Tom: It's an interesting area for our parts people, but there are some difficulties that go along with that. Obviously, anything on the engine side could possibly run afoul on the emissions regulations. Private individuals can do those things, especially when the car is not new. Dealers can't do that to a brand-new car. We do have dealers that specialize in this stuff and who will sell you the parts and then direct you to someone who can do the installation.
Dealers, in most cases, have a very high volume of parts and service business anyway. It's not specialized; it's kind of routine parts and service. The area we're talking about is very specialized. The user has a special purpose for it; he or she wants it a certain way, whether it be the ride height of the car, the suspension, or the sway bars. All those things are almost custom-done and could present a possible problem for the dealer. Dealers are aware of the market and will probably continue to do some of the dress-up stuff, but the real hardcore modifications will continue to be done by aftermarket suppliers.
Matt: You mentioned Toyota and its plans to go after this market. You can now get a lowering kit and other Toyota Racing Development accessories directly from a dealer.
Tom: Yeah, and the superchargers and all that other stuff. We do not have a company like TRD. Obviously Mugen has developed a lot of parts for Honda products, but Mugen is here in Japan and has very little available in the U.S. The yen versus dollar situation makes that kind of prohibitive anyway. You probably won't find a lot of that, but there are so many people who specialize in Hondas and Acuras like Jackson Racing and HKS, that I don't think we have to do it. I think our role is to give them the basic product, and in many ways improve on that basic product. We want to give them a better starting point and let them improve from there. In saying that, though, we are probably going to develop one or two project cars ourselves. And we'll probably take them a bit further than we have in the past. We're thinking of getting our R&D group involved in a couple of them and seeing what the reaction is. So I guess you could say we might go to the next step.
Matt: Will the Integra Type R be coming back to America?
Tom: (Smiling) Let's just say there are strong rumors that the Type R will be com-ing back.
Matt: So I guess we can scratch my next question about discussing the differences between the new one and the old model. Is there anything new that you can tell our readers about that they might find interesting or exciting?
Tom: Yes, there are, but it's too early to talk about them yet. There will be some things coming that are more germane to your readers than to others. It won't be in the Civic class, maybe a little higher level than that. In general, we are trying to improve the performance level on a lot of our products, not just the Civic coupes with the Si. We are doing a lot on both the Honda and Acura sides.
Driving Impression: Civic Type RThe Civic Type R is the most exciting Honda I've ever driven. It is raw aggression in its purest form. It is, in my estimation, the closest Honda has come to producing a race car for the street. Even more so than the NSX. Yes, I've driven an NSX, an Integra Type R, and a Civic Si. None of them compare to the Civic R. It screams for you to drive it at its limits all the time.
Try as I have to put my driving experience into words (after all, that is my job, isn't it?) I'm not sure it can be done. I listened to my fellow journalists speak in the usual auto-weenie lingo about its handling, its acceleration, blah, blah, blah. The car shines in all those categories. Its acceleration throws you back in the red Recaro. Its brakes try to throw you through the windshield. You don't shift the Civic R; you "click" it into gear. The throws are that short and precise. See, blah, blah, blah.
By Matthew Pearson
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