Acura Integra Type S

It's not officially coming to the UK, which is a great shame because this close relation to the Civic Type R is every bit as brilliant in its own way

EFFORT AND REWARD ARE AT THE VERY HEART OF what most of us love about cars. Not just our own effort. The obsession with extracting the most from a car, or just making it flow with economical grace, one apex to the next in a wonderfully easy equilibrium, is a naval-gazing but endlessly diverting pursuit, sure. But, very often, feeling and harnessing the effort of the car itself is the reward. Hearing a momentary flare of wheelspin over a mid-corner bump just as the engine hits the sweet spot and the chassis is stretched right to the very limit... well, it's just bloody good fun. I think it can be boiled down to intensity. We want to be there, in that moment, orchestrating the car's effort and immersed in the intensity of it all.

Maybe that's why it's hard to fall under the spell of EVs. The soundtrack of a conventional car is like the heartbeat, ramping up and up as every other element of the car is stretched to the limit. It underpins the whole experience and without it everything is less vivid. Anyway, let's not turn this into an EV lament. The point is that this magical zone where a car is at full load, full noise and still hanging in there with accurate response and unbreakable control isn't dependent on power, engine placement, even which axle is driven. It's why a Peugeot 106 GTi can get you to similar places to, say, a Porsche 911, or an Impreza RB5 or a McLaren 750S. The experience is different but the thrill of the chase and the sense of awe as the car deploys its all under your instructions is basically what has fed this magazine for 25 years. Effort and reward.