Hmmm....

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

Anyone else find it funny that the big Motor Trend Car of the Year and Truck of the Year awards along with the North American Car of the Year and Truck of the year awards aligned JUST PERFECTLY with the new HUGE advertising push Honda is doing right now?????

***FUNNY*** how those lined up so well.... Honda got 4 new BS awards (That it didn't deserve) to smear all over it's edgy new advertising.

I've seriously NEVER seen a Honda advertising push as large as the one we're seeing right now.

And an even bigger surprise: One of the vehicles awarded is the new hot model that we're trying to kick start sales on (Maybe they feel guilty for quietly panning the last Civic) and the other vehicle awarded is a STRUGGLING model that just needed a little more of a PR nudge (After the press FORCED it's HOLINESS down our throats for a year with a fervor previously unseen even in THIS biased day in age) that competes in the last segment dominated by the companies that they have tried so hard to destroy for 2 decades. (Explains why they kicked it up a notch)

It's also FUNNY how this all coincides with Honda receiving more nods than any other company on the coveted Consumer Reports list. (Well, at least I haven't seen any factual analysis)

I just thought all of this was FUNNY.... However unrelated (Yeah Right) it all might be.

[siegen]

If any company won car and truck of the year awards, don't you think they would take advantage of it and advertise, maybe gloat, a bit? Regardless of whether advertising influence or money had anything to do with Honda winning the awards (can you prove anything?) in the first place.

Honda's advertising campaigns are still nothing compared to GM or Toyota's.

The Ridgeline exceeded its first 12 month 50,000 sales expectations (by a few hundred vehicles). For a 'niche' vehicle, or a SUT, or a 'stupid wannabe-truck' as some of you like to call it , that is pretty good, yes?

[BrewSwillis]

The Ridgeline exceeded its first 12 month 50,000 sales expectations (by a few hundred vehicles). For a 'niche' vehicle, or a SUT, or a 'stupid wannabe-truck' as some of you like to call it  , that is pretty good, yes?

They should have beat it easily, considering all of the awards they bought!

[Sixty8panther]

How is it that the POS Civic gets more primitive and un-enginered wiht each new generation but still is marketed as forward thinking and modern.

Here's a tip you fu*king clowns: cab forward was cool in 1996 but not in 2006. If I have to worry about not having acess to my engine bay for fear of the windshield it'll at least be for a car worth owning, like a 2002 Camaro SS.

The Civic was a far better car in 1993 then it is today, used to be the car was praised simply for it's superior double wishbone suspension and how it made it heads above the American competition, now they went to McPherson Struts (you know the POS setup that was mocked in the Cavalier & Escort) and Honda is still far superior to GM etc...

Honda, even more so than Toyota is the biggest farce & B.S. machine in the Automotive world.

[Polish_Kris]

Here's a tip you fu*king clowns: cab forward was cool in 1996 but not in 2006. If I have to worry about not having acess to my engine bay for fear of the windshield it'll at least be for a car worth owning, like a 2002 Camaro SS.

A tip to Bob Lutz, the Chrysler Neon design was cool in 2000, not 2006 (Chevy Cobalt).

Edited March 29, 2006 by Polish_Kris

[Polish_Kris]

The Civic was a far better car in 1993 then it is today, used to be the car was praised simply for it's superior double wishbone suspension and how it made it heads above the American competition, now they went to McPherson Struts (you know the POS setup that was mocked in the Cavalier & Escort) and Honda is still far superior to GM etc...

Couldn't agree with you more on that, the best Civics ever were '88-'00!

Honda cars are not the same as they were ten years ago.

They're going too mainstream, however, the Civic is currently the most substantial-looking compact out there.

[Polish_Kris]

They should have beat it easily, considering all of the awards they bought!

That is just a conspiracy theory, you got any proof?

[Snate]

A tip to Bob Lutz, the Chrysler Neon design was cool in 2000, not 2006 (Chevy Cobalt).

Hey! The Neon design was never cool

and the only resemblance between the Cobalt and Neon is a slight one in the rear of the sedan...thats about it.

[Flybrian]

The Civic coupe still sucks looks-wise. Hey, Honda...how about a hood next time?

[siegen]

How is it that the POS Civic gets more primitive and un-enginered wiht each new generation but still is marketed as forward thinking and modern.

Here's a tip you fu*king clowns: cab forward was cool in 1996 but not in 2006. If I have to worry about not having acess to my engine bay for fear of the windshield it'll at least be for a car worth owning, like a 2002 Camaro SS.

The Civic was a far better car in 1993 then it is today, used to be the car was praised simply for it's superior double wishbone suspension and how it made it heads above the American competition, now they went to McPherson Struts (you know the POS setup that was mocked in the Cavalier & Escort) and Honda is still far superior to GM etc...

Honda, even more so than Toyota is the biggest farce & B.S. machine in the Automotive world.

Not every macpherson strut suspension is the same. The basic design is, but the parts that go into it (you know, the springs and shocks, or "struts" as they're referred to in macpherson suspension), the different angles, and the various other components that effect the suspension (tie rods, control arms, etc) effect how the car handles and drives. I don't know, but maybe the Cavalier & Escort did a lame job with the suspension? I haven't driven a new Civic with Macpherson strut, but I will tell you, when the RSX (4th gen Integra) went to Macpherson strut from double wishbone, it upset a lot of people and was brought up in just about every review of the car. Even the latest Type R doesn't handle quite as good as the 95-2000 (or 97-2001) Type R's with double wishbone.

Cab forward may not be the coolest thing (I like long hoods like the s2000 just as much as anybody), but if a more compact engine can be used and the hood area shrunk, it leaves the possibility for a lot more room in the cabin. This is a Civic after all.

[CARBIZ]

I will grudgingly acknowledge that the new Civic has certain advantages over the Cobalt, but not enough to justify its extra cost and thr premium being charged in this market.

I understand Chevrolet, like Toyota, is supposed to be a more conservative car company, but at least the Pursuit should have been a little more "out there" like the Civic is.

As to Honda "buying" the award: I doubt they did it literally, but as with the CR Japanese sweep it is becoming increasingly apparent that Detroit has completely lost the ability to impress certain members of the automotive press.

Where the true controversy begins is whether the fault lies with Detroit or the press.

Despite what the press has been shouting lately, GM and Ford far outsell anything from Japan on this continent - so they must be doing something right some of the time.

[haypops]

The Ridgeline exceeded its first 12 month 50,000 sales expectations (by a few hundred vehicles). For a 'niche' vehicle, or a SUT, or a 'stupid wannabe-truck' as some of you like to call it  , that is pretty good, yes?

It's fine to have a hoby aspiring to a Honda, but its too much when you come here and blow barbeque flavored particulate matter (smoke) up our collective anus. The ridgeline is selling for 4-5K less than the similar pilot and they have to throw in 4 wheel drive too. Most of these sales are subveted leases to Honda employees.

[Guest YellowJacket894]

I spy with my little eye...two Honda trolls in this thread...

As for Honda having a 45 per cent stake in controlling the press, tell me something that wasn't news about a few weeks ago. It's all just part of Honda and Toyota's sceme to become the first legal U.S. monopolies by means of some f@#king loophole.

[siegen]

Most of these sales are subveted leases to Honda employees.

Not that I'm arguing what you're saying, but can you show proof?

I spy with my little eye...two Honda trolls in this thread...

Most of the time I argue for Honda, because everybody argues against it. I don't like any Toyota's and would never own one, yet I also have argued for Toyota on different occassions, when I feel people are being blind and bashing just because.

[Variance]

I spy with my little eye...two Honda trolls in this thread...

Trolls? No. Trolls don't use logic in their posts. Otherwise they'd impode. Not a pretty sight.

[haypops]

Not that I'm arguing what you're saying, but can you show proof?

Most of the time I argue for Honda, because everybody argues against it. I don't like any Toyota's and would never own one, yet I also have argued for Toyota on different occassions, when I feel people are being blind and bashing just because.

No direct proof, it's just standrd operating procedure for very poor selling vehicles like the ridgeline, Aztek, and Echo. We will see in about a year when the dealers get them back form lease.

As far as the bashing comments about Toyota (mostly) and Honda (some), I agree some of the comments are way over the top.

[Sixty8panther]

I think the coolest Honda ever was the CRX....

if the Legend had been RWD it would have been a great vehicle.

[sciguy_0504]

Even though I am not a fan of the Fudgeline and only somewhat like the Civic coupe, I say Honda is well within its right to advertise these awards, conspiracy theories or not. The 300 was the "most-awarded new car" in history...and was advertised even more heavily.

[ToniCipriani]

Here's a tip you fu*king clowns: cab forward was cool in 1996 but not in 2006. If I have to worry about not having acess to my engine bay for fear of the windshield it'll at least be for a car worth owning, like a 2002 Camaro SS.

I almost burst out laughing when I tipped over my friend's friend's coolant tank when he took it out to install white lightbulbs. That was a Civic Si.

[Mule Bakersdozen LS]

How is it that the POS Civic gets more primitive and un-enginered wiht each new generation but still is marketed as forward thinking and modern.

Here's a tip you fu*king clowns: cab forward was cool in 1996 but not in 2006. If I have to worry about not having acess to my engine bay for fear of the windshield it'll at least be for a car worth owning, like a 2002 Camaro SS.

The Civic was a far better car in 1993 then it is today, used to be the car was praised simply for it's superior double wishbone suspension and how it made it heads above the American competition, now they went to McPherson Struts (you know the POS setup that was mocked in the Cavalier & Escort) and Honda is still far superior to GM etc...

Honda, even more so than Toyota is the biggest farce & B.S. machine in the Automotive world.

While that's true about cab-forward no longer being 'in' as far as it goes in 2006 America, look at many emerging European (and Asian) designs on small cars-they're very monospace/MPV-inspired-a new sort of cab-forward which the Civic followed in most respects, not innovated. And I'm not crazy about the Civic designs either, especially when the exterior's larger and the inside's much smaller.

[siegen]

I think the coolest Honda ever was the CRX....

[Flybrian]

What he said ^.

[Intrepidation]

Couldn't agree with you more on that, the best Civics ever were '88-'00!

Honda cars are not the same as they were ten years ago.

They're going too mainstream, however, the Civic is currently the most substantial-looking compact out there.

The award for most substantial compact goes to this:

not this

Although I admit the Si couple looks pretty good.