Acura Integra GS-R Type-R Built To Race.

Sport coupes don't come much better than the Acura Integra GS-R. This car makes any driver feel like a race car driver. It seems to sense what the driver wants and responds accordingly. Open the throttle and the twin-cam Integra GS-R engine growls with authority and revs like there's no tomorrow. The taut suspension helps the Integra GS-R slice through corners with precision.

Integra GS-R models get 170-horsepower VTEC versions of the same engine. The Integra GS-R is available only with a special close-ratio five-speed manual gearbox that optimizes the narrower powerband.

Stripped down and near race ready, the Integra GS-R Type-R comes with a modified engine tuned to rev to 8,000 rpm for 195 horsepower, along with big brakes, a special close-ratio gearbox and a helical limited-slip differential.

The Integra GS-R steers crisply and always feels connected to the road. With only 2,600 pounds of car to propel, the standard Integra engine delivers decent performance. But we love the urgency and high-tech sound of the wonderful VTEC engine. That's why we chose a Integra GS-R for this evaluation.

The Integra GS-R claws to 60 mph in a little more than 8 seconds, emitting a determined, high-tech snarl in the process. The Integra GS-R 5-speed gearbox shifts precisely. The foot pedal layout encourages heel-and-toe downshifting and the variable assist power steering provided just the right blend of effort and road feel.

Like all Acura and Honda automobiles, the Integra GS-R employs Honda's control arm suspension system, with common spring and shock absorber damping rates right across the board. GS and GS-R models get a heavier front antiroll bar, along with more aggressive tires on 15-inch aluminum-alloy wheels.

Handling response is quick and precise. The Integra GS-R suspension compliance that goes with a relatively smooth ride, by sporty car standards, shows up as body roll in really hard cornering, and we know from driving at the limit on various race tracks that the Integra GS-R isn't quite as agile as a Honda Prelude.

On a race track the Integra GS-R tends toward understeer, but this is easily managed by lifting off the throttle or trail-braking into tight corners to transfer grip to the front tires and rotate the rear. Body roll limits cornering potential to just below that of the Honda Prelude. The payoff for this concession is superb ride quality. The Integra GS-R suspension feels firm, but never jarring. The Integra GS-R steering strikes an ideal balance between power assist and sufficient road feel. Your daily rounds probably include a lot more commuting than autocross maneuvers, and feeling every pothole and tar strip isn't really that much fun.

Yet when it's time to let the tachometer wind up on a sinuous country road, the Integra GS-R gives a great account of itself with performance that is superior to what most sport coupes in this size class offer. That it's able to do so without making the owner suffer in everyday driving is a tribute to the suspension engineers.

If you dislike these compromises, there's always the Integra GS-R Type-R. Add 25 hp to the GS-R package, take away most of the comfort compromises, and you have an almost-race-ready white-on-white screamer that's just born to be wild. Integra GS-R Type-R's torque peak comes on at 7500 rpm that's torque, not horsepower while horsepower, all 195, tops out at a dizzying 8000 rpm. That's a high-revving motor. That output works out to more than 108 horsepower per liter, a power-to-weight ratio no other normally aspirated car can match.

The slightly outrageous Integra Type-R is just about the hottest thing going in this class, but it's not for everyone.