Acura Integra GS-R coupe screams with sport-tinged responses
Bob Plunkett
Date Posted: 5/10/2005
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MARYSVILLE, Ohio -- A banked oval test track stretching for more than seven miles around Honda's Ohio automotive research center allows a driver to goose a vehicle to maximum velocity without threat of on-coming traffic, too-tight turns or nagging limits of local speed laws.
In the right vehicle on this track, you can run a speedometer to triple-digit notations.
In the sporty GS-R coupe edition of Integra by Acura, Honda's upscale label of luxury and performance, you can virtually fly around the loop.
This particular iteration of Integra, equipped with lively engine cranked to 170 horsepower plus a sport-tuned double wishbone suspension system and speed-rated 15-inch tires, caps the series of five coupe editions which include an affordable RS entry model and the hard-boiled Type R racer of limited production.
How fast will Integra run?
Since my high-speed test was conducted on Honda's banked track instead of a conventional highway, driver can report without fear of incrimination that the GS-R climbed the oval's near-vertical slope at 132 mph.
The souped up Type R, with engine tweaked to 190 hp, runs even faster -- to 143 mph.
On Ohio back roads speeds were more conservative, of course, but Integra's performance exceeded expectations at every turn.
On a snaky slalom test-track course it whipped through the circuit in a confident yet forgiving fashion, and even through tight-radius turns at high speed, with sticky Michelin radials squealing, the car permitted surprisingly sparse body rolls in the fashion of expensive sports models.
Clearly, Integra can pack a powerful punch, then spice up the speed factor with aggressive handling components.
Despite the sporty hardware, pricing looks good for all versions, which helps explain why Integra dominates Acura's line as the volume seller.
Integra splits into five divisions for the 2-door hatchback coupe and three for a 4-door sedan. The RS coupe serves as the basic model, with equipment increasing through LS, GS and GS-R to Type R. Sedans include LS, GS and GS-R designations.
Acura targets Integra at a youthful audience by wrapping the body in slick sheetmetal and putting aboard hardware geared for performance.
Integra was one of two original Acura products at the inception of this line in 1986 and it has been a best-seller in class since 1994. New designs in 1998 for Integra, based on the third-generation scheme from 1994, encompass changes in exterior styling, more interior conveniences applied and new sophisticated mechanical equipment to spark exciting driving characteristics.
The muscular body structure, designed on a high-powered computer, produces a car that is quite stiff in its resistance to bending and strong in measurements of torsional rigidity too. These traits translate to exacting performance on the road, particularly in high-speed turns and sport maneuvers.
Component mechanical systems combine to set up Integra's agile behavior.
Crisp rack and pinion steering, as one example, adds power assistance at lower speeds for easier turning effect.
Further, the brakes -- ventilated discs in front and solid ones in back -- connect with a Honda-designed anti-lock system as part of the standard package on all Integra models except RS.
In braking tests at Honda's Ohio research center, one driver found the Honda-built ABS to be both entirely stable and predictable in straight-line stop paths, even on wet pavement or tricky combinations of wet and dry tracks.
To my thinking, inclusion of ABS as standard feature ranks as the single most important safety development for automobiles in the past decade -- more so even than airbags because with stick-like-glue ABS an alert driver may actually avoid a mishap altogether.
Integra also contains solid propulsion equipment.
Its base engine, an all-aluminum 1.8-liter in-line-4 rigged with dual overhead cams and four valves per cylinder, produces 142 hp. That number may seem modest until you feel its snap, made possible in part from Integra's relatively low body weight.
This plant, with manual 5-speed stick or electronic 4-speed automatic, appears in Integra RS and more luxurious LS or leather-lined GS.
Then there's the sweet option of GS-R: The same twin-cam engine but enhanced by the Honda-designed VTEC system developed originally for Acura's powerful NSX sports car. With VTEC, power output increases noticeably through the addition of a dual-intake manifold and automatic variable-valve timing, lift and duration.
In this instance, horsepower climbs to 170 and the redline runs clear to 8000 rpm. With this plant, only a close-ratio 5-speed manual stick is offered, as befitting the performance angle of GS-R.
The result: A little ripper of a sportsmobile.
All Integra versions utilize Honda's impressive fully independent double-wishbone suspension system, and GS-R versions take further sport measures by adding a shock-tower bar and larger alloy wheels mated to the Michelin high performance tires.
Integra Type R goes even further into sports performance, but with production numbers limited to less than 500.
Hand-polished intake and exhaust ports for the 1.8-liter VTEC engine plus a high-flowing exhaust system pump the redline to 8500 rpm with output racked to 195 hp.
The Type R also pares weight by deleting some sound-deadening insulation and the air conditioning system, but it wears a big air spoiler on the trunk deck and a low front air dam, and contains stiffer suspension settings and low-profile tires.
Consider this one the serious Integra: It's hard-edged with few concessions to comfort, but incredibly quick with the agility of a cat.
Pricing for Integra's coupes with manual transmission spreads from $16,200 for RS to $23,500 for Type R.
1998 ACURA INTEGRA COUPE
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| 1998 ACURA INTEGRA GSR VEHICLE SPECIFICATIONS |
| Description: |
Compact sports coupe, sedan |
| Model Options: |
Compact sports coupe, sedan |
| Wheelbase: |
101.2 inches |
| Overall Length: |
172.4 inches
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| Engine Size: |
DOHC 1.8-L I4
DOHC 1.8-L I4 VTEC
DOHC 1.8-L I4 VTEC HO
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| Transmission: |
Manual/5, Auto/4 |
| Drive: |
Front |
| Braking: |
Power 4-disc
LS/GS/GS-R/Type-R: ABS |
| Airbags: |
2 |
| Gas Mileage: |
24/31 mpg |
| MSRP Price: |
$ 16,200 to $ 24,000 |
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