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To throw a curve ball, I think the most innovative and original Japanese car would be the Integra Type-R, since no-one else has managed to pull off a FWD coupe that handles well and people would actually want to use for motorsport

Type R??? It was the lager drinking poms with the Cooper S that surely get credit for racey FWD

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Type R??? It was the lager drinking poms with the Cooper S that surely get credit for racey FWD

Not a coupe. Or otherwise I would have nominated a French hot hatch (which would have come to mind first, but yes the Mini was first). Hotting up an econobox runabout is one thing; by the time the Euros hit the sports coupe class of vehicle its normally RWD. Aside from that Fiat Turbo Coupe and the Audi TT there aren't too many European bum dragging coupes. And both of those cars handle like shit.

Mind you, if my recollection serves me right I read some reviews that said the original Minis didn't handle that well. It had great response due to all the weight being between the wheels, and low inertia due to its lack of weight / size, but it was apparently an understeery little thing so from a "handling" definition it wasn't that good. Kind of like stock WRX's. Great grip and acceleration, but technically they handle like crap.

Can of worms can of worms!!!!!!!!!!

LOL.

Seriously though I've owned a fair few Hondas including the DC2R as well as the DC5R. I hated the understeer on the street as well as on the track.

I've had a lot of Honda guys tell me that I wasn't driving it right though. I agree as my lap times were crap in comparisson to some of theirs.

Type R??? It was the lager drinking poms with the Cooper S that surely get credit for racey FWD

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I believe Paddy Hopkirk was a Lager Drinking Irishman.

  • 1 month later...
No doubt there is quite a different style required to drive a fwd quickly, both in corner entry and the importance of mid corner speed.

Well Mr Duncan Sir,

You are 100% correct!

Back in those dim dark years of my youth, 1966 to be exact, when Mini's reigned supreme over just about every major motor racing event in the world, a works driver by the name of Paddy Hopkirk put down the fastest lap ever by a Cooper S at Bathurst.

Although he & co driver Brian Foley, had a DNF, due to various mechanical failures and Rauno Aaltonen & Bob Holden went on to win the event, he still posted the fastest time in his works Cooper S.

He admitted after being challenged about why he went through more disc pads than the other drivers he simply answered, as we had no hope of winning the race I just wanted to see how fast they would go.

What he did was, across the top of the mountain through all the esses, dipper, skyline etc, had his right foot firmly planted on the floor and left foot braked when needed, still going flat out with his foot on the floor.

He proved that weekend there was a quick way to get a little mini around Bathurst.

Cheers, D

haha absolutely...and its a more common technique these days even in RWD, the impact of karting....

In the mighty FWD race car I used to run we used exactly the same trick.....for instance the top of wakefield park from turn 4 to 8 was absolutely flat in 3rd.....using the left foot on the brake to bring the tail out on the entry to corners to get it to turn in....brilliant fun.

In fact the same technique is quick in the GTR at the same spot.....I was making up heaps of ground over the top there....but unfortunatley the brakes are not up to the job (or the extra power) and they boiled :worship:

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