siegen

There's really no way to justify it. It's too much money for not enough performance increase. But they're only making at most 1000 copies (not per year, that's total), and it's likely they will all sell to Mugen/Honda enthusiasts who have extra money to spend on something like this.

Hmm, VW has a strong showing here, lol.

Well on the bright side, once Toyota makes it into single digit MPG, there's only one way to go, and that's up!

The Aztek also happens to be about as slow as the CR-V, despite the V6. fueleconomy.gov shows that the CR-V averages about 1-2mpg better than the Aztek. For an SUV, 23mpg is good in the city, regardless of powerplant. The gearing and lightweight of the CR-V makes up for the smaller engine size. Of course it can't tow anything.

Typo?

I'm still waiting for the LX570h.

I suppose an iron-block 350 carbureted chev is about as good as it gets huh? *cue tim allen grunt :AH-HA_wink:

No value? You're delusional. The TSX offers good performance (on par with IS250, 9-3 2.0T), excellent fuel economy, tons of standard luxury and safety features, a sleek design, great interior, a really low price, and the highest rated dealership in a recent Pied Piper study (ahead of Lexus even, ooooh). But oh noes, the Turbo Lag!

Performance is still important, even in a hybrid, and the Aura is just downright slow. Altima- 47mpg city, 7.6s 0-60, 15.6s 1/4 Aura- 19mpg city, 11s 0-60, 17.9s 1/4 That paints a pretty bad picture. Why is the Altima not available in all states while the Camry is? They use the same hybrid drivetrain...

You know all 4 of those are subjective points. At least give some real reasoning. Why is it the best FWD rocket? Why does it have better value? What do you mean by un-engineered? So you're saying the last good Civic was the 5th gen '92-95?

I've been thinking. People who are loyal to GM, generally don't buy Ford or Chrysler, right? They are loyal to GM only. People who are loyal to Toyota, would probably still consider a Honda or Nissan, because they're actually just loyal to the image of a high-quality Japanese car, and not Toyota in particular. So, it would be easier for Honda and Nissan to steal sales away from Toyota than from GM, specially with the new Accord around the corner. I think some new GM vehicles like the Aura and Malibu will steal sales back from Japanese makes as well. Am I just crazy for thinking this way?

I test drove a TSX 5sp auto 3 weeks ago, and then a 6sp manual last week. The auto didn't really feel gutless, as long as it down shifts, but sometimes that can take a tap on the pedal. I just can't stand driving autos. The 6sp was nice. Unlike other 2.4L powered cars (Accord, Altima, etc etc), the powerband in the TSX is designed to pull smoothly to the redline, rather than provide big push in the low rpms. It takes a little getting used to. It's a more fun car to drive IMO. Btw, I test drove both for over 20 minutes, on the freeway and everything. My Acura dealer is really nice, I just walked in and was like I want to test drive this, I probably won't buy it, and they threw me the keys. I'm probably going to be buying a TSX 6sp soon (ish).... Black on Black with navigation. Just gotta find one. Interior wise, I thought it was fairly good. The door was soft materials, which is what you touch mostly. I don't remember if the upper dash was hard or soft plastic, the lower dash was probably hard plastic.

If an Escalade got 16mpg city, that would be pretty damn good! lol If he was selling the Escalade solely because of mileage, and jumping into a Ridgeline that gets 16mpg city (saving him about $1000 per year in gas approximately, assuming he drives 14-15k per year), then that's a pretty dumb choice. But maybe he was doing it because of other reasons too. The Ridgeline is rated to 15mpg in the city, so if he's getting 16mpg then that's ok.

That's such an ugly picture of the fit. The U.S.-spec one, while not too different, has body colored head lamps, a better bumper, nicer rims, and the lip/spoiler kit on the Sport trim. Makes it look much better IMO.

If you engine break with a manual trans, you could theoretically get ∞ mpg. The best hybrid was the manual transmission Insight. Then they replaced it with a junky CVT and both performance and mileage dropped.

If the Ridgeline receives its refresh for the 2009 model (like the rumors suggest), it will be 3 years after its intro. First year was 2006. This is fairly normal for Honda. Models like the Element and S2000 and other niche vehicles don't run on the normal schedule, and the Pilot is 1 year overdue for a new model. Civic: 01, 02, 03, refresh in 04, 05, new model in 06 Accord: 03, 04, 05, refresh in 06, 07, new model in 08 Ridge: 06, 07, 08, refresh in 09, 10, new model in 11 Pilot: 03, 04, 05, refresh in 06, 07, 08, new model in 09 CR-V: 02, 03, 04, refresh in 05, 06, new model (reg's favorite) in 07 Element: 03, 04, 05, 06, refresh in 07, 08 S2000: 00, 01, 02, 03, refresh in 04, 05, 06, 07 NSX: 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 00, 01, refresh in 02, 03, 04, 05 (the NSX had various revisions during that time, like a larger engine and different trims, but the body style didn't change until 02)

A V10 is confirmed in the next NSX/GT car, and hopefully it will find its way into an RL Type S. There are already rumors floating around about a V8 in the next RL/Ridgeline, nothing is confirmed yet though. The thing that sets Honda apart from Toyota is that they don't just enter a new market to gain market-share and profit (IE: Tundra), but they actively try to improve upon what's already in that market. For the next V10 powered NSX, they are setting a very difficult mpg goal of 23.5, which is using the Japanese "standard 10.15-mode fuel cycle" and is close to our combined rating (see this thread). For comparison, the Z06 Corvette achieves 18mpg combined with the new rating system. The next NSX will probably weigh more and be AWD.

Very unlucky on their part.

The new CR-V has been selling at about 150% every month for the last 8 months since its intro. Now why would Honda add incentives to it? And on top of that, only about 0.6% of those are going to fleet (compared to RAV4 at 11.9%, Escape at 28.2%, and Vue at 10.3%).

Big change? The Ridgeline is receiving its mid-year refresh, which is normal for the 3rd year of a model. $3,500 on the Ridge and Pilot is a hell of a lot.

Man everybody around you is buying Pilots, huh? Looks like you've been spending too much time evangelizing on this board and not enough time persuading your neighbors and buddies not to get Pilots! :AH-HA_wink:

or through the use of a better catalytic converter.

My car gets over 100mpg....... rolling downhill with a tail wind. Hybrids are completely useless! :AH-HA_wink:

The owner used to drive a Mercedes, he probably has a lead foot. :AH-HA_wink: Well, gee, maybe that's because it is indeed possible. Mr. Attorney here doesn't know the different between a necessity and a possibility, and needs to go back to school and take Philosophy 101 again. Just because Joe Blow can't get the EPA rated mileage, doesn't mean nobody else can. The grounds of this lawsuit are retarded.

So are these things going to perform as poorly in crash tests as other Chinese cars? Headline: Chrysler, first automaker to offer glowing cupholders in entire lineup! Unfortunately, market analysts predict that glowing cupholders will not save struggling automaker, and that they should focus on making better cars. In other news: Al Gore's son gets pulled over for driving a Prius 100mph.