This first paragraph is background information for my experience before driving the ’90 Integra RS at last nights autocross:
I began autocrossing with my '90 Integra GS, which only lasted 4 events until the clutch basically was toast and electrical problems crept up. I knew autocrossing was something I was hooked on and planned to convert the Integra GS into an autocross dedicated vehicle. While working on the Integra GS and starting to get it ready for EP class I ended up running the extended cab Tacoma I bought for a daily driver and tow vehicle. Initially was frustrated with the completely stocky Tacoma but started having a blast once good tires and rear swaybar was added. I attended my first Evolution autocross school with the Tacoma and was placing second in the local F Street Touring category quite a few times. Fast forward two years and I began wanting a RWD autocross car instead of FWD for autocrossing so I pretty much decided to get rid of the Integra GS. I initially wanted to see what could be done with a Tacoma so I was looking for a nice 2WD Standard Cab Tacoma with 5speed transmission. After looking for a while it became apparent that finding a decent price Tacoma was almost impossible unless it was wrecked. I ended up getting a low mileage ’98 3.8L V6 Camaro a little over one year ago for less than a high mileage Tacoma would cost. The Camaro needed just a little work to make it autocross ready initially (replaced the awful dead stock dampers that would bottom out the rear end with Koni Sports, fabricated a battery tie down, replaced awful stock shifter with Hurst Competition Plus 5-speed unit, and replaced the totally inadequate stock Goodyear tires with 245/50-16 Yokohama ES-100’s.) It handled OK but still not quite good enough. “Stage II” changes were Installation of the Sparco Ring steering wheel, installation of the massive yet hollow Hotchkis Sport swaybar set, Hawk HP+ brake pads front with Hawk HPS pads rear, 17x9.5 Z06 wheels all around with 275/40-17 Nitto NT 555RII tires, and Autopower 4-point race rollbar with 4 point harnesses. It was now a minimally prepared SM car and I was placing in the mid to rear of the class which is not bad I guess for having an open differential. That setup on the Camaro makes for a very responsive handling car with near instant stopping power, go where you point it steering response, and a good amount of mechanical grip. It’s insanely fun and rewarding at the same time! At least while its running it’s fun…

So, having the Camaro down at the moment and not really being satisfied with the Tacoma’s last two outings since (it’s too slow and has too much understeer for me now… ) I had the opportunity last night to drive my brothers ’90 Integra RS as it finally was insured and ready to drive. I picked up this ’90 RS with 115K miles nearly three months ago for a very good price of $1300. It did have some known issues when purchased (CV shafts shot, front brake pads worn to metal, brake master cylinder looked “Iffy”, and the main relay shot) but the engine and transmission were in very good condition. The interior was basically trash so that was the first thing out; nasty stinky carpeting and rear seats, torn front seats. Front seats replaced with ‘00-’03 Toyota Celica leather seats using stock Integra seatbelts. Engine wise we put in a new oil pan gasket, replaced the infamous stock rubber leaking cam seal with an aluminum racing one, replaced all the valve cover gaskets (regapping the valve clearances in the process), put in brand new NGK spark plugs, and removed all the intake plumbing upstream of the filter housing. For the drivetrain and transmission new Raxle CV shafts were installed, transmission was drained and filled with Redline MTL, and the stock rubber shifter bushings replace with Prothane bushings. Brake system wise a new master cylinder was installed with Axxis Ultimate pads and new replacement rotors on the front (rear has been untouched yet.) And finally suspension wise the following was done: stock dampers were replaced with adjustable Tokico Illumina’s, stock springs replaced with Eibach Pro-kits, the Neuspeed upper tie bar I never put on the GS was installed, and the old 15x7 American racing wheels (~16lbs each) I previously had on my GS had brand new 205/50-15 Hankook RS-Z212 tires mounted. And specifically since the Camaro was down I transferred the Sparco Ring steering wheel over to the Integra (already had a momo adapter from my GS… ).

Setup for car was front Tokico Illumina’s set at 4/ rear Illumina’s set at 5 and Tire pressures at 36psi front/ 35psi rear. If it weren’t for the carpet and rear seat remove it would be an STS car, so technically it will be run as an EP class car (I registered it in a catch all X class anyways). So I now begin the first autocross run with a FWD vehicle since, well, forever (…if you don’t count the Mazda Rev It up events…). Night events are fun and the course was as follows:

http://www.houscca.com/solo2/courses/aug05.pdf

Right off the bat the thing that immediately impresses me is the turn in response through the slaloms….zip right through the first slalom section and brake for the back ‘zig-zag straight’. If you notice the gate right after the slalom is dead event with the crest, so its an off camber turn in. Turn-in was amazing to me considering the open differential and corner exit showed barely any traces of understeer – it just took set and railed around the corner. The back ‘zig-zag straight’ was just basically a high speed slalom section that could almost be taken flat out. Coming into corner 3 needed some slowing down and good positioning before the left pointer cone as that is a crest and you’re turning in at that point. It was another great setup through the corner and just rocketed off through the 3 cone slalom towards corner 4. Coming into Corner 4 was a crest and then the gate. Right after cresting I was able get on the brakes and rotate the Integra around the first pointer before getting back on the gas and accelerating close to redline in 2nd gear through the left hand sweeper (with just a teeny-tiny hint of understeer). I used the standup cone after the last sweeper pointer cone as the braking marker being that it’s a downhill zone and the Integra seemed to like rotating downhill. So it turns in as nicely as previously for the Corner 5 right hand sweeper where I then accelerate to redline + (I don’t know as wasn’t looking at the tachometer, just know the engine was screaming up near redline for little bit) in 2nd before the second to last gate. Turn-in was in between the next-to last and exit gate cones for the ending slalom. One thing about the last slalom that is inaccurate in the track Map is that you could actually straight line the first three cones if you chose an adequate line (this became apparent from the walk through as the second slalom cone was actually just a little more left than shown). So basically the Integra comes flying around the corner 5 gate exit, braking just enough to turn in and miss the second cone. After the third cone its acceleration all the way through the finish line. Run time of approximately 54.x seconds….+1 cone. The fourth and final run was the ‘perfect’ one and the time was dropped to 53.1xx. I’m waiting for the event results but I Can guarantee that this Integra RS is as fast if not faster than my SM Camaro.

I guess what I’m trying to say is I never experienced how fast and agile the Integra was until now and it’s changed my idea of FWD handling being a major handicap. I did notice a little understeer (read teeny-tiny amount) on track out but really was hardly noticeable. Maybe it’s the three years and two Evolution schools later that’s made the difference. All I know is that ’90 Integra RS is fun and fast!

P.S. The Hankook RS-Z212’s are great too, very quiet even at the limit and very progressive in traction loss (though I really didn’t experience much loss of traction with them!) The initial 36psi front and 35 psi rear pressures seemed to work perfectly for rollover and performance so it was left it there the whole event.

 

How'd your ES 100's hold up in competition? I pretty much destroyed two brand new ones in one two day event, the first day being a test and tune which incorporated a skidpad.

Having raced Azenis for two years, I felt that I'd try the Yoko's and the grip was better than I thought it would be. But for anything competitive I think the sidewalls are just a little to flimsy. Not a bad price for DD tires however.

 

Very nice story and right up..but I'm wondering..are Tacomas actually good handling trucks? I have seen/heard of quite a few auto-xing..

 

There's a guy autoxing an '05 Tacoma X-runner locally and is winning HS with it. 275 Hoosiers on an HS legal vehicle is ridiculous. He's running top-10 pax on a regular basis.

 

The Yokohama ES-100s were fine until the Hotchkis swaybars were added, then the car was basically undriveable if pushing because of lack of traction in the rear. I autocrossed on them for about 4 events or so and also ran a two day track weekend with them. The ES-100's are absolutely awesome for track days though and held up well. I agree that the Yokohama ES-100's are one step down from the competitive tires for Street Touring Class (Kumho Ecsta MX, Falken Azenis, BFGoodrich Comp KD's, and Hankook RS-Z212's) but the main reason I bought them was for street tires on the stock wheels as the price is excellent.

I would say Tacoma's are a good handling truck if properly modified but bone stock they are horrible like any other regular compact pickup (no rear swaybar, stiff rear suspension with live axle, no grip high mileage balloon tires, FWD weight distribution with an open differential driving the rear wheels, inadequate braking, and the worst seats ever put in a vehicle.) Once you sort out the rear suspension and brakes it actually becomes a competitive vehicle. I don't know what it is but I usually pax my highest in the wet, 34th out of 105 drivers was my best with the Tacoma. It's not like a truck has a good advantage in the wet with 40% or less vehicle weight on the drive wheels, a still too stiff-too heavy rear suspension, and open differential. I think it's done pretty well, especially for an extended cab having a 121" wheelbase. Kinda sad when "slammed" Mad TiGhT single cab Tacomas are slower than a stock height extended cab though... I guess it's the overall fastest truck currently in the Houston region as the various Ford Lightning(s), Chevy S-10's, Ford Rangers, older Nissan trucks, and other Tacomas are almost always slower around the courses. Though there was a Silverado SS (the new AWD one) that I can't do a direct comparison since I was running the Camaro at the time and there is that S-10 when I first began running the truck which was running Azenis when I was on BFGoodrich KDW's.

I can't believe the X-runner is in HS, HS is supposed to be for the weenie 4cylinder compact trucks (like my '98 Tacoma), not a purposely built .90g stock 4.0L V6 Sport truck that comes stock with a rear swaybar. Rear swaybar and suspension is everything to making a pickup truck handle well...

P.S. Results posted from Saturday nights event, my best time was a 53.100 and on my first run I apparently ate 3 cones...

August 6th results

When looking at the results you have to remember half of the classes were run in the afternoon heat (~ 3:30 start time) and half of the classes were run after dark (~9:00 start time)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Vracer111 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The ES-100's are absolutely awesome for track days though and held up well. I agree that the Yokohama ES-100's are one step down from the competitive tires for Street Touring Class (Kumho Ecsta MX, Falken Azenis, BFGoodrich Comp KD's, and Hankook RS-Z212's) </TD></TR></TABLE>

Are they really that good on the track? If so I might be doing an HPDE sooner than expected. Would you say that one track day equals a few autocrosses in term of wear on the sidewalls?

 

I'm using a set of ES100s for track days... the thought being for rainy days and my warm up sessions (1-2 sessions/per event)

They have pretty tall tread blocks but don't squirm too bad (of course my car is pretty light @ 2000lbs, so heavier cars may get more)

I've done 3 track events on them (Big Willow, Streets, and ButtonWillow) and they look really good still. YMMV!