Honda's new life without sports

**EfiOz** · 11-02-2007 02:13 PM

Sorry to be the bringer of bad news, but it seems Honda are "dong a Toyota". The new MD is hell bent on his 80K units a year and they are being told to realign themselves with chasing the fleet markets.

Have you seen the ads for the new 30990 driveaway American Accords? That is the immediate future for OzHonda.

Where will it get them? Not far in the short term and potentially fatal to their prestige in the long. The fleet market ploy is doomed to fail as the big fleets won't touch them with a ten foot pole due to servicing costs and that only leaves the smaller fleets which are Holden/Ford dominated and heavily influenced by the whole V8 Supercar nonsense.

Ah, well. He'll go the way of most MD's with a bright idea and be recalled to Japan sometime in early 2009. Hopefully his replacement will try to undo the damage.

**Vlas** · 11-02-2007 04:53 PM

****ing honda they're so gay i'm going over to holden

**A.G.System** · 11-02-2007 05:12 PM

And you thought Honda were Gay?

You could have at least chosen a decent car maker......but seriously Opel...i mean holden. Yeah right.

**26ounce** · 13-02-2007 06:32 PM

This conservative trend has been taking over at honda for some time now. I would consider the nineties as the era when honda hit it's peak for driving enthusiasts. Looking back I'm amazed they went ahead producing models with so much overlap: prelude, integra & crx (not to mention the sportier civics and accords). I reckon they got caught up in the vtec hype as much as we did.

I'd agree that Mazda have taken over the mojo now. VW have some interesting cars out there too.

**aaronng** · 13-02-2007 06:57 PM

It's all a cycle. Once Honda regains their grip in sale numbers, then they will get back to producing sports models. It's just like what Mazda has done after being successful with the 2, 3 and 6, Toyota with their era of bland cars (if they really release the TRD Aurion, then they should be going back towards sports models as well).

**IAMVTEC** · 13-02-2007 10:55 PM

Originally Posted by Mikeyas

Look at the miss they made with the new legend... Check Wheels car of the year review.. Its bland, boring and basically a 70k accord...

I wouldnt believe any magazine that gives a Commodore car of the year!!! Australia 1 Germany 0 my ass HAHAHAHAHAA

70k Accord, yeah like an Accord has AWD or that many luxury features. What, do you expect a 70000 dollar car to fly?? Hate to braek to you but more expensive models are just slightly upgraded versions of less expensive versions. going up a level is hardly going from slave ship to 5 star hotel, OK? I sat in a Legend interior and E class interior and I feel the Legend is better.

**fasthonda** · 15-02-2007 06:54 PM

Originally Posted by 26ounce

This conservative trend has been taking over at honda for some time now. I would consider the nineties as the era when honda hit it's peak for driving enthusiasts. Looking back I'm amazed they went ahead producing models with so much overlap: prelude, integra & crx (not to mention the sportier civics and accords). I reckon they got caught up in the vtec hype as much as we did.

I'd agree that Mazda have taken over the mojo now. VW have some interesting cars out there too.

Ah ! yes ,You are right about Honda in the nineties.Back then ,other car companies didn't know what variable timing was or how to implement it in their engines.
I was considering jumping ship,maybe Renault,Peugeot or VW but,after countless hours reviewing(Internet etc) other car makes two attributes just stood out from Honda,QUALITY and RELIABILTY.After sifting through countless surveys,professional reviews and most important,owner reviews from all over the world, apart from Lexus, and to a certain extent Madza,Honda nearly always occupied a postion in the top three manufacturers.That to me ,at least, speaks volumes about the Honda Product.
Honda though has began to be boring,Australia is a very,very small market,if we do get a Hi Performance car it will most likely come from Thailand,maybe we'll get a Type S Jazz when the new model comes out ,who's to know?

Anyway, check out what we may get in limited numbers.FRom the EVO Mag.http://www.evo.co.uk/videos/trackday...vic_typer.html

**aaronng** · 15-02-2007 08:00 PM

Originally Posted by fasthonda

Ah ! yes ,You are right about Honda in the nineties.Back then ,other car companies didn't know what variable timing was or how to implement it in their engines.

Mate, Fiat made variable valve timing and lift back in 1960s. They filled the patent for it in 1970. Fiat patent

The reason why Honda used 2 separate profiles for timing and lift was because the continuously variable system was already patented. Different methods of doing it were developed by other companies like Alfa Romeo and Nissan before Honda jumped in with VTEC.