The Acura Integra A-spec is $10,000 cheaper than an entry level Tesla Model 3 so the question is: Which is the better buy? Especially for people not ready for electric. I cover the features of both cars and drive them in this video to help make your buying decision.
The 2023 acura integra a-spec and a tesla model 3 standard range plus this specific acura is specked at thirty five thousand dollars the model 3 now costs 47 000 gets a 270 mile range while this gets a 460 mile range they both have 18 inch wheels they both have four doors they both have windows hoods trunk this one comes with exhaust exhaust is not an option
On the model 3 and that’s that’s a problem to some people so today we’re going to do a comparison because not everyone is ready to jump to an electric vehicle yet and this integra really impressed me in terms of its driving dynamics i’ll have the review video linked at the end of this video so let’s jump into it from an exterior point of view again aesthetically
Everyone is going to have their own choice we have again we got to remind everyone there’s an engine in here and in this one it’s open it’s just a frunk also nice tesla logo here looks nice we have integra put right into the bumper as an homage to the 90s integra i love that they did that here you have the a-spec logo and you’ll see that has all season tires this
Model 3 also has all season tires and i’m gonna do a drive of both of these so we can talk about that as well as far as rear leg room goes pretty similar in both of these cars and also the comfort is pretty similar in both of these cars one thing to consider if you’re considering either the a-spec or a tesla is the roof when you jump in a tesla you’re like whoa
There’s glass everywhere and in this car you do still have a sunroof this does open up and that’s a nice feature but you have the option to totally shut it off on a really hot day now being in phoenix arizona that’s very important whereas in tesla’s i’ve always felt that they struggle to keep cool on the inside because it’s like a greenhouse you have all this
Heat coming in and i find the ac to constantly be over running and that’s a problem again i’m in a very hot climate so that’s probably most most of the issue the rest of the world in the united states not as hot as here but hey if we keep having gas powered cars we’re going to be heating this planet up quick and i won’t be around for the end of it anyway so who
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Their electric desert tea that we collaborated on to create as an ode to the electric car community into the am thank you for sponsoring the video and thank you for saving me when i’m blowing out in nature now one thing i love about the integra not only is the exhaust sound great now one thing i love about the rear of this car not only with the a-spec do you
Get this black deck lid spoiler you also get this black rear fascia which is really nice it’s just really clean looking a-spec integra put into the bumper i just god i love that i love how that looks so we’ll pop the trunk open here trunk sizes are similar what i like about the integra that’s better it’s got more of a bowl here it also has some storage area here
Underneath you also have this funnel i think it’s probably for putting like fluids into your engine you could also use it to key into a bottle which that’s always a possibility and then you have this compressor here if you get a flat tire because these don’t come with spare tires it’s nice that they include that but one of the great features of the tesla model 3 is
The sub compartment in the trunk and it’s nice you have some area here you could probably fit a pair of shoes under there just to keep the rear of your car clean you also have this privacy screen right here nice feature and you can see that you have the back seats exposed because again has that hatchback look to it so it’s very easy to fold these seats down simply
Put your hand right here grab and pull and they come right down and it sits almost flat the back seat of the tesla model 3 is basically identical to the back seat of the integra so in the rear the one advantage that the tesla has is there are air vents here in the center console that you can blow up toward yourself and then there are two usbc ports now the rear
Of the integra is surprisingly slightly more comfortable the seat is for some reason i just feel like you have a little bit more room here but you don’t have as much room above you on your head you also have two usb a ports for charging but like i said earlier there are no vents here getting air into the back seat so that could be an issue over time the other nice
Feature is if you have to grab something out of the trunk from right here you have access to the trunk again because of the hatchback theme of the car but overall it’s a really nice place to be back here again you have the red accenting on the door so that’s nice that they carry that over and then the red seats on the interior both of these have striking colors
On the interior the pure white of the tesla and the red on the integra a spec they look really good one other random feature that i just noticed is there’s no pocket here but there is a pocket on the passenger side random now that we’ve covered the exterior and part of the interiors let’s hop in these cars take them from a drive and finish this comparison so the
First one we’re going to drive is the model 3. in my opinion there is no better daily driver than a tesla model 3. it’s extremely convenient there was just a software update look and this is what’s great about tesla’s is the software is so cool so i’ll put my left turn signal on and you’ll see this pops up i can drag this to other areas of the screen and that was
Just in the update so that’s really nice that as your tesla ages it still gets access to the software updates that keeps it up to date and relevant so you’re not as tempted to go and buy the newest latest and greatest thing so that’s really nice overall though this car surprisingly feels stiffer tesla’s in general ride stiffer except for the model s and x because
They have an air suspension these chassis are very stiff but overall in the on the interior of this comfortable it’s electric and electric cars are running on the equivalent of about three to four gallons of gas so they’re extremely efficient but we’re still at the beginning of electric cars and it’s not for everyone so if you live in a city center and you want to
Have something that you can take on road trips that’s small and nimble and fun to drive that’s where i think the integra is a better option for you but overall i mean yeah teslas are great cars the immediate torque in teslas were able to just rip this would smoke the integra if you come to a stoplight against one but again that’s not what the integra is about the
Integra in my opinion is a much more engaging fun car to drive now that the hondas have the mid-range torque in them you’re able to really enjoy the car and not have to run the gears out when i was taking it through the canyons i was able to kind of leave it at half throttle and still have a lot of fun the other thing to consider is this thing starts at forty six
Thousand nine hundred and ninety dollars and you’re like well i’m gonna save on gas so it’s going to take you up to four to five years of using gas in your acura to get up to the cost of the model three so your savings aren’t going to be realized in the model 3 for a while now with that said the model 3 is probably going to hold its value a little bit better teslas
Are holding value right now because the demand is so high but all cars are holding value really well right now because there is a shortage and i don’t see that ending for the next two to three years so the tesla is great to drive a lot of us are familiar with that let’s go get in the integra so now we’re on the inside of the acura integra a spec has apple carplay
A lot of people love apple carplay including myself and you cannot get that in a tesla so that’s a nice feature really putting apple carplay in any car or android auto which this also has is so nice and convenient because no infotainment system is as intuitive or useful as apple carplay so i really like that you have the digital dash display which shows all kinds
Of good information and this shifter is money it’s like it’s a honda shifter it’s just so well done feels great the car revs nicely has nice mid-range torque and then i also like these almost like diamond shaped or mesh grille where the air conditioning comes out has a nice click to it when you go like this there’s a nice click but this car i mean it’s just fun
To drive it’s easy to shift it’s engaging it’s it’s just so much more of a driver’s car over the model three so it really depends on what you’re looking for i just think if you took this out on a canyon road or wanted to blow off some steam shifting this is so exciting and fun it’s certainly not for everyone they do offer the integra in an automatic transmission
But in my opinion this is worth getting there’s rivian we have to stop the video for arabian spotting it’s just such an engaging car to drive like i said in the review that i did it was i like got out of bed excited because i had a manual transmission integra to drive and it just delivered on absolutely everything there’s plenty of space in the cabin you have
Sunroof you have an efficient engine you have plenty of space in the trunk area you’re able to fold the seats down that’s really all there is to it so very fun very affordable efficient you’re getting a lot of bang for your buck it’s good to updated technology and that’s all i have to say so you guys have to let me know what you think in the comments below which
Car would you choose what would you rather have the integra or the tesla model 3 they’re both great options if you enjoyed this video and you want to see more on the integra i did a full in-depth review you can see that in this video right here you don’t want to miss it if you’re interested in buying this car
Transcribed from video
Tesla Model 3 vs Integra A-Spec Comparison By Gjeebs