Quote:
Originally Posted by Re_Invention
I don't see it that way given the market conditions & landscape of competitor offerings - or more specifically, against Toyota. What did Toyota have 10 years ago and what do they have today that is sporty and Honda could/couldn't compete with?
2003
Matrix XRS - Civic SI
Celica GT-S - RSX type S
Solara? - Accord Coupe
MR2 Spyder - S2000
IS300 - TL
- NSX (although I grudgingly put this in  )
2008
- Civic SI
- TSX
Solara? - Accord Coupe
- S2000
IS350 - TL
2013
FRS - Civic SI
- ILX
IS350 - TL
- TSX
As for the current 'overweight' Accord, it was considered most fun to drive in this recent comparison;
http://www.edmunds.com/hyundai/sonat...ison-test.html
And here it got 2nd, also praised for fun to drive
http://www.caranddriver.com/comparis...rd-ex-l-page-6
The current Type R to take on the Ring time, while very cool and interesting, isn't something we'll see. In fact, wasn't that going to be limited to a few hundred production cars? Anyways, point being, whether the product is good or not, the fact that they've offered/still offer to sell a product that can be considered sporty - that's my point. Honda has been doing it in accord (ha.. ha... ha) with the market/competitors [and I'd argue better] and so there's no need to be nostalgic for a brand that's "lost it's way". It isn't like they've turned into Lotus. |
Those are some pretty liberal comparisons you have there
I'd also disagree about calling some of those cars (TL, Accord Coupe, ILX) sporty and cheap options. I'll also note that the list of offerings is growing smaller for both companies from 2003 --> 2008 --> 2013.
But the bigger question is, why the specific comparison to Toyota? I'm making an absolute statement about Honda, not a relative comment about how sporty Honda has been relative to Toyota over the years. Looking at Toyota's offerings that you've written out, they seem to have similarly lost some of their sporty models in the 2000's, so a direct comparison between Honda and Toyota might not be the best way to evaluate Honda over the years.
Also for the sake of thoroughness, I'll just point out that the IS-F and LFA seem to be missing on the Toyota list.