When do you think about some of the best JDM cars of the 90s, most of us
probably think about the NSX or their All-Wheel-Drive or Rear-Wheel-Drive cars, but from that era there was one car that was overshadowed.
This car right here, the Integra Type R. Now, we've already featured an Integra
on Bumper2Bumper and it is a really cool car for very different reasons. This one right here is totally unmodified.
It's as it was when it rolled off the showroom floor.
A low mile example of a car similar to this one just sold for over
$80,000 at auction and when that happens people tend to perk up to see what all the hubbub is about.
So, today we're gonna talk about why the Type R deserves recognition as one of the Great's and a bunch of features that put its
greatness into perspective we're going iconic round headlights to factory rear chassis bar
Bumper2Bumper on the Acura Integra
Type
R!!
We want to thank Acura for sponsoring this episode of Bumper2Bumper.
This car is one of my favorite cars of all time and it really exemplifies what they are in a brand,
performance and luxury. And this thing got them both. So we thank them for building this car and sponsoring this episode.
So, the reason this car is so deserving of all the hype and attention is because of this badge right here.
Type R
In the late 80s, Japanese
automakers were rolling out luxury divisions of their parent company and the Integra hit the scene all the way back in
1986 as a more luxurious and sport-orientated version of the Civic. The Integra got things like four-wheel disc brakes,
tuned suspension and a more powerful
powerplant. After a few generations of Integras and even more performance focused Teggy was built the Type R. And the "R"
Stood for racing.
Acura packed a bunch of race-car tech into this
Integra and we're gonna get to some of those Type R goodies in a second so you just keep your butt in that seat.
Now in terms of being rare, this car takes the cake.
This is a
2001 model, the last year of
the Type R. Less than 1,200 of the race-spec Integras were built that year. In the four years it was made, there are only
3900 were sold and that's the reason why this car is so
valuable and so important. But the first stop we're gonna make, is in the engine bay.
Max?
Always tricky finding this thing.
Now when you open the hood on the Type R,
you can put the hood rod in one of two positions. You do your standard position.
Right here.
That's normal.
Or if you really want to be tuning and working on this bad boy
Its got an elevated spot right there with the hood up this way,
you can really get on top of the car and work on it without being obstructed by the hood. It's crazy
how much easier it would be to work on this car with the hood just lifted maybe,
six inches three three. Now, the main thing Type R did for you, was give you some engine treatment. And this car has
V-TEC. I'm not gonna explain what V-TEC is. We've done that here a lot at Donut.
But basically what it does is you get two different types of car in one package. Stop and go traffic, Dr
Jekyll and ripping down the ramp, Mr. Hyde.
And this one in particular is,
the best V-TEC version you could ever have gotten. Now what made the VTEC especially sweet in the Integra Type R,
was that when it debuted in 1997, Acura pulled 25 more horsepower out of it compared to the Integra GSR.
Now, this is a 1.8 liter engine that made
195 horsepower, that's crazy.
It's the B-18-C5 and at the time, the Type R set the record for the most power
per liter. Out of any naturally aspirated piston engine in the USA.
That's a hundred eight horsepower per liter. Just to put that in perspective, the McLaren F1 had 101
horsepower per liter and the Diablo VT Roadster, my favorite car of all time had a measly 85 horsepower per liter.
Now, compared to the normal B-18. This one got a lighter flywheel..
The connecting rods were torqued by hand. The intake ports were hand polished.
It got lightweight valves and thinner stems for those found in the GSR, which helped this engine rev all the way up to
8,400 rpm redline. Now, this engine has the highest piston speed of any automotive engine in the world.
Faster than the one found in the company's Formula 1 in IndyCar powerplant.
So, the reason this car right here is worthy of these high prices people are paying is because one, it's
unmodified which is crazy. If you had this car back in the day, you tinkered on it.
I mean it was built to be worked on and modified. And two, it's a VIN number
matching car. People used to steal the heck out all these little things and so Acura put
VIN numbers on all different parts of this car. It's got a VIN number on the hood,
it's got a VIN number on the panels, it's got a VIN number on the valve cover.
It's got a VIN number on the back here.
No thieves put their grubby little fever in hands on any of the Type R parts of this car.
Which is why this is super rare and super valuable.
Now, the Integra Type R is Front-Wheel Drive.
Which is probably part of the reason why it didn't get it as much love as the mid-engine NSX right behind me.
But it didn't matter because this was built as a homologation special for racing.
Now, you see that Type R way over there. That's what this car was homologated for.
It's one of the winningest Integras ever in the racing series that participated and it won four
manufacturers championships. It won the majority of races that it entered it. And the engine in that race car is
pretty much the same engine that's in this car right now.
It even uses the same transmission as this car.
Which is just wild that shows you that Front-Wheel Drive doesn't really matter.
Especially when you have a car that handles as good as this car and the reason this car handled so well
is because we've got Double Wishbone Suspension.
Now straight from Honda's experience in Formula One,
The Integra uses a rare Double Wishbone Suspension setup in both the front and the rear.
Acura basically engineered F1 technology into a street car. That is what made this car so great.
Also, the Type R gets that iconic red badge.
Oohh~
It's red. That means it's cool. Means it's fast. Yeah.
Now let's go to the back end of this bad boy and see what's kicking off in the caboose.
Oohh woosh~
This thing's got a
pretty good amount of space in it considering it's a luxury vehicle.
Now, this has a trunk chassis bar
which is pretty cool too tucked away in the back of the car. Most the time if you see them they're
overtop of the rear wheels or in front of it.
But this one allows you to have pretty much all use of
the rear. And it does the same thing as what the front strut bar does.
It basically just keeps this chassis from flexing as much as it would. In speaking of stiffening up the chassis,
this thing is seam welded. And basically all that means is instead of spot welding the panels,
they weld all along the panel and that really keeps the chassis as stiff as you can possibly do it.
And that's why that car back over there, won a lot. This guy's stiff chassis.
Now, it's about a favorite time of Bumper-2-Bumper,
I'm gonna throw a GoPro right into my mouth hole and then we're gonna go into the cockpit, start this bad boy up.
*opening the door*
*grunts, seat is being adjusted*
*grunts*
*chuckled softly*
*door being shut*
So, my sister had an Integra when I was, very 12. And this car smells exactly like that.
So, it's kind of taking me back to my childhood
when I couldn't drive but wanted to. And it's, it's super comfortable. It's
surprisingly comfortable because I'm pretty tall about 6'4".
All the controls are nice. It's got little
Oops.
Got little buttons on the wheel.
Left and right. There's no cruise control, which is another feature which made this a 'Type R'. They took out a lot of
things to make it more racy. There's no vanity mirror right here.
It does have AC. So, even though this is the performance version of the Integra,
It still has some of the features that you'd like to have in a luxury car.
They also added this kind of like faux carbon fiber kind of trim around it.
It even says Integra Type R right here on the armrest for your passengers to be able to see.
There's one thing in particular that makes this Type R stand out, and that's
the number of miles it has it. Right now as I'm looking at it, it has four thousand five hundred and thirty seven miles.
That's it. That's crazy for a 20 year old car.
It's the purest form of a Type R that you could ever possibly get and like we said at the top, one of these
recently sold for
$82,000
And also, what's great, is how it sounds when we started it up.
*ECU lighting up* Mhmm~Beep beep~
*engine starting up*
*revving the engine*
V-TEC kicked in, yo.
*engine being shut off*
Now, the Integra Type R is one of my favorite cars. Acura challenged convention with Integra Type R.
And finally, people are starting to realize the significance of this fabled Japanese sports car.
We want to thank Acura for sponsoring this episode. We've really appreciate it.
We'd love showing cars like this. Cars that mean a lot. We want to thank the Honda Collection Hall.
This is one of the few cars they have in their collection that's actually street worthy.
They take it out from time to time and drive it around.
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Follow me @jeremiahburton, and thanks guys. Bye for now.