Hey guys- Just thought I'd introduce myself to the ITR community, since I just figured out I was a real member... Long story short, I've been rallying a 91 Civic Si for 2 years now, and wanted an upgrade, while still staying in Group 2 Rally America (2wd non-turbo, generally under 3.0L). What fell into my lap was what the owner claimed to be a real 98 ITR rally car. I didn't believe it at first, and didn't really care, since the car has had a proven record of several rally podiums and completed Pikes Peak in it's history. So I picked up my new rally car, threw a new front end on it, and proceeded to run a hillclimb here in Colorado within 2 weeks. The car brought me my first hillclimb trophy, and an overall Group 2 class win. That was about 3 weeks ago.

Since we've had a bit of a racing break in the Colorado Rally Cup schedule, I've taken some time to actually research the car a bit. Much to my delight, I've found through Vin checks, etc. that my rally car is a real 1998 ITR, with the original motor and transmission, and at least an original hatch. This news suprised me a bit... who would chop up, cage, a real ITR and proceed to rally the crap out of it? What I found was quite limited, but decent info.. It was a theft recovery in Florida in 1999, don't know the extent of the damage from the theft, but a rally guy bought it at auction, caged it and rallied it. I assume the interior at least was trashed, but it must have been a quick recovery to have maintained the original drivetrain.

Now that it's in my hands, I plan to at least return the car to its original Championship White, and return all the original badges. It will remain a rally car, and a quite fast one at that. I'm still trying to get my mind around what all has been upgraded on the car. I know for a fact that at least the head is not stock, as the car requires 104 octane race gas. I also know that there is a Quaife LSD and 4.9 final drive, along with DMS 50mm rally suspension and NSX brakes. Downloaded the Hondata S300 setting to my laptop, so I'll be trying to identify a little more through the tune. Its a great car, but if you're a true ITR fan, you might want to not view the following picture from our hillclimb victory. Don't worry, it will look better before Rally Colorado. This is me landing a jump with a blown out right rear tire after our qualifying run... That was fun to control. Still qualified 1st, even after a rock went through the sidewall about 1/3 of the way up the mountain.



Many thanks already for all the useful info in the FAQ section.

 

Hey right on! Haven't seen too many R rally cars but at least it's being used. Have you attempted to find the badge # or is it still intact?

 

yeah, badge # is still in tact. the number escapes my mind at the moment, but all the stickers on the shell & hatch match the # printed on the firewall and the tag on the tranny. Are there any other tags that came on these originally?

 

badge # is different from the VIN number. The badge number is on a plaque that is attached to the center arm rest. I suspect that it would be removed along with most of the other interior parts as a rally car. The good news is that if you PM honda-tech member Doespike he can cross reference your VIN # and maybe come up with a match for the badge #.

 

No, just the normal body VIN's and motor/tranny. Only the arm rest badge #, that's it.

 

Thats awesome. I have always wanted to RallyX, I just can't seem to bring myself to put my R in the dirt.

 

NICE! Was that ITR posted on rallyclassifieds.com or specialstage.com? I think I was looking at it for awhile. Rally = Good stuff!

 

That looks like alot of fun! It sounds like a fun project. Good luck with it!!!

 

it sure is! i stared at it for about a week before I called the seller. turned out to be a super cool guy, and the car is quite cool as well. its such a wierd feeling going from a self-built civic to a real purpose built racecar. the civic surely developed driving skills though. i would have wrecked this car for sure had i started out in it.

thanks for the info on the armrest tag, that's long gone... the only thing left of the stock interior is most of the dashboard.

 

I'm curious how exactly the car was prepped for Rally duty. Specifically the cage, suspension, and subframe.

I'd like to see more pics if you don't mind.

 

that nuts man but ****in sad they did it to a R and not a GSR

 

Well it was a theft recovery for starters so it's not that sad really.

 

any motor pics or interior piccs?

 

nice job!, havent seen too many rally R's tear'n it up.

just a lil info in case some of you didnt know, honda made an AWD teg called the zxi, but it only had a SOHC motor (D-series i believe). But i read that you can use a crv tranny to convert it to a B-series. anyone see or here about one of these up and running around on the track?

 

Beh, they tarmac rally and rally ITRs all day in Europe. Plus I'd rather see an R racing than riced out or hard parked.

 

thats what I'm saying!! Heck its still a form of racing in which that R is bred to do. Race on brother race on

 

You stole the words right out of my mouth. I was going to type "That's what I'm saying!!" verbatim. LOL. I coudn't agree more. Much better to see it fulfilling it's purpose than riced out or hard parked..

 

THATS FREAKING AWESOME DUDE!!!!!! ROCK ON!!!

 

oh and DEF in for some more pictures....

 

thanks for all the compliments guys. i look at it this way, the car had some misfortune and it could surely have met a worse fate. its being used for what it was designed for, racing. and its damn good at it too! due to a trailer bearing malfunction on the way back from the last race, the car is in a friends garage about 2 hours away. I'm going to fix it and bring it back tomorrow, so I'll def post up some more pictures. you guys gotta see the intake. its almost hilarious how much carbon fiber was used to make this monstrosity.

 

nice man

 

Agreed I want to see whats been done.

 

more pics more pics!!!!

 

here's a few of the cage when i bought it. i've cleaned it up alot since then, i'll have more tomorrow... going to fix my trailer & get the R back now.

 

this is probably the coolest use of an itr ive seen .

and it does pretty good, you say? integras are just awesome at everything. except drifting