Latest news with #AustinIrwin
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Our Long-Term 2024 Acura Integra Type S Warms Our Cold Hearts
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." The days are getting longer, the birds are beginning to sing, and we're anxiously awaiting temperatures consistently warm enough to warrant swapping our long-term Acura Integra Type S back to its sticky Michelin summer tires. Our anticipation should surprise no one, given our affection for this 10Best winner and its awesome driving dynamics. But the mere existence of winter doesn't mean that our ITS has been hibernating for the last few months. Quite the opposite. Our Acura spent a good chunk of its first 10,000 miles trudging through a grim Michigan winter, its 320 turbocharged horses reaching the ground via two front contact patches. Though, in fairness, our car had some grip assistance in the form of narrower-than-stock 255/35R-18 Bridgestone Blizzak WS90 winter tires ($984 per set at TireRack), which we mounted on 18-inch BBS wheels left over from our 2019 Honda Civic Type R long-termer. Effusive praise in the Acura's logbook only reinforces what we already knew going into this 40,000-mile test: the Integra Type S is a stellar driver's car that blends a bit more refinement—and yes, cost—into the Type R's proven formula. "The ITS has incredible bandwidth," noted managing news editor Eric Stafford. "It seamlessly switches from a practical four-seat hatchback to an impressive track car." In its regular duty as a commuter vehicle, our editors have heaped praise upon the sublime action of the Acura's six-speed shifter and its easy-to modulate clutch pedal, as well as its relatively conservative design. "It wasn't until I had to broom five inches of snow off the ITS that I appreciated it lacking the Type R's enormous rear wing," wrote technical editor Austin Irwin. The accolades keep going from there. "I would happily drive this car to work for the rest of my life," read one recent logbook comment. "I just adore this car—the perfect sports sedan for the money," said another. Deputy video editor Carlos Lago went a little deeper when he called the ITS "a helluva deal: it's a budget BMW M3 that happens to be front-wheel drive and has a better manual shifter." Since our introductory story on the ITS, its long-distance travel has been limited to a couple of treks into Michigan's great white north, including a nighttime SCCA ice race on Ross Lake in the middle of the Lower Peninsula. Despite the traction limitations of its front-drive layout, the Type S acquitted itself well, impressing associate news editor Jack Fitzgerald with its front-end grip and overall stability. Though the knobby Bridgestones did their part, credit also goes to the effectiveness of the car's dual-axis strut-type front suspension and its wonderfully crisp steering. Fitzgerald remarked that the Integra's willingness to produce lift-off oversteer helped preserve precious momentum around icy corners. A tradeoff for the Blizzaks' traction in wintery conditions is the significant road noise they emit on the highway, exacerbated by Acura's rather modest sound insulation (we recorded a 73-decibel din inside at 70 mph on the stock summer tires). Most of us are content to drown out the racket by cranking up the 16-speaker ELS audio system. However, some drivers have noticed that the car's 9.0-inch touchscreen becomes almost too dim to see when driving at night, regardless of how the display's brightness is adjusted. Our initial thinking leans to a faulty ambient-light sensor or software glitch, but we'll have the dealer investigate it when the car goes in for its first service visit. As is, our main expenditure continues to be fuel—our 24-mpg observed economy is spot on with its EPA combined estimate but down a smidge from its initial 25-mpg average. Ice racing and winter tires certainly didn't aid matters. The joy we get from working through the Acura's gears isn't helping, either. And that certainly won't change once we reinstall its summer wheels and tires. Months in Fleet: 7 months Current Mileage: 10,172 milesAverage Fuel Economy: 24 mpg Fuel Tank Size: 12.4 gal Observed Fuel Range: 290 miles Service: $0 Normal Wear: $0 Repair: $0 The 2024 Acura Integra Type S, affectionately known as the ITS around C/D headquarters, is somewhat conflicted. On one hand, it's a hot hatchback with serious performance and a spacious cargo hold, just like its red-Honda-badged sibling, the Civic Type R (CTR). Yet, its sleeker design and more mature demeanor imply sports sedan—a premium one at that, depending on how you weigh the worth of its Acura emblems. What does this all mean? We're about to find out, because we just welcomed an ITS into our fleet for an extended 40,000-mile test. Like the Civic Type R, the sportiest Integra is one of our favorite cars to drive. Both share the same gutsy turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four, mandatory six-speed manual transmission, limited-slip front differential, and dual-axis front struts that help them blast out of corners like no other front-wheel-drive cars we've sampled. Like the Honda, this Acura has a 10Best trophy on its mantel, though it did just lose out to its little brother in a comparison test. Sibling rivalries are tough. The most obvious difference between the two is their styling, the Type R being the boy racer to the Type S's athlete in a sport coat. Many of us are quick to praise the Integra's understated handsomeness, but the disparities run deeper. The ITS rides a tad softer, lending it slightly better compliance over crappy Midwestern roads. It's a bit more powerful than the Honda (320 horsepower to 315), and it also sounds more convincing as a performance car: Its 83-decibel growl at full whack pleases our ears more than the Type R's 88-decibel impression of a vacuum cleaner. Inside, Acura has made a few subtle design alterations and added some nicer materials here and there, plus swapped out the Civic's crimson cloth seats for its own leather- and microfiber-covered chairs. These revisions are arguably necessary to justify the ITS's starting price of $52,995—some $7105 dearer than the CTR's. The Type S comes loaded with equipment, including heated front seats with power adjustment for the driver, a 10.2-inch digital instrument display, a 9.0-inch touchscreen, and a 530-watt ELS Studio 3D audio system with 16 speakers. Automated emergency braking, lane-keeping assist, adaptive cruise control, and other driver aids also are on board. Limited availability precluded us from spec'ing our car in Acura's sizzling Tiger Eye Pearl hue, but our ITS wears Platinum White Pearl ($600) awfully well, and its standard black upholstery is tastefully subdued (Red and Orchid hues are no-cost options for the more adventurous). Our final tally: $53,595. Once we eased our 3217-pound test car (a mere 34 pounds more than a CTR we previously tested) through its 600-mile break-in period, it posted a 5.1-second 60-mph time at the test track, with the quarter-mile falling in 13.6 seconds at 107 mph—in line with our previous test and only a respective 0.2 and 0.1 second behind (yet 1 mph faster than) its Honda kin. Worth noting is that both cars are similarly difficult to launch: Their engines won't rev beyond 3500 rpm when the car is still, which necessitates careful modulation of the clutch and accelerator pedals to produce the quickest times. Shod with standard 19-inch Michelin Pilot Sport 4S summer tires, sized 265/30ZR-19, our Integra orbited the skidpad with 1.02 g's of grip and stopped from 70 and 100 mph in an impressively tidy 145 and 291 feet, respectively. That's some serious stick, which, combined with the car's excellent handling and slick manual shifter, will make for plenty of entertainment in the months ahead. A 73-decibel interior sound reading at 70 mph—the same as the CTR—is a tad noisy for a premium-branded car but not so much that we'll avoid it for longer voyages. In fact, though our car has mostly commuter miles on its clock, a trek to Virginia International Raceway in support of our Lightning Lap event helped bump its average fuel economy to 25 mpg, which is 1 mpg better than its EPA combined estimate. With no issues or maintenance visits to report yet, our mission now is to accumulate miles and soak in the Integra Type S's experience. Additional comparisons with the Civic Type R are inevitable. But even if we end up preferring one over the other—or can't decide whether the ITS best channels a hot hatch or a sports sedan—we still have 37,276 miles to go with an exceptional driver's car. Months in Fleet: 2 months Current Mileage: 2724 milesAverage Fuel Economy: 25 mpg Fuel Tank Size: 12.4 gal Observed Fuel Range: 310 miles Service: $0 Normal Wear: $0 Repair: $0 Damage and Destruction: $0 You Might Also Like Car and Driver's 10 Best Cars through the Decades How to Buy or Lease a New Car Lightning Lap Legends: Chevrolet Camaro vs. Ford Mustang!
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Hot Lap Commentary Videos Lightning Lap 2025
If you happened to be inside one of the cars at this year's Lightning Lap while our editors were hard at work setting times, you wouldn't hear much of anything beyond tires squealing and engines roaring. Having a conversation at speed isn't ideal, so that's what these commentary videos are for. You get to hear about the cars, the laps, and all sorts of Lightning Lap fun facts from the editors who went out there and put down the times. This year, we've put all five videos—four from our editors, and one from special guest driver Romain Dumas—in one convenient location. Throw on your HANS device and strap in. Mazda MX-5 Miata Club This was technical editor Austin Irwin's first year setting timed laps, and his enthusiasm is hard to hide. You might not think of the Mazda Miata as a make-or-break kind of car, but for Irwin, the pressure to set a blazing time was pretty high. The ND3's low curb weight, approachable power, and easy limits made it a great dance partner around the Grand Course configuration. See if you can catch the little giggle the camera picks up just before the three-minute mark. Subaru BRZ tS • Subaru WRX tS • Hyundai Elantra N • Hyundai Ioniq 5 N Rich Ceppos isn't just the director of our hallowed Buyer's Guide—he's also a driver with decades of track-hustling experience. And you can hear that experience in his rundowns; we'll never get tired of listening to him dive deep into the minutiae of braking zones and how to squeeze every tenth out of a car, whether it's brimming with horsepower or not. Stick around for the end of the video, where he digs into the trickiness of the Ioniq 5 N's myriad vehicle settings. Bentley Continental GT Speed • Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing • Porsche Taycan Turbo GT • Lucid Air Sapphire Now we're getting to the real spicy stuff. Testing director Dave VanderWerp was supposed to avoid gas cars entirely this year, but due to some last-minute staff kerfuffles, he ended up splitting his time between gas drinkers and EVs. If you've ever wondered about the intricacies inherent in slapping a Bentley around a track as quickly as possible, or how the CT5-V Blackwing's new Precision pack feels in practice, or how to actually get all the power out of the Taycan Turbo GT, your answers lie in the video above. Mercedes-AMG GT63 • McLaren Artura Spider • Lamborghini Revuelto • Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Manthey Racing The trick to getting Dave Beard to set a blistering lap time is simple: Tell him there's a grilled cheese in it for him at the end. Even if there isn't, he'll still make the magic happen, despite staring down some of the most menacing metal at VIR this past year. Dive in and find out why the Lamborghini Revuelto's insane power delivery turned the front straightaway into a whole nother corner. Ford Performance F-150 Lightning SuperTruck Pickup trucks come to Lightning Lap to do anything other than set lap times. But not the Ford Performance F-150 Lightning SuperTruck. Riding atop four electric motors making 2200 horsepower is a feat for no mere mortal. Thankfully, Romain Dumas is no mere mortal. The French racing driver joins us to discuss the truck and the utterly bewildering lap time he set with it. We're still trying to wrap our brains around it. Read Lightning Lap 2025 You Might Also Like Car and Driver's 10 Best Cars through the Decades How to Buy or Lease a New Car Lightning Lap Legends: Chevrolet Camaro vs. Ford Mustang!
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
How We'd Spec It: 2025 Chevy Corvette ZR1
Like so many other car enthusiasts, we're champing at the bit for the arrival of the C8-generation Chevy Corvette ZR1. Earlier this week, we learned that the ZR1 set not one but five course records at famous tracks around the country, which has only made us giddier to get behind the wheel. Plus, watching GM's Aaron Link drive the 1064-hp Corvette to a new production-car record on VIR's Grand Course has us counting the days until we can test our mettle at our annual Lightning Lap. Until then, though, we set out to configure our ideal versions of the ultimate Corvette. Our creations are varied—with some more unhinged than others. One caveat for the pricing of our builds is that Chevy hasn't yet received EPA certification for the ZR1, meaning we don't know its exact gas-guzzler tax. So, for anyone using this as a shopping guide, you'll need to factor in roughly three to four thousand dollars more per car. I have bent Chevy's configurator to my will. I have mixed Sebring Orange Tintcoat ($995) with Edge Blue forged aluminum wheels ($1495). Why are the lug nuts chrome? Just to sow even more chaos. You can do a lot with $205K; I have done too much. I tried to add paint-matching stripes, but even the configurator refused such atrocities. That led me to yellow dual-racing stripes ($1195) that match the painted six-piston front calipers ($695). I have opted for the Artemis interior, because the only thing more upsetting than a gorgeous car with an egregious color combination, is that same car, but with a green interior. You might've noticed that despite my desire to overwhelm the ZR1 with as many options as possible, I've neglected to add the giant wing. Why? I want to observe the horror in the eyes of people behind me in traffic using the glass mirror instead of through its rearview-mirror camera display. I've added the Corvette Museum Delivery ($1495) just so others must bear witness to my hellish creation. After this, it would be right of Chevy to shadow-ban me from ever leasing an Equinox. They wouldn't have the gall. Probably. The reckless decisions I've made here are a rapid assault on their crown jewel. After I finished this build, I clicked "enlarge photo," and for a moment nothing happened. Was it a hiccup in our office Wi-Fi or does the configurator feel trepidation? If there's one silver lining here, it's that this machine will be one-of-one. And no matter what that must look like, it's worth it to me. —Austin Irwin The ZR1 is a beautiful machine. I was fortunate enough to attend its launch in Miami last summer, and the wing is even bigger in person than in the pictures—or maybe it was just cold the day of the photoshoot. Jokes aside, the whole car had such a strong presence, even more than the Z06. Standing next to the ZR1, it felt like if I dropped my AirPods in its abyss of an air intake up front I would never get them back. The design is a fantastic example of a car that looks like it's going 200 mph while sitting completely still. To quote Car and Driver technical editor Mike Sutton when he went on a high-speed journey in one, 'That was the most effortless 205 I've ever seen.' I decided to go full-ZTK track car for this build. There just isn't any other way to spec this car when it looks like that and is breaking track records across the country. I chose the coupe and opted for the 3LZ trim, mainly to snag that 14-speaker Bose sound system. I went with Torch Red paint to keep it flashy but not yellow flashy and selected the 20-spoke Carbon Flash forged-aluminum wheels, a $995 option. Sitting behind those are Edge Red brake calipers for $695. Then, to add some more race-car points, I felt the $1195 full-length racing stripes in Sterling Silver look really good here. I brought that silver accent into the cabin with the Sky Cool Gray option, specifically with the nappa leather and perforated microfiber inserts, which automatically add the carbon-fiber and microsuede-wrapped steering wheel for $695. The aforementioned ZTK Performance Package adds a better suspension and a set of Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2R tires for $1500, and the mandatory Carbon Fiber Aero package adds the beautifully aggressive aero bits for $8495. Both are very necessary, in my opinion, because—seriously—what a car. —Carter Fry You should need a special driver's license to own and operate the 1064-hp road-legal rocket that is the new Corvette ZR1. Alas, all you need is upwards of $175K, which guarantees you can afford a ZR1 but not that you can handle one. Regardless of qualifications, both giddy rich folk and poors like me can now configure an ideal version of the ultimate Corvette. I'd go for the coupe body style in 3LZ guise, which is an $11K upcharge over the 1LZ version but unlocks seats that are better suited for lapping racetracks. The pricier trim also offers wider interior customization, if that's what you're into. I'm into the ZR1's Hysteria Purple paint color, a no-cost option. I'd also shell out the roughly $14K it costs to fit the carbon-fiber wheels that reduce unsprung mass by about 40 pounds and make my American-made hypercar as exotic as possible. The $695 bronze-painted brake calipers are a nice touch. Inside, I'd have the entire cabin dipped in the beautiful 'natural' (i.e. tan) tone. The more supportive competition seats add $500, and opting for the Stealth Interior package darkens the aluminum trim, so I'd spend the $595 there. But I'd avoid the available carbon-fiber trim because—frankly—the glossy finish looks cheap yet costs up to $4995. To make the ZR1's retro split rear window stand out, it can be painted to match the body color for $995. Money well spent, IMO. While I'd rather skip the $8495 Carbon Aero package, with its enormous rear wing, front dive planes, and a hood-mounted Gurney flap, it's handcuffed to the $1500 ZTK Performance kit. The latter is a must-have on a car that's meant to break lap records—and has. In a nutshell, the suspension is optimized for track duty and the standard Michelin Pilot Sport 4S rubber is replaced with racier Cup 2Rs. Throw in the $2895 carbon-fiber cross brace in the engine bay for more structural rigidity and my perfect Corvette ZR1 costs over $214K but is ready to race. —Eric Stafford I'm of two minds on my hypothetical Corvette ZR1. My idealistic side says I should go track-optimized at every turn, building the lightest, leanest, lap-time-slayingest machine possible—whatever spec Chevy used to destroy all those lap records, basically. Then my realistic side reminds me that I will not personally be breaking any lap records, and I enjoy pointless showboating for its own sake, and thus I can forego the daily-driving punishment inherent in track-rat trim and err on the side of comfort and ostentatious tomfoolery. And that's the car I've built: an orange convertible with a wing fit for King Kong's hang glider. Yes, I'm going convertible, because why not? It's a hardtop, so you can still track it, and with the top down, the widebody C8 convertible looks even more like it rolled out of Woking rather than Bowling Green. I'll take the 3LZ trim, which mainly gets me the Bose 14-speaker Performance Audio system that I'll use to crank Gerry Rafferty's 'Baker Street' while on my way to a marina that serves excellent crab legs. I'll drape this wedge in Sebring Orange Tintcoat ($995), which is a perfect complement to the 10-spoke carbon-fiber wheels ($13,995). My interior is matchy-matchy, with orange seat belts and habanero leather on the competition sport bucket seats (a bargain at $500 for those). And if I ever forget the wheels are carbon fiber, I'll have a carbon-fiber steering wheel ($695) to remind me. Do I need more carbon fiber than that, you ask? Yes, which is why I'm adding the Carbon Fiber Aero package ($8495), which brings the sort of wing you normally see out the window of an exit-row seat. And since I don't want to file down my carbon underparts on steep driveways and speed bumps, I'll need the front lift with memory ($2595). Finally, I'll spring for the black recovery hook ($125), so the kids will know I totally track this thing and sometimes go off. Because for me, if you're not living on the limit, you're not living at all. This ZR1, with its $27,400 in options, will not set the lowest lap time. But I would park it in my living room if I could. —Ezra Dyer Corvettes bound for the racetrack have been yellow my entire life, and there's no denying the newest ZR1 is bound for the track. Hell, it's already broken five track records, and it looks poised to topple our annual Lightning Lap board. While my skills behind the wheel don't hold a candle to Chevy's development drivers (or C/D's in-house talent), I don't see a reason to buy this car if you're not planning on setting some lap times. For that reason, I'll leave the more raucous builds to my coworkers—I'm looking at you, Austin—and instead build a car that looks like the Corvette race cars I want to emulate. I stuck with the 1LZ package because what use is a wireless phone charger in a track car? For paint, I went for the $995 Competition Yellow. I would prefer the same shade of yellow found on the Pratt Miller race car, but we live how we can. Everyone knows matching brake calipers improve stopping performance, so my imaginary accountant approved another $695. Since I'll need all the help I can get to set any sort of respectable time without killing myself, I checked all the performance boxes. $13,995 for carbon-fiber wheels. Thanks for taking away some unsprung mass. $1250 for carbon mirrors. How else am I supposed to see what's behind me? What's another $9995 for the Carbon Aero package and the ZTK package? Done and done. The interior is all business, save for the $495 I spent on yellow seat belts. Hey, let me live a little. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, after all. I spent a further $695 on the microsuede steering wheel to keep my sweaty mitts where they need to be on the track, and another $995 to do the same for my backside. It's not quite the factory race car of my dreams, but maybe the Corvette engineers will be willing to take some time away from developing the even crazier Zora that's rumored to be on the way to coach me through a lap of VIR. —Jack Fitzgerald You Might Also Like Car and Driver's 10 Best Cars through the Decades How to Buy or Lease a New Car Lightning Lap Legends: Chevrolet Camaro vs. Ford Mustang!
