Is the 2023 Acura Integra a Good Car for Dog Owners?

Welcome to Will It Dog. driveA review series that rates cars based on their compatibility with your dog. We have devised a series of tests that we believe will give dog owners the best insight into whether a car is practical enough for them and their four-legged partners. Stay cute pictures!

My dog ​​Bramble is half Australian Shepherd (Mama Coda) and half Golden Retriever (Papa Kal). As a result, she’s basically an oversized Australian at about 45 pounds. Her brother is quite big. We employ as many animals as possible so that you can get an idea of ​​what animals of different sizes look like in the car while finding out how comfortably the car can carry loads.

If you’ve read my standard Integra review, you already know that I love driving it and rate the car pretty highly in general. I would like to explain the background of the custom of Of the few cars I own, the one my wife drives the most in her 2-door BMW is her Bramble. In other words, just because you have a dog doesn’t necessarily mean you need a dog-optimized car.

With that out of the way, the 2023 Integra isn’t a particularly good dog car, despite having four doors and a fairly wide cargo hatch.

Small dogs can have the best time with an Integra. The rear legroom is low enough for small breeds to jump on, and the likes of Pomeranians and Chihuahuas can easily curl up without even climbing into the backseat. Medium to large dogs can easily jump straight into the back seat, but large labs and larger dogs like the little Bernese Mountain Dog have a lot of trouble with the low roofline.

Very large breeds such as Newfoundlands, male Bernese, Akitas and Malamutes will struggle to fit all the fluff out of the rear door of the Integra. , must be loaded very carefully with the rear seats folded down and the body spread out between the rear seats and the cargo compartment.

The bottom of the rear hatch is quite high off the ground and even an agility trained Aussie cannot comfortably dive in. The rear cargo area is not suitable for transporting dogs anyway.

The Integra shares its cabin shape with the Civic, which shares its platform with the HR-V, and Bramble seemed to like this car. She’s a dog, so it’s hard to understand exactly why she didn’t care so much about the interior of this car.But I’ve known her for a long time, so when she’s comfortable I was able to know

For one, the Integra’s upholstered leather seemed a little more slippery than the HR-V’s.teeththis is very low. I’m 6 feet tall and had zero extra headroom sitting in the back. When seated, my dog ​​is actually quite tall as well, not tall enough to make contact with the headliner, but close enough for flying fur to get caught there.

Finally, and frankly, this is probably the most important factor. It’s impossible to drive an Integra with the lethargy the HR-V brings. Not since when I made Brambleburf all over my wife’s Bimmer’s seat cover (oops), but the Integra’s inherent exuberance makes it a little harder for dogs to swoon, and the size of her HR-V drives It’s not bad. But it’s so soft and calm that it feels more natural to be driving like a limousine. , even casual cornering in the Integra was scrambling back and forth over smooth leather.

But she didn’t really try to climb in front of the Integra.

I’ve already published a full driving review of the Integra, so I’ll keep it short here. Dexterous handling, smooth and decisive clutch and shifter action, and plenty of power to play on the back roads. The car’s three drive modes offer three distinctly different personalities (comfort, sport and a mix of normal modes).

We test all our cars in the same two kennels. One is a hard crate (large enough for a grown female golden retriever) and the other is a collapsible collapsible kennel (which folds down to about the same size). It’s also worth mentioning that many rigid kennels, including the one in the picture, can be unscrewed and effectively split in half for transportation.

Here are the dimensions:

The soft kennel slipped easily into the back seat, but there was no easy way to make the rigid kennel work while assembled. I thought it would damage the interior, so I put up with it.

It’s not always important to keep your dog in a crate while driving.I never do. I want It’s not your car that does this.

I could physically fit three 40- to 50-pound dogs in the back seat, but they refused to settle in like the HR-V. If you want an Integra and have a dog, you can make things work. If you have multiple dogs, we recommend looking elsewhere unless all four-legged family members are in the under 30 lb segment.

The low roofline was a bit cumbersome for me, but the Bramble was too big for her older brothers Indy and Cyrus. They kept climbing on top of each other to get comfortable, eventually creating a tornado of chaos inside the car’s cockpit.

The new Integra is a great car, but not for dogs. As I said earlier, that doesn’t mean owning a dog, and the Integra isn’t necessarily a starter.There are many dog ​​breeds that fit nicely in the backseat. It’s the perfect solution to avoid touching However, the layout, materials, and ergonomics of this thing weren’t very dog ​​friendly, and our XL Australian Shepherd wasn’t thrilled to ride it.

We plan to dog test some more sporty cars later this year to further explore the hypothesis of a car that can keep your pet comfortable while still being fun to drive.

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