by "davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
Published 03/23/2017 at 14:14
by "davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
Published 03/23/2017 at 14:14
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STARS: 0
While the styling’s far too much for my personal taste, I am very glad Honda is making this car, and selling it in the States. I honestly hope they sell like hotcakes to motivate other car makers to build competitors in this segment, but I’m having a challenge figuring out who they think they’re actually going to sell these to. This last marketing video seems to be targeted squarely at teenage boys, but this thing is going to cost $35k. Is this just a “halo car”, produced at a net loss to drive interest in the brand and used to bring people into dealerships to sell more entry-level Civics and Si’s? Are there that many guys (& gals) in their late 20s & 30s (40s?) that wanted a Type S so badly in high school that they’d be willing to drive to work in such a shouty collection of angles, vents and fins every day? Am I just officially old?
This car truly is the polar opposite (design-wise) of the Golf R, one of its main competitors. VW only sells a few hundred of the R per month; will be interesting to see if Honda can attract more sales with their R.
"Azrek" (azrek)
03/23/2017 at 14:25, STARS: 3
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
03/23/2017 at 14:41, STARS: 1
He looks so young .
Damn, that was 16 years ago.
"HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles" (hondasfordsvolvo)
03/23/2017 at 14:45, STARS: 1
Micheal Bay fans.
"HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles" (hondasfordsvolvo)
03/23/2017 at 14:46, STARS: 1
No way, back in the day Torretto drove an Rx7, not some ugly Honda.
"Tekamul" (tekamulburner)
03/23/2017 at 14:52, STARS: 3
I have no idea.
I feel like anyone over 25 is going to look ridiculous in one of these. So I guess the market is 18-24 year olds making ~$80k+ a year and wanting a FWD hot hatch.
"AfromanGTO" (afromangto)
03/23/2017 at 14:56, STARS: 2
They’re pretending like this game just came out, and now they’ll set records for being with the times.
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
"TheHondaBro" (wwaveform)
03/23/2017 at 14:58, STARS: 4
"Alfalfa" (alfalfa-romeo)
03/23/2017 at 14:59, STARS: 1
It’s targeted at people who still act like they’re in high school, but have big boy jobs. People who don’t make enough to buy a GT-R, before it had a 6 figure price tag.
"Tapas" (tapas)
03/23/2017 at 15:02, STARS: 1
Target market is people who can actually live with this origami sculpted lines on curves on creases in vents on doors and, oh look a wing! With winglets jutting out the side! And roof fins!
"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
03/23/2017 at 15:05, STARS: 0
Odds on whether buyers of these will add more? Canards, anyone?
"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
03/23/2017 at 15:06, STARS: 0
Nice.
"R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet" (r-saldana)
03/23/2017 at 15:11, STARS: 1
Well done Baku!
Oops i meant Honda.
Way to finally make some enthusiast cars for the year 2004
"Tapas" (tapas)
03/23/2017 at 15:11, STARS: 1
People who buy canards for this car (or canardz, as future 2018 Si owners call them) on Amazon also bought mini fart cannards.
You stick them on the inside of your butt cheeks to streamline your farts.
A butt diffuser is also under development.
"Trevor Slattery, ACTOR" (anacostiabikecompany)
03/23/2017 at 15:11, STARS: 1
It only looks presentable in black. The other colors look terrible with the black accents.
Still ugly. Like Crack Pipe ugly. But they are called Honda MOTOR company. They done mechanicals as good as any company, bar none.
Interior and exterior design...they are no better than Hyundai.
"RyanFrew" (ryanfrew)
03/23/2017 at 15:12, STARS: 2
I think it’s a HALO car, but I also think it’s going to sell. Here’s why: Despite all the market research in the world, people generally appreciate objects that are built unapologetically and with a purpose. Apple is a good example. There is an ethos to Apple. Their stuff is overpriced, but it’s beautiful, and it’s “them” and consumers eat it up (no pun intended). I think that’s what Honda just did. Subaru has been neutering the STi generation by generation. The Golf R is boring. The Focus RS...well...the Focus RS is awesome. But anyways, the point that I’m getting at is that this thing doesn’t have a target market, and will thus sell well-enough to people of varying demographics.
To return to my original analogy, someone who looked at Apple computers on paper would probably assume that they were purchased exclusively by graphic designers and rich people. And those people do buy Apple. But then you go walk onto a college campus...
"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
03/23/2017 at 15:18, STARS: 1
Like I said above, I hope you’re right!
The demand for one by the Honda faithful is definitely pent up, that’s for sure. Will be interesting to see what happens after that initial grab.
"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
03/23/2017 at 15:20, STARS: 1
If it truly is amazing to drive, I maybe would consider one if you could get it without the red striping all around and on the wheels, with a wing delete, and in all black...
"Funktheduck" (funktheduck)
03/23/2017 at 15:31, STARS: 1
I would not buy this car for any reason. I don’t care if it blows it’s competitors out of the water in every performance aspect.
It’s downright ugly and screams try hard. I couldn’t drive it. I can’t have my clients think I have the maturity and tastes of a 12 year old.
Fake vents, all the angles, extra plastic because race car looks, and absolutely no coherent design.
"Saracen" (manualdoucheelitist)
03/23/2017 at 15:34, STARS: 1
Blind yobbos.
"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
03/23/2017 at 15:50, STARS: 0
I laughed, hard.
"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
03/23/2017 at 15:51, STARS: 0
So, just how much are you loving your new ride?
"Saracen" (manualdoucheelitist)
03/23/2017 at 16:09, STARS: 1
10/10 would fly to San Jose and buy again.
"GUYMANDUDE" (guymandudebro)
03/23/2017 at 16:35, STARS: 0
If you think 35 is allot its probably not for you. Its a bargain for that performance category. Im guessing they are going for the yuppi market.
"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
03/23/2017 at 16:47, STARS: 0
All I know it that $35k is a lot more than a teenager or someone just starting their career should be spending on a car (unless their starting salary is $100k+).
Perhaps they’re targeting teenagers whose parents are wealthy enough to buy them a car this expensive and dumb enough to buy them one with 300 horsepower.
"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
03/23/2017 at 16:50, STARS: 1
I had no doubt that this would be the response. I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen a better spec-ed used car purchase - it’s like that guy made it just for you (or me, fwiw).
"Saracen" (manualdoucheelitist)
03/23/2017 at 17:00, STARS: 1
Seriously. I knew as soon as I saw the spec that it had to be mine.
"415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)" (415s30)
03/23/2017 at 17:33, STARS: 0
Well they will sell out because most dealers will only get one I guess.
"Cheesewhiz" (secondmouse)
03/23/2017 at 17:37, STARS: 1
I wonder as well, though I used to work with Honda’s product planners, some of whom are still there; They were the worst I’ve worked with in my career, by far. Just clueless about the needs of people, always relying on bad data or reaching unsupported conclusions...
The whole project seems to have been staffed by a young team that didn’t have enough supervision. It’s got some great go-fast tech but the adults it’s priced for are almost always repulsed by this kind of styling (I’ve worked on other be-winged, juvenile-styled products). They should’ve known that.
"GUYMANDUDE" (guymandudebro)
03/23/2017 at 18:01, STARS: 2
I agree with you that its ugly and overly juvenile. Really fast and furious.
I know allot of 20-something man child’s witg oil field money who grew up on fast and furious.
"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
03/24/2017 at 09:39, STARS: 0
Initially, but I hadn’t heard anything about it being a limited production run.
"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
03/24/2017 at 09:41, STARS: 0
What other kid-targeted products, if you don’t mind sharing?
"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
03/24/2017 at 09:42, STARS: 0
Well, that might be the target market. Hard to get on location, though...
"Cheesewhiz" (secondmouse)
03/26/2017 at 06:04, STARS: 1
It’d be a giveaway. But you can imagine.
"jasmits" (jasmits)
04/04/2017 at 14:39, STARS: 0
I’m not seeing who can afford this and would buy it over the Focus RS and the Golf R. All three are fast and fun, but the Golf R makes you look like an adult and the Focus RS scratches the boy racer itch while still being presentable.
"jasmits" (jasmits)
04/04/2017 at 14:52, STARS: 0
Sure, but you even brought up the Focus RS. It’s cool, it’s fast, it’s better looking. I’m just not seeing who buys this over the RS.
To go off your Apple analogy, as a student a Macbook actually makes a ton of sense. Most students need decent power(more majors than you would think need reasonably intensive software) in a compact form factor that will hold up to four years of daily abuse bouncing around in a backpack. A solid-quality Windows ultrabook that matches this criteria basically costs Apple money so at that point it’s up to personal preference(disclaimer: four years ago when I was buying my laptop Apple was a bit more up-to-date with the competition, I’m not sure I’d buy a Mac today after a long string of disappointing updates). The Focus RS is a Macbook. It is a solid package with lots of features people need and want in an attractive-but-practical package at a justifiable high price point. The Civic is a similarly priced gaming laptop with fins and gills and look-at-me styling, only practical for a small group of people and only appealing to a smaller group of those.
"Cheesewhiz" (secondmouse)
04/06/2017 at 16:54, STARS: 0
I agree. Those cars are extremely low-volume products too, so they’re not selling many of anything in this niche.
"jasmits" (jasmits)
04/06/2017 at 17:09, STARS: 0
For all the good press(I’m aware I follow a rather niche press) they receive it’s an occasion to see one in the wild. Although at this point I have seen a handful of RS’s and I must say, it looks even better in person than in the picture. I don’t think the Civic R will look better in person, judging off current normal Civic hatchbacks.
Even the FiST and FoST are a rather rare sight, the GTI seems to be a bit more common but they’ve also been selling it here a hell of a lot longer.
"Cheesewhiz" (secondmouse)
04/06/2017 at 17:53, STARS: 0
Yeah, but it’s important to remember that regionality and demographics are a big deal in car sales. I see a ton of Ferraris and Bentleys but they only sell “well” in certain markets, of course. GTI’s are everywhere...if a certain demo is prevalent in your area. And so forth...
Oddly, I’ve yet to see an RS or new Golf R. I just think the hatch limits its appeal (to others, not me) and they sell to demos I may not always see. So it’s always good to look at the sales data over anecdote, IMHO (I do this for a living).
"jasmits" (jasmits)
04/06/2017 at 18:08, STARS: 1
I split my time between Portland, Oregon and Bethlehem, PA(college student), I do see a lot of GTIs but especially in Portland I would expect more FiSTs.
100% of my Focus RS sightings(just 3) and a good portion the Golf Rs I’ve noticed(they kinda blend in, even to a car guy) have been in ski area parking lots. Which obviously makes sense with the demographic for the cars(youngish, active and relatively well-off) and skiers/boarders especially appreciate the AWD/hatch combo compared to other performance cars. There’ve always been tons of WRXs and STIs in those lots lol
"Cheesewhiz" (secondmouse)
04/08/2017 at 18:31, STARS: 0
I have to think they’d be reasonably popular in the rust belt, where snow is part of your year. Southern Cal, not as much. I recall 20 years ago Subaru’s “center of sales gravity” being firmly in the Pacific Northwest — As I’m sure you saw in Oregon. The rest of the country had simply not yet discovered their AWD goodness.
I suspect a few markets will belatedly “discover” those AWD hot hatches at some point down the road too...
"jasmits" (jasmits)
04/09/2017 at 10:29, STARS: 0
Yeah a green Subaru Legacy wagon is pretty much the classic Portland car.
AWD is popular in Pennsylvania but I tend to see more crossovers instead of hatches and wagons compared to the Pacific Northwest.