Sorry to be a spoilsport but I'm not that impressed/excited that it's coming to NA. Sure who wouldn't like a faster, better handling car but here are the downsides (
in my opinion)
1) Appearance. It looks God awful from any rear angle. Unless they plan to put the engine in a different body, I wouldn't swap the looks of my '13 Si Sedan for that thing (heavily opinionated, some may like it)
2) Price. I expect they're going to gouge us North Americans because Honda fans will consider this to be the second coming of Christ. I bought my Si for $26,000 and I found it to be a sweet spot here in Canada. All the lower model cars came up to 20-24k (when fully loaded) and then to step up to a GTI, Speed3, WRX, Focus ST I was looking at $30-34k (all prices before taxes and fees and all were plain vanilla).
Considering the market, Honda will at least price it above 30k if not at around $35,000 CAD. For US pricing, using the current Si, working backward using an exchange rate of 1.07 = 1 USD and optioning out the USA Si to match the Canadian (Navi + XM), the prices are near identical. So I estimate $30-32,000 USD depending the features.
If you are so inclined to, with that $4000-9000 saved you can make your Si even better than the Type-R the only downside being you lose your warranty
3) Reliability. I'm sure Honda will put out yet another reliable motor like always BUT keep in mind this one is brand new, not tried and true and then on top of that they're ditching their ways and going turbo. Just keep in mind the benefits and disadvantages of a turbo. Definitely not my cup of tea considering I already look down at my speedometer and think "Better slow down before I get my car towed"
4) Insurance. It's my guess that if the Type-R is as good as it seems it will be, it'll attract the bad drivers and thieves like moths to a flame. Just give your first born to the insurance company and that should cover you for 1 maybe 2 years.
This is speculation but not far fetched given the track record previous generations of Civic have had.
5) Subtlety. Not once have I had some idiot pull up to me and ask me to race on the street. Cops don't even look twice as I pass by. People still compliment the car, like once at a gas station a guy joked if I wanted to trade my car for his. I don't need the extra attention both good and bad. (Another opinion)
I also feel bad for Honda if the listen to people begging for it on the internet because most of them beg and plead but will never end up seriously considering buying it anyways once "The Power of Dreams" fades and reality kicks in, yo.
