Yep I said it.

I don't regret it.

I admit it and I'm PROUD of it!

Now I totally apppreciate what learning how to drive in a slow car such as this means. Don't get me wrong. This is not a complaint thread. I truly love my R. Today was a nice clear day to take it out so I did and brought it to work.

Things I've realized on my short ride in to work today:

The car is small. I mean not micro sized but definitely small and smaller than alot of other newer cars on the road today and freakin tiny in comparison to all the Monster SUV's out there tromping the highways and byways. Before I back halfed it, it weighed totally stock with half a tank @ 2560lbs.

It's LOUD! Well mine is. When doing anything but idling or toe-on throttle at 60 MPH it's just a blaring loud Fawker. Playing the radio or trying to talk on the phone is an exercise in futility. God forbid anything past 5,700 rpm ya can't hear yerr passenger even when yelling at eachother. And I've got a quieter exhaust. Go figure.

The handling is very precise BUT the steering lacks compared to my DD EVO. Needs to be tighter and quicker imo. Only positive compared to the EVO in this relation is it's actual turning radius is much better.

The Shifter is PURE BLISS. I just love the smoothe easy Honda snick, snick. The clutch is a tad light but super easy to play with.

The BRAKES, oh God the brakes, there's not quite enough for me to say that will explain just how good the stock brakes with VG quality R compound pads are. Even on ancient Kumho MX's, this car will almost do an endo and flip on itself when I apply the brake pedal too abruptly. I mean yeah the ABS is great. But holy crap this car stops like nothing else I've driven. If this car had say ALOT more power I could see needing more stop. But these things are on the verge of Over compensation in the stopping department. Add R comp tires and just forget about it.

The suspension has been redone about 4 years back and it's completely track oriented, at this point I want even more agressive springs and valving. For the track it's a great starting point. On North Eastern roads it's just ragged and bouncy. The stock suspension was VG, just Not up to track tasks anymore. No complaints here at all though.

The Fun, It's such a fun car. Its a car that involves you with it's workings. You feel the road through the front tires clawing forward transmitted almost telepathically up and through the steering wheel. You can actually feel every crack and ferr chrissakes even paint lines.

The Attention, Yep it still gets attention. Mine is black in VG shape but debadged and I still get ppl knowing what it is and noticing it out in the world. Was at a traffic light in town and 2 kids at the local gas-N-go yelled from the parking lot as they came jogging over to see if it was a "real" Type-R. When I confirmed they wahooed and gave thumbs up and stood and stared as I drove off when it went green.

She's been in my hands from day one, 9 going on 10 years now, roughly 47,000 original miles. She's been through alot. Tracking, AutoXing, travelling and meeting lots of other R's and wonderful people and friends over the years. She's mine and I'm keeping her forever. She may not be the fastest by far but damn she's one of the most overall fun cars I've ever driven.

So in recap, Fast? No. Fun as Hell? FAWK YEAH!!!

 

i heard slow cars aren't worth much today. I'll take it off your hands for you.

 

I agree man. For the price of an ITR, you can own a REALLY fast car... however, i agree. R's are just an all around fun car. Youre not going to break any track records with a stock one, but youll have a blast driving it! I just think of my ITR as a grown mans go-kart.

 

reading this makes me miss my car already....
well put though.

 

 

Agreed with everything said, I'm in the middle of fixing the SLOW part and giving it some N/A power that will pretty much make it well above par with todays newer car higher HP standards.

 

i agree with the slow part too sort of, i have an 01 yellow r that is bone stock and it is a blast to drive but needs about 20 more lb-ft of torque down low to help get it going :-)

 

i hear ya, we dyno'd my ITR yesterday at my buddies shop and it made 170whp (almost 171whp ) on a mustang dyno.

My buddy was like "the dyno's the heartbreaker"

I was like this is EXACTLY what i wanted/expected out of it. I've owned turbo cars in the past. Sure they were fast, but nothing quite as fun as my slow ITR.

 

I dynoed mine like 8 years ago with a Comptech Intake, Spoon header and HF cat and put down 172 WHP and 124 TQ.

My EVO on the other hand with just a TBE, Test pipe, High flow filter, Fuel pump, Boost controller and a mild tune put down 300 WHP and 309 TQ in 98 degrees and like 100% humidity.

Power the R doesn't have, But going from my EVO to the R today was a nice change of pace. I still wouldn't ditch the R. Theres just something more to it than power.

 

/Thread

 

I dunno. Who cares what the dyno numbers are. Heck, I ran a 14.3 @ 98 mph with my ITR, absolutely bone-stock + AEM CAI.

Really, that's still pretty dang good, even by today's standards. And that's every bit as fast as my 09 MS3 and waaay faster than a new Si (and almost every FWD car currently being produced).

Sure, it's not an EVO or STi, but then again the car was never made to compete with AWD boost buggies. And regardless of power, the R is still more fun to drive than either because of so many of the reasons you listed.

 

Damn, my dream car. Hopefully one day...

 

I have to admit, it is a slow car compared to modern "standards". Although, even my GS-R feels faster (more low end torque than the ITR currently has...).

I still love the ITR though, and have yet to find another car capable of truely replacing it.

 

Cool thread to read after a shitty day of work It sounded like a tumultuous relationship at the beginning . . . it ended as a beautiful love story

 

"grown mans go-kart"...I love it...lol

 

I think reading this helped me to stop thinking about selling my R. I don't think I could EVER get rid of it, for anything.

 

Even if you did, you would end up regretting it, and then buying another one...lol

 

It seems like most ITR owners that sell their R's always come back to another one! Theres something to say about that...

 

What car can you buy for $15K that is a "REALLY fast car"? Or for that matter, faster than an ITR, for the same price?

 

Well since Anton posted something I must chime in...

I sold my ITR race car about two years ago... do I regret it? Yes and no.

Yes...
The ITR is a fun car on the track and if you throw it hard enough you can surprise many a P-car, V8 and other "faster" cars. So, I do regret not owning it as a track car. Street ownership sucks. Track only ownership was great.

No...
For the price of an ITR=> AP1 S2K's, E36 M3's, juiced Miata's (actually cheaper) and if you spend a little more coin (about $5K) you are touching the bottom barrel of C5Z06 and Boxster's... all without the ITR problem of theft.

Notice that all of the cars listed are RWD. FWD is fun, fast, etc. but it just doesn't live up to the total fun of RWD. Now, that I have been doing track events for about 12yrs now, I am not sure I want to go "back" to FWD.

Note: My grocery getter/dad mobile/track car basically stock TSX still surprises people at local autox and track days...but definitely not a "fun" car. So, I am hoping to be in the market for something this year...even with the above thoughts about an ITR, it is still on the list.

 

I have to get off my *** and get my ITR going, started too many projects at once and threads like this really make me want to drive it again.

I do agree with you Dave, RWD = much more fun

 

A built turbo car?

 

I agree. I just came back from vacation on the other side of the island. Went on the highway that cuts through the island. Lack of power going uphill, but sure was fun with all the nice turns.

 

even more so for me, cuz i would be getting an EVO. lol guy with the EVO saying how much he loves driving his R? so, solution? im still gonna buy an EVO...... might take a min, cuz im not selling my R for one lol.

 

NICE!!! thats what i think of my ITR also. VERY WILL SAID..The INTEGRA TYPE R is the BEST for its price range. Thats why i bought mine! I wanted some thing CLEAN, AFFORDABLE and had some ***** i mean $10-15k was my buget and i did find some other nice cars in the ITR class like a WRX, s2000 and even looked at some boosted hondas. i always wanted a ITR too so i ended up buying one. The funny thing is that i raced and SMOKED a 02 WRX and 03 s2k. Im not saying shes the FASTEST on the block but she'll make you smile when you hit VTEC!