1998 Acura Integra GS-R

Don’t think of this car as being basic. Instead, follow every ounce of Honda Championship White paint from the tips of its bumpers and back again. It’s one version of Honda’s Type R that never made the final cut to touch ground on U.S. shipping docks. While this may not be the true version found in the Japanese market, you will find that Mike Chang’s ’98 Integra GS-R is about as close as it comes. Maybe just one step away from perfect.

Mike has had trouble finding ways to distinguish his car from the rest of the crowd. Having the extra two doors made it even harder to get people to take a liking to it. Most people would give up at lowered springs and a set of clear bumper lights. He didn’t. Things moved slowly at first with the OE Japan spec front-end conversion color-matched to the dark navy blue it came with from the dealer’s lot. A Sunny Styling carbon-fiber hood contributed to weight savings, tipping the scales half as much as the factory hood. The car was brought to its current state at M&R Autobody in Los Angeles, where the body was resprayed in the unmistakable Type R white, and given a Mugen front bumper. The Team Hybrid graphics you see placed randomly are representative of Mike’s loyalties and were cut by Heartbeat Graphics.

You probably won’t find Mike’s Integra competing in local circuit races anytime soon, unlike its two-door counterpart in Japan. It doesn’t need to. And that’s fine with us. Instead, it has been built for the confined construction zones and the redlighted, camera-controlled intersections of West L.A. with a simple suspension kit from Skunk2 combined with Tokico HP gas shocks. Shift your focus to the four corners of the chassis and you’ll see blurs of golden emotion. While sitting stationary, the blurs are merely 17x7.5 Advan RG road wheels covered with Yokohama 205/40R17 Avid tires. Definitely not hard on the eyes.

Power is essential to the Type R foundation, and this GS-R pales only slightly by comparison. While the B18C1 found in this four-door might not be capable of powering past any two-door models, certain things can be done to make sure that it keeps up with them. Mike saw fit to install a pair of Civic Type R camshafts and to give the cylinder head a port and polish. The bottom end was invigorated with Japanese Integra Type R pistons. If Mike could add a Type R LSD and intake manifold then he’d be that much closer to having the real thing. An AC Power Intake and Hayame exhaust free up restriction caused by the stock air box and muffler. To add some flavor to an otherwise bland looking engine bay are an anodized valve cover plus an AC battery tie down and oil cap.

Set up to satisfy the starving college student by day, it doubles as the perfect setting to throw down the phattest beats by night. The Sony X650 head unit controls sound and feeds all 500 watts through a Rockford Fosgate Punch amplifier, then out to Cerwin Vega 5.5 and 6x9 speakers and two 12-inch Rockford Fosgate XLC subwoofers. Keeping constant watch over engine operations are Auto Meter water temperature and air/fuel ratio gauges. Both the driver and passenger’s seat have been upgraded to Sparco Torino seats.

So is this Integra really basic? Perhaps. Maybe that’s the way it should be. But then again, who ever said that Mike was truly finished with what he started? Someday “perfect” may just be one step behind Mike Chang.