I heard an interesting tidbit this afternoon. Was getting some tire work done and while talking with the guy in charge he asks me if I heard that the S2000 was going to be re-badged as an Acura. Seems his friend is a Service Manager for one of the local dealerships. The SM was telling this guy how his dealership sent three of their technicians to be trained on the S2000 on the dealerships dime. Then the SM finds out recently that within a year or two that the S2 would be badged an Acura. So the SM was pissed because now he could lose the tech

 

Perhaps when Acura introduces the new NSX V-8 in the $145K range, Honda feels a re-badged S2K for $50K with a little more power/refinement would be a good fit; who knows. Maybe it'll even have a better stereo and a glass rear window. That would give us all a better reason to hold on to our Hondas.

 

I dunno about that story. I think it's a buncha hooey. I mean, I'm sure Honda would love to milk people for the dime they'd gain from the rebadging. But to my knowledge, the only company to ever do that, is Chrysler with that new trash...the Chrysler Voyager. And that's only because they dissolved Plymouth.

Anyway...with the RS-X coming soon...I doubt that they'll do anything. After all, the big hype on Acura brochures is..."Performance Minded Luxury Cars." The S is pure performance, but a beefier stereo with a little more output would still leave it a race car. I think it's just more hype that some guy started, and it somehow filtered down to a couple techs, the SM, and the tire guy...

 

..."Performance Minded Luxury Cars."


So Rahvis, how do you explain the Integra Type R?

The reality is nobody knows what Honda is going to do. I would love to see Honda produce the car in limited numbers for only a couple of years, then drop the vehicle. Would make it more special then it already is.

My 2 cents.

 

Nah dude...the Integra Type R is old school Acura now. Look where the company is headed. Obviously they got rid of the Type R. What they plan to do now, is bring out the RS-X in (from what I've heard so far) 2 trim levels. The base should be sporty with a 2 liter engine rumored at around 160-180hp. The other line will be like the newer CL and TL. It'll be a Type S. The Type S is sporty as hell, but not as extreme as the Type R lines. In the case of the RS-X, it should be around 200-215hp. It's also rumored to have automatic climate control like its siblings. Clearly that's nothing like the Integra Type R. I'm not saying they won't make one down the line...but with the Type S, I highly doubt it.

I mean, they make the NSX, but that's nearly exotic...and in America anyway...wouldn't sell for the bucks it does with the Honda badge. We have to keep in mind that Acura only exists for America, and Honda's been around for a while from SMART moves. I'm sure they put plenty of thought into the badging of the car well before its release.

But look at the CL/Cl Type S, the new TL/TL Type S...the list is going to move in that direction.

 

I'm tellin' ya, they're gunna put a 6 in there for me, and make it the entry level NSX!

360HP S2000, here we come!!!