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This is Why Phones Seem Cheap

Started by George Knighton, December 30, 2012, 09:50:31 AM

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George Knighton

This is why collecting phones seems a little...inexpensive....

Annoying new poster.

twocvbloke

At least they're Acura-branded Honda Integras, so will never need much maintenance...  :D

George Knighton

No, not much.

The black #110 is a K20A(*) DC5 ITR motor.  It can go three days of sprint sessions and not use a drop of oil...and the oil's so clear you have to focus hard to be able to see it on the stick.

The white #120 is a different story.  It is the OEM B18C5 (USDM) motor and it has about 200,000 miles on it, most of it on the track.  It was built to H2 Honda Challenge rules, and it has been driven constantly by my driver who is...well, let's just say he's not slow.  It's going to give up the ghost soon, I am sure.
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George Knighton

This is from quite a few years ago, before the car was configured in its present form.

It became a favourite Internet meme among a certain crowd for quite some time, and it still shows up every once in a while.

When your foot's down in Turn 5, though, you're going to end up out there.  Although it looks like it's not on the apex, it's actually faster because you're already pointed at the turn in for Turn 6.

And on that particular day I did pass that Cobra.  Just for the record.

So even though the guy who put this together doesn't understand this particular track and this particular turn when driven with a momentum car, it is still a pretty funny picture to have put together. 

It especially pops up when I'm being a jerk or sounding like a know it all.  :-)

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twocvbloke

Hondas will take a lot of abuse and still run rings round most western cars, even when falling apart at the seams... :D

One interesting thing about Acura is they sell the Euro/Japan version of the Honda Accord as an Acura, but Honda themselves sell a completely different model as a genuine Honda Accord, though you don't get the "Tourer" models (Estate or Station wagon, depending on your version of English :D ), which are pretty handy looking Hondas... :)

That's all I know about Acura... :D

George Knighton

Quote from: twocvbloke on December 30, 2012, 10:48:24 AM
Hondas will take a lot of abuse and still run rings round most western cars, even when falling apart at the seams... :D

One interesting thing about Acura is they sell the Euro/Japan version of the Honda Accord as an Acura, but a completely different model as a genuine Honda Accord, though you don't get the "Tourer" models (Estate or Station wagon, depending on your version of English :D ), which are pretty handy looking Hondas... :)

That's all I know about Acura... :D

Yes, the Acura TSX is a Honda Accord in the UKDM and European markets, and elsewhere.

The USDM Honda Accord, interestingly enough, is sold in Japan as a Honda Inspire, for them a huge and borderline luxury vehicle.

The Acura TL and upcoming TLX were designed for the USDM and Canadian markets, and made exclusively in North America.

In the long run, it pays to build plants in the market where you are selling, and it pays to hire people from within the market you will be trying to manage.

Some very nice Hondas are designed by the British team at Swindon, but the UK has stayed away from the Eurodollar, and this makes the exchange rate against the dollar ridiculously disadvantageous.

One of the least successful cars that Honda has intended to mass market was the Civic hatch of the 2002-2005 period, the EP3 line.

Because it was imported from Swindon, it had to sell for $20,000 sticker.  It was intended to sell for $16,000 and if they'd been able to sell at that price they'd have decimated the competition.
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George Knighton

#6
This is my everyday driving car, another very unpopular Honda design.  But, I'll tell you, as ugly as it is you're not going to find a car that does what this does for anything near the price.  (This is not my actual car.  But my car looks EXACTLY like this one, wheels, spoiler, everything.)

I bought mine in November 2009.  This 2010 model year was the first year for the 6-6 SH-AWD version, so I didn't buy in 2009.  66,000 miles and never a moment's issue.

The black #110 Integra, by the way, has been owned since November 1999.  I drove from Richmond VA to Atlanta GA where a dealer had promised to hold his first black ITR off the truck for me.  

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twocvbloke

Ugly cars are usually the most fun cars... ;D

I think my friend in Texas had one of those Civics you mentioned, he put lots of thousands of miles on the thing and it never complained, and went on for years, when it was replaced it needed some work on the drivetrain (bearings I think), but still flew like snot in a sneeze... :D

As for building cars in the market you're selling, I don't think we have much left here in the UK, most of the cars we have are imported, the only brand I can think of that still makes their cars here is Nissan in Sunderland, and they only make the Micra and Juke (or "joke" as I call it!!) models, pretty much everything is made abroad now due to buyouts and business collapses (like the Rover group for example)... :-\

Still, there's three cars I'd certainly have in my life if I could, a Citroen 2CV, a Honda Accord, and maybe an original, non-BMW Morris/Austin Mini... :)

George Knighton

Quote from: twocvbloke on December 30, 2012, 11:10:32 AM
...and maybe an original, non-BMW Morris/Austin Mini... :)

The Duke of Edinburgh's personal getaway car used to be a Mini.  That famous hacked cell phone call when he was calling his son an idiot was hacked while he was driving through traffic in his Mini.

The only good thing I have to say (as someone who lives in Virginia) about the buyouts is that Tata seems to be taking Jaguar places it hasn't gone before.  Reliability and quality seems to be creeping forward, and Jaguar are finally about to get an AWD system.
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twocvbloke

I don't hold much regard for British brands, but the Mini was the one that stood out from the crowd with British Leyland, when they were first made, they made a hefty loss on every car they sold, but the rest of the BL lineup, nah, doesn't appeal to me, too much "That'll do" which made them rather unreliable... :D

I've not really followed the buyouts myself, all I know with anything bought in this country is that you struggle to find anything made in the UK, and cars are no exception... :-\

George Knighton

Quote from: twocvbloke on December 30, 2012, 11:28:41 AM
I don't hold much regard for British brands, but the Mini was the one that stood out from the crowd with British Leyland, when they were first made, they made a hefty loss on every car they sold, but the rest of the BL lineup, nah, doesn't appeal to me, too much "That'll do" which made them rather unreliable....

In those years, you were experimenting with Lord Wilson's socialist (almost communist) ideas.  Wilson and Heath went back and forth nationalising and de-nationalising industries.

For people living elsewhere and looking at British vehicles...we were a little puzzled.  The idea of a sports car with a solid axle and leaf springs in the rear, running on a tractor motor with oil filled side-draught carburettors...well...it put us off a bit.  :-)

Even the vaunted Rolls Royce was producing pretty bad cars in those days.
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twocvbloke

Quote from: George Knighton on December 30, 2012, 11:33:21 AMFor people living elsewhere and looking at British vehicles...we were a little puzzled.  The idea of a sports car with a solid axle and leaf springs in the rear, running on a tractor motor with oil filled side-draught carburettors...well...it put us off a bit.  :-)

Sounds like you're describing the Ford Mustang.... :D

I will admit, there are ideas in communism that are great, but, it's the people in charge who mess it up, and it all collapses, like the USSR, and like what'll happen to china if they don't sort themselves out... :D

But yeah, nationalising everything and then selling it off, it ruined us due to bad management, had Thatcher not decided to sell off the family jewels (namely the oil co's), we probably would have been in a better position today, but, that's what you get when you hire conservatives to run a country, it's all sellsellsell... :-\

Still, the Mini lasted for 50 odd years, so they got something right at least!!! :D

McHeath

I don't really know enough about UK politics to understand anything. 

But I do have a 2008 Honda Accord.  5 speed manual, EX, white with the tan interior. 

It's been a HUGE disappointment.  Had to have the tranny rebuilt at 30k!  A "known defect", it would pop out of third gear.  Had to replace the back brake pads at 35k!  Another known defect that Honda would not do a recall on and fix properly.  Have had three, count them, remote key fobs and they all broke.  Tech at the dealer told me it was another known defect, but at least they keep giving me free ones.  Don't hit a rock in the AC condenser, it's a 500 buck fix!  Honda could have put a few pennies of screen down there to make sure it did not get perforated with road debris, but nah.  Another known defect.

Plus it has a fair amount of crappy fit and finish.  Stuff that broke, busted, cracked, etc.  Like the glove box door that does not line up properly, the weatherstripping on the doors that spilt and had to be replaced, the fake chrome on the button of the emergency brake that peeled off. 

And then there's the annoying fact that my mom's 2000 Ford Taurus has neat little options that make life better that Honda still had not got around to doing in 08'.  Like the rear seat HVAC vents.  (oh the Accord got those a couple of years later)  Or the height adjustable pedals.  Come on Honda, how hard can it be?

Still have the wife's 95' Civic EX two door.  Sweet little car to this day, even nearing 200k.  That's why we bought the 08', but man, maybe we got a first year redesign lemon, or maybe they are all this way, but it's sure soured me on ever buying a Honda again.  Lazy.  That's the word to describe the 2008 Accord I own, it was designed and built by people who were phoning it in. 




AE_Collector

Wow, that is tough to hear Mcheath.

We went shopping for a new Honda Civic in 1984 and came home with a loaded Accord EX. In Canada I believe there was an Accord, an Accord LX and the Accord EX at the time. The EX had everything. 21 years and only around 150K miles (240K KM) I gave it to a friend who likes working on Honda's and he redid it all and put his daughter in the drivers seat.

We were then once again looking for a Civic and by 2005 the Civic was now larger than our old Accord anyway. At the time it was hard to get a Civic and if a dealer had one there was no bargaining at all. For the odd occasion that I buy a new car, I enjoy the "and I got a deal on it too" aspect so we kept looking around. Then I diescovered that in Canada only there was the Accura EL which was a loaded Civic. Even had things that we couldn't get on Civics like climate control AC (set the temp you want rather than choosing low, med or high) better stereo and leather upholstry. It was probably today (Dec 30) in 2005 so I went into an Accura dealer and they had lots to choose from and I got ours for maybe $300 to $400 more than the Civic would have been which was about $1500 of full price for the EL. Everyone was happy!

I also own a 1998 Honda Odyssey Van which has been great as well. I think that on all three of the Honda products that we have owned there has been one token little PITA item. On the EL the front passenger side electric window doesn't particularly want to go back up after opening it when it is raining out. I think the motor is weak, the dealer fiddled with it but same thing when it rains. It is rare that we would be putting the passenger side window down when it is raining anyway so maybe once a year when it happens we say, oh yeah....CRAP and then tug on it to help the motor along. Stupid thing but as I say, we have always had one little thing like that and everything else is great.

Terry