This month’s EVO (a mag always on our preferred reading list) features the JCW GP in a huge comparison aimed at finding the best handling FWD car of all time. It should be in bookstores now (and on the web next month) however, as you might expect, we have a sneak peak at the results below. If you don’t want to see where the GP ranked, for the love of God don’t click “continued” below.
1. Honda Integra Type-R
2. Renault Clio Trophy
3. Renault Clio Williams
4. Peugeot 205 GTI
5. Mini Cooper GP
6. VW Golf GTI mk V
You can see what else is in the issue below:
[ Sept 06 ] EVO
totally agree with the results. the acura integra type-r is an unbelievable car in terms of handling!
Integra? And barely beat out the GTI? WTF?!! I’m aghast and confused.
Well, look at it this way. Of the cars currently for sale in the US, we win.
What “continue”?
Does anybody the details on the Honda Integra Type R? Just curious.
Thanks!
Sounds like they got it about right. The Euro Integra Type-R is the real fwd deal. And the Clio special editions are reputed to have at the limit handling to die for.
Of course, if they had done the GP right and actually shaved a significant amount of weight off of it, it “coulda been a contender.” 8hp and some red mirror caps aren’t going to do it, though.
>Does anybody the details on the Honda Integra Type R? Just curious.
It’s the old Integra Type R we never got in the US.
Don’t be fooled by the #1 spot. Even though you might think it’s just another Honda, Integra Type R is a damn fast car.
Sic transit gloria mundi. Are we now just chopped liver? Ah, wadda they know!?! 😉
I’m sorry, where the heck am I supposed to click to read the article?
Strangely the Integra Type-R was not available for sale through UK Honda dealers and if you wanted one you had to go to a Japanese import specialist. They are really rare in the UK and vastly expensive once you have added the import costs on!
Hmmm, its a good article (I read the whole article last night), but these type of tests are always biased by the journalists’ fond memories of just how good these older cars are, and the utter disregard for any other factor that we might want to consider – like saftey, reliability, practicality etc. There is also the issue that they would lose ‘face’ amongst fellow journalists for even considering that, head to head, today, a GP could actually be better than the likes of an historic classic like the Clio Williams….. there is a certain ‘rose tinted spectacles’ opinion here on some of these old cars. Nostalgia – always worth a good 20% extra…. 🙂
I think the GP did superbly in this test, and probably really should be a couple of places higher in the list in a direct conparison. It looks low down in 5th place, but dont forget, this was a test of 15 front drive cars…..
I think to make it to 5th place in a field of 15 already great FWD cars is a tremendous achievement. I was surprised to not find the Lotus Elan in there, but cliccing on the link I do see it on the cover, so it was in the test as well. The GP beat the car that has been the benchmark FWD car for manufacturers for a long time! To rank before the likes of the 205 GTI and Clio Williams (both carry legendary status in Europe) would be almost unthinkable.
We did get the Integra Type R in the U.S. It is esentially the same car tested with a different Final Drive (4.40 USDM) vs 4.785 EDM) and the Euro and Japanese models had Recaro interiors and Japanese Integra Had a different front end. Other than that, minor differences exist b/w the cars. How do I know, I own one.
You can get an Integra Type R of years 97,98,00, or 01′ in the U.S. Not a whole lot are available, but they are incredible cars.
My 1997 Integra Type R shares a garage with my Wife’s 06′ MINI Cooper S. They are both a blast to drive but completely different cars IMO.
-Larkin
Anyone seeking more Integra Type R information, this website has about all of the technical information you could ever want to read. It’s actually quite incredible how many things Honda changed from the Integra GS-R when they made the Type R.
<a href="http://www.itrsport.com/" rel="nofollow ugc">http://www.itrsport.com/</a>
Hey – at least they positioned the GP prominently in the front of the cover photo. I don’t blame them, if you look at it in comparison to ALL of the others in the pack, it’s by far the most photogenic. 😉
Larkin, I owned a 1995 Acura Integra LS sedan (1.8L 142HP, 5-speed) and it was a great car until an idiot in a Ford F-150 pick up truck rammed the front of it at a red light.
I remember when the Type-R Integra coupes were first offered in ’97 and only came in Frost White paint color and I believe they had no factory A/C to reduce weight.
I think in later years a bright yellow body color was offered.
Although I liked the 94-01 Integras, I was never too crazy about the design and overall looks of the car. These cars generally had solid powertrains and build quality but in most instances interior pieces felt cheap and the sheetmetal/paint was tin can thin.
I never understood American Honda’s refusal to bring over their Type-R cars to North America. There are Accord, Civic Type-R models that will never see American roads.
I have read that the Renault Clios are great handling cars, if not very cheaply built.
Since French cars are unavailable for purchase in North America (The French’s lack of quality control and customer service killed them completely in this part of the world)the test results really don’t apply at all here, with the exception of the MKV Golf GTI.
I don’t think you’ll see the Lotus Elise/Exige in that list because those puppies are RWD cars with mid-mounted engines. Totally different animals.
There was a FWD Elan in the early 1990s with an Isuzu 4-cylinder under the hood.
Was the 1997-20xx Honda Prelude Type-SH in there somewhere? I remember Car and Driver named it the best handling FWD car circa 1998.
If you look at the cover of the Evo Issue that we are speaking about, you’ll see the Lotus Elan was part of the test.
Talk about a flop of a car.
I remember seeing those early 1990’s Elans in the streets of Miami. From time to time you see one being driven.
Somehow, Lotus and Isuzu don’t go together but they did have a lot of cross colaboration back in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s.
Anyone remember the ’89 Isuzu Impulse Turbo (The first gen RWD 3 door hatch, not the ugly 1990’s FWD car the succeded it) with the suspension tuned by Lotus?
The Impulse was a very nice car for its time and had the opportunity to experience them at the time. The Impulse was perhaps the best and only good car ever produced by Isuzu.
How sad what is left of that company today…
I’m with MrChips… if you looked at the cover you’d conclude that the GP was #1..! I wonder if MINI paid for that layout of cars..? I can’t even see the Integra, maybe my eyes need testing. 😉 More people are going to see the cover of Evo on the shelves than will actually buy it and read the article.