OWN THE ICONS
HONDA TYPE Rs
OUR PICK
1998–2001 Honda Integra Type R DC2
up to R150 000
Like Japanese knife masters or ryokan innkeepers, the people who develop Type Rs are borderline obsessive in tracking down engineering tweaks for driving precision. A Type R isn’t just a regular Honda with a bigger engine and crudely stiffened springs. No, it’s a feast of detail-freakery most honourable. Delete that ‘borderline’. If a lightweight back seat, titanium gearknob, hand-balanced engine, braced shell or thinned soundproofing will help, that’s what they get. Hang the expense.
There are a few non-official Japanese domestic market (JDM) Type Rs around, such as the little 1997 EK9 Civic, or the FD2 saloon, and Integras unknown to South African eyes. Or indeed the amazing NSX Type R, of which a few examples were brought in by Honda SA, but non-official ones also came because they’re transcendent and irresistible. Should the S2000 roadster have been a Type R? We say yes.
Really, though, it kicks
