the clutch to take off but this car isnt a big fan of that. the way I would describe it for 1st and 2nd is bite point for half a second and then let out controlled not slowly. can also use just the clutch in stop and go traffic provided not on a hill.
Looks- this thing looks crazy in black. Aggressive front, wide rear. Hood vents. at first I was put of my the looks with the other colors but all of them look great in person.
Cons-
Surprisingly I prefer the feeling of the middle seat material in the aspec. the black cloth is nice but the Alcantara type suede felt a little more upscale. not to mention I enjoy the look of single color seats (all red, black, etc) duel color Is cool though.
Road noise- nothing here changes, if anything it may be louder due to larger wheels.
No memory seating, no passenger power seat? really? Everything on the aspec should be standard here. No rear charging ports either. I wonder how much weight that saves. We already have a civic type r. Thought this was supposed to be the luxury commutable version of it. And fine, it's not included but why give us a poverty button to where the functions would be? Thank goodness no auto start stop is included though.
Rear wheel fender. The front seems to be part of the body. The rear is just bolted on. You can fit paper or a finger nail in between the body and the fender. Just a nitpick.
