ITRCA

ANY ONE OUT THERE KNOWS IF THE RSX TYPE R WILL BE COMMING TO THE U.S?

That question has been discussed on every Honda forum out there and the only thing we know is that we dont know.

I just hope honda/acura(who has been pretty quiet about the import scene in years past) doesn't start second guessing what people in that scene want. It makes me nervous seeing that honda civic comercial with the fast and furious overtones. I can imagine a bunch of suits at Honda America putting out a "fast and furious RSX" that is different from the pure Type Rs that rule Japan, Europe.. etc. Who knows...

Rumor has it that the CTR is more likely to come here more than the DC5-R...but then again it's only a rumor!

I heard from one of the buyers for the large Honda dealership here in town ( Charlotte,NC) that we should see a Civic Type R this fall or spring (04). I guess we will see if he is full of sh*t or not.

I used to work for Honda....these are the questions I used to ask ALL the time.....I highly doubt that Honda will make a Civic Type R for stateside use.....
1.) There has never been one here before, so it's considered a risk. (Even though I doubt there isn't a member on this board who wouldn't mind having one, they still consider it a risk)
2.)It doesn't make sense to have both the Si and the R selling side by side, so the Si would be put to rest.
3.)The two are too similar to bring over the R. Our Si is basically a watered down R. So basically...we won't see a Civic Type R.

As For the RSX...............
I seriously don't see how it would work. Acura has already distinguished it's Type S as it's sportier, higher line. If they brought the Type R over...It would have to cost less than the Type S....Type R's have no moonroof and no leather.... These are two major selling factors in buying a car. Enthusiast would take to the car well. But the General public wouldn't see fit, paying more for a few more ponies under the hood....And if they got rid of the Type S....they would destroy everything that Honda's advertising has been trying to promote... the young executive driving the six speed luxo-sports coupe..... It doesn't make any sense to bring either of these over..........as much as I personally would love to have an RSX-R or even a Civic R.............I don't see it happening.....

I just wish Honda would realize there are some of us in the U.S. that want the "six speed luxo-sports coupe" with a sunroof and there are some of us... who would trade a little comfort for a car that is so much fun to drive. I don't have a problem with both being marketed here.

It would be nice if they opened their eyes a little bit......

PhOeNiX wrote:Rumor has it that the CTR is more likely to come here more than the DC5-R...but then again it's only a rumor!

Most dealer's are hoping the CTR won't come over because then acura's RSX will fall off the charts. Quote from my local dealer. Either way iVTEC=horse shit

BillC wrote:
As For the RSX...............
I seriously don't see how it would work. Acura has already distinguished it's Type S as it's sportier, higher line. If they brought the Type R over...It would have to cost less than the Type S....Type R's have no moonroof and no leather.... These are two major selling factors in buying a car. Enthusiast would take to the car well. But the General public wouldn't see fit, paying more for a few more ponies under the hood....And if they got rid of the Type S....they would destroy everything that Honda's advertising has been trying to promote... the young executive driving the six speed luxo-sports coupe..... It doesn't make any sense to bring either of these over..........as much as I personally would love to have an RSX-R or even a Civic R.............I don't see it happening.....

They would have to do it just like they did with the DC2's. Release them in limited numbers......very limited. I dont know about other R owners, but I would be pretty pissed if Honda sold a Type-R (civic or anything else), and it wasnt limited. Having the Integra Type-R as a limited edition IMO just makes it that much better. I think they should just bring about 500 at the most over. Cause you know they would just fly off the lots. Theres no need to get rid of the Type-S. Hell they wont even have to promote it. Just spread the word on the net, and they would all besold before they hit the shores. As long as its not the watered down Australian version I'm all for it.

why do they have all the fun??

http://www.honda.co.jp/NSX/nsx-r/gallery/index.html

i think the type S is the closes thing we gonna b getting to the new R

compare the stats of the new R and the S

pretty similar except for the extra added performance

nessb18c5 wrote:
compare the stats of the new R and the S

pretty similar except for the extra added performance

Am I the only one that found this funny? Sorry.

I think its pretty funny too!

Cause IMO a R is a R, not a S, and far from a S

Introducing the Type R to the US was a marketing tool for the rest of their lineup. The DC2 Type R has already served its purpose in demonstrating that the Integra was a viable performance car. That has carried over to the RSX with great success and since I'm pretty convinced that Honda lost money with every ITR they sold in the States, there's no reason for Honda America to modify and introduce an RSX Type R.

i'm just saying that the S is the closes thing we're gonna get to the R lolz

They make really good money selling slow cars that are kind of sporty. I think they are relying on the aftermarket to keep the Honda enthusiast happy. Plus look at all the craze about JDM. I think that if they keep these cars from us that they will sell a ton of Type S's and Si's to people who convert them to USDM Type R's. Its not like people are not buying a Honda because there is no R. Hell no they are buying what Honda has provided and spending thousands of dollers on JDM R components. Just imagine if Honda sold JDM Honda parts. Engine swaps and the aftermarket support is what made Honda what it is today and they are just leaving it the way it has always been because it works so well.

kabob wrote:I'm pretty convinced that Honda lost money with every ITR they sold in the States.

Anybody out there sure about this? Since they did sell them from '97 through '01, it couldn't have been that bad could it?

Yeah I was thinking the same thing.

Here,s web chat transcript I found on the Club RSX site. I guess this could be seen as a hint that maybe the Type R wasn't a big revenue builder. My thought is one should "throw the customer a bone occasionally." After all, most Honda customers are previous and future Honda owners. I bet a good number of our Type R owners have a Honda as a second car. The younger owners probably will migrate into RL's or NSX's as their income matches their upward mobility. Does the attitude below seems a bit arrogant to you?

6/7/2001 Chat Transcript
Thanks for joining us!
Our guests this evening are
Motor Trend Magazine's Executive Editor,
Charles Schifsky and
Sr. Feature Editor, John Kiewicz
Along with Acura Product Planner, Jay Joseph.
Lets get started!

ASKAcura: KavMan-guest says: We want the RSX Type R here!! Not the Type S, there's already a petition with around 800 signatures from diehard Type R fans, So when will we get the new Type R in America???
Jay_Joseph: We never comment of future product plans until we're ready to talk, and I appreciate the petition, but we do have to run a business and unfortunately it's not a Democracy.

snookerblack7 wrote:

kabob wrote:I'm pretty convinced that Honda lost money with every ITR they sold in the States.

Anybody out there sure about this? Since they did sell them from '97 through '01, it couldn't have been that bad could it?

And in the 4 years of production, approxiamately 4000 total Type R's were produced and MSRP was only marginally higher than the GSR. Consider the amount of research and development that went into making the car Federal crash safety worthy and emissions legal as well as the unique pieces that differ from that of the JDM R as well as other model Integras. Now consider that Honda sells in excess of 100,000 Accords every year. Do you understand what I'm getting at?

kabob wrote:

snookerblack7 wrote:

kabob wrote:I'm pretty convinced that Honda lost money with every ITR they sold in the States.

Anybody out there sure about this? Since they did sell them from '97 through '01, it couldn't have been that bad could it?

And in the 4 years of production, approxiamately 4000 total Type R's were produced and MSRP was only marginally higher than the GSR. Consider the amount of research and development that went into making the car Federal crash safety worthy and emissions legal as well as the unique pieces that differ from that of the JDM R as well as other model Integras. Now consider that Honda sells in excess of 100,000 Accords every year. Do you understand what I'm getting at?

Yeah, I got it. But sometimes sales & marketing use what they call a "loss leader" to generate attention to their brand. For example, Ford makes a lot of Mustangs...only a small portion are of the R Type or SVT full tilt Cobras (or in the old days a Shelby). Niche cars have their niche. Also they did strip off some of the costlier do-dads like the recaro seats, Momo 'wheel, tube header and the aluminum accessory bracket to compensate.
Remember when the Type R came to the U.S. and how the car mags slobered over them? That is GOLDEN publicity. And finally as a designer and test engineer I know that you have to spend a little to make a little. Also there is a trickle-down of technology to lower models. That's how Honda builds such reliable Civics, Accords, Integras, etc.

kabob wrote:

snookerblack7 wrote:

kabob wrote:I'm pretty convinced that Honda lost money with every ITR they sold in the States.

Anybody out there sure about this? Since they did sell them from '97 through '01, it couldn't have been that bad could it?

And in the 4 years of production, approxiamately 4000 total Type R's were produced and MSRP was only marginally higher than the GSR. Consider the amount of research and development that went into making the car Federal crash safety worthy and emissions legal as well as the unique pieces that differ from that of the JDM R as well as other model Integras. Now consider that Honda sells in excess of 100,000 Accords every year. Do you understand what I'm getting at?

Crash testing probably wasn't an issue since the body frame is basically the same as the GSR and stronger with a few stronger pieces. Engine R&D may have been somewhat higher to allow the higher piston speeds, but what probably was the greatest factor was the fact that the engine was hand polished forcing it to be limited production of a maximum of 4 engines produced a day, and you don't make much profit with limited production.