don't forget that the production one will have 15 inch wheels

yeah i know i'm dissin what i sell.


aloha from the summit of *-^-Mauna Kea-^-*

 

Why? Honda doesn't sell turbo cars, period. VTEC is all they do.

 

I hope you're kidding, this car actually makes perfect sense.

1) Have you ever heard of a Civic Si? The MSRP on that car approaches 20,000 dollars. They may not always sell for that much, but that's the MSRP. The price listed of 20,000 for the new civic would be... you got it... MSRP. And you ask who would pay $20,000 for a civic? Well, based on the specs for that car, 20,000 is a fair price. People pay 20,000 for an Acura RSX which is based on the same platform as the civic. Besides, my sister's civic has fewer rattles and higher quality materials than my Subaru, so that new car should easily fetch 20 large.

2) You say that there's no way that they will be able to get 35 MPG Highway. My old Integra GSR had 170 horse and I used to get between 32-37 MPG on the highway. And that engine was almost 10 years old and had 218,000 miles when I traded it in.

 

You just made my point for me. The RSX already exists; why try to step over it with a Civic? Certainly the Acura name carries a bit more weight than Honda, and there'd be little or no reason not to choose the RSX if you put the two cars side-by-side.

I had my WRX in the shop last week for the 30,000 mile service and they gave me a 2004 Civic SI as a loaner. I don't know what options your sister had, but this Civic had the tinniest, cheapest interior I've seen in a long time, and drove like it had a subframe made from manufactured wood products. Most rentals (this was an Enterprise) get driven pretty hard, so it was most likely more beat up than average, but this thing was a wobbly, scary mess on the highway. Compared to the security of max performance summer tires on 17" wheels and AWD (my daily driver WRX) I can't believe any Civic, regardless of how riced the paint scheme is, could compete with a used WRX -- and trust me, you can get one of those for well below $20,000.

I don't want to turn this into a Honda-bashing thread; certainly they are great cars in the $11-$15k range. Once you start paying $20k for them, there are a WHOLE lot of other choices out there that put them in their place. Frankly, after my experience driving one I can't imagine for the life of me what convinced someone that it would be a good idea to take that and make it into a performance car. It felt like it could barely handle the 110hp it was cranking out!

 

Well the thing is that Acura is most likely dropping the RSX, from what I've read on the honda boards and a couple of different articles, because it is percieved as bringing down the overall 'quality' of their product line. The TSX is more than likely going to be their new entry-level car. I'm not sure how this effects Honda in Japan, because the RSX is still sold as the Honda Integra there.

In addition, that SI you got more than likely was beat to hell. My sister's is an EX coupe and it's almost relaxing to drive that after driving the WRX wagon. My old Outback Sport was the same way, I feel like the whole thing rattled. I have had the WRX brought in for the glovebox (which they still haven't fixed), a rattle in the back, the driver door (there was a screw rolling around in there somewhere... I have no idea how it got there) and the defroster vents. I guess right now I'm venting about the Subaru more than I am justifying the price of the Civic, but from my experience the build quality of Hondas is far superior to Subarus (which I still like better, don't get me wrong). If that Civic does indeed have to fill the sport compact slot for honda with the departure of the RSX and has ~ 200 HP, it will command at least $20,000. Plus Honda is supposed to be adding another model below the Civic, so it won't be their bargain-basement car. That means they no longer have to sell the really stripped down models like the DX and HX.