[2forme]

Originally Posted by SupraLove

The 8th Gen Si was a masterfully built vehicle. The shifter was so smooth you would have thought it was connected via a straight linkage. The balance of the chassis was so good, you wouldn't believe that it had a 62/38 front weight bias. Understeer? Very minimal; just a little left in for safety purposes. A bit of body roll was there, but it was controlled and didn't interfere with cornering at all. Suspension was firm, controlled and confident. Torque steer? Nonexistent. If you stepped into the car and drove it without knowing the name or badge on the back, you would think it was a RWD sports sedan. The engine was incredibly fun to wind up, and it had that ridiculously high 8400RPM cutoff that sounded so good. The steering was pretty on-center and had decent feel (although not as good as, say the twins' or the Miata's steering feel), and the clutch engagement was positive and had good feedback.

Not a trace of the boring and bland 1.8 Civic was left in the vehicle, and it sold so well because it was a legitimate sports car. It felt just like the DC5 Teg, and in some ways even better.

The 9th gen is a whole different story. 8000RPM redline? Gone in favor of a 7000RPM redline. Chassis balance? Same as before but with more understeer, and you can definitely feel the K24's weight up front. The suspension is softer and road feel is gone completely. The transmission is still a great Honda unit, with solid clutch engagement and a great shifter, but without the soul of the engine, it's no fun to shift. Body roll is definitely more pronounced and does interfere with cornering. The engine is too quiet. The car has lost its soul. It's no longer a legitimate sports car, but instead is merely a regular Civic with a bigger engine and a manual transmission. A lot of the Civic's regular econobox traits are left over. Honda just didn't try.

Honda has lost its mojo. No more S2000, no really good Civic Si anymore, no more NSX (the new NSX concept is a total joke)... Unless it comes out with an FR-S/BRZ competitor soon, Honda is going down the river worse than Toyota did, which was fortunately saved by the FR-S.

I think Subaru and Mazda both embody what Toyota and Nissan and Honda used to be. Car companies that make normal cars that don't deserve to be as fun to drive as they end up being, although Subaru is starting to lose it with their use of CVTs across the board. Mazda is still at it though, and their vehicles are still the best of any Japanese manufacturer because of how much driving enjoyment they give you.

Honda, get your damn act together and release a real sports car.

I can tell you've never had an 8th gen LOL.