Honda Type-R
Honda, a Japenese car manufacturer, have been famous for some time in the UK for making slightly dull, but hugely reliable cars. They are also well known for making interesting motorcycles, which will not be covered here. Honda's trump card has always been with their fantastic and dependable VTEC engines, although this has never been enough to get the attention of the motoring enthusiast. However, Honda decided they had spent enough time racing at many different levels, and that the general public should benefit from this development more directly than previously thought. This brought about the concept of "Type-R".
The Name, The Concept
Type-R (with "R" literally standing for "racing" ) brought with it a statement of intent, and the Type-R cars that followed generally adhered to this statement - the cars were to focus solely on racing, or more specifically track driving, where manhole covers and unpredictable/badly maintained surfaces count for nothing. The Type-R is designed for little less than a racetrack, which may sound extreme, but is the protocol followed by the designer. However, chassis design and setup almost paled into insignificance once Honda decided to use "tweaked" versions of their highly regarded VTEC engines to power the Type-Rs.
The Cars
Integra Type-R
In the UK, three Type-Rs found their way onto the mass market. Firstly, and some may argue most importantly, there was the Integra Type-R (known in Honda and car modification circles as the ITR). This was a limited production coupe based on a model which hadn't previously been available through offical channels in the UK, the body-style code of which was "DC2". This model code is used in [[Honda] circles to describe a 1st generation Integra Type-R. This car is thought of as being the first, and some say best of the Type-R breed. The car is stripped of all creature comforts, fitted with a pair of racing seats, a racy driving position, limited-slip differential and an 1800cc B18 engine producing 190BHP and revving to 8000+RPM driving the front wheels. That's correct. 190BHP from a 1.8 litre engine. Over 100BHP per litre - to put this figure into context, people wouldn't be all that fazed to hear of a power/weight figure in excess of 100 BHP/litre when the powerplant was attached to a Ferrari or Lamborghini with a large capacity motor with eight or more cylinders displacing 3500cc or more, but to have this on a four cylinder Honda with an 1800cc displacement?. This was indeed something new.
The DC2 ITR was essentially a racing car with number plates and headlights, and it appealed to the corresponding market. It was not what anyone could call a civilised day-in day-out car, but it sold steadily to enthusiasts, and was arguably the most extreme car sold in the UK at that time. Car and driving magazines loved the car, proclaiming it to be a breath of fresh air in the market at that time, and to their credit, they were right - there hadn't been anything like it on the UK market before, and to this date, there still isn't.
The problem Honda had with the DC2 ITR was that it had already spent a lot of time marketing a coupe in the UK - the Prelude. Though the Prelude was available with a 190 BHP version of the 2.2 litre H22A VTEC engine, the Prelude was never considered for Type-R developement, most probably due to excessive body weight. While still a good drivers car, and favourite amonst tuners/modifiers it was never going to be the "stripped out racer" the Type-R badge represented.
Accord Type-R
Realising that the DC2 ITR was facing up to stiff "sports car for the Playstation-Generation" 5-door opposition, namely the Subaru Impreza Turbo and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution-series, Honda decided they needed a bigger car to wear the Type-R badge. From their model range at that time, only one car fitted the bill - the Accord. This presented a unique problem in that the Accord was generally marketed to the older generation and the car was a big seller to that market. Honda decided to fit a tweaked version of the H22A engine to the Accord, as well as what was becoming the standard kit for a Type-R - uncompromisingly sporty seats, a limited-slip-differential, independent suspension, and this time a 209BHP VTEC motor, again driving the front wheels. Like the DC2, this car attained rave reviews from the motoring press, but the older generation who were sold on the Accord avoided it like the plague, again ensuring that the Type-R was sold only to the driving enthusiast, and although Honda wouldn't admit it, they should have been secretly delighted at the audience their Type-R's had attracted so far.
Civic Type-R
With the next Type-R car, Honda decided on a different tack - they wanted Mr Average to get involved with the "R" experience... the ITR and ATR had attracted only a certain portion of the enthusiast market due to driving style, looks & price - that is both Accord and Integra cost in excess of £21,000 new. This time though, Honda were going to use the slightly insipid family-hatchback platform of the Civic as a basis for a Type-R, and wanted to sell it for less than £16,000. The Honda and Type-R movements were opposed to this move mainly out of respect for the brand - but Honda went ahead and fitted a near-200BHP 2.0 litre iVTEC engine to the Civic, again driving the front wheels, but neglected to fit a limited slip diff... this was potentially the nail in the coffin from various Honda enthusiasts, who believed the Type-R concept was being sanitised. This was backed up by magazine reviews criticising the ride quality and handling ability of the CTR. However it did bring the famous red "H" badge a lot closer to the average bloke on the street, and ironically many of the original Subaru Impreza Turbo owners, who were looking for an alternative thrill, became hooked on the normally aspirated, race-bred charms of the CTR.
However, the Japanese-car importing fraternity is already bringing in the lastest version of the Integra Type-R (the DC5, which Honda has stated will not be officially sold in the UK)... and this is a good thing - it uses a similar motor as the CTR, but in a chassis which genuinely befits the Type-R badge...
