Yes, in most countries this is the case.

 

Honda is a big enough market to warrant having products catered to our needs/regs, i.e. the US Accord has historically been larger than the ROW model.

"One size fits all" is cheaper, but not the best way to maximize market share.

 

From the post over in S2000 Talk, Honda seems to be moving to two main models - Accords and Civics. More of a one size fits all model.

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=661078

 

deja vu - the Model T lineup is back!

 

pushrods and buggy springs on every car ..yeah ,,,,devolution


Wait that's what Corvettes have !!!!!

 

Take the F20C for example... it's not that these engines have low torque (at the crank before gear multiplication, btw), but rather they have exceptionally high horsepower for the given engine size.

 

No, I didn't mean technology devolution, but a limiting of choices harkening back to the "you can have it in any color as long as it's black" days. Obviously it won't be that extreme, but it looks like dark days ahead for Honda fans.

As for your quip about Corvettes, the ZR1 clocked 7:26 at the Ring - the 5th best production car time ever, and well over a minute faster than the S2000 and NSX. Another pushrod car, the Viper ACR, recorded the best @ 7:22.

I don't see myself buying a Corvette or Viper, but there's no reason not to respect their performance.