When it came to Honda, this led to a problem. There weren't enough new cars that we wanted in our all-Honda dream garage. So we had to make an exception and trawl through the Japanese carmaker's history books in order to build the best Honda garage in the world.
Of course we chose the NSX for our Honda dream garage, but strangely enough, we did not pick the new car. The new NSX is much faster than the original thanks to a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 hybrid drivetrain that produces 573 horsepower. The original NSX had a smaller 3.0-liter V6 with 273 horsepower, but we would much rather have the original. The new car uses a nine-speed automatic, which won't match the feel of the original car's manual transmission. We prefer the purity of the original car rather than the high-tech 2017 model. We would even take the pre-2002 model which has those awesome pop-up headlights.
The only new car on this list isn't actually on sale yet. Honda already sells a European variant of the Civic Type-R and has shown off a nearly production ready version of the US-spec version. Like the European variant, the US Type-R will have a 2.0-liter turbocharged VTEC engine with over 300 horsepower going to a six-speed manual transmission. The current generation Civic is one of our favorite budget cars and the Type-R should be a great extension of the Civic line. There have been many great Type-R models in the past, but we couldn't leave off the first Civic Type-R to ever be sold in the US.
The Acura Precision Concept is another car that is technically new, but since it will likely never be built, we count it only as a dream car. This concept was shown off at the Detroit Auto Show this year, and Acura immediately said that this car would never reach production. The company seems to have a habit of doing this, building fantastic looking concept cars, and selling dull models that look nothing like them. The new NSX is not having the "halo effect" on Acura's lineup, and we think that it is because the rest of the cars have no DNA from the hybrid supercar. If Acura got serious and built a RWD luxury flagship with NSX technology, maybe it could be a serious luxury contender.
Since this is our dream garage, we are going to take the opportunity to fix one of Acura's mistakes. The TSX Sport Wagon was an excellent idea, but Acura made the mistake of not offering a V6 engine or a manual transmission for this variant. In our dream garage, we would have a TSX Sport Wagon with the 280 horsepower 3.5-liter V6 with a manual transmission. For added fun, we would throw in the SH-AWD system from the TL. The TL was available with a 3.7-liter V6 with AWD, but this drivetrain was never offered in the awesome wagon variant. The TL and the TSX have both been replaced with the boring TLX, and although that car does have a V6 option, it is less powerful than the old TL and there is no manual option.
We almost made our entire Honda dream garage without including a single model that the company actually builds and sells today. But then we remembered the Honda Ridgeline. We love the Ridgeline, even though hardcore truck enthusiasts may laugh at the thought of a unibody truck. If you need to do some serious work, buy a full-size truck or something heavy duty, but we think that the Ridgeline is perfect for the majority of people. The 280 horsepower 3.5-liter V6 isn't miraculous by any measure, but it gets the job done. Throw in cool features like tailgate speakers, an in-bed trunk, and Apple Car Play, and you have yourself a winning formula.
How did you like our all-Honda dream garage? Are there any new models from Honda or Acura that you would include on this list, or like us, do you prefer the older models? Before you get angry that the S2000 didn't make the list, consider that we already tossed in the NSX as our sports car option and didn't really need two. Comment with your five-car Honda dream garage, we want to see what you come up with.
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