Quote:
Originally Posted by edk370
I think the "sport compact" era is a bygone. That's the "JDM, tuner crowd." I doubt there will be a resurgence.
It was cool when it was novel, when guys were swapping a twin-cammed VTECs in a 2000lb. CRX/Civic able to keep up with a stock Camaro V8 or something, bitd. Or when people turbo'd their motors with custom turbo setups...and Hondas hit 12s or faster. But when it became ubiquitous in the later 90s to mid 2000s....it lost its panache.
We're too spoiled these days anyways, with cars that are already really fast stock. I mean, supercars were doing low 13s/high 12s 10 yrs. ago. Now 12s is what the low 14s were bitd. Car manufacturers are gunning for 10s and 130+ trap speeds and 650+ hp. It's getting crazy...and I'm digressing  |
This is why the civic si and Integra gs-r were indoctrinated. So there were no longer a need for engine swaps in the U.S.
Tuning as whole is not as popular anymore. I don't think it's because of a lack of interest or
"better stock motors". It's literally because the F&F movie series single-handedly commercialized racing/tuning and murdered the affordability of the sport/artform.
What was a reasonable sport for the working poor is now an expensive pastime for the wealthy. For some reason, the wealthy no longer go into Porsche and higher dealerships to buy sports cars on the same level they used to. They buy sub-premium cars, then take their brand new cars to tuner shops and have a completely modified car 8 weeks after a cars release. It's no longer the slow caring process it once was. And the ones who do are a minority nowadays.
It's not that it's a novelty, commercialization has placed tuning/racing out of the average Joe's monitary reach.
Turbo engines will hopefully give the working poor back some of it's access due to less complex parts and procedures to tune turbo engines. NA engines cost way too much to get serious power out of, unless you intend for your car to only receive breather mods. This Honda definitely gives more access and I expect it to be an aftermarket success