whtciv2k
Senior Member
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I posted this on Reddit, but had a few more updates in this post.
I know there are many reviews out there, but thought I’d share some personal feeling and thoughts. Purchased on 11/26/2024 and currently @ 2500 miles.
Cars previously owned:
2000 civic ex automatic
2003 accord v6 6mt
2006 g35 6mt
2009 civic si 6mt
2012 genesis coupe track 6mt
2016 370z 6mt
2017 rc350 rwd 8spd auto (rcf transmission)
current cars:
2019 lc500 w/performance package
2022 taycan battery+ rwd
2023 ioniq 5 SEL awd
2024 Integra type s
I’ve also had the opportunity to drive a ton of other performance cars, including a few exotics, over the years that friends own. (I drive anything that I can, that I come across)
The hunt:
I debated between the CTR and the ITS since October of 2023. My main issues with pulling the trigger with either of them was the dealer markup, which I wasn’t willing to pay. I wanted something “light” and peppy. My goal was to have a car that feels faster than it really is (think S2k, etc…). The gearing on 4cyl cars make it as such that when your at the top of third, u might be doing. About 80ish. In comparison, the LC would be mid 90’s at the top of 3rd. This made having fun in the LC difficult at times. I’m an 80’s baby, so I had fond memories of Honda from way back when. After about 2012, I’d been disappointed with many of Hondas offerings.
Cars I considered:
M2 (f87 OR g87)
Elantra N DCT
CTR
Integra Type S
Supra GR 6MT
GR86 6MT
S2k
370Z nismo 6mt
Decisions decisions:
Originally, in 2023, my heart was set on selling my LC and getting a 911. I won’t go into too much detail here, but I decided to go with a 2 car solution, instead of the “do it all” 911.
My main goal was to have a manual transmission and a car that handles really well. My personal opinion, Honda makes the best feeling manual. Period. I had the opportunity to drive a manual 992.1 gts. It was a splendid manual, but I still prefer Honda. Call it a subjective preference, if you will. That sentiment basically narrowed it down to the CTR and the ITS. I am not a fan of the bmw manual. The clutch engagement is strange, clutch travel feels like your hitting the earths core, and the shifter feels rubbery and imprecise. Ew. I also already have a rwd car in the stable so I didn’t care to add another
I like the looks of both CTR and ITS so having either would have been fine. Had honda dealerships been willing to get under msrp, I would have likely had the CTR.
Negotiations:
I started passively looking at both the CTR and ITS since 10/2023. Between then, and around April of this year, inventory was super limited so I knew my chances were slim. (I am always just looking at the car market; new AND used. Just for fun!). The lowest I could get the CTR was down to MSRP, at the time, and the ITS @ 1k OVER MSRP. Either way, I was still not paying that. Come October 2024, I started to notice local inventory of ALL types of cars, including the CTR and ITS, were starting to sit on lots for 30+ days. Between 2023 and now, I had been contacting dealerships, basically once or twice a month, just to test the waters. In Nov 2024, I noticed a local dealership had 22 ITS’ on the lot. None had prices listed, except for one. This one was marked 1k below sticker, so I dug deeper. This happened to be a 2024, with 50 miles. The remaining on the lot were all 2025. It was the end of the month, middle of 4th quarter, and a 2024 I figured they’d be willing to part with. I began negotiations and they first came back with 55,5k OTD. I stayed firm at 52k OTD, and ended up settling at 52,5OTD. SCORE! Now I just had to convince my wife, that’s a story for another day
.
Buying:
Self explanatory here, just went, made sure to verify numbers were all good, checked out the car to make sure there was no damage. I did notice the car already had tints and front end ppf that I never got charged extra for.
Style:
This is subjective so I’ll just give my personal opinion. I think the front end is well done, and is pretty (I like pretty cars…) the profile is just ‘ok’ to me. The wheels, red calipers and tints help a lot, but after looking at the profile of an LC or a Taycan, it just doesn’t compare. The rear end looks far better with the built in diffuser. I’m torn about the triple center exhaust, but I don’t hate it completely.
Lighting:
All looks good. I am huge on lighting design (the 992 tail lights are simply memorizing). Headlights are sleek, clean, and they work well at night with a sharp distinct cutoff. Would have been nice if they were adaptive but oh well.
First drive:
Ok, so I’ve basically bought most of my cars without test driving them. I kind of know what I want and do enough research to just know. I’ve never been disappointed with a purchase using this method. This was my first drive of the ITS. First thing I did was disable the auto rev match. Then I was off! The first exit ramp I hit, I knew I made the right decision. The car is super easy to get used to. By the time I got home, I felt completely at ease driving it.
Engine:
There’s basically nothing under 3k rpm. Once you hit that though, you’re off. The actual motor just sounds meh, but the exhaust note in sport+ makes up for it. I have another car for fun engine noises anyway. Highway pulls feel really good. There’s plenty of pep in 6th gear for passing without downshifting. I didn’t think a fwd could handle 320hp, but it does what it can, and it does it well.
Transmission:
Speaks for itself. Reminds me of any of my previous Honda cars and I got comfortable immediately. Rev match downshifts (doing them myself) are super easy. I got used to hitting them nearly perfectly every time within a few hundred miles.
Chassis:
Is stiff, I can feel it. Honda civics of the old days, I could feel the chassis kind of flexes a smidge around turns. I Donno, I could be tripping but that’s what the sensation was. This has none of that. The car seems to “dig” into turns. You can really feel that dual axis front suspension work, along with the diff.
Suspension and handling:
I love the dynamic range of the suspension. Comfort to sport+ is a noticeable difference. The car felt strange to me on my first turn, something I wasn’t used to. But the car handled like a champ. I think what I may have been feeling is the brake vectoring in the rear, as I recently discovered the car has this tech. The chassis is also very well balanced. I took a hard left and the car was very predictable in its sliding. You can really feel the suspension and lsd working together to make the car do what it does.
Comfort mode: comfortable enough without feeling floaty. Soaks up enough bumps where I think it would be comfy on a long drive.
Sport/sport+: exhaust opens up and crackles and pops in Sport+. I like that I can go into sport and not have the burbles and pops. Steering weights up nicely on turns and, for 2024, steering feel is excellent. In comparison, my LC is DEAD. Can’t feel anything through the steering wheel. The gauge needles are yellow in sport+ as a homage to the old Integra type R (the dc2 type r was a blast to drive!)
Individual mode: This is where I spend most of my time. My settings are: steering- sport; exhaust - sport+; suspension - comfort; gauges - sport+
Interior:
It’s good enough for its price point. There are few key features I think it’s missing for its price range, like memory seats, power folding mirrors, but I can live without those. There’s buttons for climate control which is nice. The stuck on screen thing, I hate, but it is what it is. Materials are ok for the price point.
Audio:
The ELS system is quite nice. It is bass heavy, but overall sounds good. Actually sounds better than the Bose system in my wife’s Taycan, but comes nowhere close to the Mark Levinson in my LC.
Overall Build quality:
It’s just ok. There’s strange gaps, some panels don’t line up. Not as bad as Tesla. I think this is fairly common in many cars, across all manufacturers, these days. Kind of sad no one takes pride in craftsmanship anymore. The platinum white paint is gorgeous, it has depth, and a lot of flakes that make it pop in the sun. Almost looks silver in the right lighting. My dad is a Master auto body tech and spent the first 30 minutes looking at the car bitching how poorly cars are put together these days.
Final thoughts:
This is an EXCELLENT car. I’ll go as far as to say that it is “special”, especially in 2024. I feel connected to the car, the shifter and shift feel is superb, and the car looks awesome. I’m completely smitten by the car and have thought to myself that it feels like a “fwd S2k”. The last car that gave me this many smiles per gallon IS the S2k. I always wanted to add an S2k to the stable, but this car removes the desire for me to have one! Finally, I’ll say that I don’t think Honda/acura was trying to create an updated Integra for us in 2024. They made a product that captured the essence of Honda; let me explain. I was sitting in the car with it on in sport+. I grabbed the steering wheel, closed my eyes, and I could swear I was back in an old school Honda car. The vibrations coming through the seat and steering wheel, the way the motor feels running through the rev range, and the shifter feel still feels similar to the older Honda cars as well. I think they really did capture the essence, not soul, and slapped it into an updated package.
TL;DR - I fucks with this car.
Few more pics, cuz I love this car
Bonus pic:
I know there are many reviews out there, but thought I’d share some personal feeling and thoughts. Purchased on 11/26/2024 and currently @ 2500 miles.
Cars previously owned:
2000 civic ex automatic
2003 accord v6 6mt
2006 g35 6mt
2009 civic si 6mt
2012 genesis coupe track 6mt
2016 370z 6mt
2017 rc350 rwd 8spd auto (rcf transmission)
current cars:
2019 lc500 w/performance package
2022 taycan battery+ rwd
2023 ioniq 5 SEL awd
2024 Integra type s
I’ve also had the opportunity to drive a ton of other performance cars, including a few exotics, over the years that friends own. (I drive anything that I can, that I come across)
The hunt:
I debated between the CTR and the ITS since October of 2023. My main issues with pulling the trigger with either of them was the dealer markup, which I wasn’t willing to pay. I wanted something “light” and peppy. My goal was to have a car that feels faster than it really is (think S2k, etc…). The gearing on 4cyl cars make it as such that when your at the top of third, u might be doing. About 80ish. In comparison, the LC would be mid 90’s at the top of 3rd. This made having fun in the LC difficult at times. I’m an 80’s baby, so I had fond memories of Honda from way back when. After about 2012, I’d been disappointed with many of Hondas offerings.
Cars I considered:
M2 (f87 OR g87)
Elantra N DCT
CTR
Integra Type S
Supra GR 6MT
GR86 6MT
S2k
370Z nismo 6mt
Decisions decisions:
Originally, in 2023, my heart was set on selling my LC and getting a 911. I won’t go into too much detail here, but I decided to go with a 2 car solution, instead of the “do it all” 911.
My main goal was to have a manual transmission and a car that handles really well. My personal opinion, Honda makes the best feeling manual. Period. I had the opportunity to drive a manual 992.1 gts. It was a splendid manual, but I still prefer Honda. Call it a subjective preference, if you will. That sentiment basically narrowed it down to the CTR and the ITS. I am not a fan of the bmw manual. The clutch engagement is strange, clutch travel feels like your hitting the earths core, and the shifter feels rubbery and imprecise. Ew. I also already have a rwd car in the stable so I didn’t care to add another
I like the looks of both CTR and ITS so having either would have been fine. Had honda dealerships been willing to get under msrp, I would have likely had the CTR.
Negotiations:
I started passively looking at both the CTR and ITS since 10/2023. Between then, and around April of this year, inventory was super limited so I knew my chances were slim. (I am always just looking at the car market; new AND used. Just for fun!). The lowest I could get the CTR was down to MSRP, at the time, and the ITS @ 1k OVER MSRP. Either way, I was still not paying that. Come October 2024, I started to notice local inventory of ALL types of cars, including the CTR and ITS, were starting to sit on lots for 30+ days. Between 2023 and now, I had been contacting dealerships, basically once or twice a month, just to test the waters. In Nov 2024, I noticed a local dealership had 22 ITS’ on the lot. None had prices listed, except for one. This one was marked 1k below sticker, so I dug deeper. This happened to be a 2024, with 50 miles. The remaining on the lot were all 2025. It was the end of the month, middle of 4th quarter, and a 2024 I figured they’d be willing to part with. I began negotiations and they first came back with 55,5k OTD. I stayed firm at 52k OTD, and ended up settling at 52,5OTD. SCORE! Now I just had to convince my wife, that’s a story for another day
.Buying:
Self explanatory here, just went, made sure to verify numbers were all good, checked out the car to make sure there was no damage. I did notice the car already had tints and front end ppf that I never got charged extra for.
Style:
This is subjective so I’ll just give my personal opinion. I think the front end is well done, and is pretty (I like pretty cars…) the profile is just ‘ok’ to me. The wheels, red calipers and tints help a lot, but after looking at the profile of an LC or a Taycan, it just doesn’t compare. The rear end looks far better with the built in diffuser. I’m torn about the triple center exhaust, but I don’t hate it completely.
Lighting:
All looks good. I am huge on lighting design (the 992 tail lights are simply memorizing). Headlights are sleek, clean, and they work well at night with a sharp distinct cutoff. Would have been nice if they were adaptive but oh well.
First drive:
Ok, so I’ve basically bought most of my cars without test driving them. I kind of know what I want and do enough research to just know. I’ve never been disappointed with a purchase using this method. This was my first drive of the ITS. First thing I did was disable the auto rev match. Then I was off! The first exit ramp I hit, I knew I made the right decision. The car is super easy to get used to. By the time I got home, I felt completely at ease driving it.
Engine:
There’s basically nothing under 3k rpm. Once you hit that though, you’re off. The actual motor just sounds meh, but the exhaust note in sport+ makes up for it. I have another car for fun engine noises anyway. Highway pulls feel really good. There’s plenty of pep in 6th gear for passing without downshifting. I didn’t think a fwd could handle 320hp, but it does what it can, and it does it well.
Transmission:
Speaks for itself. Reminds me of any of my previous Honda cars and I got comfortable immediately. Rev match downshifts (doing them myself) are super easy. I got used to hitting them nearly perfectly every time within a few hundred miles.
Chassis:
Is stiff, I can feel it. Honda civics of the old days, I could feel the chassis kind of flexes a smidge around turns. I Donno, I could be tripping but that’s what the sensation was. This has none of that. The car seems to “dig” into turns. You can really feel that dual axis front suspension work, along with the diff.
Suspension and handling:
I love the dynamic range of the suspension. Comfort to sport+ is a noticeable difference. The car felt strange to me on my first turn, something I wasn’t used to. But the car handled like a champ. I think what I may have been feeling is the brake vectoring in the rear, as I recently discovered the car has this tech. The chassis is also very well balanced. I took a hard left and the car was very predictable in its sliding. You can really feel the suspension and lsd working together to make the car do what it does.
Comfort mode: comfortable enough without feeling floaty. Soaks up enough bumps where I think it would be comfy on a long drive.
Sport/sport+: exhaust opens up and crackles and pops in Sport+. I like that I can go into sport and not have the burbles and pops. Steering weights up nicely on turns and, for 2024, steering feel is excellent. In comparison, my LC is DEAD. Can’t feel anything through the steering wheel. The gauge needles are yellow in sport+ as a homage to the old Integra type R (the dc2 type r was a blast to drive!)
Individual mode: This is where I spend most of my time. My settings are: steering- sport; exhaust - sport+; suspension - comfort; gauges - sport+
Interior:
It’s good enough for its price point. There are few key features I think it’s missing for its price range, like memory seats, power folding mirrors, but I can live without those. There’s buttons for climate control which is nice. The stuck on screen thing, I hate, but it is what it is. Materials are ok for the price point.
Audio:
The ELS system is quite nice. It is bass heavy, but overall sounds good. Actually sounds better than the Bose system in my wife’s Taycan, but comes nowhere close to the Mark Levinson in my LC.
Overall Build quality:
It’s just ok. There’s strange gaps, some panels don’t line up. Not as bad as Tesla. I think this is fairly common in many cars, across all manufacturers, these days. Kind of sad no one takes pride in craftsmanship anymore. The platinum white paint is gorgeous, it has depth, and a lot of flakes that make it pop in the sun. Almost looks silver in the right lighting. My dad is a Master auto body tech and spent the first 30 minutes looking at the car bitching how poorly cars are put together these days
.Final thoughts:
This is an EXCELLENT car. I’ll go as far as to say that it is “special”, especially in 2024. I feel connected to the car, the shifter and shift feel is superb, and the car looks awesome. I’m completely smitten by the car and have thought to myself that it feels like a “fwd S2k”. The last car that gave me this many smiles per gallon IS the S2k. I always wanted to add an S2k to the stable, but this car removes the desire for me to have one! Finally, I’ll say that I don’t think Honda/acura was trying to create an updated Integra for us in 2024. They made a product that captured the essence of Honda; let me explain. I was sitting in the car with it on in sport+. I grabbed the steering wheel, closed my eyes, and I could swear I was back in an old school Honda car. The vibrations coming through the seat and steering wheel, the way the motor feels running through the rev range, and the shifter feel still feels similar to the older Honda cars as well. I think they really did capture the essence, not soul, and slapped it into an updated package.
TL;DR - I fucks with this car.
Few more pics, cuz I love this car
Bonus pic:
Sponsored
Last edited:
