Cars in Review: 2025 Acura Integra Type S

If you’ve ever looked at an Acura Integra Type S and thought it reminded you a lot of the Honda Civic Type R, you wouldn’t be wrong. In fact, Acura is actually the luxury company of Honda, making these cars cousins. Both look equally great in my opinion, but I mean is there really a clearer winner than the Type R? I’m joking of course everyone is entitled to their opinion and I would never let my bias get in the way of a potentially good car review. So there you have it, this weeks Cars in Review post will be all about the 2025 Acura Integra Type S. But seriously, let us know in the comments which picture you find nicer from below. And just as a side note, although this review is mainly on the Type S, a lot of references will be made to the Type R throughout this post as the two cars are very similar mechanically.  

Overview and What’s New

It’s just a known fact that the Type R is more fun to drive and looks more entertaining with the long extended rear wing that it features on its exterior. But that’s not to say that the Type S is any different, you just need to have slightly deeper pockets for this purchase, that’s all. Unlike the loud ride in the Type R, the Type S proves to be quiet but sleek and offers a more gentler ride. It features a narrow trunk lid spoiler and adaptive suspension that allows for more comfortable touring without taking away from its corner handling abilities. Neither the Type S nor Type R come with an automatic transmission, but that’s just more reason for you to go out and learn to drive manual, especially if either one is your dream car. 

The Acura Integra Type S made it’s debut in 2024 so Acura left the car unchanged for its 2025 release. 

Pricing and Which One to Buy

Acura only released one trim level for the Type S and it starts at $54,095. It is priced at $7000 more than the Type R, but for good reason. We will be touching more on these points in a later section, but just to give you an understanding of why the pricing is so high, here’s a breakdown of the features that are available for this car: heated front seats, a head up display, 16 speaker ELS audio system, and a power drivers seat – all standard and aren’t available on the Type R. Not to mention, the Type S makes 5 more horsepower than the Type R which again will be covered in the next section. Beyond this, unlike the Type R where people would be hesitant to use it as their daily car, with the Type S there are no doubts. 

Engine, Transmission, and Performance

Under the hood of one of these cars one will find a 320 horsepower turbocharged 2.0 litre inline 4 engine with 310 lb-ft of torque capabilities – the sole engine type for the Integra Type S. And just like the Type R, the Type S channels its power through a six speed manual transmission and front wheel drive with a limited-slip differential. The shifter found in this car is one of the best (obviously) which helps to create the wonderful and light experience of easy shifting. Plus not to mention the clutch is pretty smooth. All 310 lb-ft of torque is available at 2600 RPM and skipping a shift or two here or there won’t be too noticeable. I mean seriously it would be a shame to miss out on some of the potential fun that could be had with this car.  

In terms of road holding and braking, the Type S matches the Type R with the Type S making 1.02 g on the skid pad and stopping from 70 MPH in just 153 feet. All Type S models come standard with 19 inch wheels with summer tires, larger Brembo brakes, and a unique exhaust system with three centre-mounted exhaust pipes. Not to mention this ride offers a more chill vibe when driving around in less demanding situations, slipping into the calm basic transportation mode quickly when needed.  

0-60 MPH Times

For the 2025 Acura Integra Type S the test results prove a slow 0-60 MPH time but also a quite shocking one when compared to its cousin the Type R. The Type S makes it in 5.1 seconds – 2 seconds faster than the time Car and Driver recorded for the standard six speed Integra and just .2 seconds behind the Type R that was tested. It was able to reach its max 167 miles/hr but took 13.7 seconds to do so. 

Fuel Economy and Real World MPG

This car makes 21 MPG city and 28 MPG highway mainly due to the performance that its larger more powerful engine allows for. It does however, really offset the numbers when compared to the regular Integra’s Acura offers which make 30 MPG city and 37 MPG highway. Other cars in its class like the Audi S3 and Mercedes-Benz AMG CLA 25 make 23 MPG city and 32 MPG highway, 22 MPG city and 29 MPG highway respectively.    

Interior, Comfort, and Cargo

Like a lot of other aspects of this car, the Type S takes inspiration from the Type R for this section as well. I mean looking at the interior setup and colour choices alone give off Civic vibes! For this car though, Acura wanted to play the long game with distinctive features throughout favouring proven designs and quality materials over the overall flash and hype. They also chose to pull styling elements from some of their other cars like the TLX sedan and RDX SUV but there is no denying that the true inspiration came from the Civic. 

Just to give you an idea, the interior features the following: mildly bolstered sport seats upholstered with perforated, faux suede fabric, “Type S” embossed headrests, and very subtle touches that include a Type S shift knob, boot, and steering wheel emblem. We also mentioned previously about the heated front seats and power drivers seat but there is also a pair of individual rear bucket seats, and a small centre console armrest that replaces the standard Integra rear bench. There is more than enough room for two in the back just like with the Civic, however it does lack features like rear air vents and seat heaters which are very obvious and notable exclusions in a car that is supposedly deemed premium. The Type R and Type S both offer 24 cubic feet of cargo room that is accessed through the large hatchback.   

Infotainment and Connectivity

For this section, this might be the only part that Acura decided to mirror with the rest of the Integra line up. As mentioned, it comes with a head up display as standard (which is what makes it different from the rest) but it features a 10.2 inch digital gauge cluster and comes with the larger 9.0 inch (standard is 7.0 inch) infotainment touchscreen as standard as well. There is also a wireless smartphone charging pad, a 5.3 inch head up display, and a pair of USB ports (a USB-A and a USB-C charge only). We also mentioned previously about the speaker setup – a top tier 16 speaker, 530 watt ELS Studio 3D premium audio system which is a standard kit. 

Safety and Driver Assistance Features

The NHTSA gives the Acura Integra Type S an overall rating of 5 stars which essentially means this is one of the safest cars out there. As mentioned previously, this car does come with a whole bunch of standard safety features, but beyond the ones listed there are also: automated emergency braking, braking with pedestrian detection, lane keeping assist, and adaptive cruise control. It is important to note, despite having the last feature, it also has low speed follow and traffic jam assist functions that are precluded by the manual transmission. 

Warranty and Maintenance Coverage

Like its cousin, Acura offers a very good warranty package for its cars. In fact, Acura has one of the longest powertrain warranty over most of its competitors and complimentary scheduled maintenance is included unlike with Mercedes or Audi. 

• Limited warranty covers 4 years or 50,000 miles 
• Powertrain warranty covers 6 years or 70,000 miles 
• Complimentary scheduled maintenance is covered for 2 years or 24,000 miles   

Final Thoughts

Since you made it this far, why not check out another post we released a while ago on the 2008 Infiniti G37 linked here.