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The Honda Integra Type-R Still Is The Sports Car Of Your Dreams
Words Carlo Brema / Photos Honda
Have you ever looked in the mirror and wondered if maybe we are living in the wrong time in history? I mean, there are extraordinary supercars, hypercars with performances that were unthinkable until five years ago, but for us mere mortals there is less and less fun. In fact, the hot-hatches era seems definitively nearing its end and half of the few that remain are not capable of inspiring, or cost an arm and a leg. Figures that are often unattainable for younger people. Let’s take Honda with the Civic Type-R for example, the reincarnation of one of the best sports cars ever. Fantastic, wonderful, but it costs almost €60,000!
If you want to stay on the Honda theme, however, I have a solution that will make you want to leave home early with the sole aim of driving until you run out of fuel and not worrying about anything else, an Integra Type-R can come home with you for less than half of the new Civic.
Updated in 1998, the Integra Type-R is one of those models that launched Japan into the world as a dream factory for motoring enthusiasts. The credit is due to two very specific principles: being engaging while driving and making it possible for a large number of people. Which then – to be honest – the vast majority of the JDM list of the time was in all respects the most effective way to shame European supercars, certainly not comparable to today as far as performance concern. But let’s get back to us, or rather to the Integra, a two-door with front-wheel drive that doesn’t exaggerate from an aesthetic point of view, except for the eye-catching spoiler at the rear. What matters is under the bonnet, a 1.8 VTEC inline 4-cylinder capable of screaming up to 8,000 rpm.
Maximum power is 190 horsepower and torque is (just) 178 Nm, but don’t try to limit yourself to numbers, because the Type-R is anything but classifiable in this way. Weighing just 1,125 kg and equipped with a limited-slip differential, the Integra is capable of transforming from a comfortable coupe to an asphalt-thirsty sports car. The progression is constant and with a similar rev scale you will soon learn to live close to the red line in order to exploit the proper nature of the engine, playing with a weight balance which winks at oversteer exactly as replicated years later with the best performing among the Civic Type-R.
People at Honda didn’t pay much attention to useless frills and the cockpit is also extremely bland and similar to any Integra. However, we find a sports gear knob – a five-speed gearbox that will only make you miss the sixth speed on long motorway stretches – and the fantastic red Recaro seats. Yes, because the ultimate configuration is white with red seats. Its image is immortal and moves quickly even by contemporary standards, with the difference that taking it to the limit requires a lot more guts. Finally, with a coupe line of this type, it doesn’t feel like a peppery hatchback, but like a small grand tourer. Already looking for one?
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