Lightness, balance, fun… these are all Integral parts of a sports car. See what I did there?
Honda, oh Hondas. Hello Hondas. Hello underglow, hello obnoxiously large wheels, hello NFS generation and hello ‘rice’ in general. That’s what we think of when we think of Honda, right? Teens with more stickers than sense or old people who spend more time looking for their car keys than they do actually driving the car. But what if I told you, there’s another side of the Honda coin? The dark side.
On this side of Honda the engineers think of one thing above all, performance. Gone are the thoughts of fuel consumption, comfort and day to day driving. Replaced instead by thoughts of balance, high revving engines and the sort of reliability that let’s you go lap after lap at full swing. Designated with the now iconic Type R badge, the machines that come from this side are track bred vehicles with as little compromise as possible.
One of the vehicles which was born from this was the DC2 Integra Type R, a car with a cult following in it’s home country and the USA. With it’s 195hp 1.8 liter 4 banger, the Integra Type R put many higher-class cars in reverse while screaming all the way to its 8400 RPM redline. Basically, a race car for the road. Very few cars in its class and even those above it could not match its speed, handling and response. So now imagine that same car, with even more speed, handing and response. Crazy, right?
Crazy but real. Enter this particular Integra Type R, owned and driven by Lance. Starting out with an already potent platform, Lance has managed to turn up the volume on the Integra even though it was already at max in OEM form. With selective and careful modification each and every aspect of the Integra has been improved.
Q&A
What brought you into the car scene?
Originally when I purchased my first car, I had a carbureted Honda Integra. It was no fun but it looked good to me; it looked like a real decent little sports car. I was into racing games from young, so I was naturally a little enthusiast. I eventually had my first car, and it was just not quick enough for me. After a while, I stopped admiring it and I started feeling for speed, because I started to enjoy driving. So then I left looks alone and went into speed and bought this Integra Type R and that’s where my journey began.
How many cars have you owned?
I’ve had about four or five vehicles but I’ve held onto this one for very long; it’s like my wife.
Now that you own this car, is it a case of being the best car for the money, or did you desire it?
What influenced me the most is my first car. Since I was introduced to Hondas with my first Integra, I thought I’d look into another Honda. I also weighed a lot of options including maybe an Evolution and all these other cars. I looked at gas mileage in reference to performance and I saw that I could get cheap parts from the USA. So I thought I could stay Honda because I love it already.
How extensively have you modified this car?
For a naturally aspirated vehicle, I’d say it is severely modified. The only thing left stock is the shell of the block and the shell of the head. Everything in there has been changed from the crankshaft, rods, pistons, valves, cams etc. Everything has been swapped out. The first thing I started with was the bottom end. I have a forged Eagle crankshaft, Eagle rods, Supertech pistons. Obviously I run ACL bearings, as once you’re in the racing world that’s a must! On the top, I have stage 3 tuner cams. I chose them so I can get a nice street-like idle, yet I can get that aggressive race profile in the VTEC. You wouldn’t tell the car is aggressive by just driving it, it’s when it gets to VTEC it feels like a really powerful car. Yes, it’s still fast out of VTEC, but it feels like a turbo just spooled; that’s the difference in the power band. I have Skunk2 valve springs along with titanium retainers and my valves are Supertech. I have Skunk2 adjustable cam gears, this car is generally Skunk2; including the throttle body, intake manifold and exhaust. That’s about it, and I’m running a Hondata tunable, standalone ECU. I have a few gauges which I use to monitor. I always believe engine health is very important. I have air-fuel ratio, oil pressure and I just slapped on oil temperature just for the fun of it, and also if I go turbo down the line. But for now, I’m staying NA.
Are you content or do you plan on going further with this car?
For me and this car, it’s a journey. I don’t want to rush and reach the end of the line. I take it step by step. Every time I do something else, but honestly I’d say I’m not close to the end of my journey. I still have a long way to go with this car and where I expect it to be in the near future. I definitely have a lot of ongoing work. I’m taking it slowly but surely.
Do you consider yourself a racer?
When it comes to racing, I don’t even have to answer that. Everybody knows that I love the racing scene. Honestly it was initially drag racing for me and I would be at every drag event running the car. Once I know the time I make sure the car is healthy and I’ll be there for sure. If I’m not there it means that there is an issue and I’m not confident to race my car. Then eventually I got interested in dexterity which I enjoy a little, too, because it’s more dynamic and you need skill. You need skill for dragging too but more for a really high-end, 10-second car. With this car in the 13-14 bracket, you don’t need a lot of skill to be a good driver.
In the dex you get a lot of challenge, a lot of people to compete with, different tracks to make it a little more dynamic and interesting instead of always that straight run down the track. So, I’m loving the dex as well.
If you had to sell this car, what would you get?
If I had to change this car, it would be by force or if I wreck it and I cannot get a shell or something of that nature. I would like to keep this car as long as I can. The other Honda shells are not attractive: they’re heavy. Technology is supposed to make things better but when it comes to shell design, Honda seems to be going down the drain. So, I will stay with this as long as I can. If I do change, I would go to another make of vehicle, there are some great ones out there.
Do you do your work yourself? Do you have any pointers?
Yes, everything. I love it, and the joy it brings to me. I can stay three days straight just working on my car and I will not be tired. I will just be motivated to complete that task. The only thing I can say to people with sports cars is to not wait for your car to break down, keep it alive. Just like your body, you need to maintain it. Your car needs to be maintained. Some people want to drive their cars until they break down. I hate to see engines break down just like that, just because of neglect. So, I encourage everybody to take care of their cars. You can change your rod bearings every two years and avoid a bearing knock, little things like that.
What is your take on the St. Lucian car scene?
The St. Lucian car scene, I find, is like a wave. Going up and going back down. We’re not getting any real progress. Certain times, a group of people decide to start something and that thing goes away with the wind. So, I’m just hoping that someday the car scene can really develop in St. Lucia, where people have more positive mindsets to non-popular cars and just the sport on a whole. Some people may even look down on an Integra as a sports car, but it’s a great car and I enjoy it.
