RobbJK88
Senior Member
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2015
- Threads
- 22
- Messages
- 1,099
- Reaction score
- 669
- Location
- Ohio
- Vehicle(s)
- 2019 Honda Civic EX Coupe
- Vehicle Showcase
- 1
An auto Si wouldn't necessarily cannibalize the sales of the upper trim (touring) civics either, even with a lower price. It's all about demographic. The Si is bound to have more power, yes. But equip it similarly to the EXT trim that means people that want leather still go to the EXL and Touring models for those added features. Also, the Si would undoubtedly fall short in the fuel mileage compared to the regular civics. People who want more luxury, softer ride and higher mpg get the normal civics. People who want firmer ride, more power (at the loss of a few mpg) and value performance over added features would go for the Si. It's a different demo, someone looking at a touring wouldn't necessarily want the Si just to get more power if luxury and efficiency were their priority.
And again, sad to say.. the si is NOT a sports car... sport injected does not = sports car... the civic is an economy car, even in Si form... it's simply a sporty variant. True sports cars are cars like the Prelude, S2000, NSX etc. It's not right to compare the Si to a real sports car as it'll fall short in almost every category of a true sports car enthusiast.
And the Type R is absolutely the sportiest variant. It has the most upgraded handling and power output, and is by far closer to a true sports car than the Si has ever been simply for the fact that it throws most if not all of the "economy" factors of the civic out the window in favor of true pure performance.
It's redundant to create a GT/GTR variant of the civic if the only difference between it and the Si is a transmission. They'd net more sales using the tried and true Si monicker that has way more notoriety and history attached to it. And no, DCTs aren't that expensive, not for cars like these... they can be had for roughly $1000 over the manual variant, just look at examples like the GTI, Veloster, and a few of fords models that use DCTs. Hell, just look at the acura lineup and it's easy to see DCTs don't add anywhere near 3-4k over a manual. My marketing view is far from flawed, it's what i do for a living. It's not as black and white as this car has more power and this one doesn't. It's the same reason the civic coupe has different features on it's trims than the sedan. Demographics are complex and varied. It's short sighted to assume that a civic touring customer would buy an Si just because it offers more power and vice versa.
the other argument i hear is it'll eat up ILX sales. Well, that'll soon be a non-issue too as Acura slowly moves it's entire lineup to adopt its various AWD systems that aren't available on the civic, si, or type R models that'll stay FWD. Also, luxury cars are all about image or else audi wouldn't do as well as it does since many of it's cars are mechanically identical to their VW counterparts at least in some trim level.
And again, sad to say.. the si is NOT a sports car... sport injected does not = sports car... the civic is an economy car, even in Si form... it's simply a sporty variant. True sports cars are cars like the Prelude, S2000, NSX etc. It's not right to compare the Si to a real sports car as it'll fall short in almost every category of a true sports car enthusiast.
And the Type R is absolutely the sportiest variant. It has the most upgraded handling and power output, and is by far closer to a true sports car than the Si has ever been simply for the fact that it throws most if not all of the "economy" factors of the civic out the window in favor of true pure performance.
It's redundant to create a GT/GTR variant of the civic if the only difference between it and the Si is a transmission. They'd net more sales using the tried and true Si monicker that has way more notoriety and history attached to it. And no, DCTs aren't that expensive, not for cars like these... they can be had for roughly $1000 over the manual variant, just look at examples like the GTI, Veloster, and a few of fords models that use DCTs. Hell, just look at the acura lineup and it's easy to see DCTs don't add anywhere near 3-4k over a manual. My marketing view is far from flawed, it's what i do for a living. It's not as black and white as this car has more power and this one doesn't. It's the same reason the civic coupe has different features on it's trims than the sedan. Demographics are complex and varied. It's short sighted to assume that a civic touring customer would buy an Si just because it offers more power and vice versa.
the other argument i hear is it'll eat up ILX sales. Well, that'll soon be a non-issue too as Acura slowly moves it's entire lineup to adopt its various AWD systems that aren't available on the civic, si, or type R models that'll stay FWD. Also, luxury cars are all about image or else audi wouldn't do as well as it does since many of it's cars are mechanically identical to their VW counterparts at least in some trim level.
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