While battling my PS3s reluctance to go online yesterday, I squeezed in some time trying out your
Yo VTEC '98 Integra DC2. The slight difference was that I took mine in a 1999 flavour, as I have not come across a '98 yet, however it seemed to be spot on in terms of weight, power, etc. so I guess my comments still count tangentially (it was also a different colour, and using a DS3 and AT quite possibly did not make me go faster)
As usually, I started out on GVS, in the lvl 18 Japanese Championship. In short, the car is simply too fast for a fair competition, yet trying out previous entries in this P/W category I felt it would be a bit too slow to take on the Super Amuses in the lvl 15 Tuner Challenge, at least not in a way that amusement would be mine.
The acceleration is certainly good and feels a bit more lively than in the C30 and ST220 (with your tunes), although it could just as well have to do with the Integra being a slightly less stable and more flighty machine overall, giving the impression of extra oomph, without it being backed up by numbers (will get to that in a moment).
As with all your cars, the Integra remains very stable under braking, be it from high or low speeds (in corners just as well). If you are still on the brakes, while yanking the steering wheel all the way to turn in, it will continue plowing on but releasing the brakes usually suffices to return to the desired line.
In common with other light cars, kerbs can upset it on occassion and have the car skip sideways, if driven over at speed. Luckily, it takes the kerbs in the 'swiming pool section' at the start of the second sector of the lap with aplomb, so this has little overall impact on the lap time.
The only corner that presented me with some difficulty throughout was the last one. That is, there seems to be a hint of high speed understeer, which is difficult to correct, once it occurs - lifting or taping the brakes does nothing, nor does flooring it further (assuming you have that option still available). As long as you enter the corner at exactly the right speed, the car is fine, alternatively, you can unsettle the back by driving over the outside kerbs on corner entry, allowing you to take the last corner in a slight drift. Not saying it is not manageable, just that I found it hard nailing it time after time.
There is a bit of power understeer, when applying full throttle out of corners but again it seems more mobile than the Ford / Volvo pair and you can get the rear to step out on occassion, when it is helpful. I managed a better time with the Honda as well - a best of 2.04.1xx, which is over a second faster (if I recall correctly) than my times with the other pair.
Did two more tracks after this, Fuji and Suzuka. Fuji is not a track I find extremely comfortable just yet, and I have no idea how my times compare. I found the car a bit of a handful in the third sector, more to do with my overeagerness in terms of speed than the car, I suppose
In spite of this, winning proved very easy.
Suzuka is a track, where the car works well even in my hands
As long as you do not overdo it with corner entry speeds in the first sector, you can simply drive away from the opposition. Dunlop needs a bit of care, as the car understeers a bit when full throttle is applied and this needs to be corrected more or less before corner entry, if you want to carry good speed through, and as with all FF cars, the second Degner allows a turn in only after the braking has been finished. The surprise was that the car understeered enough in 200R to require a slight lift - something one can counteract once you know about it but costing some time, if you have other cars around you (and cannot take any line you like).
Overall still one of the most fun turbocharged FF cars I have driven, and fairly fast. And take Greycap's comment, about the suspension having rough edges due to this being a development mule with a pinch of salt - it seems to have more polish than most FF cars (and certainly much more than stock). 👍
