[MUSIC PLAYING]
LAUREN MCKAY: Welcome to U-Drags.
I'm your host, Lauren McKay, from Edmunds.
And today, we have two cars that are kind of identical.
It's like we're seeing double.
Right here I have the 2022 Honda Civic Si,
and over here I have the 2023 Acura Integra.
But first, what is U-Drags?
I'm glad you asked.
It is a race to there and back.
That means we get several things in just one single race.
We get a quarter mile heartbreaking
handling and a rolling start.
That's pretty neat, right?
After these cars do their first round of races,
we're going to swap lanes, swap cars and have
them run it again.
That way, we can make it a bit fair.
Going head-to-head today, we have the 2022 Civic Si,
with 200 horsepower and 192 pound-feet
of torque and the 2023 Acura Integra,
also with 200 horsepower and 192 pound-feet of torque.
That's right, both of these cars share not only
the same engine but the same six-speed manual transmission
as well.
Does the comeback Integra have what
it takes to go up against the, been here for years, Civic Si?
To find out, we have our two expert drivers
from our very own Edmunds test team, Kurt and Jonathan.
If you want to see more U-Drags, you
know what you got to do, like and subscribe
to our channel below.
And if you want cash for your car,
go to edmunds.com/sellmycar and get an instant quote today.
KURT NIEBUHR: I'm in the new Civic Si.
It's actually our long-term car.
We have a long-term blog, buy a bunch of cars,
keep it for a year or more, see how they do.
Civic Si is part of our long-term fleet.
To launch this car it's kind of old school.
It's got a clutch.
It's got a six-speed manual transmission.
It's got a sport mode.
So I'm going to put it in the sport mode.
There we go.
And I'm going to turn ESC off, vehicle stability assist,
so that's off.
It's just picking the right launch RPM.
So I'm going to try for about 3,000, maybe 3,500.
The surface isn't quite as grippy.
The big difference between this car and the Integra
is this car has summer tires because summer tires are
available.
And the Integra, summer tires are not available.
So we're going to see, basically,
because these two cars are mechanically almost
identical, how big of a difference
summer tires really are.
I'm hoping they're a big difference because I
want to win.
Because I don't like losing.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: OK, so I am in the 2023 Acura Integra.
One thing that I know the Civic does not have
is an adaptive suspension.
Now, how much that suspension is going
to help me around one corner on the course, I don't know.
So I'm really hoping that Acura sprinkled some magical Acura
pixie dust on this car and we're going to be
able to pull out a win somehow.
I'm going to try my best to manage traction
on these all-season tires and hope that Kurt screws up.
LAUREN MCKAY: All right, drivers, in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, go!
JONATHAN ELFALAN: Come on.
Come on.
Oh!
He got a little bit of a launch.
KURT NIEBUHR: Oh, I think I got him.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: But he's pulling away.
Come on, buddy.
KURT NIEBUHR: I got a better launch, just barely.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: We got this.
KURT NIEBUHR: Oh, he's braking way harder, though.
[SQUEALING TIRES]
Oh.
Oh, so slow off the corner.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: Oh, slow close!
Oh, come on!
KURT NIEBUHR: That's the difference of summer tires,
right there.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: Oh, man!
Damn it.
Eh.
KURT NIEBUHR: Summer tires.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: Knew it.
Ugh.
KURT NIEBUHR: I braked way too early on that.
I probably could have beat him by a little more.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: Man, that braking was hairy.
KURT NIEBUHR: But you don't ever want to make your boss
look that bad, do you?
JONATHAN ELFALAN: Man, how are you feeling about yourself?
KURT NIEBUHR: I'm feeling like I braked a little early.
This thing just doesn't have a lot of sauce
under a certain RPM.
So getting out of that hairpin was really, really slow.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: I felt like I broke a little late.
[LAUGHTER]
But yeah, I don't know, you were definitely
stopping a lot quicker than I was.
I felt like I had a good position at the turnaround,
and then you just like took off.
And I was like, ah, damn it.
KURT NIEBUHR: Yeah, I had zero wheelspin on exit.
Like as soon as the car got pointed in the right direction
I floored it, just waited for the power to come in.
But yeah, I didn't have to modulate the power.
I just flat-footed it, waited for the boost to kick in.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: Yeah, I actually
didn't have as much wheelspin as I
thought, like with the braking, the amount of stopping grip.
Actually, I didn't have as much trouble on the acceleration
as I thought I would.
You still pulled out the win on that one.
KURT NIEBUHR: Well, let's switch cars.
You'll probably have better luck at this one.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: I sure hope so.
KURT NIEBUHR: All right, so now I'm in the all-new Integra.
So I'm going to do my best to try and get the braking
down a little bit better.
But I expect a similar result. Can't beat summer tires
on a front-wheel drive car.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: So now I'm in the Civic Si.
I have the better summer tires.
I have the slight power-to-weight advantage.
So really, there's no excuse for me to lose this race,
unless I just screw something up.
So fingers crossed, the Civic Si is the winner.
Otherwise, it's me who's going to be the loser.
I think I can break a little later into the corner
and accelerate a little harder.
So hopefully, again, the Civic is the winner here,
because I have all of the cards in my favor right now.
Let's go.
LAUREN MCKAY: All right, drivers.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: All right, don't screw this up.
LAUREN MCKAY: Round two, here we go in 5 4, 3, 2, 1, go!
JONATHAN ELFALAN: Oh, not a bad start.
Oh man, he got the launch!
Come on.
You got this.
You got the Civic.
Catch it up.
KURT NIEBUHR: Oh, where is he?
He's right there.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: I'll make it up, make it up in braking.
KURT NIEBUHR: Oh, come on, turn.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: OK, I like my turn.
All right, got this.
Got this.
KURT NIEBUHR: Oh no!
JONATHAN ELFALAN: Oh, my god.
No, Kurt!
KURT NIEBUHR: Oh.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: Ah!
KURT NIEBUHR: Got to get a promotion out of this.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: How did you do that?
KURT NIEBUHR: I'll take that.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: Oh, my god.
LAUREN MCKAY: Maybe they are identical.
One wins one, one wins the other.
KURT NIEBUHR: Uh-oh.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: Oh man, you're fired.
KURT NIEBUHR: I told you.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: Oh, I think I botched the launch on that.
And so you just got--
you got a better whole shot.
And I just-- I couldn't catch up.
Man, that is humiliating.
KURT NIEBUHR: It's-- actually, it's weird,
I almost prefer the slight wheelspin you get in this car
going around a corner as opposed to the no wheelspin in that.
Because it feels like you need a little wheel
speed to generate engine speed.
And so when it's just kind of flat
and you get a lot of grip it almost
takes longer to accelerate out of the corner, it seems anyway.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: Well, thank you
for making that excuse for me.
But yeah, no, I prefer the grip.
But yeah, I think I just--
I really screwed up that launch.
I didn't get a good launch.
I just couldn't catch up.
I was like, I'm going to get him on the braking.
I'm going to get him in the turn.
But I think you put together a pretty good lap,
so I will have to tip my hat to you, sir.
But it was close.
I felt like that was closer than when I was in the Integra.
KURT NIEBUHR: I think it was as well.
I mean, if you want to do one more, I'll do one more.
I don't mind racing.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: Dude, I need one more.
KURT NIEBUHR: All right, let's do one more.
Let's do the best two out of three on this.
LAUREN MCKAY: I love it, two out of three.
Run it again, boys.
Run it again.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: All right.
LAUREN MCKAY: Here it is, the tiebreaker in 5,
4, 3, 2, 1, go!
KURT NIEBUHR: Oh, I still got a lot of wheelspin.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: I got it this time.
KURT NIEBUHR: Oh.
Oh, not again.
Am I gonna win again?
JONATHAN ELFALAN: Damn it.
What is up?
[TIRES SQUEALING]
KURT NIEBUHR: Oh, I botched the hell out of that.
Oh boy, if he doesn't win after this one.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: All right, I got it.
I got it, guys.
I got it.
Here we go.
Here we go, Civic!
[LAUGHS] Yeah, boy.
KURT NIEBUHR: Wow.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: See you later.
KURT NIEBUHR: Well, that's the result you expect, you know?
LAUREN MCKAY: Talk about a comeback.
KURT NIEBUHR: Well, I didn't turn in very well, that's
for damn sure.
But I think that's kind of the limit of the tires.
They're getting hot.
The hotter these things get, the worse they work.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: Yeah, I mean, that's true.
I feel like these--
especially with how hot it is up here or out here,
these tires probably have a little bit more
longevity as far as temperature.
So you're probably at the limit.
These summer tires still have grip.
They're probably maybe even getting better.
I definitely had a better launch.
You weren't as far ahead, but still, dude, you
got to give me your launch technique.
Because I'm just I'm killing it over here,
or the opposite of killing it.
KURT NIEBUHR: I have very, very sensitive feet.
I'll just blame the poor braking performance
on the bug that hit the windshield
and kind of freaked me out, right as I got on the brakes.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: He was in my corner, actually.
I paid him off.
KURT NIEBUHR: He martyred himself.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: Anything for you, drags baby.
Oh.
LAUREN MCKAY: So what happened?
Well, in race one, the Civic got the launch
and crossed the quarter mile only 0.2 seconds faster
than the Integra, at 15.5 seconds.
It kept the lead through the turn,
pulling 0.94 lateral Gs which allowed it to maintain the lead
and take the win.
In race two, the Integra got the jump
and beat the Si to the quarter mile.
It maintained the lead through the turn
while pulling 0.92 lateral Gs and didn't give up any space
as it raced through the finish.
In the final tiebreaker, the Integra
got ahead and had a narrow lead through the quarter mile.
Neither driver held back and both wanted the W.
But in the end, it was the Civic Si that took the win by a hair,
with its best time at 41.6 seconds,
only 0.4 seconds faster than the Integra's best
time, at 42 seconds.
All right, Kurt, what do you think of that Integra?
KURT NIEBUHR: I wish it had summer tires.
That's it.
But if I had to choose between the two, I'd pick the Civic Si,
because you can get summer tires.
Mechanically, it's the same car.
LAUREN MCKAY: Right?
They showed that they were identical.
Jonathan, what about you, that ending?
JONATHAN ELFALAN: Thank god.
Oh, my god.
Yeah, Acura is a great car.
I love the hatchback.
So it's more practical.
But for my own money I'd pick the Civic.
It's just the better car, I think, for the money.
LAUREN MCKAY: Well, you have it.
That is it for U-Drags.
You heard from the experts.
The question is for you, which one,
after you've seen them race, would you
take, the Si or the Integra?
That's it for now.
Stay tuned for more U-Drags videos soon to come.
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