We’ve been pretty clear about our love for the Integra Type-S. It’s an incredible car that really strikes a perfect balance between daily usability and pure driving experience. The prototype shown above is meant to demonstrate what would happen if that balance was shifted—heavily—toward performance.
One the goals of Honda’s newly formed Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) is to connect Honda’s racing activities to car culture, bridging the gap between its successful race cars and its road cars. So, the team at HRC took the much-loved Type-S, removed the rear seat and added a lot of other stuff.
The first thing you’ll notice is a lot of carbon fiber. There’s a new front fascia with a big splitter, a lot of new intake ducting, a set of massive hood vents, a huge wing and a bunch of other functional pieces that Acura said all come from what they learned racing the Integra in TCX. I’ll try to grab a better picture of the wing at The Quail.
Even with all the extra stuff, this HRC Integra is down almost 200 pounds compared to the standard Type-S. A lot of that is due to the absence of the rear seat, which is now a shelf that’ll hold a second set of wheels and tires. Behind that there’s an x-brace that’ll double as a place to mount racing seatbelts. The remaining seats are carbon as are the rear door cards and the hood. You can even delete A/C if you want to go that far, which of course you do.
Acura’s press release contains the phrase “Along with an optional air conditioning delete, overall weight is reduced by nearly 200 lbs. from the Integra Type S.” Which at least to my ear is kind of a weird thing to say about a “prototype” that isn’t going to see production.
We don’t have a power figure, but the car does get a larger intercooler, a cat-back exhaust and two-oil coolers that are said to be parts from the TCX car.
Wheels are forged aluminum units in 19 x 9.5 shod with P Zero Trofeo R tires in 265/30ZR19. The ride height has been lowered a little more than half an inch. There’s an adjustable rear anti-roll bar and adjustable camber plates up front.
Brake rotors are two-piece units up front and in the back and the fronts have been enlarged by 1.4-inches to 15-inches.
A factory tuning arm offering track-oriented parts developed by HRC engineers is a really compelling idea, hopefully this thing is the first step on that path.
