zircon

What a pathetic ripoff. First Honda put Aztek cladding on the CRV, then they made a Buick and called it the new Accord, and now they copied the styling of the Chevy Avalanche for their new pick-up. What a lame-ass design company. People have said for years that the Japanese manufacturers copy designs from Germany etc., and I now am convinced it is true.

Check out the Detroit auto show photos to see what I am referring to. I saw the images at the temple of vtec but I am sure they are widely available.

http://www.vtec.net/news/news-item?news_item_id=188419


Whose to blame for turning decent looking designs (early 90s Accord) into what they have now?

KC 2004 TSX

speedzer

KC 2004 TSX

gilboman

it looks like a cross btwn avalanche and the F series... lets see if Honda is truly dumb and put a V6 in a pickup

ABP-CL9-TSX

That is just ugly!!!

I would much rather own a Chevy, Ford, or Dodge truck more that that hideous looking thing! What was Honda smoking when they designed that?

gilboman

same stuff they were smoking when designing the new accord

zircon

Honda is a great company for mechanically-sound, reliable and somewhat fun driving vehicles. Ergonomics of their cars are great too, and depreciation is low. However, their success (and Toyota's) appears to have driven the company to very conservative car styling and Aztek-like and boxy trucks. I am sure they are doing the former to be non-offensive to as many possible purchasers as possible, but the boxy and plastic-rich trucks is hard to understand. What gives?

Hey KC, do you boo when your beloved Red Wings lose a game?>

ecsw

it doesn't look that bad to me. At least bette than Emelent.

dom

Holy Avalanche ripoff Batman.............

dom

"And because it's a Honda, it needs to be fun-to-drive. With a high output, high torque all-aluminum V6, four-wheel independent suspension and four wheel disk brakes, the Honda SUT Concept delivers the kind of sporty performance that the "cool dad" can definitely appreciate."

Thats a smidget of Tom Elliot's comments from the SUT intro at the Detriot show. So yes its getting a V6 and no I don't think its a dumb idea. A V8 would be nice but a 6 is all this truck and its intended buyers need.

I guess there going more for the Element look rather than the Pilot look.

tsx-mdxman

What's so bad about it? It's properly proportioned. It looks nowhere near as goofy as the Accord or as ugly/bland as the Pilot - they don't appear to share any DNA. I think it's terrific!

justinjsw

The interior is cool but that front has got to go.

justinjsw

The design may be a little lame but Honda dumb for dumping a V6 in their first pickup is stupid? I guess the Tacomas and the Frontiers of the world are just as dumb. It could have been worst...could have been a 4 banger.

The stuff you write sometimes. Lame ass

gilboman

and if you pay attention..the Tachoma was not taken seriously by truck buyers and hence the V8's in there now ....

ABP-CL9-TSX

Back in the early 90s Toyota attempted entering the fullsize truck market with the T-100 trucks and they put a V6 engine in it. Sometime after it was sold Toyota knew it wasn't selling well because the high price and the weak power. Toyota learned from this mistake.

Now they have the V8 Tundra, which is a far more superior truck than the T-100 ever was.

I hope this Honda SUT is a sales flop and that Honda learns from it.

phile

The Toyota T trucks were aimed at the full size truck market, which demands a V-8, this Honda SUT is up against the likes of the Ford Explorer Sport Trac and Chevy Colorado, with V6 and I5 engines, respectively.

phile

Do you always make stuff up?

http://www.toyota.com/vehicles/2004/...e_choices.html

The Tacoma even comes with a 4-cylinder....

provench

Was looking for the same info ... knew the Tacoma didn't have a V8, and doesn't need one ...

Sorry Gilbo, but you have been ...

justinjsw

Like I said lame ass...thats the Tundra you are talking about...which is a full size heavy duty pickup. It needed a V8. The Tacoma starts as a 4 banger then moves up to a V6. Tacoma light duty pickup. The Honda SUT is NOT a full size heavy duty pickup. Now take your finger out of your ass and get your info in order before you post.

Sales Figures
Top 10 Pickups
Year to Date, November 2003

Ford F-Series
760,929 +2.7% YTD
November 2003: 64,737
November 2002: 58,934

Chevrolet Silverado
616,139 +7.0%YTD
November 2003: 47,599
November 2002: 40,628

Dodge Ram
409,252 +13.0% YTD
November 2003: 33,941
November 2002: 30,585

Ford Ranger
196,674 -6.2% YTD
November 2003: 11,751
November 2002: 12,917

GMC Sierra
176,741 -1.7% YTD
November 2003: 14,251
November 2002: 12,669

Toyota Tacoma
142,496 +1.5% YTD
November 2003: 11,499
November 2002: 11,144

Chevrolet S-10
131,478 -4.3% YTD
November 2003: 7,054
November 2002: 6,824

Dodge Dakota
103,729 -15.0% YTD
November 2003: 7,456
November 2002: 8,045

Toyota Tundra
92,112 +1.2% YTD
November 2003: 8,783
November 2002: 7,963

Chevrolet Avalanche
84,118 +3.1% YTD
November 2003: 6,954
November 2002: 4,633

XPLORx4

Look out, guys, because if Honda is successful with this Avalanche look-alike, it's sure to make its way to the Acura lineup as an Escalade look-alike.

Brad

I've noticed a few other makes of cars that hint at copying GM styling. The new Toyota Prius and some Infiniti sedans have taken on the totally inelegant trapezoidal (draw a car with only a straight edge) shapes of the newer Cadillacs.

Many--but not all--of the Japanese cars are hardly original in their styling, equipment levels, or even body and interior color schemes. For years, some of the Accord EX's followed Mercedes color schemes, for example. It drove me NUTS and nearly prevented me from buying two!

Our own TSX combines a number of styling elements from various makes of cars, but the TSX's profile most closely resembles the lowly Ford Focus sedan. I also see styling elements in the TSX that vaguely resemble other Teutonic sedans. I guess that's where we got the Euro in the Accord.

Weck

Click on the one and only original SUT thread - 1st w/pics by 2 hours :P


http://www.acura-tsx.com/forums/show...&threadid=5103

Soze75

Last week I nearly vomitted at the site of the Infiniti QX65 or whatever the POS is called, and now...

the end is not near, it is upon us.

I drove by a Pathfinder Armada today. Actually, I had to drive around it.
Our parking lots will never be safe again, but many egos are cosy and warm inside these APCs(Armoured People Carriers)

zircon

Here's the funny (or sad) thing. Despite the V6 engine and Chevy appearance, this truck will sell well for at least a couple years. There are enough Honda fans out there that they will pick up this 'novel' product. With time they will add either a V8 (unlikely IMO) or hybrid drive, like the Toyota Highlander (270HP). Plus, Honda will probably price it below its strongest competitors, initially.

phile

I don't think it's just Honda fans. My friend's father bought a Chevy S-10, he got a great deal on it, and it's a 4-cylinder. I've never seen him use the cargo bed once...the man is head of the pharmacy dept at a hospital, I don't even know why he bought a pickup truck to begin with. So if he just had to get a pickup, something like this would've served him better. It probably handles much better than the Chevy and the V-6 motor is more powerful, it's probably a lot roomier too.

fuque

SUT: Such an Ugly Truck!