GoldenShoes

spot on post Yummy, a GTR contender would be awesome. like I mentioned earlier, put in a DOHC VTEC V6 with DI and possibly a turbo(or 2) and voila Honda is back and putting smiles on faces again.

plus, I really think it would be a shock to the automotive world after the track record of Honda/Acura in the past 5-6 years.

Yumcha

Acura can really use a coupe in its lineup...

GoldenShoes

while glancing at Facebook a few minutes ago, I saw a post from HeelToe's page. if you follow them, check it out.

for those that don't: Acura chief announced that the concept for the next NSX will be unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show. also, a smaller civic sized sedan(the ILX) will be unveiled.

in response to this, I simply say thank you Acura!

let the naysayers say what they want, while the Honda faithful(such as myself) will rejoice!

oonowindoo

Naysayers? where have you been for the past 10 years?

After so many disappointment from Acura/Honda, can you blame us for not believing anything Honda/Acura says now?

They can say whatever they want, until we see some "products", i will not believe anything they say.

Typical Honda/Acura Example, Let's do DOHC V6 DI Turbo with class leading 370hp AWD

but wait nvm, let's do SOHC V6 DI Hyrbid with the same HP as current TL 310hp AWD
But wait, FWD is cheaper, let's do FWD.

ttribe

What is the point of being "faithful" to a car company? A religion I get. Your alma mater I get. But, a car company? Blind faithfulness results in suboptimal economic (and other) decisions. That, I don't get.

Legend2TL

10 years?

Acura was making some pretty decent cars up to the 4G TL.
Thje 3G TL (04-08) was quite successful and well received. The RL when it came out was also well received and beat MB/BMW/Audi in a C&D comparison initially but the competition has evolved past it by. The 2G MDX is also still selling quite well.

If as Colin alluded to a couple pages back if you lumped together Acura's change in direction (RWD, 2G NSX, Tier-1...) from the financial meltdown of 2008 into one major decision when else have they changed direction?

I'm not pleased with what Acura has done in the past few years but not 10 years by any means. at least now Acura has acknowledged what many on AZ has been saying and making changes.

And when did Acura do a press release saying they are doing a DOHC FI DI V6? Do you have a link?

Legend2TL

Not a car company but hang around some Harley owner/riders enthusiasts. I don't get it either but they really love their Hogs

ttribe

Yeah, well, HD motorcycles are an outlier...not as much competition in their market...plus, kind of cultish.

GoldenShoes

^ Honda owners can also be classified as cultish. I first fell in love with Honda when I first experienced the VTEC changeover in my B16A2 in my '00 Civic Si. as long as Honda has VTEC, some sort of DOHC VTEC to be precise, I'll remain faithful and a part of the "cult" that is the Honda lover.

ttribe

Okay. Still don't get it (and I've owned 6 Hondas/Acuras).

Yumcha

Nothing wrong with liking a manufacturer. Heck, I worship Aston Martin, Pagani, Ferrari, just to start...

Mind you, they are at a different tier.




Still, if any of the 3 carmakers started down the path "less traveled" in regards to innovation and design...I'd be pretty rant-happy too. Don't get me started about the Cygnet.

GoldenShoes

^ Lol at the Cygnet! interesting little car in its own way, but very hard to classify it as an Aston Martin.

ttribe- don't get me wrong, I enjoy automobiles in general. ALL OF THEM! I spend days/nights of dreaming and planning to get my 458 Italia, 911 GT2, a Zonda, a GTR, etc etc.

I've said this before in this thread and I'll repeat it one last time. I like my Hondas because they are realistic, they get me from Point A to Point B perfectly well, and for the most part they are just cars without all the doo-dads and gadgets.

sure, an M3 is sweet. but, I'd rather take ~$10-20k and build a lowly Civic/Teg and smoke said Bimmer(or any other car in it's segment) and laugh my hairy white ass off with all the $$$ I saved in doing so.

cars are transportation, not mobile coddling devices.

Yumcha

^ And what year are the Integras/Civics you are thinking of modding to "smoke" said M3s...?

A few years, right? And that's the problem most of us have: Honda appears to be in a rut. All we think about is how great it used to be...and now...erm...decent, I suppose, but nothing that elicits true excitement.

pttl

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

Yes, please make it the last time because it doesn't really make sense much.

HeartTLs

iTrader: (5)

Buy Korean.

Mazda 3 is stylish.

That better?

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

sonnyboyacura

Having owned a CL Type-S and a Civic SI, I'm simply tired of FWD... My father has a 99 740iL with close to 200k miles on it and it has less rattles than my 2008 SI had when I got rid of it. LOL If Honda offered AWD, I'd definitely consider a vehicle of theirs. Acura's styling on the exterior is atrocious, the interior is gorgeous. Granted, they def improved the TL in it's revision and it looks a lot better. But for the same price as the TL, that's Bimmer territory and it'd be hard not to give them a look. Or an Audi even... I guess most people are tired of seeing Acura/Honda running in place.

TRIUMPHT

iTrader: (1)

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

What did you get after you sold your Si?

pttl

There it is.....

Ken1997TL

I'm a shareholder

sonnyboyacura

I was able to obtain my grandfathers 99 Bonneville with very low mileage. So I traded the SI in for a 2005 Wrangler with about 50k miles. I always wanted one and I got them to take off about $3k off the price, they wanted $18k initially. I LOVED it this summer and cannot wait to drive it when it snows. But... LOL

With a baby on the way, I may have to part with my newfound toy. So I'll be looking at A4's, 335i's and some other vehicles to put a smile on my face. The 740iL that I'm currently driving is my fathers, he was gonna get rid of it but I'm fixing it up a bit for him and will give it back.
Whatever I own, I don't think I'll ever leave AZ. Great group of people and staff.

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

For sure.

ttribe

Okay, and I'm a shareholder at Home Depot as well; that being said, if there is a sizable difference in price on the same item at Lowe's, I'll get it there instead.

I guess my point is this - blind faithfulness to a brand prevents exploration of alternatives which may actually be better. We owned nothing but Hondas and Acuras for 17 years. Why? Because when it came down to it, they were the best combination of price, style and features for our circumstances. However, that game has changed (see Hyundai, for example). Does the die-hard Honda fan avoid a Genesis coupe (for example) simply because it doesn't say "Honda" on it, even though it is EVERYTHING (and then some) that he/she wants out of a car? If so, that's just silly.

This isn't your favorite football team. It's a car. It's just so very different.

Ken1997TL

Well I'd agree about blind loyalty, except that Honda has built what I've wanted every time I go to replace a vehicle.

TSX wagon, I said if they built one i'd buy it. So I did.

Ditto the CR-Z. And it was my wife's idea.

ttribe

Now, I get that. It's the same thing that led me to buy 6 of their cars/suv's in the last 17 years. But now, for me, other manufacturers just seem to be doing at least as well, if not better.

GoldenShoes

people keep taking what I've said and coming up with their own explanation of it.

I ENJOY the Honda, I will always own 1, but that doesn't mean that I wouldn't own/drive another car from another brand.

all I was getting across is that no matter what I'll most likely have an S2K/NSX in my garage throughout life. people have their old-school muscle cars, I'll have a Honda lol

as far as new vehicles are concerned, I'd gladly test drive a 5-series,an A6, an E-class, or even a Chrysler 300 before looking at the 4G TL. for a DD, I'd buy anything that would fulfill my needs/wants in a vehicle.

as far as a Hyundai Genesis coupe, I'd absolutely drive one. they impress me, and Hyundai/Kia has been for the past few years as well.

Costco

My friend has owned five 3G Integras. One of them was an ITR, and the others had some sort of swap going on. He's also owned a 2G TL-P.

He is obviously an exception, but he is far gone from Honda to the point that it's unlikely that he'll ever go back. To paraphrase him, at this point in his life if he had to buy a car for DD use it would be a G37. It offers the ideal blend of performance, looks, luxury, reliability, etc. at the right price. He doesn't really like anything in Honda's lineup ATM, and it's understandable why.

He's said a couple of times as well, "if only the 3G TL-S had SH-AWD and the 6-speed".... obviously too late to do anything about that, but this is along the lines of what I hear regarding Acura's current lineup. He couldn't care less about the 4G TL, though he admits it looks better after the refresh.

edit... forgot to mention, he has a vehicle with somewhat similar performance to the TL SH-AWD... an Evo X. But nothing in Honda's lineup comes close to offering that kind of performance with that much aftermarket support and room for growth.

Costco

My dad personally has never owned a Honda product. He never saw a reason to, and the lineups over the years didn't convince him either. My brother on the other hand convinced him to get a Camry and in turn my aunt got one as well, a year later.

Brother is a Toyota die-hard. He's owned 5-6 Toyota trucks throughout his life, along with an MR2 Turbo and a Corolla. I try to show him new Honda products and he doesn't really care for them. The only one he likes is the NSX and even then he's not crazy about it.

My mom once owned an Accord, then a Civic then a TL-S. But now that she's gotten into the luxury car field, she finds that Acura lacks that prestige, panache, or whatever it is. MB, BMW or Audi for her now. She simply has never liked Toyota/Lexus.

Sister has owned cars from all over the place, though she never had her own Honda. Liked the TL-S my mom had but not enough to get her own Acura product. Now owns an ES350, looking to move to Audi.



Maybe it's not just loyalty, but rather they need more exciting cars in their lineup to attract customers. It's not like they don't have a solid customer base either though.... maybe my family just isn't really a Honda family.

At this point in my life I don't want anything from Honda in the '00s. The 3G TL-S, maybe. a 6MT TSX possibly as well. But I'm not crazy about either, I'd be more likely to get something else. Of their entire current lineup the 4G TL SH-AWD is nice though I still have a few minor complaints about the exterior. I'd consider the CR-Z considering how much Colin and Ken like theirs.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

They've made grand announcements before... let's hope they come through. If they do, it will be a start... but they need to bring excitement back their entire lineup IMO.

Depending on the price range, I'd pretty much look at Lexus (IS, GS), Infiniti (G, M), BMW (3, 5, 6), Audi (A3, A4, A5, A6), Mercedes (C, CLK, E), and Hyundai (Geneses, Equus) before I looked at any of Acura's offerings. The only vehicle in their current lineup that I would slightly consider would be the MDX... and even then I'd look at an Audi Q5/Q7, Mercedes GL, and likely CPO Cayenne or Range Rover first, before the MDX.

Look, I hope they get back on track b/c Acura was the first brand I really got into and owned several vehicles from... but they have a long way to go... even if they do introduce an incredible NSX or NSX replacement.

TRIUMPHT

iTrader: (1)

DING DING DING JACKPOT.

This is why there are numerous car companies out. Each company meant to attract different types of individuals & different individual needs. If you don't like you don't buy.

Car needs vary in every individuals life. I per say live in a place where it snows. What the hell does rear wheel drive do for me? I am a big guy what the hell is a small car going to do for me? I don't drive my car everyday and when i do i know where i am going so what's the point of dishing out for navi when i can get it on my iphone for the couple of times i need to use it? I am looking for reliability why the hell would i buy a 4/5 year old car that is known for issues that the warranty is pretty much up on yet pay the same price as a brand new car just to say i have it?

I love to read through these threads because once in a while there are some great points then most of the time there are stupid-> personal <-opinions which make absolutely now sense

Bottom line is normal consumers & car enthusiasts are 2 separate groups of people not to mention all the other groups in between. It comes down to who's buying the cars.

TRIUMPHT

iTrader: (1)

Now back to the regularly scheduled program it's getting good.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

Kind of like how this comment makes no sense?

As you yourself mentioned, every person's needs and wants vary which is why there are so many brands/models available. So.... why wouldn't threads like this be full of personal opinions? That is all they can be full of. There are little to no facts involved when asking people why they do or don't like a car company... it's ALL opinions and personal preferences...

TRIUMPHT

iTrader: (1)

tooshay

phee

iTrader: (5)

that whole drive train thing for the snow is null and void if you buy snow tires.

Ken1997TL

I had an '88 Accord with snow tires that went through almost anything. I don't think people realize just how snow tires work.

Aman

Snow tires and/or common sense.

I don't have snow tires, and I get along just fine. Never been stuck. It's just about knowing how to drive.

TRIUMPHT

iTrader: (1)

+1 almost every car i have owned has been fwd except for my nissan 240 sx and i have never had any issues what so ever with getting around in the snow. I won't go as far as saying i have had dedicated snow tires but i normally run good all season.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

Had dedicated snows for my TL-S... thing was a tank in the winter. Never had any problems when those puppies were on...