When is Honda going to send over some competition?!? Just reading through Autoweek and it mentions the next generation Golfs headed to the US will have a 300hp turbochared 3.2L VR6 motor with AWD. WOW!

Now Subaru, Mitsubishi, and VW will have serious "R" type vehicles over in the US. And Honda still hasn't even hinted at giving us something....

http://www.autoweek.com/cat_co...85100

When the next Golf arrives in the United States, look for a range of engines, including a 150-hp 2.0-liter four, a turbo-charged 2.0-liter four in the GTI and a 250-hp 3.2-liter VR6. A turbo VR6 pushing 300 hp will arrive in the next-generation four-wheel-drive R32. Transmission choices will include a standard six-speed manual, optional six-speed automatic and Volkswagen’s double clutch sequential manual gearbox.

 

Although they have 300 hp AWD If I can remember the article I read, the times werent that impressive.. Props to VW for keeping up with the Japanese supercars

 

Honda has is content with selling millions of grocery haulers.... no need for new pocket rockets....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RaVAGE00 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Honda has is content with selling millions of grocery haulers.... no need for new pocket rockets....

</TD></TR></TABLE>

true, but honda needs to step it up. honda started it with the NSX and need to keep the dream alive.

 

No testing or times have been published for the next Gen Golf (V), which now (finally) has a independent rears suspension very similar to the current Ford Focus. The Golf is expected to handle much better than it does now, but not quite as good as the Focus.

The current Golf IV R32 has never been tested in US trim (non-turbo 240hp) and should be faster than the Eurospec version which was very tall geared for the Autobahn. Posts on VWVortex indicate the current R32 was hitting the rev limiter in the low 50's in second. That's considerably shorter than a stock VR6 and much shorter than the Euro R32 which should put it in the upper 5's 0-60. Not bad for a VW. With 50 more Hp, it should do quite well. Allegedly the R32 is in dealers right now based on pics posted and commentary from new owners.

 

Do you all really expect Honda to make a car with AWD and turbo?

If the answer is no, then why do you keep bitching about it?

Comparing Hondas to rally cars is retarded. So is looking solely at power ratings, as in the eternal debate about BMW vs. Mercedes.

Mercedes builds so-so NA motors, then slaps turbos and superchargers on them, and hooks them up to automatic transmissions in cars with fully electronic suspensions and brakes. Of course they're going to be faster in a straight line than a naturally aspirated BMW. But does that make them more fun to drive? Does that make it a better car?

Sometimes more isn't necessarily better.

 

The new AWD Golf, from what I have read, said that while power was good and suspension was better, it was so heavy that most of the benefit from the better chassis was lost.

We thought Honda was bad at making cars heavier. The new 2700lb Civics and RSX's have nothing on the 3000lb+ VW's. And VW started this whole lightweight hatch trend in the US.

Who knows what Honda has in mind for us though. The guys who bought the Hondas in the mid-late 90's are growing up and looking for something a little better, and Honda is losing out on that market in a big way.

 

for the record ross, i'd take any new mercedes over its model equivalent from BMW....

used is another story

i do agree, honda does its own thing. who cares what other companies were doing. Its not as if the ITR was the fastest car on Earth before the Evo 8 came out or something.

 

Minus the new SI, Honda sells every car they build and their sales have increased every fawking month for nearly 5 years!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Ross &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Do you all really expect Honda to make a car with AWD and turbo?

If the answer is no, then why do you keep bitching about it?

Comparing Hondas to rally cars is retarded. So is looking solely at power ratings, as in the eternal debate about BMW vs. Mercedes.

Mercedes builds so-so NA motors, then slaps turbos and superchargers on them, and hooks them up to automatic transmissions in cars with fully electronic suspensions and brakes. Of course they're going to be faster in a straight line than a naturally aspirated BMW. But does that make them more fun to drive? Does that make it a better car?

Sometimes more isn't necessarily better.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Ross, you are the muthafuckin' man!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by thaiphob &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

true, but honda needs to step it up. honda started it with the NSX and need to keep the dream alive.</TD></TR></TABLE>

they dont need to ...maybe a few years ago they did ...but the people in charge are different now ....its all about cost savings ....and making the most money ....Honda doesnt make its most profit in Japan ....there is too much competition over there .....

it makes its money HERE ....in the US ....and its only getting better for them ....why would they want to hurt a good thing ..and try to step back into the ring like they did with the last Type R's ..and only end up losing money ....

the majority of people who buy Hondas dont buy them for their performance .....

 

I don't see how giving us the new Type R is going to do anything. It will be severly outclassed in it's $27k+ price range now so likely the only people who would buy it are die-hard "Type R" fans who refuse to drive anything else.

But seriously nowadays you can get so much more car for that, especially since Acura will probably strip the Type R of alot of it's nifty features like the seats, pedals, steering wheel, wheels, etc. will be replaced with more standard and less exciting parts while the other car companies are going all out giving the sport compact market what they want. Honda has stepped out of the sport compact scene it seems.

 

Again what you guys have to remember (besides what was already mentioned) is that all these new cars are in the high 20k low 30k range. Take the cars these companies have that are the same price as the R was new and then start comparing.

 

HP HP HP

BIG DEAL!!!

Give me a Honda ANY DAY!!!

Why does so many people want these RTR (Ready to run) Cars?? Knowing FULL WELL that you will tear it a part and upgrade something.

Honda is Making $$$ doing what it does. Honda has no plans to bring over the R's DUE to disappointing sales of the DC2 R

If they DO it will be a near 30k car and Honda doesn't see that being such a big selling point.

 

Only the S2000 is exciting and perhaps one day the S2200