The Honda of America Racing Team (HART) is an employee-run effort that builds cars for multiple different racing disciplines. On Tuesday, HART unveiled its latest build, an Acura Integra built for the American Rally Association's (ARA) limited two-wheel-drive class. The car is set to make its racing debut this weekend at the Lake Superior Performance Rally in northern Michigan.
The L2WD class is comprised of entries that are fairly close to standard production vehicles. For cars with forced induction, there's an engine size limit of 1.6 liters, which is why HART chose to go with a standard 1.5-liter Integra, rather than the 2.0-liter Type S. For competition, HART added a roll cage and other necessary safety equipment, but the Integra isn't too different from what rolls off the line at Honda's Marysville, Ohio plant. Mounted to the hood are five LED light bars. Frankly, we're not sure this is enough. Why stop at five when you could've installed, like, nine?
HART says that one of the reasons it undertook this project is for its team members to learn more about roll-cage fabrication and seam welding. One also imagines HART built this because it's very cool, and it's a great way to promote the sport compact. This is HART's third rally car behind a Civic, and bizarrely, a Passport crossover with which the team
took the Limited Four-Wheel Drive title last year.
A car enthusiast since childhood, Chris Perkins served as Road & Track's engineering nerd and Porsche apologist.
