When the news dropped recently that Acura, Honda’s luxury and performance brand, was bringing the RSX back, it was exciting. After all, it’s a well-known nameplate from the early to mid-2000s as the Integra successor and was popular with tuners and non-tuners alike. When it went away in 2006 after a short one-generation, five-year model run, many hoped it would eventually return.
And finally, after almost 20 years since it left us, the RSX is back. Sort of.
In mid-January, Honda announced the RSX will return to the North American market later this year…. as an EV SUV. That’s right, the RSX is going crossover, and a fully electric one at that. Four doors instead of two, electric motors and a battery pack instead of a K20 paired with a six-speed manual. Another SUV, rather than a sleek and sexy coupe.
In its statement announcing the new RSX EV, Honda said it will be based on the Acura Performance EV Concept first shown at the Pebble Beach Concours last summer. It will also be the first EV developed on Honda’s new in-house EV platform and will run the company’s ASIMO OS operating system, which was revealed at CES in early January. On-road testing, in camouflaged form, has begun and the RSX will be assembled at the Honda EV Hub in Ohio beginning later this year. Additional details, including specs and final design, will presumably dribble out in the coming months.
I’ll go out on a limb here and say that this isn’t the news the enthusiast community was hoping to hear. Whatever the merits the RSX EV may have, tuner appeal likely won’t be among them. And while I am happy to see the Prelude return in coupe form, like it once was, the RSX announcement leaves me a bit cold.
And that’s because cars, especially coupes that had loads of tuner potential, and were popular choices for lapping days at your local track, are being killed off with no replacement. Except, when they are. And when that happens, it’s the name that returns, not the car you remember.
Manufacturers often renew trademarks for discontinued models, not only to keep them away from competitors, but also in case they decide to resurrect them one day. A perfect example of this occurred when Mitsubishi announced in 2017 that the Eclipse name would return, not as a coupe, but instead as the Eclipse Cross, a subcompact SUV. I doubt there was much rejoicing from tuners with that announcement.
And this isn’t a critique of the Eclipse Cross, or the new RSX, or even the current Integra, which bears little resemblance to its iconic ancestors from the 1980s and 90s in both style and substance. These vehicles all have their merits, and in the case of the Integra at least, it’s not an SUV.
No, my quarrel isn’t with these new vehicles per se. It’s the names. The RSX and Eclipse were sport compact cars, and for legions of fans that’s what they always will be. My suggestion to Honda and Mitsubishi and any other manufacturer thinking about bringing back an old name is don’t do it unless its like for like. Give your EV SUV a new name. And let us keep our memories of the old ones.
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