Edmunds U-Drags: Honda Civic Type R vs. Acura Integra Type S — Ultimate Sibling Rivalry

• On paper, the Integra Type S and Civic Type R are very evenly matched.
• Can a gap of a few horsepower and different tires decisively separate these cars?
• You'll have to watch our race to there and back again to find out.

The biggest differences in terms of performance are that the Integra Type S puts out a whole 5 extra horsepower (320 hp vs. 315 hp in the Honda), but weighs about 25 pounds more (at least according to our scales). The Civic Type R may be ever so slightly down on power, but for its part it comes from the factory with slightly stickier rubber thanks to its Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires.

But at our test track, both cars performed almost identically, even putting up the exact same quarter-mile run time. That makes this Edmunds U-Drags race too close to call based on numbers alone.

Oh, and then there’s the price. The Honda isn’t cheap, with our tester coming in just under $45,000, but our Acura would hit your pocketbook to the tune of just over $52,000. The Integra is definitely more luxury-oriented, with more leather and much less aggressive front seats, but it would still be kind of embarrassing for it to lose a race to its cheaper sibling. 

So who will be victorious in U-Drags? The gym-clothes-and-techno Civic Type R or the khakis-and–adult-contemporary Integra Type S? You’ll have to watch to find out.

Bonus race: Acura Integra Type S vs. Acura TLX Type S

As long as we’re getting sibling rivalries out of the way, we’re going to pit Type S against Type S: Integra vs. TLX. With 35 more horsepower, all-wheel drive and an automatic transmission, the TLX has a clear advantage over its little sib. But the TLX also weighs nearly a full thousand pounds more than the Integra! That’s a lot of extra mass to bring up to speed and haul to a stop, so the TLX might not have as big an advantage over the Integra as it seems. 

So stay tuned after the U-Drags main event for TLX Type S vs. Integra Type S.

Edmunds says

When we're pitting two undeniably fun-to-drive cars with manual transmissions against each other, it kind of feels like everyone's a winner.