What makes the Honda buyers SO brand loyal?

[josh green]

I seriously dont understand everyones fetish with RWD. I have driven plenty and have driven some well setup hondas and FWD isnt a bad thing. The only thing a RWD can do that a fwd cannot is "step out" from acceleration.
People have always complained about Honda's lack of torque. Not many stop to think that Honda has ALWAYS made light vehicles (except for today) and gobs of torque really isnt needed. Who cares how high you have to rev it the gearing will make up for it. Even by todays standards Civics are still lighter than anything else. Hell a Cobalt is over 3k lbs.
My 2 favorite Hondas happen to be RWD. The S2k which is one of the BEST handling cars ever that is easily attainable, BUT people complain about its lack of torque or what not. It seems to do plenty fine through the mountains and around the race tracks without it. The NSX being the next. If you have ever actually driven one and I dont mean around town this car is sex. It handles so well its rediculous, its light, the brakes, I just cannot get over the balance of the car. Who cares that a new 350z makes more power and more torque, the NSX will kill it through the bends. I know there is quite the price gap but honesly the NSX was worth the price.
To the OP, you having a Mazda should know that more Mazdas are raced by private parties than any other car. Miatas and the older rx-7's have a big fan base for taking to the mountains, auto-x or race track. It seems a lot of people that own them now dont do anything with them ohter than hard park them. I guess thats fine if your into a show thing, hammered out poor handling cars or "JDM", but I have always owned a car to drive and not to spend money on "unique" things. I think the whole roof rack thing is silly if you bought it and dont carry a bike on it. But some people strive to be different in parking thier cars.
Look at the sheer volume of Hondas on the roads today, they were cheap and reliable back when they are new so people bought the crap out of them. Look at people other brand options for the cars age, I certainly wouldnt want an escourt, probe, cavalier, neon, gran prix, intrepid, tarus, etc...

[teh_mugen18]

I've driven about 3 cars in my lifetime, and my first was a 1989 Toyota Corolla. It made ~89whp, but it was NOT able to keep up with anything, and the cornering/braking on it was somewhat terrible as well. Nowhere near as fun as my Teg. My Teg, is a 1990. Now, this just proves how Honda made their lightweight cars, as my teg only makes 7hp more than the Corolla did, but it is indeed much much faster and the handling is a lot better.

Honda does a good job!

[ash7]

I'm loyal to Honda because of the "comfort zone" factor. If it were to break down, i know i could fix it, and if i didn't have the part - i know who to call.

I know which parts can swap over to what - and what it takes to make them fit.

I know if i screw up my civic so badly that it can't be salvaged, i can find another one, change out all the parts, and keep on without having to "lose everything."

I've had eight hondas and one nissan (which was my first car)
-jonathan

[Zeeb]

I'm loyal to Honda because of the "comfort zone" factor. If it were to break down, i know i could fix it, and if i didn't have the part - i know who to call.

I know which parts can swap over to what - and what it takes to make them fit.

I know if i screw up my civic so badly that it can't be salvaged, i can find another one, change out all the parts, and keep on without having to "lose everything."

I've had eight hondas and one nissan (which was my first car)
-jonathan

same with me. Its about knowledge. I know and am familiar with honda way more than anything else...

[JITB]

I'm loyal to Honda because of the "comfort zone" factor. If it were to break down, i know i could fix it, and if i didn't have the part - i know who to call.

I know which parts can swap over to what - and what it takes to make them fit.

I know if i screw up my civic so badly that it can't be salvaged, i can find another one, change out all the parts, and keep on without having to "lose everything."

I've had eight hondas and one nissan (which was my first car)
-jonathan

i agree, thats the reason ive owned mazdas, the comfort of knowing if anything goes wrong it can be repaired with ease..

[Professor X]

I will sum up my entire post with this one word, EFFICIENT!

My first car was not a Honda, but my last 8 cars have been. My dad bought a 1993 Legend brand new and I loved it, however he had a Toyota Celica before that. I started out with a 1990 Toyota Tercel. I loved the body line. I immediately wanted to make it fast and look good. Gas mileage was great, however there was no aftermarket support and the platform was pretty lame for building. Let's compare a 1990 Honda Civic. It comes stock with double wishbone suspension, a rev-happy peppy engine (notice I did not say fast), a nicely geared transmission, and nice looks. None of this requires you to swap over an Integra engine or brakes to enjoy, however you can have fun EFFICIENTLY!

I have to agree with Josh Green here. How many of our parents bought civics and accords in the early and mid 1990's. The sports car market was dying and the luxury car craze was not here. Lots of people bought civics, integras, accords, and preludes because of their EFFICIENCY. Teenagers were given Civics and Integras by their parents as first cars. Look at your other options in 1994 for a sport compact car. I will not bash other car makes and models, but there is no way you can place the Civic or Integra in last place of that debate.

There have never been a shortage of mods to do to these cars. With a 1992 Civic, you can choose from over 20 different engine combinations with drag, autocrossing, road race, or mpg in mind. Because of the huge aftermarket support and availability of used parts, you can build a nice fun car for pretty cheap and the engines are very EFFICIENT. Maintenance was never high so you can spend your money on mods instead of keeping the car running.

Is it just me or is it completely retarted to bring up lack of torque when discussing Hondas. Honda chose to be very EFFICIENT with their engine design. As a result, their engines put out very respectible horsepower numbers considering the displacement. You can't have horsepower without torque, by the way, but that is another debate. Please show me another engine of the same displacement that makes a ton more torque. The b16 has less than 1600cc's of displacement. The b18c has less than 1800cc's of displacement. Big surprise that it doesn't make gobs of torque. The sr20de puts out approximately the same horsepower as the b18b but 140 foot pounds of torque as a 2.0, while the b18b puts out approximately 132 foot pounds of torque as a 1.8. WOW, a whole 8 foot pounds of torque. While we're comparing apples to oranges, why not compare the h22 to the sr20 (i'm not putting down the sr20) or how about the k24 from the tsx which puts out close to 200wtq with bolt ons, cams, and tuning.

I am not saying Honda is the best by far, however, most of the engineering aspects used in mid 90's Honda's can be found in most of the cars on the road today. While other car manufacturers used iron blocks and closed deck sleeve designs, Honda used aluminum blocks with open deck sleeve designs. Variable valve timing and high compression are another technique that was not widely used that is now used to be EFFICIENT! How else could the cars today achieve all of the emissions and safety standards while making more power. One word, EFFICIENCY!

[DieselNuts]

I will sum up my entire post with this one word, EFFICIENT!

My first car was not a Honda, but my last 8 cars have been. My dad bought a 1993 Legend brand new and I loved it, however he had a Toyota Celica before that. I started out with a 1990 Toyota Tercel. I loved the body line. I immediately wanted to make it fast and look good. Gas mileage was great, however there was no aftermarket support and the platform was pretty lame for building. Let's compare a 1990 Honda Civic. It comes stock with double wishbone suspension, a rev-happy peppy engine (notice I did not say fast), a nicely geared transmission, and nice looks. None of this requires you to swap over an Integra engine or brakes to enjoy, however you can have fun EFFICIENTLY!

I have to agree with Josh Green here. How many of our parents bought civics and accords in the early and mid 1990's. The sports car market was dying and the luxury car craze was not here. Lots of people bought civics, integras, accords, and preludes because of their EFFICIENCY. Teenagers were given Civics and Integras by their parents as first cars. Look at your other options in 1994 for a sport compact car. I will not bash other car makes and models, but there is no way you can place the Civic or Integra in last place of that debate.

There have never been a shortage of mods to do to these cars. With a 1992 Civic, you can choose from over 20 different engine combinations with drag, autocrossing, road race, or mpg in mind. Because of the huge aftermarket support and availability of used parts, you can build a nice fun car for pretty cheap and the engines are very EFFICIENT. Maintenance was never high so you can spend your money on mods instead of keeping the car running.

Is it just me or is it completely retarted to bring up lack of torque when discussing Hondas. Honda chose to be very EFFICIENT with their engine design. As a result, their engines put out very respectible horsepower numbers considering the displacement. You can't have horsepower without torque, by the way, but that is another debate. Please show me another engine of the same displacement that makes a ton more torque. The b16 has less than 1600cc's of displacement. The b18c has less than 1800cc's of displacement. Big surprise that it doesn't make gobs of torque. The sr20de puts out approximately the same horsepower as the b18b but 140 foot pounds of torque as a 2.0, while the b18b puts out approximately 132 foot pounds of torque as a 1.8. WOW, a whole 8 foot pounds of torque. While we're comparing apples to oranges, why not compare the h22 to the sr20 (i'm not putting down the sr20) or how about the k24 from the tsx which puts out close to 200wtq with bolt ons, cams, and tuning.

I am not saying Honda is the best by far, however, most of the engineering aspects used in mid 90's Honda's can be found in most of the cars on the road today. While other car manufacturers used iron blocks and closed deck sleeve designs, Honda used aluminum blocks with open deck sleeve designs. Variable valve timing and high compression are another technique that was not widely used that is now used to be EFFICIENT! How else could the cars today achieve all of the emissions and safety standards while making more power. One word, EFFICIENCY!

More like 593 words...

[DeeAOne]

I'm loyal to Honda because of the "comfort zone" factor. If it were to break down, i know i could fix it, and if i didn't have the part - i know who to call.

I know which parts can swap over to what - and what it takes to make them fit.

I know if i screw up my civic so badly that it can't be salvaged, i can find another one, change out all the parts, and keep on without having to "lose everything."

I've had eight hondas and one nissan (which was my first car)
-jonathan

probably one of the main reasons for me. knowledge as well. and i know where to get what i need, when i need it.

[BlueHatch]

i have my 7th and 8th honda's in my garage and driveway. i love them for all the reasons stated before my post. dont get me wrong i enjoy looking at other cars, but id just rather drive a honda

[Terror]

IMO.. Great cars, reasonable prices, reliability, manufacturer history.... and they stand out in a way from other manufacturers. And like a lot of previous posts.. once you get to know one.. your really dont want to leave the brand.

[DieselNuts]

Ok, I've been wondering for the longest time. Everyone here keeps going crazy oogling over lowered CRXs Accords, and Civics that to me just look stock with wheels and maybe different headlights or something. Then there was a thread a while back somewhere along the lines of "List all the cars you've owned" and I found out that most people who own a Honda now, owned like 3 or more before that, with maybe a nissan or something sprinkled in the middle before they went back to Honda. Then (this one pisses me off a bit) there are lots of threads in the Car pictures section that have titles like "Got wheels on the coupe" or "the hatch is lowered" etc etc and I'm thinking "you cocky bastard, how full of yourself do you have to be to list a bodystyle only, and assume that we will know it is a Civic? I mean tons of cars come as a coupe, as a sedan, and as a hatchback". I have ridden in many Hondas and the interior quality didn't seem like anything spectacular, honestly the styling has NEVER done anything for me, and they're not particularly quick unless you get the top-of-the-line model or do a bit of work to make them quick. I just don't see why everyone loves them so much. Hell even owning one means you have to worry about your car being stolen more than the average Joe. Look, I am not insulting the Honda name, but I honestly have to know why everyone keeps coming back to them.

Ignorance is bliss

[2turbo4u]

The main reason for loyalty is what the import aftermarket done for the cars. It helped honda out with an internal solution to chassis building. The swaps, many motors and tranny can be used up and down the line to make a slow car a quick car. So the market followed with intakes, headers, suspension,motor mounts, etc. How many other manufacturers can do that? For the m ost part all honda/acura are fwd. So Honda stayed true to there basic idea and innovated new genre like near luxury class, spin off upmarket brand with their own dealerships.

[Zeeb]

repped -

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to DieselNuts again.

[87 Turbo II]

Well I can see all the points. I'm surprised nobody asked me if I was a Mazda loyal myself. It's even more narrow. My previous car was a rotary and my next car will most likely be one as well. My reasoning is because it is different, and I know a lot about the engine. I am not trying to be hypocritical but I just love my rotary, and I wanted to know the Honda end of that spectrum. A lot of good answers, but along with what JITB says, a lot of the things can be said about MANY cars, maybe it wouldn't hurt a great number of us here to buy something different next time around, including myself. To the person who said they've never understood the RWD craze, it is not JUST being able to kick the tail out, it's the fact that on a FWD car the front wheels have to do the accelerating, the braking, and the turning, by giving power to the rear wheels, you take a task off of the front wheels and give it less strain, also overpowered FWD cars suffer from torque steer. All in all it seems Honda is doing something definitely right.

[ash7]

To the person who said they've never understood the RWD craze, it is not JUST being able to kick the tail out, it's the fact that on a FWD car the front wheels have to do the accelerating, the braking, and the turning, by giving power to the rear wheels, you take a task off of the front wheels and give it less strain, also overpowered FWD cars suffer from torque steer. All in all it seems Honda is doing something definitely right.

RWD cars have a slightly greater control capacity than FWD cars, but are not as nimble in the easy corners, or as easy to recover from a mistake.

RWD cars also can have issues when provided with "too much" power - for instance, the tail sliding out in a corner and providing instant oversteer.

Here again, such as we did with brand loyalty - we run into the same issue of driver preference; and what they're more prepared to deal with.

-jonathan

[chunky]

1) I like to rev
2) I was drawn to the concept of a sleeper.
3) cheap to own/maintain, and not too expensive to mod
4) just plain fun to drive.
5) Probably the hardest point to explain, but honda engines are pretty amazing. The k20a2 is probably the finest 2.0L 4 cylinder engine ever made. There have been other 4 cylinder engines that maybe made more power stock, or had more electronic wizardry, but Honda found the perfect balance when they built this engine. Plus, I'm an all motor head, and Honda's commitment to n/a motors lines up well with my personal philosophies.

[Zeeb]

1) I like to rev
2) I was drawn to the concept of a sleeper.
3) cheap to own/maintain, and not too expensive to mod
4) just plain fun to drive.
5) Probably the hardest point to explain, but honda engines are pretty amazing. The k20a2 is probably the finest 2.0L 4 cylinder engine ever made. There have been other 4 cylinder engines that maybe made more power stock, or had more electronic wizardry, but Honda found the perfect balance when they built this engine. Plus, I'm an all motor head, and Honda's commitment to n/a motors lines up well with my personal philosophies.

Not... The F20 is , and the finest 2.2L engine is the F22 FTW s2000 < Honda at its best.... Besides formula one engines.

and to the second. amen. N/A FTW

[Humphrizzle]

The k20a2 is probably the finest 2.0L 4 cylinder engine ever made.

I disagree.

I am biased towards the B16 but there are a few others I would prefer over the K20a2.

Including:
K24A2
K20A
B16A/A2
F22C
H23A


All in all, every Honda engine was made very well but most are very well underpowered.

but, find a stock Civic EX 2000 and get a stock Cavalier 2000 and see which one is more responsive, quick, nimble and rev happy in all aspects.

I love my car because I bought it and I know almost everything about it.

I don't think I'll ever sell it.

[ash7]

I love my car because I bought it and I know almost everything about it.

I don't think I'll ever sell it.

lol you've had your Si up in the FS forum for at least three months.

-jonathan

[Humphrizzle]

Ok, I've been wondering for the longest time. Everyone here keeps going crazy oogling over lowered CRXs Accords, and Civics that to me just look stock with wheels and maybe different headlights or something. Then there was a thread a while back somewhere along the lines of "List all the cars you've owned" and I found out that most people who own a Honda now, owned like 3 or more before that, with maybe a nissan or something sprinkled in the middle before they went back to Honda. Then (this one pisses me off a bit) there are lots of threads in the Car pictures section that have titles like "Got wheels on the coupe" or "the hatch is lowered" etc etc and I'm thinking "you cocky bastard, how full of yourself do you have to be to list a bodystyle only, and assume that we will know it is a Civic? I mean tons of cars come as a coupe, as a sedan, and as a hatchback". I have ridden in many Hondas and the interior quality didn't seem like anything spectacular, honestly the styling has NEVER done anything for me, and they're not particularly quick unless you get the top-of-the-line model or do a bit of work to make them quick. I just don't see why everyone loves them so much. Hell even owning one means you have to worry about your car being stolen more than the average Joe. Look, I am not insulting the Honda name, but I honestly have to know why everyone keeps coming back to them.

Because it makes me smile.

[josh green]

In chunky's defense, the k20a2 is quite possible the SMOOTHEST 4cylinder engine that I have ever encountered. I believe that the K series are better than the F20/F22's b/c of the variable cam timing. It allows for more power throughout the entire rev range. The K's take a little more work to get to rev to the F/B series capabilities, but tis possible. The F series is badass and MAY have a better flowing head but the K is king as far as NA goes.
You must remember, the power output of the B/H/D/F engines were very healthy for their time. Cars are heavy and much larger than they used to be so auto makers are making them more powerful and bigger brakes b/c the cars are 500lbs or more heavier (hondas that is). Blame the weight on the trucks and SUV's that are the size of buses and will completely obliterate your older civic/accords. Did you know the new Civics are the same size as the early 90's accords and the FIT has the same wheelbase as the EF hatch's and still a couple hundred lbs heavier. That is how large cars are now.

[Zeeb]

well you take your K vs my F and lets see who wins

[josh green]

well you take your K vs my F and lets see who wins

Well if I still had my car I probably would. Stock k20a2 making 202whp in a 2100lbs chassis would probably take a 210whp s2k.
I got a 13.1@106 out of her before I sold it off. But if your talking turns, yeah you probably would own.

umm....the k20 is a nice engine,but best 4cyl ever........thats to far

This statement is nullified due to your lack of evidence.

[Zeeb]

Well if I still had my car I probably would. Stock k20a2 making 202whp in a 2100lbs chassis would probably take a 210whp s2k.
I got a 13.1@106 out of her before I sold it off. But if your talking turns, yeah you probably would own.

This statement is nullified due to your lack of evidence.

hmm.... 210whp? i dont think so. plus how do you know if i have done weight reduction in my car?

[OneSlow5pt0]

Well if I still had my car I probably would. Stock k20a2 making 202whp in a 2100lbs chassis would probably take a 210whp s2k.
I got a 13.1@106 out of her before I sold it off. But if your talking turns, yeah you probably would own.

This statement is nullified due to your lack of evidence.

yea,cause id say the 4age and 3sgse are better engines

[josh green]

yea,cause id say the 4age and 3sgse are better engines

I doubt that, the lotus guys all want to put Honda engines in their cars. I dont see any Yota powered Atoms either.

[dabuilding]

ok theres gas milage there light and u can make em look sick is there really anything else i need to explain

[OneSlow5pt0]

umm....the k20 is a nice engine,but best 4cyl ever........thats to far

[DeeAOne]

where did my post go?

EDIT: nevermind it just popped up out of nowhere. lol

[Zeeb]

did u turbo it?

[X-Runner]

did u turbo it?

Stock as the day it rolled off the show room floor.

[Zeeb]

Theres always exceptions to the rules... Just like all jags break down... You'll have that rare one that lasts forever. It could have been a lemon