chuckdog

I drove one on track a couple of weeks ago, an absolute hoot, but FWD takes some getting used to. Sounds fantastic, I would be tempted.
Also read yesterday that the new model was released in Japan recently, so if you are buying it yourself maybe you shoudl consider one? Anyway, great car - go for it!
Chuck

RichieS

I had an Integra Type R before I got the scooby. Would buy another scooby in an instant, would not buy another Integra... 'nuff said.

Richie.

Diablo

As some may know Scoob goes back tomorrow as I'm changing Jobs.

Just test driven an Intergra Type R.

WOW

Not quite as quick as scoob, but what an engine!

Got chance of an X plater in black with 1600 mls for around £16k. (Honda main dealer, FSH, 2+yrs warranty remaining.)

Can anyone comment on price, living with day to day and (ahem) fuel economy?

Cheers

D

Robertio

iTrader: (1)

Not driven, but my understanding:

Comfort is not a high priority for the car, so if you do end up doing lots of miles it may be a problem.

Fuel economy is supposed to be a lot better, but does come down to how you drive the car, mid 20s if driven quickly, or mid 30s if driven sensibly (ie you are not driving )

Being a honda it should be reliable

jon hill

I've had my itr for about a year an a half, 13000 miles of track days, sunday afternoons and blasts to scotland (its not used for commuting, shopping, or "social & domestic").

Love it; think its a stunning car. I think its a better track car than the standard scoob - the standard brakes are up to the job, recaros, momo and short throw 'box as standard. Rims are 15", which means that tyres are affordable. The handling is phenomenal - my driving is not particurly great, but i can feel exactly whats going on underneath me. It gives you the confidence to really push it - this shows up most in the wet where you can find yourself passing far more expensive hardware (ferrari 355 at bruntingthorpe on saturday for example... )

On the practical side - its a honda (it'll never break down), fuel is a reasonable 35 mpg - drops rapidly in the vtec, tyres are affordable. Its also a hatchback, so you can get your mountainbike in the back, etc. I like the vtec engine - I'm happy with little power at low revs, which makes it easy around town and I'm happy working to get the power - but this is a personal thing and I can understand why some folk dont like it. When you bring cost into it, then it looks even better (mine was 18500 for a 50 mile ex-demo - and it was me who put the first 50 miles on it).

Downside - group 20 insurance, very noisy, like Elise noisy. Ive had the camber & toe-in set up, so its quite nervous on the motorway. And its front wheel drive, which doesnt do it any harm but has a stigma attached to it. ALso - no one knows what they are, I'm happy with this, but if you want people to stop and stare, stick with the Evo Mac.

Its perfect for what I want. However if i was looking for something for more everyday use: comfort & accessable power, then i'd be looking for an M3

Jon

[This message has been edited by jon hill (edited 07 June 2001).]

DominicA

Great looking car from the back (I think? I only get to look at it for about a second and then my spoiler gets in the way of the front!!) hehehe

But, great car and a bargain, only better car for the money is a GTiR IMHO

Dom

Josh L

Jon,

What happened to your screen on Saturday?

Josh

ca

Local plod (Cleveland) have just added one to their traffic fleet. Previously they used Saab 9000 and Vectra's.

C

jon hill

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by Josh L:
<B>Jon,

What happened to your screen on Saturday?

Josh[/quote]

turn 1 - turn in at 110, so must be 120+ on the way out. Bunch of pigeons lift off and I collected one full on in the windscreen...

anyway, screen panned in, though luckily it held. The cars in getting it replaced (integras have some specialised lightened glass which is hard to come by).

Oh well - could have been far nastier...

jon

robski

D,

tested a few high performance Vtecs.

Great day to day drivers, but in real world are slower than you would expect from the BHP figures.

If you really use them tho, very fast, but a little tiring I found. You may get used to this?

You need to speak to some longer term owners tho to get a real "lived in feel"

robski

Diablo

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by RichieS:
<B>I had an Integra Type R before I got the scooby. Would buy another scooby in an instant, would not buy another Integra... 'nuff said.

Richie.[/quote]

Richie, can you please expand?

Cheers

D

matt d

There's a guy on the evo forum who was thinking of changing from a 3 series to an Integra Type-R, we eventually persuaded him to do it and he now raves about it. There's another guy who drives one, having driven a scoob before, and prefers the 'teg even though it is slower. They are set up pretty much ready to go on track, you don't have to spend another 5 grand uprating the car to cope, so if that's your thing it would make a good choice IMO.

Go to

RichieS

I never got the chance to take it on a track, where it is pobably best at home.

However things that were great about it...

a) engine
b) gear box
c) great sounding
d) the boot was massive
e) great seats

Things that bugged me...

a) *No* power under 6000 revs
b) 4500-5000 revs in 5th at 80mph on the motorway
c) Just felt unsafe on the motorway in the rain
d) bad'ish rear visibilty
e) grip in the wet = none... understeer central.. tho front lsd did help some
f) i had the off white (championship white)
g) long trips in it = tired, too much driver involement needed to cruise in the thing, overtakes always required gear changes etc.

I couldnt live with it on a daily basis - just too raw. Ended up just buying a Fiesta to drive to work and back. It sat in the garage and only came out in the sun. 2 yrs and less than 14k miles.

However after 2 years... no squeeks.. no rattles.

In short, a racing car for the road... however on the road after a while you wish you had it as a second car just for the track.

Doubt any of this helped.... heh

Richie.

jamesa

Diablo,

I had one for eight months and 14,000 miles -the best `REAL` driving machine I`ve had to date.

Comfort no problem, several 500 mile trips OK
Daily driver - fine.
Brakes - superb
Sound - glorious
Engine - incredible

Why did I sell - how long have you got !

As has been said - racing car for the road; you really have to concentrate to get the best from it. Depends if you can get over the scoob in time to find it`s` true talents.

Cheers

jon hill

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by IntegraR:
<B>
I havent (yet) found earplugs neccessary, though my hearing is probably adversley affected by playing guitar in rock bands during my formative years[/quote]

I thinks its more the fact that I end up turning the stereo up to 11 so that I can hear more than the high hat over the road & engine noise...

Diablo

Well, tonight is crunch time.

Pretty sure it will be mine by Saturday.

Black Type R with anthracites and black interior, 1700 miles, 9 months old. Loads of warranty remaining.

Had a choice of 2 - picked the best (I hope )

Not worried about the comfort issue - got something else in the pipeline for long journeys and stuff. (Wife and my jobs dictate we need two cars )

And on the plus side will be a fair bit better off every month

Down side it that its not a Scoob, although its more fun at saner speeds

IntegraR

How did I miss this post?
Well, all the talk of "no power below VTEC" are so over exagerated its funny.
I am able to do most of my day to day driving only going up to 5000RPM, without feeling like the cars struggling or being sluggish at all.
Its been a lovely car, and Ive enjoyed it since day 1, around 6 months ago, and it still always brings a smile to my face.

The interior is sparse, but it has everything you need, just not lots of extra bits and bobs, which are largely not too useful anyway, if it doesnt add to the driving experience, its not there.
Build quality is very good, though a few squeeks and rattles creep in due the tied down suspension.
Seats are comfortable. I quite often travel to the folks place in Leicester, around 2-2.5 hours of Motorway driving, and I can honestly say Ive never felt uncomfortable with noise levels or seats.

The engine is a dream, solid, and maitainence is very chep.
I had my 18000 mile service on Saturday, plus its first MOT, and they had to refit the cat prior to the MOT (Honda main dealer, Whitehouse Bexley Heath), and the total cost, for intemediatery service, +MOT, was £85.00, so you really cant complain.

But, I cant give you a comparison against a Scoob. I do understand how the power delivery is entirely different, but I can live with that, as it means very good fuel consumption, unless you feel like really pushing it.


Im about as biased as you can get though. I love Scoobs, but not near as much as I love Honda products (yes, even the lawnmowers ),
but Im sure a few Scoob owners have driven both, and can give a more balanced view.

If not, take my biased advice, and buy that thing!!

PS: Jon Hill, group is 18, and for a good quote, Elephant are very competitive, though Im with ASA (part of finance deal).

[This message has been edited by IntegraR (edited 13 June 2001).]

jon hill

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by RichieS:
<B>
Things that bugged me...

c) Just felt unsafe on the motorway in the rain
e) grip in the wet = none... understeer central.. tho front lsd did help some

g) long trips in it = tired, too much driver involement needed to cruise in the thing, overtakes always required gear changes etc.

[/quote]

mmm... definately havent had grip problems in the wet in mine. Maybe this is car specific ? I use (wait for it...) a bizarre combination of yoko's A539's at the front and bridgestone re94's at the back. Not my first choice of tyres (i ended up with them after the dealer made a mistake) but they seem to work wonderfully well - road & track, wet and dry. Also, I've had the toe-in altered (to zero at the back) and a fair bit of camber added to the front - all of which makes for a more positive turn in, at the expense of extra oversteer.

I prefer driving it in the wet - you can really push it & the slides just happen at a lower speed.

Got to agree about the motorways though - I've actually started wearing earplugs if i'm doing a long run (harks back to my Elise days).

IntegraR

Ive got Potenza S02's, and definitely not oversteer central, though I know a lot of Tegs come with the RE010's, which apperently arent as good a tyre, and may have contributed to your oversteer (that and poor driving technique ) (jokes!!)

I havent (yet) found earplugs neccessary, though my hearing is probably adversley affected by playing guitar in rock bands during my formative years, but Im usually cruising at 80-90MPh, so in 5th, the revs are pretty low, so bearable (only just mind).

GP

I was wandering in to work one morning when I heard what I though was the sound of someone in an awful hurry not to be late - turned around expecting to see some twit doing 60 in the 30 limit (residential road) - only to see an Integra pootle past obviously not trying to go quickly at all .. made me smile a bit - I can associate with cars that sound a bit special even when you're driving lazy - what induction do these things run - are they already on one-choke per cylinder or no ?

sgould

My mates got one, and all I can add is that for a 1.8 n/a engine it drinks as much as my 2.0 turbo. 25-30mpg yeah right if you drive like Miss Daisy, more like low 20s.

Nice car, but I did expect more performance.
Sounds nice with a Blitz filter.

And you can only get a few exhausts to go on them and they cost about £500.

[This message has been edited by sgould (edited 13 June 2001).]

jamesa

sgould,

Without being blase` - the extra performance comes from the driver once you`ve understood it`s LSD inspired handling.

Does`nt need any mods - spend the cash on the fuel - at 9200rpm in second you`ll appreciate it !!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers

jon hill

yeah - peformance numbers are quite similar to the std scooby turbo (according to the evo guide) - bhp/tonne: 167 / 174 0-60: 6.1 / 5.4

fwd doesnt do standing starts well

but the big thing is the handling & feedback (not that I'm able to take advantage of it...)

Diablo

Bought it

Pick it up Saturday morning

chuckster

Very cool, I know you'll enjoy it!
1ST mod - induction kit
Chuck

jon hill

nice one

only 6299 scoobynetters to go

give mardis gras motorsport a call get the camber & toe in set up properly.

what colour ?

Diablo

Hi Jon,

Its a black one

Very different animal from scoob. Flat out not that much in it performance wise (mine was UK MY99)

Throttle response is fantastic and its not that slow up to 6000 rpm. You can really tell how light the car is.

Great build quality and certainly feels a very stiff shell.

will post comparison when I've done a few more miles.

D

[This message has been edited by Diablo (edited 17 June 2001).]

harj

Guys I drove and Integra R today and boy is that a car the sales man is still recovering as he had no idea they could go sideways Loads of torque and superb handling, all this in the wet .

The best car to buy under 12K I think anyday! awesome brakes, so light, handles like a dream, engine is superb and they are cheap!

Everyone should have one!