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Originally Posted by DeeezNuuuts83
Not really. It would've been a cool car, but they probably had enough business sense to know that they'd likely be selling at a price point that wouldn't have much bang-for-the-buck while being in a price bracket filled with cars that were faster and likely more fun to drive too. Also, it would've caused too much competition with the RSX, which was why they gave it the crappy 160 hp motor. Sure, they eventually put the full-strength 200 hp K20 in the 2006 Civic Si, but it was too little too late, but at least at that point, they didn't mind the internal competition so much since the RSX already had its opportunity to shine and make some money for them before killing it off.
I remember the RSX Type-S being somewhere around $23-24k if I remember correctly, while rumors of the Type-R coming stateside again would've put it right around $29-30k. At the time, that kind of money could've gotten you an Evo (which in 2003 had a starting MSRP of $28,987, plus another few hundred dollars if you wanted the wing) or STI (which was right around $30k). 2002 and onward became a rough time for NA sport compact cars priced in the mid-$20k range and higher, since the turbocharged cars were coming out, some with AWD, and costing not too much more while being way easier to mod.
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I'm sure it would've been neutered somewhat, but Honda is losing the battle right now. Their lineup once contained s2000, Prelude, Integra, Civic Si/Type-R, NSX, now it's junk like the CRZ which is mocked globally, a 2.4L junk Civic Si, and... a future $32270537 NSX. The execs at Honda are lost.