The Power and the Passion

[chuck]

Lately I have been stepping on people's toes in the Civic Type R $39,990 thread and I never meant to. I have never tried to be like that and hopefully those who have known me for 5+ years would back me.

In the 90's I drove and did up Turbo cars and then in 1998 I was taken for a spin in a VTi-R. I was amazed at the sound and the that it cornered faster than my Skyline, with less understeer even though it was FWD!

When the Type R came out in 1999 I went for a test drive and was amazed. I picked up one up and discovered track days in 2000. The Type R seemed so at home on the track even though I was a fumbling driver, it soared way above my ability.

Subsequently other guys found that Type R's were made for the track. We couldn't wait to get out on the track whenever we could afford it. There was buzz and hype and general Type R fever. I was amazed to be at Eastern Creek and stay in front of a stock R32 GTR the whole lap... we both were novice drivers, but for a 1.8 FWD to go that hard was incredible.

The Honda scene and the track day scene have both grown since then, and with STI's and Evo's a Type R is definitely not the faster car. But it is a wonderfully addictive track car that I am passionate about.

To those who don't understand this buzz I am writing about, get on the track in your car and go for it. Analyze braking points, turn-in points, apexes etc. The Type R's and even Type S love the track and feel right at home there. Spend money on track time in your R, it's worth it.

(And to those who buy a FN2, enjoy it! I'm sure it will be a great satisfying drive. )

PS. Please note I am covering all Type R's with no preference to a particular model and/or any modded Honda's a la Tinkerbell.

[Jingers]

chuck just as an aside. Have you counted how many dc2r's was sold and how many of them have actually been to the track?

[chuck]

I haven't, I'm not so good with how many cars were sold etc, I couldn't even tell you how many Type R's were sold here... lol

But there is a regular turn over, it seems any wakefield private days or other there is another Type R owner who I have never seen or meet before.

I suppose one of my points is this, without the Type R, I probably never would have tracked, or enjoyed it as much. For those who own one, at least track it once, just to get right into it's skin.

[BF]

I still reckon Honda drives need to experience the awesome high reving engine and precision like handling of an s15. I'm pretty sure you would all leave your Hondas in a second.

As Manny is fully aware, S15 > *.

[j0nbubz]

Lol biz.. I'm never fully sure whether your being sarcastic or not..

You must show me some of this amazing precision-like-handling of your S15.. as mine would definately come 2nd to an R in that regard..

nevertheless ..

S15 > * haha =>

[tinkerbell]

I usually step on people's toes, i am a bit of an antagonist (unlike Chuck)

i drove my first Honda which was my girlfriend mum's 78 Accord...

it was great, then we got a 89 ED Civic, which i learnt how to drive a FWD pretty neatly (OPH in a light FWD car si great)

then i got my '83 Prelude, and my love for FWD was cemented. i managed to put a B16A VTEC engine in this car, and began competing in hill climbs and track days - taking out the 2003 Mt Panorama hill climb in the under 1600cc class.

the hybrid swap taught me so much and i yearned for a "better chassis" as the prelude one had no aftermarket support. this didn’t stop me from upgrading the B16A to a B20VTEC in the prelude though, getting 14.2 second 1/4 mile time as a result...

but rust killed the Prelude - so i bought a 1990 XSi JDM import Integra, pulled the B16A outa that and put he B20VTEC in...

got Koni's and whiteline coilover sleeves, sway bars and braces... it was a "mini-type R" to me...

i set some good track times in this, plus a 13.7 1/4 mile, but it was written off

then i got my DC2 VTiR - i KNEW how to make cars fast... it has been a constant evolution of development and now in its current state is competing in the NSW Supersprint Championship 1601cc - 2000cc "highly modified" class.

whilst this class has no evo's or wrx's i still feel proud that i have a clean sweep of first places this year*, smashing all my previous PB lap times in the process.

* however, i was beaten by Jase (aka BlackDC2) in round 1, but he had not registered for the championship at the time so i often forget he actually beat me! so really i got one 2nd place and and three 1sts

however the thrill in competition is intense, and i love the feeling of not only beating the other competitors in my class (usually over 10 cars) i take great pleasure in beating a lot of the other cars in the higher classes.

my passion is for driving - there is no greater passion than driving at your best - and the only real way to "measure" whether you are driving at your best is on the track, against other evenly matched machines (i.e. in your "class")

so yeah.

track FTW!

[j0nbubz]

never knew you were taking out the championships this year tinker..

grats!! .. can we hear more about this?

[tinkerbell]

cliff notes: passion comes from involvement, there is no deeper involvement than circuit racing...

[tinkerbell]

never knew you were taking out the championships this year tinker..

grats!! .. can we hear more about this?

http://forum.clubitr.com.au/showthread.php?t=1243

subscribe to the thread in the Events forum

[Jingers]

cliff notes: passion comes from involvement, there is no deeper involvement than circuit racing...

for you

[tinkerbell]

for you

for others it might be sound system dB,

others maybe ET at drags,

others still - number of trophies at AutoSalon?

passion is about involvement

[j0nbubz]

http://forum.clubitr.com.au/showthread.php?t=1243

subscribe to the thread in the Events forum

awesome thanks!

[JCE]

I fell in love with the older Honda's in the mid 90's while at school.
The company came from such a left field position in terms of the type of technology they were utilising in their cars.

My first Honda was a 1990 AUDM Honda CRX which i still have today, the car had a little under 100,000 km's on it when i bought it and is now about to tick over 200,000 km's.

I have driven that car around Sydney for 2 years, as far north as Cairns in Queensland and fooled around in it in Queensland and Tamworth for years.

Unfortunatley i have never been in one place for long enough to really be able to take place in track events but have enjoyed driving my cars as much as I possibly can.

I now own a 2001 ITR as well as the CRX. When I was shopping for a new car at the the beginning of last year I was originally after something in the 40-50k range that i could lease through the business.

However after driving friends STI's, WRX's, DC5R's whilst as fast as they are, none of them could satisfy me as much through raw driving feel as the early model honda's could.

After procrastinating with myself for months about buying an old used car I ended up with an ITR.

Whilst the DC2 will never be able to set the fastest times at the track, quite often the best part about the journey is not the destination but the experience in getting there.

[rG`]

Since we're all sharing stories...

After owning a variety of cars including Toyota Celica's, Holden Gemini's, etc in the late 90s I purchased a Honda CBR RR motorcycle.

This was my first Honda and god did it love to be redlined. The sound of a high revving engine sitting between your legs is quite an experience, not to mention the performance, thrill, and excitement. I loved every second of it.

After an accident in 2000 I purchased a Peugot GTI for tax purposes, but was forced to sell as I moved overseas. I was glad to have an excuse to get rid of the Peugot and even though I really missed my old bike, Sydney drivers are so reckless it's practically suicidal to ride now-a-days.

In 2005 a good friend was looking for a dc2R and eventually found one, but didn't have the funds to purchase. I had just returned to Sydney and needed a car so I offered to buy the dc2R on the condition that I drive it and he buys it from me when he can afford to do so.

Unfortunately, the dc2R so fondly reminded me of my old Honda CBR that I couldn't bear to part with it. We found another dc2R for him and now we're Type R junkies.

[JCE]

I have been meaning to ask who has a bike here?

Everything I love about my Honda's, is the same experience i get riding my bike.

Although i need to get off my arse and get my full licence to get a 600.