Two years ago, I was shopping for a new car. A friend of mine had recently taken me for a ride in a DOHC VTEC powered car. It was my first ride in a DOHC VTEC car and I was impressed. I could not believe the power from such a small motor and the engine note was one of the best I have ever heard. I used to think a VTEC car with peak torque at 7000+ rpms meant a sluggish pig around town but this is totally not the case as the torque curve is pretty much flat (Honda really needs to re-market this). It has more torque than any N/A engine of similar size that I have experienced at that time.

At the time, I wanted a "open-top" fun to drive car and had my eye on the Honda Del Sol VTEC. I looked everywhere for one, but everybody wanted waay too much money for them and since winter was around the corner I decided that I could wait another year before buying a new car. Fall came and I saw an add in the paper for a 1998 ITR and he was only 2 hours away from me, I called the guy several times and never got a hold of him.

A month went by and I happen to be in the same city as the ITR that was for sale so I decided to call him up to see if he has sold it yet. Sure enough, the car was still for sale but at that point I was still determined to get a Honda Del Sol VTEC. I had absolutely no intention of buying the car and only wanted to take it out for a spin. So we meet up at a local gas station (I wasn't familiar with the city) and he takes me out for spin. I kinda felt bad about asking him to meet me there in the middle of the night and I had no intention of buying the car, so I was hesitant about asking to drive it. Five minutes into the drive, he pulled over and told me to drive it..."uh, OK!". My first impression, very solid suspension and not squeaks or rattles (one of my pet peeves). I took some clover leaf turns at the same speed I always take in my old car and noticed that the car felt extremely controled at those speeds. The guy was with me so I didn't want to push it too hard (considering I just wanted to take it for a joyride) so acceleration was brisk but nothing spectacular. Took the car on the highway and sped up to 100 mph, the car felt incredibly solid at that speed and very comfortable (I was sold at this point). Drove around for a few more minutes and went back to where my car was parked. I told him some BS about me having to see if I can get a loan. I left and drove home (2 hours away) thinking "I'm gonna buy this car"! I woke up the next morning and spent the whole day visiting all the banks until I found the lowest interest rate loan. I called the guy up later that night and told him to get his **** out of my car cause I'm coming to pick it up tomorrow morning.

So...I bought the car based on its solid feel at high speeds and cornering prowess. It wasn't until I brought the car home did I notice that the car was peppier than any N/A 4 cylinder car that I have ever driven. I put about 800 miles on the car on the first 3 days of ownership (that's how much I enjoyed driving this thing). I have yet to recieve a speeding ticket in my ITR.

Sorry for the long post, but I thought I'd share my "story" with fellow ITR owners.



[Modified by Tommy_Gunns, 1:59 PM 3/16/2002]

 

good story........i see you enjoy yours as much as i enjoy mine

 

Good choice. Can't believe you were looking for a del sol. j/k.

 

If I would have sat in the R I would never have considered another car.

 

same with me, one test drive and i was sold, memories of M3s, supras, etc long forgotten.....

 

i bought my 2k1 py itr just to look cool and get some girls but unfortunately none of that happened. the salesman promised me mountains of girls and tons of glory...but he lied stupid saleman.

 

haha well i guess it proves they're looking at the man, not the car

 

hah Del Slow.

How much did you pay for your '98 ITR?

 

Ever since 1997 when Acura started printing those Type-R brochures I wanted one...back then ( I was like 14-15 at the time) I like memorized everything in the brochure, but I didn't realize there were any forums like H-T or was it H-A.net back then?

Anyways, my parents didnt have money to buy me a car when I got my license so I just forgot about it for a while, till this past summer, my parents offered me a car.

Thinking all the 2001 R's were sold out, I was on my way to a Jetta 1.8T (was gonna do some turbo replacing and what not) or a WRX till my friend asked about the R. I said i thought they were all sold out...but then he made me call all the dealerships within a 100 mile radius and i found one, 65 miles away.

Then the dealer tried to charge 30K !!!!! Arseholes! the guy's like

"yeah they go for about 30,000"
"but the sticker says 24,500"
"yeah but people pay a premium for this fine machine"
"yeah, so then why is it still here for sale?"
"uh..we have a lot of interest, in fact..someone is coming tommorow"

at this point we were disgusted, and I said, well that's ridiculous, lets go look at wrx's...so as we stepped outside of the dealer, the manager comes running out

"if u buy it today, we'll give it to you for sticker"

and that's what we did.

I my R