The 2002 racing Integra was always on a hiding to nothing. After all, it was following in the tyremarks of a car, which was arguably the best front-wheel-drive on the market.

To make matters tougher, Australia’s model can not match the power of its Japanese counterpart.

On paper, the Aussie Type R still has plenty of appeal. An I-VTEC engine featuring variable timing control and a boost in capacity to 2.0-litres is joined by a new six-speed close-ratio gearbox.

Safety remains a priority, and plenty of high-tech toil has been devoted to making the drivetrain lighter and strengthening the more spacious body.

But the advances have added 70 kg of flab and it showed under computer testing on the Willowbank dragstrip.

The new car (15.95 seconds) can only just better its predecessor’s times over 400 m, although in-gear and 0-100 km/h times are slightly improved.

Enthusiasts will revel in the six-speed box’s short throws, which snick home swiftly into the closely spaced gates. The engine has ample flexibility but turns wilder from 6000 revs onwards.

Reassuringly, the brakes remain a faithful ally, even when punished. And economy is reasonable unless pushing hard.

The firmest of rides has softened but still transmits pothole hits and all manner of bumps to occupants. Road noise also remains a worry.

Most distressing is the fact that the R now has torque steer and can struggle to transfer its power to the road when punching out of corners. It feels more front-drive than the previous model, lacking the grip or benign nature of its predecessor.

High running and repair costs, tight rear headroom and narrow front seats further blunt its appeal to a wider audience.

Type R has grown up, but it’s become a little softer.

 

wahahaha


[Modified by Vtr, 5:19 AM 2/20/2003]

 

A well designed double wishbone or multilink front suspension can be engineered to effectively eliminate torque steer.

 

DC2Rs OWN

 

 

Your engines do have roller rockers, though.


[Modified by MK Ultra, 4:28 PM 2/20/2003]

 

Every powerful FWD car I have driven has had some torque steer, even my double-wishbone ITR.

 

coupled with a lower ride height , and lower center of gravity

 

Does this annoy anyone else when, a car that is designed for the track, is knocked about because of that fact? Sure, you're not going to track it every second of every day, but, how bout some 'reviewers' forgive it for this fact? It would be like saying a 1/4 mile dragsters setup is not very good for the road...

Tight rear headroom? I'm 6" 1' and I fit with an oodle to spare.

I do agree it has become softer though, which isn't *entirely* bad.

 

Torque steer is caused by the distance between the kingpin axis and the centre of the contact patch. A double wishbone or multilink suspension can be engineered to put the kingpin axis much closer to the centre of the contact patch. A strut suspension cannot do this because of the lack of an upper control element. With a strut suspension the kingpin axis is defined by the inclination of the damper. The only way for a strut suspension to align the kingpin axis close to the centre of the contact patch would be to mount the damper body at an angle, but the damper can only be inclined at a shallow angle before problems with binding arise. This is the reason many powerful FWD cars with strut suspension have excessive torque steer.

I find the previous generation's suspension quite adequate for reducing torque steer. Certain road surfaces seem to exaggerate it, but for the most part my car is free of torque steer. Perhaps you are mistaking the Torsen differential's torque biasing in corners for torque steer.

 

really? I've seen Type-S' do 15.0...

im not arguing, just askin


[Modified by duckywucky, 5:51 PM 2/20/2003]

 

I was not aware about this "high running and repair costs". My car gets great gas mileage and has had zero problems for 40k. What a terribly biased review, although everyone is entitled to their opinion.

 

yeah..that is pretty retarded ...apparently its not a performance minded magazine ...anything with a Type R at the end of it ..will not be smooth , or comfy

 

Keep in mind that the Type R in Australia is equivalent to the USDM Type S... so I'm sure when compared, it could be resonably "smoother" or "comfortable"

 

does it have a sunroof ?

 

wrong......we get the LSD, JDM gear ratio, Recaros...full JDM exterior trim and interior.....im not sure what your CR is in US but we get 11.0:1 CR as compared to JDM of 11.5:1CR

cheers

PS- and NO sunroof....


[Modified by DC2#428, 10:41 PM 2/24/2003]

 

I can't believe they gave the ADM version the Type S stock rims though The real R wheels look 10X better IMO.

Btw, do you guys get the brakes too?

 

yes it would have been great to get the JDM wheels we get the 16x6.5 wheels with 205/55 potenza Re-040 tyres (which weren't bad tyres) but JDM get 17x7 with 215/45 RE-040's...which would have been better....we did not get the brembo calipers though instead we got the S2000 caliper...we get the same rotors and brake apparel just not the brembo caliper.

still though our DC5R ADM wheels are enkie so its not soo bad...


[Modified by DC2#428, 1:20 AM 2/25/2003]

 

I was actually refering to the power output. I am well aware that you guys get all the cosmetic Type R goodies as well as the LSD and Gear Ratios, but the the power output of the USDM Type S is the same as the ADM Type R.

If I'm not mistaken, the power output for the ADM Type R is approximately 200hp, which is equivalent to the USDM Type S. The power output for the JDM Type R is 220HP. But do correct me if I'm mistaken.


[Modified by Blck_Hatch_of_Doom, 2:12 AM 2/25/2003]

 

yes your right on the money on that our DC5R's have 200HP....but its not really a trade off if you think about it since they can be modified to surpass 220HP rather easily.

cheers

 

true true.

Just wondering, but do guys get the Type R suspension setup also?


[Modified by Blck_Hatch_of_Doom, 2:26 AM 2/25/2003]

 

The aussie Type R is almost the same as the US type S besides the brake calipers, seats, no sun roof and the interior. So more or less you aussie people got the type R body with the heart of a type S.

The Intergra type R ( DC5R) has a compression ratio of 11.5 and the Type S has a compression ratio of 11.1.

So you guys have the type S motor with LSD and the gears. And yes it does suck you guys do not have the jdm rims..I got them and I have a type S.

Oh well you guys still have the seats I want..lol..

Here is a link to some of my car pics.
http://forums.clubrsx.com/showthread...threadid=64659


[Modified by f1nal zeros, 2:28 AM 2/25/2003]

 

the thing i figured why our AUSDM suspension setup is different as compared to JDM is our road quality...Australian roads suck and i figured that could be the main reason why we didn't get the same damper 'tuning' as the JDM setup.

JDM uses forged control arms whereas AUSDM uses another material...not sure...although the same setup is retained for our cars just tuned to be more comfortable to suit our roads but they still handle VERY very well....

and another could be to cut cost...our swaybars are smaller as well...

 

I'm a moderator there...for the Australian forum .....yes i have seen your car before on the forums...very nice... looks very tough.

In a nutshell...yes engine wise similar...

 

the JDM model has 217 hp ..not 220 ....and it takes much more than just the engine to be a Type R ....