Car culture, like the very gear heads from which it originates, is like a mosaic of horsepower, high octane and passion.
Since the Sooke News Mirror launched this section back in spring, we’ve celebrated the cool factor of some of Sooke’s – and indeed Vancouver Island’s – most unique vehicles, regardless of their make, model, or year.
For this edition of Hot Car, we again look at one of Japan’s most popular (and indeed rare) sport coupes: the 1992 Acura Integra GSR, belonging to Sooke gear head and racing driver Laura-Ashley Grant.
While Grant’s GSR is one of many tuned examples in the world, this one is entirely rust-free, lacking any major scuffs or ludicrously-impractical spoilers.
In addition, it’s tastefully modified, featuring subtle additions such as a cold-air intake, a stainless-steel exhaust system, custom disc brakes, as well as a sport suspension setup that actually benefits the handling of the car rather than hindering it.
Exterior detail is also a reflection of what is under the hood, featuring a carbon-fibre front bumper lower lip, along with JDM-spec headlamps and a custom steering wheel and shifter.
Now, you wonder, why is GSR so special in the first place?
Originally introduced in 1986, the Integra was built off the Honda Civic platform to provide auto enthusiasts with an affordable and reliable means of road fun. But despite a nimble chassis and a butter-smooth five-speed manual transmission, the GSR still needed a strong heart, so Honda turned to its Formula One team; the very same blokes who engineered the brilliant (and victorious) McLaren MP4-4 that helped legendary F1 driver Ayrton Senna win his first world title in 1988.
The end result for the GSR was a 160-horsepower, 1.7-litre four-cylinder engine, which, thanks to its clever valve timing engine system (known as VTEC) was capable of reaching 8,000 RPMs.
Grant says her GSR continues to put a smile on her face every day (as it is her daily driver) and is looking to repaint the body, as well as give the engine some fine tuning.
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Got a cool car? Send over your info and pics to Octavian Lacatusu at news@sookenewsmirror.com.
