RE: Honda Integra Type R: PH Carpool

[leon90210]

jimbro1000 said:

One of my big regrets in life is selling my DC2 (over 10 years ago now) but I was getting murdered on the insurance (well over 2500 a year) but not quite as much of a regret as selling my Griffith 500.

I bought the dc2 as the best handling car I could afford at the time and the closest to the way my Dallara felt like. Utterly sublime springs to mind.

The one thing I never got was the whole VTEC kick thing - from my perspective if you got to feel that kick then you're driving it wrong. The one time you should get it is in first gear pulling away and then it was a problem rather than something to look forward to as it never happened quite when you needed it (ie instantly)...

'The one thing I never got': is the latter part of this comment unfortunately.
What is meant by - if you hit VTEC you are driving it wrong?
Why should you only experience VTEC in first???
How could the second cam engage instantly anyway?
Screw first gear for all it's worth as you suggest, and as Performance Car verified in 1998, you'll hit sixty mph from rest in 5.5 secs. Or around half a second slower than your Griffith, with the added equivalent cubic capacity of an NSX for good measure.
Saying this, they all drive differently due to the engines being ported and polished by hand, and some do require more effort to extract performance from, especially if the drivetrain has had a hard life. A good one should be more like a two stroke!

[havoc]

Loving (and hating ) the photos guys...must stop reading this thread...

[pSyCoSiS]

Although these are not my cup of tea, I do have a lot of respect for them.

A friend took me out for a spin in his one about 5 years ago. I remember thinking 'it isn't that quick', and then after 6000 rpm it just erupted.

Very quick for a naturally aspirated car, and a truly fantastic engine which just wants to be redlined!

[Killer2005]

I'd absolutely love an Integra, so I will try and get one at some point.

Will make do with my own VTEC engine for now though

[LordPetroleum]

1sr car, mass respek, because VTEC innitt. Loved my Honda, urgent. Nuff said.

[motor mad]

havoc said:

Loving (and hating ) the photos guys...must stop reading this thread...

Any excuse.

[markda]

pSyCoSiS said:

Although these are not my cup of tea, I do have a lot of respect for them.

A friend took me out for a spin in his one about 5 years ago. I remember thinking 'it isn't that quick', and then after 6000 rpm it just erupted.

Very quick for a naturally aspirated car, and a truly fantastic engine which just wants to be redlined!

You're right, it wasn't that quick... It put in a decent 0-60 sprint but I had plenty of fairly normal road cars nipping at my heals. But that was part of the fun, keeping it in the powerband + using that amazing chassis to carry the speed through the corners.

It was an absolute hoot to drive, practical, reliable, nowhere near as committed as am Elise yet every bit as focused I don't think I've ever found a better gearbox. An all time great, never fulfilled my dream of driving its big brother the NSX, does anyone have experience here?

[DUNNERS]

I've owned three, all JDM DC2's. Says it all really... I doubt a car of it's type will ever be produced again.

[-Ad-]

Hey Drew!

The old Teg does look like quite the weapon!

Hopefully see you up our way next year, or we'll have to come down for a tour.

[matt21]

I owned the first UK Integra, and it's a keeper.

[sege]

Great car and, amazing 1st car! Unless you do get hold of that NSX-R I don't think you can do much better!

I love mine, a '96 JDM. Got it as a trackday car but it's ended up being put back to completely factory spec except for the intake resonator being removed...and the stickers! I bet that's going to get some stick on this board.

More exciting and better to drive than my tuned Evo 9 or 986 Boxster, so they went and this is the keeper.
I'll never be able to replace it with something new as modern cars have EPAS, automatic gearboxes or just too much grip for the road. I agree with the comments saying we won't see it's like again. That is scary and sad. I also worry that unlike 'proper' classics, one day parts will run out these also. Trying not to think about it.

[havoc]

markda said:

An all time great, never fulfilled my dream of driving its big brother the NSX, does anyone have experience here?

Ran the two side-by-side for 3 years. Sold the 'teg not the NSX as it was to become a weekend car, and the NSX is more special, more of a sense of occasion...and looks great. Which is what a weekend car should be.

BUT...the 'teg is (marginally) the more fun to drive - certainly the more interactive and involving at 'sane' (i.e. not licence-losing) speeds...NSX needs a big road (A-roads or major Bs) to shine, while the 'teg can be threaded down almost any B-road you name and be rewarding in the process. If the opportunity permits in the future, I will get a third...

[BrotherMouzone]

leon90210 said:

jimbro1000 said:

.....

The one thing I never got was the whole VTEC kick thing - from my perspective if you got to feel that kick then you're driving it wrong. The one time you should get it is in first gear pulling away and then it was a problem rather than something to look forward to as it never happened quite when you needed it (ie instantly)...

'The one thing I never got': is the latter part of this comment unfortunately.
What is meant by - if you hit VTEC you are driving it wrong?
Why should you only experience VTEC in first???
How could the second cam engage instantly anyway?
Screw first gear for all it's worth as you suggest, and as Performance Car verified in 1998, you'll hit sixty mph from rest in 5.5 secs. Or around half a second slower than your Griffith, with the added equivalent cubic capacity of an NSX for good measure.
.....

I think he's talking about the 'kick'. He's implying if one was driving the car right the engine should always be above 5,800 rpm, which is improbable on the road but we all know that.

Edited by BrotherMouzone on Tuesday 8th October 10:37

[BrotherMouzone]

For those with modest budget, the DC2 is the closest thing to a GT3. (no I haven't driven a GT3 but you know what I mean!)

[MiseryStreak]

EvoBarry said:

My old UKDM DC2, at the back 8)

I saw your car up for sale recently and I was very tempted, the EVO articles (testing your car) were what persuaded me to get one.

I had a Championship white UKDM which is the only colour for a Type-R in my opinion but next I might get a black Calibra, sorry JDM one just for a change. I was put off a JDM the first time as they were Group 20 insurance. Has anyone insured a UKDM and a JDM, what's the difference in the premium?

[muffinmenace]

MiseryStreak said:

I saw your car up for sale recently and I was very tempted, the EVO articles (testing your car) were what persuaded me to get one.

I had a Championship white UKDM which is the only colour for a Type-R in my opinion but next I might get a black Calibra, sorry JDM one just for a change. I was put off a JDM the first time as they were Group 20 insurance. Has anyone insured a UKDM and a JDM, what's the difference in the premium?

UKDM is supposed to be cheaper on like for like but for me the 1996 JDM was actually cheaper buy £50 (TPFT).

[JDM DC2]

I insure my JDM one for £430.

[FD3Si]

mp3manager said:

To be pedantic it's not.

Pedantry? On PH? Surely not. I'll be explicitly clear then - in my opinion, it's one of the proper Type R's in that it's a fully raw, stripped back, balls out hatch with very few concessions made. No, it's not 'ground up', but as the first 'Type R' was (I believe, and am probably wrong) a version of a 'standard' car (the NSX), followed by the DC2, followed by the EK9, and none of these were 'ground up', I'd say it was hard to argue that to be a true 'Type R' had to be designed as such from the offset.
For me (and again, this is opinion, but I know I'm not alone in this), FN2s and EP3's are too compromised.

Lewtyper said:

Toyed with selling but finding a replacement is nigh on impossible. Thought it might have been an S2K- went there, got the tshirt and it wasnt.

RX7?

Shameless photo whoring...





They are similar in some respect, but the FD is not as raw as standard - it's a much smoother prospect overall, and especially completely stock, the fluidity of the engine doesn't make it feel as frantic, although there are obvious comparisons to be drawn with the revs. It doesn't have the practicality of the DC2, nor the reliability or economy(!), but the amount of feel that they send back to the driver, and the tactility of whole experience certainly have some distinct parallels.

[EvoBarry]

MiseryStreak said:

EvoBarry said:

My old UKDM DC2, at the back 8)

I saw your car up for sale recently and I was very tempted, the EVO articles (testing your car) were what persuaded me to get one.

I had a Championship white UKDM which is the only colour for a Type-R in my opinion but next I might get a black Calibra, sorry JDM one just for a change. I was put off a JDM the first time as they were Group 20 insurance. Has anyone insured a UKDM and a JDM, what's the difference in the premium?

I was contacted by someone asking questions about my old car recently yes, the current owners spent some money tidying it up a little more too I believe, wheels aside.

I had a great seven years with mine, did everything in it, including the two EVO features which were really interesting to be involved with as well as vindication for our choice of vehicle. What made it all the more sweet for me was that most of the cars that came to that FWD Drivers car feature were pampered museum cars, or press prepared cars, while mine had 60k miles, original clutch and had been leathered down the motorway to Bedford on the morning of the first test day! It then got caned all day by EVO staffers before I ragged it home again that night, only to be told it made it to the second stage of the test and could I be in NWales the following morning. Lucky for me I'm in Cheshire anyway so it was simples... the rest is EVO history and I'm still proud to have been involved. The EVO guys loved the car and kept singing its praises

If I had the money, space and time I would have another as a fun car but as I run two motorbikes as well as the EP3 currently I think it unwise and unworkable. Fond memories all the same.

[jatinder]

Really, really miss my old Integra.

Was such a perfect car.