FTO AUSTRALIA

hmmm might be time to get those semi-slicks....
count me in for sure.

afterburner wrote:That track day sounds great...

The only thing I'm doing prior to hitting the track is getting a brake pad and fluid upgrade - its a personal confidence thing for me, I've learned from past experience that hitting the brake pedal after a few laps and having not much happen can be a tad scary!

Haha sounds like Honda owners are the same the world over

definately do a full flush if you're worried about it... go as high in a value as you want, just remember that the higher the rating ths shorter its life, but on the up side the boiling point is higher - so less brake fade

Also i throughly recommend racebrakes (www.racebrakes.com.au) pads (RB74's front COMP2 back) ... they should be able to ship to you in NZ, i've tried heaps of different brands and these by far are the best (short of going to stupidly expensive ones)

I'm getting them via a company here (www.0800brakes.co.nz) who I've dealt with before. I did the same upgrade on my VR-4 a couple of years ago and it improved the braking immensely. Its a replacement set of Mintex 1166 pads and Elf/Motul DOT4 fluid. And I'm hoping that since the FTO is 300kg lighter than the VR-4 and has the same brakes, the results should be even better.

Only downside is a bit of extra noise and dust.

I'm thinking of joining that forum and gently reminding them that they're integra looks like dogs balls compared to the FTO.

Looks are all about personal opinion. Personally i like the look of the DC2 ITR, still it wasn't the car i was after. In terms of handling and performance i wouldn't know as i've never driven one but people shouldn't be putting others down if they only know one side of the story. Each to their own and good luck with it i say.

Yeah, I think any car be it either an FTO ot Type-R can be made to handle just as good as each other.

This topic is a hard one. and it has to be compared on the track! With the same mods!

Steve, any chance of seeing a Type-R at Wakefield?

Yeah beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I haven't driven an integra but i've driven other hondas. They are a well put togther car. Aren't the dc2 a later model car? Sorry but my honda knowledge is zero.

The DC2 was sold from 1993 to 2001 (with various revisions along the way), but the Type R didn't come out until mid 1995

The DC5 can be made to look pretty nice though.



I feel the DC2 looks abit dated now.

Yeah, one of my colleagues at work has a JDM DC5 Type R which is mildly modded. I went for a ride in it the other day, and it was very impressive indeed.

What i'm getting at is if they still made the FTO i'm sure it would be in the same class. On that honda forum they bash the sh*t out of the FTO. Compare a 95 gpx to a 95 type r and i'm sure there wouldn't be much in it.

Boris wrote:Yeah, I think any car be it either an FTO ot Type-R can be made to handle just as good as each other.

This topic is a hard one. and it has to be compared on the track! With the same mods!

Steve, any chance of seeing a Type-R at Wakefield?

there's a very good chance of seeing a civic with a type R teg engine with far too much spent on it...

John hasn't really started promoting yet so i'm not sure who is coming...

There is so little between the two cars that it all comes down to the driver.

one of my friends has a 2001 dc2 type r, the first time he took me for a spin in his car, i was really impressed with the handling, and especially when VTEC YO!!!!! kicked in.....

The reason u feel more of a kick because VTEC YO!!!!! engines dont have any torque down low whatsoever.

Stock cars equal talented drivers the Type R will win. But if the driver in a FTO is more talented then would be more equal.

The Integra is more racing orientated than the FTO, the FTO is more comfortable and livable.

I know this is a comparison between the FTO and Integra, in their entire model range right?

ie.
FTO (GS, GR, GP, GPX, GPvR etc.)
Integra (GSi, VTiR, TypeR etc.)

Maybe the comparison should be TypeR vs GPvR (this is really what we are interested in aren't we?)

The biased people from ozhonda seem to misunderstand the comparison and are actually comapring TypeR to any FTO, not considering that there are at least 5 in the model range (with different engines) and that there are 4/5 speed auto transmissions as well. All up against the manual only TypeR which was race bred from the beginning. FTOs in general are more geared towards being a livable fun-to-drive street car. Mitsubishi's answer to the TypeR was the FTO GPvR.

Of course it is most likely for a TypeR owner to go up against an FTO on the streets and it could quite possibly be a GR, or very likely to be a GPX auto, and they will draw the conclusion that their TypeR is superior to an FTO (hey they are human after all).

So conversely, a Manual GPvR owner can rightly go up against a Integra GSi, or even a VTiR and blow it off the streets, and conclude that FTOs are better than Integras. But they won't do this, coz they know about the TypeR.

The difference here is that most Honda owners, actually the general population don't know much about FTOs and the model line-up/transmission choices.

Someone should point this out to OzHonda... or maybe I will cut and paste this there

I agree. Generally I'd say 90% of the ppl out there are only into their own cars and know sh*t all about other makes/models let alone what they know about their own car or cars in general.

FTO is definitely underrated due to all the crappy Tiptronics and non-GPXs out there but overall DC2 is faster and handles better.


Also those ppl who have out dragged a stock DC2 with your stock FTO..only one answer... that DC2 guy couldn't drive

atn108 wrote:FTO is definitely underrated due to all the crappy Tiptronics and non-GPXs out there but overall DC2 is faster and handles better.

Oh boy - here we go again.

Anyhow, it was mentioned earlier that someone was taken for a drive in a DC5 ITR, and they were impressed. However, if you also want to be impressed, get taken for a drive in an FTO. Cars always feel slower when you are doing the driving - you may be surprised.

And on the topic of the difference - bugger all really. If both cars were driven to 100% by equally skilled drivers, the ITR would be very marginally quicker.

Driven on the street or parked, as it is for 99.9% of it's life, which gets more attention from it's looks and sound? Which has the better equipment level and interior (apart from maybe the DC5 - would be lineball)? Did the ITR have climate control, 6 stack CD etc etc?

I must confess - I am a Honda fan at heart, but go and have another look at your car. It is a work of art, from a (brief) time when Mitsu built interesting cars, EVO aside, but even that is looking pretty awful these days. It would be mind blowing to drive, but painfully embarressing to get out of.

Mitsu should ditch the lancer based rally thing, and revive the FTO with EVO running gear and a styling update. Keep the price about the same and you would have a new cult hero.

And while I am on a rant here, why do car manufacturers continue to build such boring, middle of the road and usually ugly cars? It does not cost any extra to make something unique, good looking and fresh! Or maybe it is the general population who is to blame - Mazda also used to make attractive, uniquely styled cars (Early 90's 323, MX6, RX7, Eunos 90X, MX5, even the 929 was semi-styled) and they lost heaps of money in that time. Now they are relatively conservative again, they are doing well. What is wrong with the world?

That is all for now. The sermon has ended.

Now they are relatively conservative again, they are doing well. What is wrong with the world?

That is exactly the problem, conservative is what brings in the money.

You can see that cars are becoming a lot more blocky in their builds too, quite ugly if you ask me.