From: shantanu@oakhill.sps.mot.com (Shantanu Ganguly)
Subject: Re: integra vs. ... (G20 vs. Altima, Fast vs. Slow
Organization: Motorola Inc., Austin Tx.
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 16:21:56 GMT

In article <Nov17.202530.24092@engr.washington.edu> eliot@stalfos.engr.washington.edu (eliot) writes:
>In article <1992Nov17.192837.7711@oakhill.sps.mot.com> shantanu@oakhill.sps.mot.com (Shantanu Ganguly) writes:
>>While I haven't driven the G20, I have driven a Legacy for a week, and its
>>handling simply does not compare with an Integra. 
>
>the legacy rolls more on its considerably softer springs i'll grant
>you that, and its ultimate grip is limited by its 175 section tires.
>it also does not have the structural rigidity of the integra.  but it

Yes, I drove a legacy with about 15k miles, and was rather unnerved by
its body roll. It's probably a matter of expectation, that amount of
body roll in my Civic would spell out impending disaster. I drove it
fairly hard from LA to SF and back thru the Pacific Coast Highway,
and I could not comfortably drive it at speeds that I could with
my Integra. 

>like i said, go try a g20 for size and then maybe you will think less
>of the integra.  check out a corrado too, while you're at it..

I don't doubt that the corrado would outhandle an integra. I do plan
to check out a G20 next year.

>>With the exception of
>>a GTI, I doubt if any of the above VWs will outcorner an Integra either.
>>Heck, I can blow away Jettas and Foxes in my civic, leave alone an Integra.
>
>notice i never mentioned the civic.  there are lots of common parts
>between the civic and integra, but i found that they are very
>different in real life behavior.  for one thing the civic grips a lot
>better.  i don't think you can extrapolate your civic experiences to
>the integra.  as to the comparison with vws i'll have to ask you this:
>have you driven any of them?  hard? 

Actually, I have. I drive my civic on weekdays' and my wife's integra
on weekends. I've pushed my civic to the limit and beyond several times
on its first set of tires. Currently I have D60s, which feel a lot better.
When I compare the two cars back to back, the Integra has less body roll
than my civic, and it absorbs small bumps better. Cornering seems to
be about the same in both, but the Integra's shifter and clutch is
much better, so the car seems to corner more smoothly. After three
years of driving the civic, I feel that given the low amount of compliance
of its suspension, it should corner better than it does.  We've had the
Integra for about a year and a half, imo it handles better than my
civic.

>>The Civic/Integra chassis is quite good, try driving a previous generation
>>Civic Si some time. While its suspension travel is not as much as it could
>>be, its handling is quite tenacious. With most hondas that I have driven,
>>raw numbers may not be tremendous, but most of the grip is usable, and
>>the transient behavior of the car at the limit is very predictable.
>
>my experience with the previous generation civic si is that yes, it
>corners very well.. on a smooth clean surface.  its lack of compliance
>means that if you hit a mid corner bump, you could lose it in a big way.
>i slid a couple of yards after hitting a bump at high speed;  i left a
>lot of room for this possibility and ended up using most of it.. i took
>a friend's scirocco 16v back to that spot and it soaked up the entire
>bump without flinching...  i'm sure the g20 would have excelled there
>as well.

Yes, honda suspensions don't handle large bumps very well. The prev. integra
was a major offender in that area - you could feel every pebble on the
road thru the drivers seat. I've found the current integra better in that
respect, but the 240sx, for example, is significantly better.


Shantanu Ganguly
Somerset (Motorola)

phone : (512) 795-7146                  Motorola Inc, Mail Drop OE 513
fax   : (512) 795-7513                  6501 William Cannon Drive W.
                                        Austin TX 78735-8598
email : shantanu%ibmoto.com@oakhill.sps.mot.com

Newsgroups: rec.autos,rec.autos.driving,rec.autos.tech