Looks Like I’m Joining Another Car Forum

[Mr. LargeCoffee]

As the title says I’m now joining another car forum. I’ve been lurking here since March and purchased a 2024 Liquid Carbon Metallic w/black interior A-Spec Tech the last day of March. It’s a CVT (hear me out), I did go in with purchasing of a manual in mind. Every car I’ve owned, dating back to the first car paid for by myself, a 1976 BMW 2002, has been a manual except for my previous daily driver which I inherited from my wife. She had a new Subaru Impreza but it was obvious that this wasn’t going to work as Nana’s Taxi in transporting the grandkids to and from the many activities. So I sold my Honda Fit (I miss that car, it was a hoot to drive) and took over the Impreza while she got a new Forester. After 10 years it was time for an upgrade. I did drive the manual, it was fine, my only complaint was the long clutch pedal travel and engagement was at the top of the stroke, maybe that can be adjusted. I drove the CVT and I was fine with the performance, and during the summer months I have my Miata (a manual of course) to drive around in. In fact in 3 months I only have 1000m miles on it so far, once the Miata is away for the winter I’ll start putting some more miles on it.

Things I’ve done so far.
Purchased the spare tire kit from Bernardi and an actual spare tire from Discount Tire. Can’t believe it wasn’t included, they spent enough money on the inflator/goo kit that an actual spare wouldn’t have costed that much more.

Purchase the splash guard set. Learned on these forums that the front doesn’t fit so well, it doesn’t.

Purchased the rear cargo mat and seat back protectors. This is my winter beater, so I’ll be throwing my skis in there often (if it snows, last year was a bust).

Puschased the roof rack (see picture below). Pretty clunky compared to Yakima and Thule options, but less than half the price. Load limits are very low (even worse on the ITS). I’ll only be carrying bikes, we have a kayak trailer now for my wife’s RAV4.

I found an aftermarket tray on amazon that goes in the center console that perfectly fits my wallet, the wheel lock key and some quarters for Aldi’s.

The car I purchased had a build date of 11/23, but only had 1 mile on it, so apparently I was the first to drive it. I guess these aren’t flying off the lots. The manual I drove (blue w/orchid interior) had over 100 miles and had a build date of 9/23. I know many of you like the orchid interior but both my wife and I said nope.

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[creaturemachine]

Welcome!

Honda's biggest crime against humanity was eliminating the Fit. It felt like the true Civic hatch successor. The Integra's hatch is pretty decent but I wish it had more height under the glass toward the back.

 

[Mr. LargeCoffee]

With the ”magic seats” folded down, the low floor height and the wide hatch opening you could ”fit” a lot of stuff in a Fit. I picked up a whole bathroom with that car, the vanity, granite countertop, sink, toilet, medicine cabinet and a cabinet for over the toilet and still had room to spare. Yes, it’s a crime that Honda stopped selling the fit in the US, but I guess everybody wants an SUV.

 

[E-Rod]

No one should fault you for picking the CVT, everyone has their own choices and I have to admit the Integra's feels pretty smooth. A lot smoother than the 10th gen Civics, not sure how the 11th gens fare.

 

[nawfoo]

You shouldve bought a civic. https://www.civicxi.com/ see you there.

 

[pomegranate]

You shouldve bought a civic. https://www.civicxi.com/ see you there.

Let's just let him enjoy the car. Nothing wrong with the CVT, other than the fact that if Honda puts the hybrid in there, it'd be the better auto in almost every way

 

[Mr. LargeCoffee]

You shouldve bought a civic. https://www.civicxi.com/ see you there.

Nah, doesn’t look as good and doesn’t have the adjustable suspension. For just going around town or long highway drives I have the individual settings on comfort for the suspension and normal for everything else. If I’m on smooth backroads ( and alone) I’ll bump it up to sport.

 

[creaturemachine]

Nah, doesn’t look as good and doesn’t have the adjustable suspension. For just going around town or long highway drives I have the individual settings on comfort for the suspension and normal for everything else. If I’m on smooth backroads ( and alone) I’ll bump it up to sport.

Yeah don't let the gatekeepers drag you down.

 

[E-Rod]

Let's just let him enjoy the car. Nothing wrong with the CVT, other than the fact that if Honda puts the hybrid in there, it'd be the better auto in almost every way

Back in the CVT loaner while my ITS gets the checklist of accessories installed. I have to give Honda credit, it’s a very convincing one and doesn’t feel gritty or slushy.

I think they did the CVT right. While a CVT in theory can have infinite gear ratio, a driver expects a certain feel and feedback from the car’s transmission. They do a step system where the CVT emulates various gear ratios similar to what an auto gearbox would and I think that’s what contributes to the “I can’t believe it’s not butter” feeling.

It also doesn’t hang and glide when you let off throttle. You get some engine braking feel and you can easily paddle downshift to get more pronounced effect if you wish.

Driving it before and after the 6MT I don’t feel a huge annoyance or needing to retrain my muscle memory (other than my left foot). As much of a purist as I can be at times, I have to give credit where it is due.

 

[nawfoo]

I don't know why Honda didnt try the dual clutch from the ILX on the Integra, but with a CVT I could probably crack 50 mpg's.

 

[carl3pedals]

I am a big fan of the 6-speed stick in my Integra, but you should not feel bad about enjoying your CVT (as long as you are enjoying it!). When I went car shopping in late 2022, I had not been expecting to find any car that was still available with a stick that I would like, so I was ready to make the change. And I recognize that I might actually get better mileage, cost of ownership and maintainability over the long haul without the stick. I don't regret my choice, but you shouldn't regret yours either.

 

[E-Rod]

I don't know why Honda didnt try the dual clutch from the ILX on the Integra, but with a CVT I could probably crack 50 mpg's.

I never drove an ILX myself, but I believe that 8-speed DCT had some jerky behavior at times "finding the gears". And I suppose you start getting into size/cost with "how many gears do we have to keep adding for efficiency" when a CVT is essentially "all of them" out of the box.

DCTs have their own disadvantages that may not be worth the trouble in a car like this. You get can have clutch slip at low speed (heat issues), shuddering, and hesitation from a stop. CVTs are just cheaper, simpler, and more efficient (mileage-wise) for an economy vehicle.

I think the gains you'd get from a DCT are more at the higher performance end of cars, and in the Integra's case you're going 6MT anyways.

 

[pomegranate]

I never drove an ILX myself, but I believe that 8-speed DCT had some jerky behavior at times "finding the gears". And I suppose you start getting into size/cost with "how many gears do we have to keep adding for efficiency" when a CVT is essentially "all of them" out of the box.

DCTs have their own disadvantages that may not be worth the trouble in a car like this. You get can have clutch slip at low speed (heat issues), shuddering, and hesitation from a stop. CVTs are just cheaper, simpler, and more efficient (mileage-wise) for an economy vehicle.

I think the gains you'd get from a DCT are more at the higher performance end of cars, and in the Integra's case you're going 6MT anyways.

I wish they did use the 8DCT and K24, but I think one of the early review videos (I think SavageGeese) interviewed the Integra Product Manager and mentioned it was due to the fuel economy.

If fuel economy is going to attract buyers to the auto Integra, then they absolutely should put the hybrid on there and achieve even better fuel economy AND better performance.

 

[E-Rod]

I wish they did use the 8DCT and K24, but I think one of the early review videos (I think SavageGeese) interviewed the Integra Product Manager and mentioned it was due to the fuel economy.

If fuel economy is going to attract buyers to the auto Integra, then they absolutely should put the hybrid on there and achieve even better fuel economy AND better performance.

Hybrid would have probably bumped the cost too much to make it competitive. Given that the Integra is based on the 11th gen Civic, that would mean ~$5k extra cost (going by the Civic). That or having to add a hybrid-capable trim would have been difficult to shoe-horn into the Integra platform itself.

Again the 8DCT would have been additional cost for not much benefit. The CVT is cheaper, simpler, more linear, and efficient. DCT are good for performance vehicles but again... that trim gets a 6MT instead.

The K20 is a better race/performance engine. It's easier to get power out of it for cheaper. I've always felt the K24 is just too slow to redline, it's a boring motor which is fine for a daily driver. If I were to do a CRX build I'd go K20 top and K24 bottom so I keep the high-revs and take the AP2 oil pump to avoid cavitation.

There's a reason they put the K20 in the CTR and ITS instead of the K24. Interestingly enough when the NSX was their GT car they switched from the 3.0L to the 3.2L, then back to the 3.0L for reasons.

 

[KevCarver]

The manual I drove (blue w/orchid interior) had over 100 miles and had a build date of 9/23. I know many of you like the orchid interior but both my wife and I said nope.

Oh dang, that's the one I wanted! Settled for White with Orchid. (6MT)

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