{"id":1880894,"date":"2026-04-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1880894"},"modified":"2026-04-14T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T21:00:00","slug":"six-things-you-probably-never-knew-about-the-honda-integra-type-r","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1880894","title":{"rendered":"Six things you probably never knew about the Honda Integra Type R"},"content":{"rendered":"
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We think of it as a quintessential Nineties legend, like Mr Motivator or Jennifer Aniston\u2019s hair, but the Integra Type R was only on sale in the UK for three short years between 1998 and 2001.<\/p>\n

That it had a massive impact was thanks to its impeccable handling, razor-sharp five-speed gearbox and hand-built 189bhp 1.8-litre VTEC engine that redlined at 8,700rpm.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s an overwhelming sense that this car was built to be brutally caned\u201d said Top Gear when we first drove the Japanese pocket rocket, which is widely seen as the finest front-drive car of all time.<\/p>\n

Here are some things you probably didn\u2019t know about the DC2 Integra Type R \u2013 and if you did, give yourself a little pat on the back.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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This was the first Integra Type R to reach European shores. And also the last. But its candle burned out long before its legend ever will, because this was the Type R-badged car that set the standard for every fast Honda that has since followed.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to imagine now, but despite Honda\u2019s many years of experience as an engine supplier in F1, powering Piquet, Senna and Mansell to five titles between them from \u201987 to \u201991, it wasn\u2019t rated as a performance brand. The Type R changed all that, injecting passion into the engineering heart of the Japanese carmaker.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Japanese drivers really didn\u2019t like those headlights. The standard-spec Integra initially went on sale in Japan in 1993, but the quad lights proved to be so unpopular with buyers that Honda gave the car a hasty facelift for the domestic market in 1995, when the Type R version first went on sale.<\/p>\n

It would be another three years before the car found its way to the UK, and fortunately Honda decided to give us the four-eyed version, which looks much more interesting. It also gives us a chance to spot the cheeky JDM imports that found their way to the UK in droves, adding to the country\u2019s limited allocation of 500 cars.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It came in any colour you liked, as long as that was black, red or white. The latter was the one to go for, and the first batch of UK-bound Integra Type Rs came in the Championship White hue, intended to celebrate the company\u2019s first F1 GP win in Mexico in 1965 with US driver Richie Ginther at the wheel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It was a carefully assembled car \u2013 Honda was limited to building 25 a day because of details like the hand-polished intake ports. Bespoke inlet valves, an enlarged throttle body and the helical LSD showed Honda meant business, but with 187bhp at 8,000rpm you already knew that.<\/p>\n

This car is from the Honda heritage fleet \u2013 the paint might be peeling off the 20-year-old engine block, but the VTEC still knows how to kick in.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Compared with modern hot hatches that feel the need to scream their souped-up status, the Integra Type R is by comparison fairly muted. A bespoke bodykit on the outside, but vast swathes of grey plastic from the standard Integra on the inside, boosted by fancy bucket seats, a short-throw gearlever and red Honda badging.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be fooled, though, Honda put in the detail work where it counted. The rear wing wasn\u2019t just for show \u2013 it reduced lift at the back of the car by 30 per cent, and the sculpted aero lip under the front bumper also helped keep the car stable at speed. To improve the driving experience there were additional spot welds on the chassis to boost stiffness, and aluminium strut braces.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The 1,140kg kerbweight is the stuff of dreams these days \u2013 Honda engineers shaved 39.97kg off the already-slim Integra GS-R despite all the extra welding and added internal bracing, helping the car hit 60mph in 6.5secs and on to 143mph.<\/p>\n

The windscreen glass was 10 per cent\u00a0thinner, lighter 15in wheels fitted and the sound deadening removed from inside the cabin to cut down on heft. The sunroof, air conditioning, cruise control and rear wiper were all ditched to save weight.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We think of it as a quintessential Nineties legend, like Mr Motivator or Jennifer Aniston\u2019s hair, but the Integra Type R was only on sale in the UK for three short years between 1998 and 2001. That it had a massive impact was thanks to its impeccable handling, razor-sharp five-speed gearbox and hand-built 189bhp 1.8-litre […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,237],"class_list":["post-1880894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-topgear-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1880894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1880894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1880894\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1880894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1880894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1880894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}