What kind of car does everyone drive?

[safeaschuck]

why anyone would think any FWD car could be a sportscar escapes me.

Man, I thought you said elsewhere you had tuned some ricers, did you not get to drive an integra?
I know, I'm a bit of a purist too, RWD is the coolest way to go fast, but FWD is perfectly O.K. for a sports car.
I know it's a very particular example with a specific set of rules and track conditions but the FWD N/A citroen Xsara kit car twice beat a field of Blown 4WD WRC cars before they changed the regs to handicap it. If you can save weight and losses by doing away with a bell housing, prop and rear diff housing thats pretty pure racecar engineering too. Let alone centre diffs and an extra set of driveshafts. FWD looses out in the wet or on loose surfaces but it depends what you want it for, road use? Would anyone really try to race a fast FWD car in their RWD 'sportscar' when it was pissing down with rain?

[Scotracer]

why anyone would think any FWD car could be a sportscar escapes me.

I order you to drive an Integra Type R DC2 right now! You will eat your words very quickly

I shall ready the spoon.

[ISLAMATRON]

YEah, I've built and tuned some integras but I find them to be boring and soulless... and I cant drive a FWD car fast for the life of me, way too much understeer.

There was a cool CRX we converted to RWD... that is my fav Honda of all time... quick and handled amazingly.

What is the DC2 about? is that a euro spec?

[ISLAMATRON]

oh, that is how they denote the second gen Integras, I've drove those... nothing special, way underpowered and too much understeer... sorry, just cant get into them... maybe cuz the ricers around here are just so annoying, like little gnats buzzing around all the time.

[Scotracer]

You obviously haven't driven a real Type R if you claim it's lifeless. Taking a normal Integra (Si or whatever) and tuning it isn't the same! My Integra is the most fun I've ever had behind the wheel of a car. On a real road (something you Americans are distinctly lacking) very very little will keep with me. In fact on a recent jaunt through the Scottish countryside my mate on his Honda CBR600RR couldn't keep up!

And understeer? PFFT. I'd say my car has a little too much oversteer if I'm honest - the backend can get light (particularly when it's on 3 wheels ).

DC2 is the model code. I honestly plead you to drive one - FWD can be awesome.

Some quotes from Motor journalists that reviewed the car:

"Forget the best FWD chassis of all time, the Integra Type R is one of the all-time truly great drives"

"It howls like a race-car...and drives like one too"

"It shows all that's possible when racing engineers tune a road car for serious driving enthusiasts."

"Proudly stands out from the crowd as a brutally effective weapon of single-minded purposefulness - Integra Type R"

It has a Limited Slip-Diff stock, weighs 1080kg (2300lbs) standard, revs close to 9000rpm stock, has no sound-proofing as stock...No wonder it was rated in the Top-10 all-time best car icons (a list populated with Ferrari F40s and the like). It is epic.

And no I'm not a fanboy!!!

Oh and the noise:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx3n2XXWjy0[/youtube]

[ISLAMATRON]

HEy! I'm not an american! Dont insult me like that... but I do love the enthusiasm you have for your car, TBH i dont know if the cars I have tuned have been Type R's for sure... if I went by the decals some of these ricers put on their cars they would be turbocharged, supercharged, NOS, DOHC, 24 valve, twin cam SS's and GTR Honda's. And plus none of them ever have the original engines in them.

Now the understeer issue just may be down to how I like to drive, I like going deep into corners, and FWD has never allowed me to do it. I dont own any, but when I get a minivan I'll work on it as that will be the only FWD vehicle I will ever own.

But it will never sound as good as a rotary.

[Scotracer]

Sorry assuming you're American - your use of language just made you come across as one

If you get the opportunity you should drive an ITR. A couple of years ago I hadn't given them a second glance but when I went to test-drive one I immediately fell in love. The chassis is just so awesome - NO understeer, just nose into the apex like a rat up a drain-pipe. It's no normal Honda. I get a nod of appreciation from each motorhead I meet on the street driving mine - and rightly so!

I actually prefer FWD as you can over-drive them - with RWD you have to be a bit cautious.

I am on the verge of selling my car for an E36 M3 Evo (due to comfort reasons) but after going out a long drive with a friend tonight I realise how much I love my car. It really is a race-car with number plates.

And you have to admit, for a inline-4 it sounds pretty damn nice

[Giblet]

I used to have a CRX and an on ramp that I had perfected line wise on my daily commute. It was pretty much the only place that I could get the car to it dance on it's limits, and as any sane person knows, you don't do that often in a street car, no matter how good you think you are. Road conditions change, runoff areas are often ditches or crowds of people, etc....

However...a friend was looking to get a sporty car, and was testing out various used and new rides. The 300ZX TT he settled on was a beast to be sure, but we took a yellow DC2 Type-R, and took turns driving, as he wanted my Honda owner opinion.

We took my on ramp, and while he was scared shitless, I knew obviously that this car could do things my CRX Si could not. I took he first part of the S-turn at the same speed I would in my CRX, and it was like I was cruising to grocery store.

In the CRX I would be hitting around 125 on a really good day in 3rd gear, and just shift in to 4th as I merged into traffic. When I hit the gas for that bit more in the Integra, it got through third gear so fast it scared the --- out of me, and in hindsight, I might have had a single bounce of the limiter as I shifted (shitted).

He chose the 300ZX TT and explained with "I wanted a sports car that was really fast, not a --- race car!"

It's too bad that boy racers wrecked such a good car's reputation for people like you Islam

[ISLAMATRON]

look what i found

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZITnTM4G ... re=related

Understeer! Understeer!

[Scotracer]

The 3rd-gear pull in the Integra is orgasmic

When I first test-drove the Integra I was expecting a normal Japanese car with a tasty engine. The guy that had the car was a professional racing driver and he took me out a quick spin to show what it could do before I got a go...

He took a motorway off-ramp (and this was a tight 180 degree one) at over 110mph. I didn't know whether to clap or get into the brace position.

And don't worry Giblet - we all hit the limiter now-and-again In fact I did it tonight due to the fact I was getting carried away and hypnotised by the noise

The E36 M3 Evo is the sensible option for me - it might be faster in a straight line than my Integra (0-60 in 5.4secs rather than 6.2) but the Integra is loud, raw, hard and ever so naughty. Commuting in that thing wouldn't just be hellish - it would be a crime against the car.

Islam - it looks like the ITR had over-cooked its tyres.

Check this one out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8zz9_ZMlYk

That Impreza is a WRX STi Ver.II Type-R GT with nearly 300BHP & 4WD compared to the Integras 195BHP and FWD

[Giblet]

2 things.

@ISLAMATRON - you notice the voice over in that video is the same guy who does Iron Chef, and Most Extreme Elmination Challenge?

@Scotracer - I love every thing about that car, so long as you keep the revs up high, so it can keep rolling on. If you make a mistake on track, it just doesn't have the low end to get fired back up qick, and then it takes a while to get rolling again. Other than that, I can find little to fault.

Cripes, even my fathers base model integra he bought in 94 new, went 220kmh on the stock engine. Or at least whatever speed you are really going when your street car speedo claimes 220

[ISLAMATRON]

Giblet, did you hear those guys in Scotracer vid? pure comedy... I love japanese voiceovers... ever hear them do an F1 race, or an NBA game? hilarious

110 mph on a highway offramp... now that is ballsy or extreme stupidity...

[Scotracer]

Giblet, did you hear those guys in Scotracer vid? pure comedy... I love japanese voiceovers... ever hear them do an F1 race, or an NBA game? hilarious

110 mph on a highway offramp... now that is ballsy or extreme stupidity...

Heh yeah they are awesome.

It was a bit of both I believe...but I am here now so all is good

Oh and did you notice which car got the fastest Time Attack time around Tsukuba in that video? =D>

[Giblet]

heh... Murray Walker reincarnated as a younger Japanese fellow.

[mx_tifoso]

On a real road (something you Americans are distinctly lacking) very very little will keep with me.

I'm not American either, but I am willing to defend this country's roads from ignorant opinions. Because obviously you have never been to this enourmous nation at all, or if you have you've been couped up in a city hotel.

Stop hating on the roads here, the country is vastly different from one coast to the other. Even here in my local region I can be in the desert and then in a high altitude forest a few hours later. And I'm sure that there are amazing driving roads around the entire country just like there are around me.