RE: Shed of the Week: Honda Accord Type R

[havoc]

sr.guiri said:

Does that sound about right?

I'm not sure weight had a lot to do with it - most of the 'weight' was in the taller head needed to accommodate the complexity, which of course you can't remove.

I'm also not 100% sure the H22 would fit in an Elise - the B18 apparently does (albeit it spins backwards vs a K-series, so there's a fair bit more work in fitting a backwards engine-and-gearbox), and the K20 is (now) a well-established swap.

What's more likely is that they took the engine and just fitted hotter cams...after all, the stock 95-96bhp/litre is barely breaking a sweat for a Honda motor!

[andrewpain]

I remember thrashing one of these round J Palmer's Bedford Autodrome on a corporate day out sometime in the 90s. What a surprise it was too - if you were prepared to keep your foot down to peak revs, with the instructor yelling "don't change up yet!!", it went like stink, really hung on in the corners, and was generally a hoot. That and the Audi S4 were the big surprise for me. Well-mannerd, polite, normal - until you pushed them. Jekyll and Hyde cars, but you sort of expected the audi to have a dark side. But an accord?

[Mr2Mike]

sr.guiri said:

If I remember correctly from my days of racing, people using these motors (in Elises in the series that I competed in), were binning all the VTEC gubbins as it added unecessary weight to the engine, and of course variable valve timing wasn't needed in a race car. Does that sound about right?

Are you maybe thinking of people using the Rover K-series VVC engine and ditching the VVC mechanisms along with fitting performance cams? That is quite a common modification.

[NateWM]

andrewpain said:

Jekyll and Hyde cars, but you sort of expected the audi to have a dark side. But an accord?

This is exactly the way I’ve described the ATR when asked on why I love them so much. They truly are a jack of all trade cars...practical enough to bring the family out in but also fun in the bends when you’ve dropped them off and you’re on the way home!

Unfortunately though, it’s also the ATRs main issue with its image....most people judge it from its rather bland looks and think it’s going to be a heavy uninspiring car to drive.

[Squirrelofwoe]

NateWM said:

andrewpain said:

Jekyll and Hyde cars, but you sort of expected the audi to have a dark side. But an accord?

This is exactly the way I’ve described the ATR when asked on why I love them so much. They truly are a jack of all trade cars...practical enough to bring the family out in but also fun in the bends when you’ve dropped them off and you’re on the way home!

Unfortunately though, it’s also the ATRs main issue with its image....most people judge it from its rather bland looks and think it’s going to be a heavy uninspiring car to drive.

Absolutely.

I also found the seating position, even as standard, to be exceptional for a car of this size- very much like you were sitting 'in it', rather than 'on it' as is the case for a lot of similarly sized saloon cars. It certainly added to the experience.

I had mine almost 2 years and was my only car for most of that time. The Jekyll and Hyde nature of the car made it superb for this. The only downside from a practicality point of view was the lack of rear-folding seats, meaning you couldn't get anything of any real size into the car. If it'd had those I would still own the car now!

I've mentioned it numerous times on here, but I actually preferred my ATR to the generally more highly regarded DC2 that I owned beforehand. The DC2 was a proper screamer but was harder work when you just wanted it to be 'a car'.

For me the absolute highlight of the ATR though is the H22 engine- mine had the fairly ubiquitous K&N Typhoon + mongoose catback system, and for me it's one of the best sounding cars out there, it even made my DC2 seem quite tame in comparison. The look on people's faces as a fairly ordinary looking saloon car went past making that noise, is something that will live long in the memory

One day I'd love a DC2 with an H22 engine conversion, that would do me nicely

This was mine- picture courtesy of the previous owner, photography was never my strong point

[Blackpuddin]

Seems amazing that this car hasn't sold yet.

[Jaaack]

Fantastic cars, I'm on my 5th. The H22A7 is a masterpiece, as is the chassis. They actually handle better IMO when the front drop links are broken.... Tail happy if you provoke it but incredibly forgiving. The LSD works a treat too, if you hit VTEC mid-corner it will pull tighter into the corner.

Awesome noise, especially with the intake resonator removed or an aftermarket intake fitted.



I've also got a Prelude and DC2 running ATR engines. The one in the Prelude is over 180k, made 213bhp on a slightly tweaked base map and spent a weekend last year consistently sitting at 150mph at RAF Marham!

Prelude:



Integra:




Sadly I'm going to have to sell one of the ATRs and the Integra in the next few weeks to help fund an Impreza

[Squirrelofwoe]

Jaaack said:

I've also got a Prelude and DC2 running ATR engines

What is the DC2 like with a H22? Having had both a DC2 and ATR, this is exactly what I want one day!

[Jaaack]

Squirrelofwoe said:

What is the DC2 like with a H22? Having had both a DC2 and ATR, this is exactly what I want one day!

I haven't actually driven it yet, my mate built it, MOT'd it and then decided he wanted to start racing F2 stock cars so it sat for a few months and then he sold it to me. Didn't want to drive it on the salty winter roads but it'll be insured and on the road next week I reckon. Hasn't even had the freshly rebuilt engine run-in yet!

[Mr2Mike]

Squirrelofwoe said:

What is the DC2 like with a H22? Having had both a DC2 and ATR, this is exactly what I want one day!

If you are going to that effort, why not a K24?

[Squirrelofwoe]

Mr2Mike said:

Squirrelofwoe said:

What is the DC2 like with a H22? Having had both a DC2 and ATR, this is exactly what I want one day!

If you are going to that effort, why not a K24?

It's funny you should mention that as I currently have an Accord Tourer with the K24 engine!

No specific reason other than I just really enjoyed the H22 engine in my ATR. It offered better usability day-to-day than the B18 in my Integra, and to be honest I just absolutely love the noise it makes. No more thought than that has gone into it if I'm honest, just always loved the idea of combining my favourite bits of my ATR & DC2. It seems to have been done quite a bit though so it can't just be me!

For what it's worth the K24 in my tourer is a peach of an engine, if unspectacular. It works great in that application, but I personally don't find the later Honda engines (K20 included) as 'pleasing' as the older B18 and H22.

[havoc]

Squirrelofwoe said:

...but I personally don't find the later Honda engines (K20 included) as 'pleasing' as the older B18 and H22.

K20 / 24 are very good and arguably better 'real world' due to the iVTEC, but they don't SOUND as good - more metallic / less feral.

[jet_noise]

Mine pre trading in for a Monaro

[LetsTryAgain]

Holy thread resurrection, Batman.

I’ve just bought one of these (unfortunately in silver but beggars can’t be choosers at my price point!) so I’ve been looking at old threads and articles online.

Collect this weekend and can’t wait!

[Squirrelofwoe]

LetsTryAgain said:

Holy thread resurrection, Batman.

I’ve just bought one of these (unfortunately in silver but beggars can’t be choosers at my price point!) so I’ve been looking at old threads and articles online.

Collect this weekend and can’t wait!

You will love it!

I miss mine greatly (as well as my old DC2 Integra), I definitely wouldn't get either back for anything like what I sold them for.

It's allowed me to move on to having a couple of TVRs (Chimaera and a Tuscan) so I shouldn't complain really, but the ATR is the one car out of all of my previous that I would have back above all the others.

I bought it for £1,800 - did approx 30k miles in just over 2 years and sold for £1,600. MOT expired Oct-16 (a year after I sold it) and it's not been MOT'd since- hopefully it's being restored but it doesn't seem promising

[LetsTryAgain]

Squirrelofwoe said:

You will love it!

I miss mine greatly (as well as my old DC2 Integra), I definitely wouldn't get either back for anything like what I sold them for.

It's allowed me to move on to having a couple of TVRs (Chimaera and a Tuscan) so I shouldn't complain really, but the ATR is the one car out of all of my previous that I would have back above all the others.

I bought it for £1,800 - did approx 30k miles in just over 2 years and sold for £1,600. MOT expired Oct-16 (a year after I sold it) and it's not been MOT'd since- hopefully it's being restored but it doesn't seem promising

Well you never know.
If you look at numbers that are taxed going down, the numbers that are SORN goes up (obviously!).
So we’ve just got to hope that at least some of them are going to get the attention they deserve at some point.

I have absolutely loved them since they came out, when I was 11. And wanted one ever since.
Even love the interior; the seats are mega and it was nice to just sit in it when I viewed last weekend.

How I managed to negotiate so well is a miracle.