Honda’s Volunteer Rally Team Built an Acura Integra and It’s Going Racing This Weekend
The Advan-liveried Integra will take on ARA’s Lake Superior Performance Rally on Oct. 13-14.
When I'm president, all sports cars will come with rally car variants. Every sports car on the market is infinitely cooler as a rally car. It's science. And Honda just proved it, as the Honda of America Rally Team (HART) just built an Acura Integra rally car and it looks kick-ass.
HART is a team of volunteer Honda employees who work after hours to build and race rally cars, and the team's latest creation is this rally-spec Integra. It was built to the American Rally Association's Limited 2WD-class specifications, which means its chassis is mostly stock. The only major modifications were for the necessary safety equipment, which was one of the reasons for the build.
With this Integra rally car, the HART team members were able to practice seam welding and roll cage fabrication, to expand their skills for future projects.
HART stuck with a normal Acura Integra and not a Type S, due to ARA's rally specifications. For the Limited 2WD class, engine sizes are capped at 1.6 liters with forced induction, which means the Type S is forbidden since it packs a 2.0-liter turbocharged engine. The stock Integra's 1.5-liter turbo-four makes 200 horsepower and 192 lb-ft of torque. Other modifications include new wheels with knobbier tires, hood-mounted LED lights, and a killer Yokohama Advan wrap. Regrettably, HART didn't mention any suspension or brake modifications that may have been made.
It shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that HART created this rally Integra, as it already built and competed with a last-gen Civic rally car. However, seeing a rally car based on the more luxurious version of the Civic is just cool; I don't make the rules. HART's Integra rally car will make its competition debut at the Lake Superior Performance Rally this weekend, October 13-14, where it just so happens Lia Block will also be piloting her dad's iconic Ford Escort Cosworth. Seems like an event rally fans won't want to miss.
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