You don’t drive new cars all the time without learning that the idea of a “chick magnet” car is a fallacy. There are cars that might disproportionately attract women, but those are not the cars normally associated with the concept.
A Fiat 500? That might get a woman’s attention. A Nissan Pao? Absolutely. I knew a guy who would drive around NYC in a plain white Austin Mini, and every time I saw him, he was surrounded by models, or at least by companions that were indistinguishable from models. That he was handsome and tall probably skewed the results, but it generally tracks with my own experience.
If I had to make an ideal “chick magnet” situation, it would probably be a Suzuki Cappucino driven by Glen Powell.
With the exception of a $2 million Bugatti Veyron convertible, I’ve never gotten any kind of attention from a woman because I was driving a sports car. More often than not, a loud performance car encourages disdain from the opposite sex.
Dudes, though? Dudes are attracted to the flashy car with a bright paint job.
This Is Not The Post I Intended To Write
The best way to ensure that it will not snow is to give me a car with snow tires. With wintry weather in the forecast, my favorite local Honda rep reached out to see if I was interested in driving a manual Integra Type S with Blizzaks. The answer was an immediate “yes.”
Because my luck is my luck, by the time the car arrived, the snow had passed. No worries, I’d just drive a couple of hours north to grab lunch with my pal Andrew Collins, who lives in a mountainous area known for snowy roads.
Lunch was great, but by the time I got there, Andrew informed me that every highway, byway, and driveway in the area had been plowed and salted. Yet again, the surprise competency of the NYSDOT conspired against me. I did find an underplowed parking lot and had a little fun, but that’s not quite the same thing as hitting curvy mountainside slick roads with a proper set of tires.
It’s not like I needed an excuse to drive an Integra Type S; it’s just that we’ve reviewed the car multiple times. Emme did the first write-up when she did the launch in 2023, and Thomas did a thorough review of it when it hit the fleets in 2024. It hasn’t fundamentally changed since then.
My dream of doing a snowy drive story was scrambled.
Driving home, I noticed that I was being noticed. A guy in another lane slowed down long enough to give me an approving nod. This would be the first of many moments over the next week where I got attention, and it was 100% from dudes.
Dudes Love An Integra Type S
Is it the bright color? It might be the bright color. Thinking back on it, I got some attention for the pink Porsche 911 Carrera T and, also, for the bright red Toyota GR86, although that was mostly from kids.
This Integra, though, seems to have them beat. One of the few significant upgrades to the Integra for 2026 is the Double Apex Blue Pearl paint, a lighter version of the previous year’s Apex Blue.
It’s an excellent color. In fact, Double Apex Blue Pearl may be the best blue since Volvo’s Swedish Racing Green. The Swedish color was a very aughts, slightly matte color, whereas Double Double Apex Blue Pearl isn’t afraid to sparkle.
Because it was a cloudy day, you don’t quite get the full effect in these photos, but the moments of sunlight experienced later in the week showed off the Integra’s spectacular tint.
I suppose the combination of the trident-style exhaust tips, the paint, and the offsetting black accents was just too much for the dudes. And it wasn’t even just one type of dude.
There was a Civic Type R owner who, even though his car is mechanically almost identical to this one, chatted me up about whether or not he should swap into the Acura. He obviously knew his stuff and could weigh the pros and cons on his own. I think he just wanted to talk about cars.
At the other end of the spectrum, there was a guy who started stalking me from his white, last-gen Chevy Impala. My daughter was in the backseat, so the sight of a driver keeping pace with my car first put me on guard. Then I noticed he was checking out the car. At the next stoplight, he stopped short and didn’t even wait for me to roll down the window to start talking to me.
“What’s that? What’s that?!?” he loudly inquired. I explained it was the new Type S. “How much power?” I said I couldn’t quite remember, but over 300 horsepower (it’s 320 horsepower, so I wasn’t wrong). “Damn, it looks great.”
Indeed, it does look great. I wasn’t sure that the $54,000 starting price was quite worth it, given that there’s more performance to be had elsewhere for the same number of drachmas. If you want to be noticed, it’s a steal compared to what you’d need in a German car to get the same quantity of eyeballs.
I think the Type S is the right mix of familiar and unfamiliar to grab attention, but also not make anyone fear they’re going to do anything but flatter the owner. That Lambo owner might be aggro, but an Acura owner can’t complain, right?
Seemingly every time I got in the car, someone would try to talk to me about it. And by “someone,” I mean “dudes.” So many dudes. That doesn’t bother me, though. I always want to talk about cars, so this fits nicely into my lifestyle. Another way to say “dude magnet” is “future friend magnet.”
So What’s It Like?
A full review is unnecessary given what we’ve already done, but I did have a few impressions. The last Integra I drove was the manual Type A, which features the 1.5-liter turbo inline-four and about 200 horsepower.
The Integra Type S has 60% more horsepower out of just 33.3% more displacement. This is a big deal. The Type A is a fun, reasonable commuter vehicle that can get out of its own way if you drive it quickly. The Type S is proper quick.
For the way most people drive, I actually think a front-wheel drive performance car is the best choice. If you’re limited by cops or ethics to staying reasonably close to the spirit of the law, you’re better off with something small and Miata-sized if you want a RWD car. Unfortunately, if you want something bigger than, say, a GR86, you’re looking at something with more power than you can use most places.
The fun thing about a quick FWD sedan is that there’s a lot of enjoyment to be had from trying to find the edge of traction before hitting understeer, and attempting to use trail braking to get around a corner… all of which can usually be done without raising too much attention or increasing your risk of a crash. Try doing that in a Hellcat Challenger.
Admittedly, the same Blizzaks that would have made snow-driving that much more fun probably handicapped my enjoyment, contributing to both a rougher ride and a little less traction on dry roads. In a snowy parking lot, at low-ish speeds, they kept the car pointed in the right direction.
This is probably where the other shortcoming of the car comes into view, although it’s not unique to the Type S. Most modern cars have gotten rid of the manual parking/e-brake, which means there are just fewer opportunities to be stupid.
Otherwise, the six-speed manual in the Type S is an absolute dream, and the total package is worthy of the male gaze it attracts. This, in a boring color, is probably more of a sleeper, if a sleeper is what you want.
If you want friends, though, get it in the good color.
All photos by the author
The lack of manual hand brake is a decent chunk of it, but there really is nothing fun about one of these in the snow. Excruciating understeer for days, never able to put down any power. Winter hooning is simply a non-starter. Edit to add: this was with good winter tires. Also, fully concur on dude magnet. Former FL5 owner chiming in.
So the S is for Sausage?
Spicy or perhaps Sucker for the price paid. Acura’s hanging out with Inifniti claiming they coulda been a contender. Instead they’ve been reduced to re-badging Civic’s without any body panel mods and trying to make everyone forget the ILX, which isn’t hard in their meaningless alphabet soup of model names.
Spicy Sausage Sucker.
LOL
Don’t even get me started on exterior paint color (too bad, I’ve been started).
I’ve said here a few times that when I got my van, I had to many, many times exclaim to various salespeople that I would not, under any circumstance, accept a gray van. This made it virtually impossible for any Honda dealer to offer me anything. Everyone treated me like I was a psychopath, which I understand the foam at my mouth is off-putting, but I swear it’s only because you’ve tried to tell me a gray van for the 5th time. I would have ignored the price difference and ended up in an Odyssey if Honda could bring themselves to build and stock vans whose exterior appearance vibe didn’t remind me of November.
See the problem is most ppl don’t have your determination. They don’t want the gray one, but they end up buying the gray one. And the cycle repeats.
I think my experience does prove just how oddly difficult it is to NOT buy a grayscale car in (now) 2026.
I can’t speak to exactly how the colors are allocated, and how dealers are involved, but assuming the dealers are the ones loading up on grays, that would be yet another reason I wish I could just order a car direct from the manufacturer. I would be if that was the standard, we’d see far more colorful cars out there.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I don’t blame the dealers. They have a business to run and this seems to be a winning formula. They have no reason to risk screwing it up and if it was my business on the line, I’m sure I’d follow the same strategy.
I think it’s a winning formula in a world where inventory is down, and your local dealer can laugh and say “good luck” when you refuse the gray car, only to go to multiple other dealers to find nothing but more gray cars.
This is actually where dealer organizations claiming that they offer the consumer “choice” ends up being lies. I may know why they do it, but I hate it, and would rather be able to choose what my 40k purchase looks like.
The reason don’t stock colors is because actual colors are an extra cost option. When the grayscale cars are $500-$1000 cheaper, it’s tough to convince the average Joe that the more expensive car in color is a good deal.
I don’t know. If we’re talking about the average Joe that buys their vehicles based on payment, and they’re already primed to agree multiple option packages like they often do, the car being a color you want would seem to be a pretty good value at an additional 500$.
Also, a lot of these grays are somehow more expensive. Even looking at the CR-V, the blue is no additional cost, but Urban Gray Pearl, which is freaking EVERYWHERE, is an extra $455. Many whites (looking at Toyota) are also at an additional cost, and boy has that not kept dealers from stocking white RAV4s, that’s for sure.
I stand corrected.
Guilty as charged. To be fair, my partner only likes grayscale cars and it is primarily her vehicle. My Moss Yellow EX30 is more my style.
Last year I found my unicorn used car that had the exact options I was looking for. As in, I’d been doing a nationwide search for weeks and was coming to terms that my unicorn might not actually exist. And then it showed up on Facebook marketplace 20 min from my house. Only problem was it was blacked out everything. At the time it seemed absurd and superficial to pass on it based on the color. And, yet, just about every day I think “man I wish it was anything but this.”
Yeah, used throws a whole other wrench into things.
Lately I’ve been really liking the idea of one of these (or a CTR). Get rid of the Miata and the Accord and have a one car solution.
I’m a dude, he’s a dude, she’s a dude, we’re all dudes!
That car sucks. It’s an ILX and it’s NOT an Integra.
It’s just Acura realizing they have jack for long time fans of the brand and trying to throw an emblem on an otherwise completely forgettable car.
THIS IS WHAT WE WANTED:
https://www.topgear.com/car-news/tgs-guide-japan/what-new-honda-integra-should-look
Integras were really ever nothing more than top-trim Civics with nicer interiors and sportier bodywork. From that standpoint the current car is perfectly on-brand. As it was, so shall it ever be.
That’s my take as well. Seems to occupy the same space the priors.
If there’s any complaint I would have it is the bland and kinda weak 1.5T in the regular Integras, particularly since they put the manual behind a big paywall. With the CVT, It makes a godawful powertrain for this type of car.
That is the popular apologist response by people who aren’t gearheads or honda fans, and ultimately wrong. Keep repeating it though, since it makes you pretend like you know what you’re talking about.
In what way is this not true? The Integra was always based on the same platform as the Civic. The Integra always shared suspension parts and engines with the Civic. Even the high revving DC2 Integra Type R had an engine based on Honda’s B-series engines which primarily appeared in Integras and Civics. Yes, there are specific tunings, and engine variants that only appeared in the Integra, but by and large they are very similar vehicles and always have been.
Jesus. I OWN a current-gen Integra. It’s a good car. Maybe an excellent one. Don’t get butthurt because nobody seems to agree with your hot, but incorrect, take.
Not all the old Integras were Type Rs or even GS-Rs, in fact most of them were not, something that seems to be forgotten because the base Integra was in fact a completely forgettable car. The new Integra is completely true to the old Integra and this has made fans of the old Integra big mad.
As the owner of said non-GSR or Type R Integra, I can ASSURE you they were still incredible cars that drove way, way way above their paygrade. I had an SE with GSR suspension but LS (non-vtec) B18 and it drove phenomenally even without mods. You are wrong and I’m guessing you don’t know much about classic hondas or own any.
I don’t know much about Honda, but it doesn’t seem that Civics get this level of complaining that Honda isn’t just selling warmed over EG hatches instead of the FL5. Then as it is now the Integra assignment has been Civic, but nicer, which it seems the new Integra does. Yes this car is different but it doesn’t so much seem that it is a result of Honda losing the plot as much as it is the result of 30+ years of change to the automotive ecosystem as a whole.
I owned a 1990 Integra RS with an auto. It was a solid car. Definitely not forgetable. It was not a legendary performance car in the same way a Type R was or even an enthusiast car in the way GS-R was. But it was a solid and reliable commuter that handled nicely and never felt like a penalty box.
The ’87 Integra LS 5-door that my entire family learned stick on and was my daily in the ’90s seems a lot like this new Integra. Well, the non-Type S version anyway.
I bought my older brother’s ’88 5-door 5-speed in the late 90s. Manual windows, manual door locks, no cup holders, cloth seats. I’m not sure what made it the ‘luxury’ brand. Maybe the auto-reverse cassette player?
Besides the different styling, the Integra had a considerably more powerful engine. The Civic’s hottest engine when the Integra debuted in the US was in the Si with a 91-hp, 1.5-liter SOHC engine, while the Integra’s engine was a 113-hp, 1.6-liter DOHC.
1 – I’m in this picture and I don’t like it
I really like this car and would love to have one but have mixed feelings.
It’s great that it’s a very sporty “small” car with a manual. The e-parking brake doesn’t make sense to me and it seems like it would lead to accidentally not engaging when parking, or accidentally engaging when you are trying to let it roll down a descent. My driveway is sloped and if I just leave it in gear it will roll partially out of my driveway overnight. I like that I put it in 1st and pull up parking brake as a habit.
I’m sure that is nitpicking, just struck me when I saw it.
This is a 320hp with a manual six speed and that is special. I know the car is special and I also know that prices for most things no longer make sense to me. That being said $54,000 breaks my brain. It makes sense because it’s essentially a nicer version of a $45,000 Civic which also makes no sense.
Of course I’m a MK7 GTI as a personality guy which is a 210hp manual 6 with a turbo that is a blast to drive. I bought a 2017 in 2016 and it was $25,025. Again much lower horsepower, but I love it.
My car will soon become a ~300hp car with a new downpipe, intake, intercooler and a stage 2 tune. It might be more than $1000 today because money is broken but it really sticks in my craw how cars are now generally 40% higher than they were pre-pandemic.
To your last point, it’s so true and frustrating how much more expensive cars have gotten. I embarked on a major career change a couple years before the pandemic and finally 3 jobs later as of November feel like I can reward myself with a newer more fun car and it’s incredibly frustrating seeing the same late model used cars (GTI/Golf R, WRX, Focus ST/RS) I was window shopping in 2019 going for the same or more money now, and new prices have grown exponentially.
Being in the rainy PNW I’ve always been tempted by the Subaru WRX. Wanted to double check that I wasn’t just being all rose-tinted glasses, in 2016 a WRX STi started at $36K, that’s what a base model WRX will run you in 2026 and the closest thing they have to an STi starts at $46K. Meanwhile the salary at my “I’ve made it” job is likely the same as it would’ve been in 2016. Of course the GR Corolla is a better deal new but they essentially don’t depreciate and haven’t been out for very long anyways so used is arguably not an option. And a clean low mileage MK7 GTi will probably sell used for nearly what it sold for new 8 years ago, it’s maddening.
2 yrs ago I paid basically new money for a 26k miles Mk7.5 GTI “Autobahn”. It was frustrating, but I didn’t want a car with a CVT for my wife who is handicapped and can’t do the clutch thing anymore. Had I been smart, I might have bought an electric, but it would have been another $3k to get a L2 charger in the garage.
And to make up for it, it’s a metallic black.
I’m really amazed gray has the staying power it does. I would’ve thought it would start to go the way that beige/gold color cars did and start to fade out as people see it as too bland or boring but nope, still gray everything, cars, homes, clothes, it’s an epidemic.
Beige/gold/champagne cars were around for a long time before that trend finally died. We may need to wait just as long for primer gray to die off.
The issue is how far and wide the rot has spread. There was a period of time when a good primer gray was more or less a luxury color (I kind of see the proliferation of Audi’s Nardo Gray in the 2010s to be ground 0 for the hell we’re currently in) but now it’s available on literally everything. In fact I think that’s why normies are drawn to it like moths to flame, it’s still perceived as a “premium” color.
The flat gray also has a feature of being perceived as “butch” or “manly”. The flat gray trucks we have at our GMC store sit the least amount of time before they move. They always have macho names for the grays too, “Thunderstorm”, “Battleship”, “Cement”.
This era of exaggerated machismo will have to end before they grays start to subside
It’s a little funny to me that someone would think the name of a color makes it manlier, especially for cars where the only person who will ever maybe know the name is the original owner, but such is the state of masculinity as marketing in today’s world.
I think it’s also related to the economy and uncertainty of today’s world. Muted colors are seen as safe. I miss the late 90s/early 00s exuberance and color and ‘fun’.
Then explain the 1970s – economy was stagnant or worse for most of the decade and cars still came in colors
I swear, convincing people that putting clear coat over primer was somehow a “luxury” option was a scam worthy of Victor Lustig
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Lustig
I think this is true of any style/trend. It starts at the top and works its way down. By the time you can buy whatever the 1% are wearing/eating/driving, it’s lame. You might not realize it right away since it feels like you’re eating the 2026 equivalent of avacado toast that you’ve heard everyone buzzing about.
As much as we try to fool ourselves, a lot of what we think we desire doesn’t stand up on its own. We desire it because it signals wealth and status. After a while it signals boring and, eventually “poor,” at which point it’s radioactive.
Ask yourself this: What if instead of Audi it was Chevy who introduced Nardo Gray on, say, the Sonic? Does anyone really think it would have worked it’s way up the chain?
I’ve seen Hyundai Venues in primer gray so hopefully the end is nigh
That blue really is the business, it’s a shame that the Tiger’s Eye is gone. I’m a sucker for a performance trim exclusive color.
Didn’t Matt Farrah of The Smoking Tire say that’s he’s never gotten so much attention from women about his car than he has with his frozen berry pink Boxster Spyder? I think people just don’t care for boring colors.
Frozen berry metallic is one of the best automotive colors of all time and there are few things in this world that upset me more than a grayscale Porsche sports car. They offer an endless sea of intriguing colors and if you’re already spending 200 grand or whatever why not go all out? I don’t really have an opinion on Farrah one way or the other but he certainly made some great decisions with that build.
Agreed with the grayscale Porsche sightings. Ruby Star, Lizard Green, Ultraviolet, Shark and Miami Blue, the list goes on and on! How can any sane person pick a non-Skittle colored Porsche!?
Because Porsche charges $13k to go off-script in the paint booth.
Oh yeah, Paint-to-sample is crazy but they always have a production red, yellow, blue and green that only cost $1k-2k which is a bargain in Porsche-land
Slash if you’re dropping 200 grand on your dream Porsche $13k is chump change. Hell I’m sure Porsche already charges that much if you want heated seats and an interior that’s anything but black plastic, because, you know…Porsche.
If you can afford to drop the coin on a new Porsche, ponying up the extra bread to taste the rainbow is gonna be nothing to you anyway. So might as well go hog wild
My guess is that the same people who buy a Porsche instead of a Ferrari or something tend to want to be more under the radar in general? I also have to wonder how much leasing comes into play with Porsches as sort of daily drivable “exotics” and even Porsche dealers in my limited experience like to stock safe non-polarizing colors for their inventory.
Porsche’s leases are absolutely dreadful deals on paper but I know there are all sorts of schemes the ultra wealthy have to leverage leases against assets, gains, etc. that basically make them free.
Oh get an LLC and claim it as a business expense, additionally at least here in WA I believe you can avoid or deduct our hefty sales tax if you lease and can call it a business expense (which on something like a Porsche would be enough to buy a used civic)
Yeah that’s how a lot of medium sized car YouTubers wind up with exotic cars, lease and write it off as a business expense
The fact that the 50th Anniversary Edition 911 came only in Wet Cement, Cold Oatmeal, and Black still pisses me off.
Cold Oatmeal wasn’t bad but the lack of a red or yellow was just silly.
“BUT MUH RESALE VALUE!!!!”
-the type of rich douchebag that can afford a “special” 911
Anyway there was a guy with one of the super special 911s at a cars and coffee I was at a couple of years ago. To be brutally honest I can’t keep track of which one’s which anymore because there are so many variants, but it was one of the special edition ones that had received a lot of press so I was drawn to it.
In typical rich douchebag who can afford a “special” 911 fashion he had a whole display set up about his car and was very proud of his claim to fame…which was, you guessed it! He actually drives the car. Like he had a series of communications with some higher up at Porsche that he had framed talking about how he hopes to get the car to six figure mileage eventually.
I have the Porsche affliction as well and will own one eventually, but holy shit is the entire scene around 911s unbelievably cringe. Like, onion layers of cringe, one after the other. Another anecdote I have is that my dad’s buddy custom ordered a 911 he was super proud of, and it was in a parking lot when I went to meet my dad once/he was excited to show it to me.
It was a white over tan PDK convertible. I shit you not. He went through all the trouble of ordering a 911 to his spec and somehow the best he could come up with was something he could literally have driven off a lot. That’s how fucking boring these people are…and when I asked why he bothered to order such a boring car? Again, you guessed it….MUH RESALE VALUE!
If I was in the position to order a Porsche to my liking reselling it wouldn’t even be in my top 10 concerns. I am keeping that shit for the rest of my life and beating the ever living piss out of it as god intended.
When I leased my TLX I really wanted the blue (over red leather) but they kept getting delayed for some reason.
I think there’s a “second order” financial element to this. That color is cool, but it’s also rare. And it’s rare b/c Porsche charges an absurd amount for it.
Probably almost no normal person knows that it costs more, they just know they saw a car in a cool color they’ve never seen before. But if half of Porsche’s were frozen berry pink, I don’t think people would look twice–the way Ferrari Red is both classic and to some extent just “normal” for the brand.
Kinda. Porsche only charges like $1500 for their colors, $2500 for premium colors. On a $150k car, that’s one of the cheaper options.
They keep the colors rare by making most of them one or two years only. You missed Shark Blue in 2022? You can pay us $20k for it now or wait until it comes back around in 20 years.
Ah interesting. Someone on here had said $13K for the nice paint and it sounded right, based on what I’ve seen they charge for other options. Maybe they meant if it was outside the model year and I misunderstood.
Yeah, if you want something specific they offer paint-to-sample and it is $15k for any color Porsche has ever offered and an eye watering $32k for a new color.
So this is like a 4-wheel supermoto bike. Every dude that ever thought about a motorcycle wants to talk about a dirtbike with sticky road tires. 99% of ladies literally could not care less. I think they repel ladies.
My teal C4, though, gets looks. Maybe because dudes call it a Barbie Vette. Don’t know, don’t care, doesn’t matter (happily married).
Teal C4 you say?
Teal C4 is peak C4. Good find!
Honest, I think the bright colors are a plus if you want to impress women with a car. But the real ticket is a clean interior with heated seats. Double points if you can avoid putting it up on jackstands every month.
To get someone to approach you means they think the car implicitly will lead to something else. And im sorry, there isnt much you can do with a daily that will bring more than a car dude.
I’m glad NYSDOT did their jobs for you. These two months of snow from my neck of the woods got us random joe-smo’s who did the plowing because apparently it wasn’t bad enough…. despite I81 getting so horrendous that both sides at both different ends of the county got complete closures because of the accidents caused from no plowing being done.
TL:DR? Simple; NYSDOT sucks ass around me lmao
Poor plowing on I-81? Things have changed.
Oh, it’s been on and off for years. Sometimes, they actually have brain cells and do things they’re supposed to at the right times, and other times I’m told 81 and such were terrible, yet small towns were already cleared out long before DOT even started.
Confusing, and terrible.
For shame; your final picture is obviously AI as it inserted a phantom hand.
(/s)
A classic Nuova 500 with a Golden Retriever puppy in the passenger seat would likely do a decent job of bringing over the ladies
A beige 2001 Camry with a Golden puppy would do that.
Yeah, maybe its not so much the car in that scenario
You get a LOT of female attention in an X300/X308 Jag. In my experience, after owning dozens of enthusiast cars, it’s the only one I’ve had where women strike up a conversation at the gas station.
Which is where the V12 spends a lot of its time…
Looks like Andrew is pretty active on The Drive. Any chance of a guest Trucktopia article? Maybe an update on his International Harvester for us old folks?
I really want to love The Drive but the level of snark is a little much for me sometimes. I don’t enjoy reading articles that insult me, and some of the authors over there really hate EVs and hybrids to the point that it’s a bit silly. It’s a shame because I’ve read some A+ quality articles on that site but I think they’d benefit from better editing.
I haven’t spent a bunch of time there. I have noticed a few of the old site’s writers ended up there.
Some have even come and gone. Steer clear of the comments section if you want to retain your sanity, though. Those people are the anti-Autopians.
The Drive’s comment section is somewhere between Reddit and YouTube comments. It’s pretty grim.
I used to participate a long time ago, but it got so bad… mainly because of a few bad apples. I’ve noticed lately the number of comments is far, far fewer than it used to be. And about the only people left are the exact ones that drove me away.
Unfortunately it’s the same story over at Revzilla/Common Tread. I still generally enjoy their articles, but the comments a few years ago were (usually) Autopian level civil/interesting/funny and it was kinda fun to participate. Now it’s the same handful of people who leave like a dozen steaming turds down there within minutes and the stink drives everyone else away.
Yeah it might as well be a Fox News comments section. I get that some folks complain that we’re a little too left wing here but I still don’t think our comments section ever devolves into what you see over there pretty regularly.
Only bc civility and basic decency are now seen as partisan behavior.
Yeah. I genuinely don’t mind having conversations with people whose opinions are different from my own. In fact I think it’s pretty vital so you don’t wind up in an echo chamber. But the current uh…movement on the opposite side of the aisle from mine makes those conversations exceptionally challenging.
I also want to be challenged AND…I have no interest in interacting with a KKK member, ISIS terrorist, etc. although it would be interesting to have the 3 of us in a room.
The extreme examples above are easy. The tricky part is figuring out where to draw the line. And I genuinely do not know.
I’m confused, the comment section is people that do not like automobiles??
It’s people that are assholes.
I checked it out on my lunchbreak and saw some of the same TDS as here, not too different
I am a big fan of the new Integra’s so count me in the bunch of dudes that would be interested. I always find it surprising which cars draw the interest of others and which ones people dgaf about.
I wonder what would be the most universally cherished car? I think it would be close between the VW Beetle, and Austin Mini.
I’d argue that the 2 door Jeep Wrangler fit’s in there with the Beetle and Mini
Another good suggestion! Although I would open it up to any convertible Jeep.
It’s amazing that bright and fun colors are awesome and everyone like them, until it’s time to buy something and then people gravitate towards greys because they don’t want attention.
Or they’re already worried about selling the car before they even buy it.
Which once again comes down to people being afraid of the attention.
Except that study after study shows that bright colors retain value better than the greyscale crap. I know you’re right, but the people doing it for that purpose are wrong and it makes me sad.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelharley/2025/06/13/whats-the-best-vehicle-color-for-resale-value/
Wow interesting. While I never cared, I did assume there was truth to it.
Yeah and I mean there’s a lot of nuance that makes it hard to get an actual gauge, the iseecars study looks exclusively at resale value and color, not comparing similar make and model, so an orange Miata holding value better than a black S class makes sense, and the luxury cars are the ones that depreciate the fastest, and are never in colors, so I don’t know that it’s a good way to measure that, but nevertheless, colors retain value better, so buy the fun color!!!
Every time I see a cool car in primer gray a little piece of me dies
It looked great the first time I saw it on a SEMA build or something like that, but when you put it on an otherwise unadorned car, primer grey makes it really look like fleet spec/rental to me.
I don’t even think it’s a bad color when done right, it’s just so, so, so played out at this point.
Yeah…I have a feeling 30 yrs from now ppl will be asking what were ppl thinking.
Ah, the brown Pinto effect
Doo Doo Brown Toyota Tercel’s.
Exactly. It’s one thing to think “this looks dated.” That covers Toyota Beige and what not. But this is more about “I do not understand how anyone in any time period could find this appealing.”
What’s funny is that Acura rolled out a primer gray for the Integra this year…
The first time I saw a car in gloss but non-metallic gray, I thought it was cool as hell. But that was partially due to it being a nicely shaped sportscar, and it being a rarity. Then all of a sudden it became ubiquitous and just part of the achromatic malaise we live in.
I paid an extra several thousand dollars for a nice orange that is nearly impossible to blend if it ever gets in an accident.
10/10 would do it again, especially after being in black or grey cars for the past 20 years.
It is definitely worth it, in my opinion, to hold out for a color; it can take an otherwise mundane car and make me appreciate it a lot more. It’s tough because you won’t get much financial return on the color, but the emotional return is worth something. I won’t go back to silver, white, or beige. I might own another black car, but I would much rather have navy, dark green, maroon, or aubergine.
They also don’t want to wait for a special order or to drive to the only dealer within 400 miles that has the cool color.
Guy that sits next to me at work really wanted his Tundra in that sweet Toyota orange. He showed up the next day with a gray one because that’s what they had. I tried not to act disappointed in him, but I think he saw through my deception. He hasn’t talked to me much since then.
The Toyota buying process really makes it difficult to get what you want without just surrendering to the dealers.
Yeah it’s a chicken and egg thing. OEMs/dealers pick these colors bc they think it’s what ppl want. Ppl buy these cars bc they’re what’s on the lot.
If I had a billion dollars I’d test my premise by buying a dealership and renaming it Rainbow Ford with the premise being everything on the lot is an actual color.
I have a strong suspicion dealers stock mostly boring colors because they don’t want polarizing options in their inventory. IMO most folks will settle for charcoal, black or white. But orange or red is gonna be a hard pass for some people and dealers don’t want to stock cars that aren’t easy to sell.
Yeah. I’m sure it’s easier to get the person wanting red to settle for gray than the other way around. I don’t know “car color history” well enough (someone here does…) but I don’t think historically there’s been such an emphasis on so few colors. Like, I don’t think there was a time where you knew 80% of dealer stock was gonna be blue. So, without a super-common color, dealers had to order a bit of everything.
While probably not intentional, I’m sure everyone involved is more than happy that society has come to expect there are now only 3 standard colors.
Yeh I’ve wondered about that, I know in the ’60s American cars at least came in a wide rainbow of interesting paint colors that seem unimaginable now. I’ve wondered if people used to actually order cars more and thus actually be able to spec colors? A long time ago now but the anecdote I heard was my grandpa ordered a Malibu SS in the late ’60s and waited 4+ months to get it, but that’s the only person I knew of actually ordering a car and spec’ing it.
Adding to my comment about dealers, I also have a suspicion that the increased popularity of leasing has incentivized dealers even further to stocking blandly pleasant colors since those cars will be coming back in 2-3 years, as well as making buyers care less about what color they get as long as it’s not ugly.
I always spec cars. I go into the dealership, and I tell them what I’d like to buy, and ask if they can get it. If they can get me one, I’ll buy it from them. I have never understood the concept of settling for what’s on the lot. If I’m paying that much for a brand new car, I want the exact brand new car that I’ve decided on, or I’ll pass. I remember looking for a manual accord years back, and the salesman saying, “Oh, but you should drive the auto, they’re actually really good now.” Yeah, no thanks. That is an entirely different car.
I think that makes sense. But I think for the average car=microwave buyer they probably tend to just go with what’s on the lot, and the sales team has no incentive to push them towards custom orders (afaik)
As for your story of the car salespeople sounds like par for the course, I went into a dealer once to look at a used Cobalt SS sedan that wound up not having some important option (I dimly recall maybe it was the base model without the turbo?), I asked if they had any other sporty cars in stock and the sales guy is like “we have a nice buick I could show you” smh
But, as you pointed out, the average buyer would probably be happy to check out the Buick (or ask if they have any Oldsmobiles in stock). It’s insulting to us, but I’m sure for 90% of buyers that suggestion would be just fine. Now, if the salesperson was aware you are a Car Person, there’s no excuse.
I got my Integra in Performance Red Pearl. After getting whacked by a red-light runner in my previous (white) car I figured a little more attention couldn’t hurt!
Or they’re buying off the lot and the dealer gives them a hard time about special ordering something or swapping inventory with another showroom, so they get worn down and accept the car that’s 90% of what they want
Well, the dealers mostly only order greys so that’s all they have
Doug Demuro made the same observation when his daily was a red Ferrari. I think he went over a year without a single woman showing any interest in his car (or him), yet every time he got gas a guy would chat him up.
I imagine every (male-identifying) exotic owner realizes this pretty quickly. I wonder how many enjoy driving these cars in part because they do enjoy the attention but don’t want to admit it. Thanks for saying it’s ok if the enjoyment comes from having platonic interactions.
Some people really love attention and if they want to get it by driving a flashy car that’s fine with me so long as they aren’t driving antisocially. But that so long is doing a lot of work….
Needs a meme format, but yeah attention from women NO, attention from young guys in clapped out Mustangs and Audis, YES
Yeah if you want attention from dudes (which of course is perfectly fine if that’s your thing) a sports car or exotic is a surefire bet
It is a video (not a meme), but it comes pretty close.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV9Uu2T0q0E
“his door doesn’t even open from the inside!”
I got very frequent attention for my previous car. Want to know how many comments over 15 years of ownership were from women?
Zero.
Meets, events, cruises, car shows, C&C, track days, you name it. I can’t remember a single time that a female I didn’t know approached and asked a question.
I don’t think cars are ever “chick magents”, but rather expensive cars may be magnets because they signal wealth, and wealth is a magnet all on its own.
“Magnet” is probably overstating it but I agree with the author’s premise that if your goal is female attention, get yourself a pastel green fiat 500. It’s both unthreatening AND shows you have the confidence to go against traditional gender expectations.
EDIT: but, also, don’t use a car (or any material possession) to attract a mate. While harder, it’s much healthier to work on making your personality and values attractive.
My experience:
Musclecars/Vettes/Most Fast Imports: Dude Attention
Porsches: Women Attention
Classic Mini Cooper: Literally everyone of all ages
However much a dude magnet this is, my experiences with my Type R’s were notably worse. It was a constant stream of men just pointing out to me the fact that I own a Type R. And they were my only cars at the time, so I would be loading a lawnmower into one or something and some guy in a Durango would stop and just start talking to me about it. I had people full-blast running across parking lots screaming at the top of their lungs that it was, in fact, a Type R. And that’s to say nothing of the people who tried to race you literally all the time. Could be 8:00 in the morning and some jackass in a Jeep Wrangler is trying to race you.
I ended up selling my last one because I dropped my wife off at the store and some guy literally followed her into the store and walked around with her telling her what a “sweet ride that Type R is” and how “it must be so fast”. Scared her completely to death because she doesn’t care about cars at all. It was just a stupid Honda Civic with a little more power and people completely lost their shit. Honestly the whole experience kind of put me off of fast/cool cars in general.
I dealt with this shit constantly when I had a GTI. I couldn’t drive more than 30 minutes without some dipshit teenager in a roached out WRX or pony car trying to race me from a stoplight. It’s obnoxious, and my GTI was bone stock. Guys with cars that would absolutely smoke it were trying to start shit and I was just like…why? Even a tuned GTI isn’t keeping up with a fucking Hellcat or RS3.
It’s been a little better with my Kona N because most people have no idea what it is, but it still happens every now and then. But I’m with you, it really puts me off from fast/flashy cars. It was so bad in the GTI that my wife noticed and said she “never wants a fast car” as a result.
And it’s not even like a GTI is the flashiest car in the world or anything. The Type R would attract people who know nothing about cars but wanted to act like fools because it’s got wings and canards and all kinds of doodads all over it.
I do think they got it right with the FL5. It’s more of an “if you know you know” car now rather than the Fast and Furious extra the FK9 is. I think the GRC and Elantra N have kind of taken the boy racer torch from the CTR, although I’d love if Honda borrowed from Porsche and made a GT trim that doesn’t have the ridiculous wing.
My FL5 got significantly less negative attention than my FK8. I personally would go for an Si before I ever bought another CTR, but if you absolutely must have one and want to be mostly left alone, the FL5 is the way to go.
That is wild. I get talking up the driver, but the passenger?! Oy.
Yeah there was uhhhh….something else going on there that was more nefarious
That makes a bit more sense. And I’m sorry for your wife. I have no doubt that would be genuinely scary
We’re talking about Mr. NSX’s wife here, but I appreciate the sentiment
I know he was just some creep who would’ve said something gross and weird anyway, but the car gave him an “in” or whatever. I can mostly tolerate chuckleheads when it’s just me, but that was really the last straw.
I drive a 2025 integra type s and rarely get any attention. I had some guy ask me how fast it would go a few days ago but that is it. I find it interesting considering that I drove an old totally built 1995 impreza with a 22b wing that people were obsessed with. The amount of love that car would get was crazy. People would stop and take picture with it. I found it funny because, sure I put a lot of body work in and it looked crazy but the paint was utter shit and it looked beat.
5-Door, manual, fun-to-drive, car that can operate as a daily driver with the kids just as well as it make you smile as you drive back from a rough day in the office? Damned right it gets my attention – it’s why I bought a fun hatchback myself.
Subaru, please take notes: add the hatch to the WRX.
If they were still making the WRX hatch I think I would have bought it over the GTI.
I had neon pink wheels on my white Genesis Coupe for about 6 years. It attracted a lot of attention, both at car shows and in the general public.
Women loved it, including both girlfriends I had during that time (both drove completely blacked-out cars, oddly enough).
But dudes got SO MAD. They’d think I was a girl in traffic, or make assumptions about sexual orientation. I never clarified the latter, cause it was funny to see them be uncomfortable. Screw your bigotry.
So yeah, embrace bright colours and have some fun.
I don’t understand why some people feel guys should never wear pink.
It’s genuinely toxic.
Agreed. Colour, in general, is always a win. My F150 was in the “Magma” colour they briefly offered. I miss it and hate that the option for colour is essentially gone on new trucks.
Colour is gone on most cars; can I interest you in another boring shade of grey?
It feels like Mazda is the only one to advertise anything in red.
Sadly, the truck I’m looking at is grey. But it has exactly my options, low miles, and priced well.
Ughhhhh.
Used always gets a pass. Can’t go wrong with a good deal, regardless of color
This is how I ended up driving a silver car.
I love that Mazda red, hope they bring back the speeds at some point.
I probably have 10 pink shirts between polos, oxfords and tees as well as a couple of pairs of “Nantucket Red” trousers and shorts. It’s a minor benefit of living in a very “preppy” town that nobody blinks an eye.
I’ve worked with people who genuinely feel that men should only own black or grey socks.
I’ve family who are somehow allergic to other people having anything pink. So I’ll intentionally overdo it when I see them. I’ll serve them a beverage in a pink cup, ensure I’ve got pink attire on, maybe even play some Spice Girls, or otherwise push all the buttons.
Nice! I actually do have a buddy like that, he still refuses to ride in the Miata because he doesn’t want anybody to get “the wrong idea”. When his truck broke down and he needed a lift, take a guess at which car I drove…
Offer him a ride on the back of a motorcycle next time.
Maybe a bicycle built for two?
I personally don’t wear pink, because somehow it seems to emphasize that I am in fact, pink. Just doesn’t work for me.
Otherwise, it’s just a color. The gendering of colors is annoying. Especially somehow, yellow. Yellow is fucking awesome. Purple, is also awesome.
Can attest. My semi truck is the nicest in the fleet, and when I was off other drivers would borrow it and trash it. I put in pink interior lighting and a pink cb, now no one will touch it or talk to me. Win win to be honest
The only reason I wouldn’t want something like that is the uniqueness. As in, I’d be afraid not of being the guy with the pink wheel car, but the guy with the pink wheel car that sure does go to Chipotle an awful lot. Even if no one actually gives a shit, I’d still feel like I was being tracked.
I live in a city of a million people, and I’m not significant enough in any way to worry about anyone but exes tracking me.
I can see how that would make all the difference. I live in the burbs and mostly stick to the same 10 mile radius. And I know I definitely notice the Cybertruck that has Honda badges for some reason. And, also, I don’t have any recollection of how many times it’s been at Chipotle and have never cared about the person who drives it. So I guess I just negated my own fear.
Most of the cars I race online in GT7 carry an Iron Dames livery (predominantly pink). Coupled with my user name it dawned on me last night that I may be attracting more oppobrium than normal becase other players assume I am female.
It’s a rough life on the internet for the non-male. Ever since the chatroom days.
I think more people need to listen to The Northern Boys and just chill out.
The online goth spaces I used to hang out in were fine, but we were a tight knit community and most of us knew each other in real life so no nonsense was tolerated, but it just never occurred twenty years ago.
I will say that the worst continued harassment myself and my then girlfriend received was partly as a result of a female friend (or so I thought) betraying my confidence. Hell hath no fury indeed.
I’ve long toyed with the idea of getting one of these and I still might in the future. I really don’t want to deal with a manual in DC but I’m sure I’d get used to it in a couple of days…speaking of which, I think whether or not you want this over other stuff in the mid 50s comes down to the transmission and how serious you are about driving.
The Type S isn’t marketed as a track car but you can absolutely track it, and CTRs are some of the fastest front wheel drive cars ever made. In the hands of an experienced driver they’ll torment stuff that costs twice as much or more…and if you want a fast premium sedan or liftback thing with a manual other than the CT4V BW, which costs $10,000 more, this is the only game in town.
There are also the long term ownership prospects, which are obviously much better in this than any of the German competitors that you really should only lease. Anyway the disadvantages are that these are front wheel drive only and are very expensive for what they are. At this stage Honda will sell you a CTR for MSRP and with a quick tune it’ll have pretty much all the positives of a Type S for $10,000ish less.
And if you aren’t specifically looking for a manual the Golf R and base S3 are cheaper, faster, more efficient, and offer all wheel drive. The Golf R also doesn’t depreciate like most German cars do. Your floor 7-8 years down the road is still around $30,000 as long as you don’t toon it to hell and back or get into any accidents.
So yeah, these are very cool and I see the appeal. But I’m not entirely sure if they’re how I’d spend my money since I enjoy driving stick but am not infatuated with it like so many other enthusiasts are. Another issue that no one ever brings up is you can get a used big boy German sedan for this much money. It’ll be more of a pain and it won’t hold its value, but used and even certified M550is, S6/7s, and stuff like that can be had in the 40s/low 50s.
And honestly that might be how I’d spend my money. I keep looking at lightly used S7s and am shocked at how cheap they are…although I’m sure I’d be in for massive, unrelenting pain down the road…not to mention I’m a doofus and no one should take what I say seriously.
Edit: there have also been some well documented QC issues with the Type S. Panel gaps, interior fit and finish being suspect, etc. They’re made in Ohio rather than Japan so you’re not going to get the obsessive attention to detail that you will with the CTR.
I mean how bad could this be?
https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/2c2568eb-bfed-40dd-a8d9-8ac15995c773/
Listing is no longer available, does that mean you already bought it?!?!?
Ugh sadly not. Here’s a similar local listing:
https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/7f126096-52f6-44e0-99d0-85085d6c1340/
Nice car and I bet it would be a ton of fun, but the exterior is a bit uNderstated. I do really like the red though.
Understated is kind of my thing. I don’t want to attract a bunch of attention. I’d certainly like a decent color but outside of the RS cars Audi doesn’t offer anything but varying shades of gray anymore.
But could you deal with a manual in AC?
A few points to consider
Oh all of these points are completely valid and are one of the reasons I toyed with getting an IS500 a few years ago as well. I really do understand the appeal of the comparatively stress free ownership experience. My wife has a 10 year old CRV that’s needed nothing but routine maintenance for the over 5 years we’ve owned it and when we need something bigger it’s basically going to be worth what we paid for it.
I said to hell with it and bought my Kona N brand new in 2022. It cost $37,000 all in, it only has 22,000 miles, and has had every recommended maintained at a dealership so the CarFax is perfect. I’d be lucky to get $20,000 for it as a trade in or a couple grand more as a private sale. The car is basically going to be worth half of what I paid for it after 4 years, which is appalling, AND it’s had multiple unscheduled stays in the service bay due to manufacturing defects that caused problems.
I get it, and I’d like my next car to be a 10+ year car that I can eventually pass on to my son. I just…feel like the “just buy Japanese” advice is so goddamn played out at this point. Every single YouTuber is like “buy Japanese” and unfortunately the companies know what they’ve got and have jacked prices up to the point that a well equipped Honda or Toyota is as expensive as a luxury car now.
You didn’t used to have to pay a sizable premium for a Japanese car, which is part of why the lesser depreciation was so appealing. But now that you can find competitors that are as much as 5 figures more affordable (and I know this because I’ve started to look at family haulers for my wife) I’m not sure that the long term ownership argument holds as much weight.
You’ll get lower running costs, lower depreciation, more reliability, etc…but is it going to equal $10,000 over a decade of ownership? I just don’t know, and there comes a point that if I’m paying a big premium for a product I’d like a badge that comes with some more cache. Acura is just…well, Acura. It’s been a long time since they’ve been competitive, and the ITS is the exception rather than the norm.
Lovely paint but the body work is still too boi racer for me, although better than a Type R.
How well does this thing manage wheel spin and torque steer? That’s a lot of power for the front wheels to handle from a stop, particularly if trying to turn into traffic. My Fiesta ST is programmed to noticeably limit torque in first gear, and once all the power arrives in 2nd gear the steering wheel will tug around. Trying to imagine another 100 horsepower, although I think Honda uses a much more sophisticated front differential than the fake brake-based limited slip in my Ford.
Mine is bright orange. It also gets noticed by dudes. And only dudes. Flat-brim dudes. Teenager dudes at the drive through window. “Whoa, is that the ST?!” (I thought he said “iced tea” in the speaker and I said, no I didn’t order iced tea”).
Thanks, now I will forever refer to them as the “iced tea” models
As long as you have good tires on it and it is dry there is no issue with torque steer. Honestly it drives like a awd car. They do limit you to 3500 or so when launching it but compared to my accord V6, it doesn’t even drive like a front wheel drive car. The trick suspension works magic.
Post-Penultimate Focus RS the torque steer issue is basically solved for any decent performance car.
Yeah, no torque steer, but it will spin the wheels and slowly crab sideways until the tires hook up.
Ok, I figured that had to be the case. Impressive that they quelled the torque steer but I don’t think there’s any magic that can make the tires hook up correctly. I’m sure it’s been gone over ad nauseum on the forums, but SH-AWD should probably be on there for that price.
Honestly, the car is so light that I don’t miss AWD. I just don’t think it needs it after living with it for a while. It drives REALLY good to the point that power to weight is more beneficial. I cross shopped mine with a GR corolla and I find the TypeR/S to drive better.
Yeah it will skip pretty bad on my blizzak tires but with the summers it grips pretty well. I don’t really notice it. My STI would torque steer like a bitch too with the dccd on specific settings.
Can confirm: at C&C the wife is totally disinterested in the 4x4s and Lambos but a lime-green Austin Mini rolls by and now she needs pics.