POLL. Best Big-Three Import Brand

Toyota's out-sell everybody in Japan. In the world I think they do well, but Mercedes has 'em beat. But here in the states, Honda and Nissan run hard competition.
For us Yanks (americans, not northerners) which is your favorite big import, Honda, Nissan, or Toyota?
I'm not including the little guys, Mitsu, and Subaru. Although they may be your favorite, they dont have the sales of the big three, and if I include them, I'll prolly forget the other dozen small Japanese brands out there.
And, Im also not including their 'American' distributors, Acura, Infiniti, and Lexus. If voting for Toyota, disreguard the Lexus IS300.

hmmmm honda has the S2000, nissan has the 300hp Z. toyota has the tocoma X runner. advantage goes to nissan

honda has the accord v6, nissan has the Maxima, toyota has a Camry. hmmm tough one but i would choose the accord V6, followed closely by the Maxima SE. the toyota camry is again dead last not even close with their weak V6 engines and musshy asss brake pedals with their usual dose of novacain in their cars

honda has the civic Si, nissan has the SE-R spec V, toyota has the Corolla XJR or something.

SE-R spec V gets the vote since those actually can hit a low 15 second 1/4 mile and has a limited slip differential stock. Civic Si is pure rubbish and is a 16 second car. the corolla will give that rubbish civic a run for their money but its even uglier then the Si. as ugly as the SE-R looks, it still looks more maniler then the mini odessey and the corolla.

the Altima SE-R is in a class of their own and is capable of running mid to low 14's in the 1/4 mile. nissan has been listening to their customers and have been fixing small problems that people complain about. that is why the atlima got a face lift and new interior for 05 because customers complained about cheapness.

Honda doesn't even make a real SUV. so the biggest they got is a Pilot which is based off the mini van chassis. its a freaking unibody truck instead of a body on frame construction like a real truck. the Nissan pathfinder armada will pretty much burn almost any SUV on the road and has damn brutish looks too. toyota makes nice trucks as well. but theres no enough muscle under the hood, and not enough attitude

nissan's new Xterra ownz toyota highlander. nissan's Pathfinder armada owns the toyota squoea ( spelling? ) nissan's Murano owns toyota's RAV 4.

honda shouldn't even be in this catergory since they don't even make V8's.

my vote is nissan. a close second is honda. toyota is a distant third. they make a rediculous claim that their pickup truck the tocoma x runner can lap as fast as a 350Z. if they can make a truck that fast ( which it is not ) why can't they make a car to match it? as it currently stands, toyota has no sport cars in their line up. nothing!!!!!

Economy car: I'd take the Corolla XRS over the Civic Si, and any other Civic over any other Corolla. I'd stay away from the Sentra, as it's known to have poor build quality and spotty reliability (unlike the Sentras of old).

Midsize car: I'd take any Altima over any Accord (except maybe the V6 coupe with a six-speed manual transmission), and anything over a 5th gen. Camry (boring styling, boring drive).

Sports car: I'd take the S2000 over the 350Z. Toyota doesn't really have a sports car at the moment. The Celica GT-S is the closest thing they've got, and that's going away next year.

Overall, I think Honda is the best brand at the moment. Nissan is doing very well, but they need a better small car, and Nissan needs to solve the 350Z's transmission problems, and get rid of some of the understeer. It's a great performance value, it's just not a whole lot of fun to drive.

you drove one?

Who drove what now?

I believe he's asking you if youve driven a 350Z

Toyota's out-sell everybody in Japan. In the world I think they do well, but Mercedes has 'em beat. But here in the states, Honda and Nissan run hard competition.
For us Yanks (americans, not northerners) which is your favorite big import, Honda, Nissan, or Toyota?
I'm not including the little guys, Mitsu, and Subaru. Although they may be your favorite, they dont have the sales of the big three, and if I include them, I'll prolly forget the other dozen small Japanese brands out there.
And, Im also not including their 'American' distributors, Acura, Infiniti, and Lexus. If voting for Toyota, disreguard the Lexus IS300.
250 day limit on your poll? :rolleyes:

Read the stickies at the top of this forum and try not to refer to cars as 'imports' because AF is an international forum.

Whats so damn unique about this thread that "northerners" (Canadians) can't express their opinion? and people around the world know Hondas Toyotas and Nissans

so screw you im making my opinion heard :)

Of those 3 brands I would choose Honda as the best because it has characteristics of Toyota, and Nissan and merges them. Honda incorporates the fuel effeciency, product quality, and general comfort and attention to detail that Toyota does. However, it also takes from the speed, and performance that Nissan puts in their cars (350Z, G35, Altima, Spec V)

Toyota is too boring, and Nissan is too into juvenille speeding...in this case

Thats why i think Honda is the top here, because in has both

Whats so damn unique about this thread that "northerners" (Canadians) can't express their opinion?
I completely missed that. Yet another :rolleyes:

I own a Honda so that got my vote. If I end up picking up the Titan this year, I'll be moving over to the Nissan camp.













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i voted Nissan for pretty much the same reasons as Tat. for every car that the competition has, IMO Nissan has something in the same class that's better.

Oops, sorry about the 'imports'. What's the PC term here, US-Bound Japanese, or USDM?
Editing the Poll is 'moderators only.' If a moderator would like to change the word <Import> to the correct global term, feel free. As for the 250 day limit, I thought I was just being respectful. I figured in over half a year, this thread would be long dead and didn't need to keep running. But if a moderator edits the poll, feel free to change the limit to whatever you feel is apropriate.

And "Yanks" was meant as just a self-humbling tease as thats what we are called by parts of the world, but growing up in the south, I know alot of people will think 'Northerners', as in the NY-Maine region, not Canadians. There is a little vestigial hostility down here.
I did not mean to imply that this was a US only discussion. I guess I made the assumption that only Americans would be intimately familiar with the American selection of US-bound Japanese cars, and that I was mostly talking to 'fellow americans'. No excuses though, I retract the 'Yanks' Statement and welcome all voices familiar with the US-Japanese choices.
Apologies... :)

nissan all the way for me

..seeing as you are talking about japanese cars, wouldn't the obvious term simply be "japanese"?

and why only US market cars?
it's kinda like looking at half a picture.
just cos you may not get the car doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

for the record, i have an affection for honda (in general) simply because they have done and achieved so much.
i also admire the way they do things.
the are one of the few companies out there who really are trying to make things better instead of just making.

vtec, nsx, their diesel engine and road car engines taht rev to 13000 rpm.....

Nissan all the way too...

In sedans...the Altima makes more power than the Camry and equal to the Accord V6...but the V6 Accord's look like ass to me.

The Maxima beats out the Avalon...in my book...even though the new one has 280hp or so...but it looks better and comes in a 6 spd and w/a LSD...Honda doesnt really have an answer in house...unless you go to the Acura branch

I think the 350z has more potential than the S2k since it's got hardtop and soft top versions of the same car, and the motor has more potential...acceleration and power are pretty close w/the slight edge to the 350z...handling goes to the S2k but overall edge to the 350z. No answer from the Toyota front

Trucks wise...Nissan, followed by Toyota in a close 2nd...Honda...get a clue w/your Ridgeline!

SUV wise...I think it also is a very close one...Nissan in my book since the Xterra is packing serious power now, the Pathfinder is one of my favorite SUV's, the Armada is good for those who want beastly power and size...Toyota comes in a close 2nd since it has the Sequoia, Highlander, 4Runner, Rav4...do they still carry the Landcruiser?

I voted for Toyota. Even though right now it may not be looking up for them in most categories, they definetely have a nice chance at the future.

Nobody mentioned the Prius. One of the most fuel-efficient cars out there.

If I remember correctly, toyota sells more Camrys than Honda does accords

As for the sports segment, in about a year Toyota should have some offerings. It will blow the competition away. There is talk of the MR2 and the Supra coming back. There might even be a new Celica.

As for SUVs, Toyota has 5 in their lineup, nobody else has that many.

Sports Compact:
1. Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V
2. Honda Civic Si
3. Toyota Corolla XRS

Midsize Sedan:
1. Honda Accord
2. Nissan Maxima
3. Toyota Camry

Sports Car:
1. Honda S2000
2. Nissan 350Z
3. Toyota ?- Now that the Celica and MR2 are gone, they have nothing.

Truck:
1. Toyota Tundra or Tacoma
2. Nissan Titan or Frontier
3. Honda Ridgeline

Minivan:
1. Honda Odyssey
2. Toyota Sienna
3. Nissan Quest

Overall:
1. Honda
2. Nissan
3. Toyota

its hard to pick just one company over the other. each has cars i like better than others. like the civic more than the corolla and sentra, but i like the pathfinder more than the pilot or 4 runner, tundra over titan odyssey over quest and sienna, etc. i think each has their strengths as weaknesses in certain areas. this goes for all car companies not just these three.

yes but one company has to have the best ratio of strengths to weaknesses, and that should be you choice...Shouldn't it?

hmmmm honda has the S2000, nissan has the 300hp Z. toyota has the tocoma X runner. advantage goes to nissan

honda has the accord v6, nissan has the Maxima, toyota has a Camry. hmmm tough one but i would choose the accord V6, followed closely by the Maxima SE. the toyota camry is again dead last not even close with their weak V6 engines and musshy asss brake pedals with their usual dose of novacain in their cars

nissan's Murano owns toyota's RAV 4.

honda shouldn't even be in this catergory since they don't even make V8's.


This is a ridiculous post...
Where is the MR-S?(I mean MR-2 in the States.)
Comparing Accord, Camry with Maxima...another joke, Maxima is in the range of Avalon, not Camry, but Honda does not have the same vehicle to compare.
The right entries should be Accord, Altima, Camry.
Murano VS RAV4. Funny? If you compare Xterra(Inline 4) to RAV4, then it makes more sense. Murano is having a V6...
Honda makes V8, but not commercially mass produced V8.

This is a ridiculous post...
Where is the MR-S?(I mean MR-2 in the States.)
Comparing Accord, Camry with Maxima...another joke, Maxima is in the range of Avalon, not Camry, but Honda does not have the same vehicle to compare.
The right entries should be Accord, Altima, Camry.
Murano VS RAV4. Funny? If you compare Xterra(Inline 4) to RAV4, then it makes more sense. Murano is having a V6...
Honda makes V8, but not commercially mass produced V8.

the MRS is dead. the celica is Dead. so again toyota has no sport compact cars. they have no answer tot he S2000 or hte 350Z. the altima yes is in the class of the accord and i would take the SE-R with 255hp and a 6 speed over the 240hp accord v6. i must admit that the new avalon is very nice.

the Rav4 is a better comparison to the murano becasue they both are cross over's. the Rav4 has a car chassis, and the murano is based of the altima. just becsaue toyota used a smaller platform doesn't mean its not int he same class. also the new Xtera is bigger then the murano and weights close to 4000 lbs, the inline 4 no longer exist, and the 4.0 V6 making 265hp is now standard on all Xtera models. this means the murano is the smaller vehicle with a smaller 3.5 liter engine making less power, so the Xtera is closer to the highlander. the highlander is a downgraded RX300.

honda doens't make v8's for there cars. thats why their 300hp 3.5 RL is a mid 15 second car. thats why all their "trucks" are v6 powered with no tq. thats why they can't haul anything or tow anything and has to be a unibody instead of a body on frame. they're more like jacked up cars then real trucks.

bottom line i can imagine it now, people will be making fun of honda trucks for having no torque or calling them torqueless wonders. lolz

[QUOTE=TatII]hmmmm honda has the S2000, nissan has the 300hp Z. toyota has the tocoma X runner. advantage goes to nissan

Umm, who says it is just about new imports. Toyota had the Supra, and Honda had the Nsx.

The 350z is a American car with a French motor out of a Renault. The two country's with the worst automotive industry put together in one ugly car.

While the Supra and Nsx are actually Japanese cars, with Japanese motors, with Japanese build quality and reliability.

Both are great cars.advantage goes to Honda. :smile:

[QUOTE=TatII]hmmmm honda has the S2000, nissan has the 300hp Z. toyota has the tocoma X runner. advantage goes to nissan

Umm, who says it is just about new imports. Toyota had the Supra, and Honda had the Nsx.

The 350z is a American car with a French motor out of a Renault. The two country's with the worst automotive industry put together in one ugly car.

While the Supra and Nsx are actually Japanese cars, with Japanese motors, with Japanese build quality and reliability.

Both are great cars.advantage goes to Honda. :smile:

its funny cause you quote jermey clarkson from top gear, but the 350Z won top gears car of hte year award. funny isn't it huh? theres nothing wrong with the VQ engine. it makes good power and good tq. something that honda can never do. also if you can put in older cars, then the supra TT was definitly is hte best toyota ever made. the SW20 MR2 turbo is no slouch either. but the old toyota that actually made cars for enthusist is over. they care too much about brand image and don't really care about their sport cars cause they make almost no money of it. toyota also doenst' seem to care all that much if they dont' have any sport cars becusae they're doing fine without them.

also the Z's look is purely subjective, but its definitly better lookin then any toyota out today. the high belt line and chop top is very sexy. the Z is how a SC430 should look like.

honda makes great cars, but they should get he idea and learn how make trucks. remember manufactures shouldn't be based just on cars alone. toyota have a very nice blend of trucks, and cars. nissan has a good amount of sporty trucks and cars. hondas makes excellent cars
and wannabe trucks.

also he stated that you cannot include ACURA or any upscale name. so basically speaking. the NSX cannot be included. which means your stuck with the S2000 as your trumph card. at a race track with major elevation changes, the S2000's lack of tq will be left in the dust with the Z's torquey V6 on the uphill sections.

honda all the way, ive worked with all these cars (new and used) and IMHO hondas are better quality plus honda engines are superior in every way. nissan is a close second, great build quality, nice HP and very stylish and then theres toyota, they just piss me off, they use to be stylish cars, looks and performance, they always upped the bar a bit with everything that hit the market now theyre bland at best, they dont even have a real performance car, the company that created the supra doesnt have a performance car, just wrong.

Umm, who says it is just about new imports. Toyota had the Supra

Sure, a lot of companies have had cars but I think we're looking at the present here. Nissan also had some nice Z cars but here's the thing. They still HAVE them.

My vote here is going to Nissan. My parents got a new '04 Altima and I love how that thing drives. I've also sat in several 350Zs and I love the way they sit. My dad has also told me nothing but good things when he tested a 280Z.

[QUOTE=TatII]
The 350z is a American car with a French motor out of a Renault. The two country's with the worst automotive industry put together in one ugly car.
i hear this being said a lot about the VQ35 motor. does anyone have any type of link or something to substantiate the claim? As far as i know, the VQ series of motor has been in use since 1995. renault didn't take an interest(become partners) in nissan until 1999, after the VQ had already been on Ward Automotives best engines list 4 consecutive years. the 3.5 version is just an updated version of the 3.0 and has been used in the pathfinder since 2001, as far as i know Renault cannot take credit for it. Actually, Renault has been using Nissans VQ35 in their car, the Renault Vel Satis since 2002, and they are currently making a car called the SM7 using the VQ35, however their version only makes 217 hp(which is less hp than the 3.0 maxima of 4-5 years ago), whereas our versions are at 265hp in fwd platform(maxima/Alti SE-R), and 300 hp in the 35th anniversary Z, and new G35. currently the only motors nissan uses from renault are the diesels, and they're not even available in the USDM market. the Nissan primera offers a 1.9L diesel renault motor and the Almera uses a 1.5L version of that motor.

And if it is true that it's renault's motor, i don't understand why people bring it up to discredit Nissan. Ever heard of the Yamaha powered SHO Ford Taurus'? they were a big hit and are really pretty damn good cars, regardless of where the motor came from.
check this out:
http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/DOC...2/ar2002_16.pdf (http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/DOCUMENT/PDF/AR/2002/ar2002_16.pdf)
it's nissans annual report for 2002. on Pg 2 it refers to the vq35 as nissans engine being placed in Renault's car, the Vel Satis, the report then goes on to refer to the 1.9L and 1.5L diesels as renaults designs being placed into nissans cars. it also goes on to describe other Nissan parts being used in their current cars, like transmissions and such. it seems to me that renault benefitted the most by partnering up with nissan, not the other way around.

Honda, because they have a better answer to every one of Toyota and Nissans cars, except the Jazz, the Micra is much cooler. Add to that they're built FAR better than Nissans and the interior plastics are light years ahead of that of Toyota. Other areas Honda win are:

Styling (Accord/TSX, RSX, new Legend, engines (ESPECIALLY the diesel, but i-VTEC warrants much mention), FF chassis' (Especially that of the RSX Type S and Civic Type R), the only one that has ever made a proper supercar (Unless you count the R390, which I don't), transmissions (The S2000's gearbox is the worlds best) and finally, at least in Europe, Interior space.

Basically Honda are the engineers choice, along with BMW and Ferrari and I applaud the way that they do things differently and move forwards with progress, rather than sideways.

Nissan have the VQ35, some nice new designs, good FR chassis' and The X Trail is an excellent soft-roader in the same way that the Micra is an excellent city car. However, the Almera, Primera and Patrol are mediocre at best.

Toyota are about the equivalent of kitchen whiteware. Reliable but hardly exciting or advanced. The ideal car if thinking for yourself has never been a strong point.

That's the European perspective and I don't care if you only wanted an American perspective, there's a whole wide world outside of America, you know.

well actually that is the truth that the 350Z has French motor. I understand your opinion about the 350Z, but I think before putting down the S2000, you need to understand the potential of the S2000 in the corners, and with braking. I think Nissan is taking chances with the styling of their cars, and I think the new Altima's and Maxima's look great, but with the 350Z, I think they went a little to far. Hopefully Honda will make a motor with some tourque in the near furture. :)

well actually that is the truth that the 350Z has French motor. like i said, i've heard a lot of people say this, but can you, or anyone, direct me to some source that actually says so? Everything i've encountered has been unclear, or has led me to believe the opposite.

*shrugs* Who gives a damn if the 350Z's engine is built in France? Renault is making some excellent cars, heard of the Clio? The Clio 182 Cup is kicking ass as a Fast Hatch. The Renault Sport Clio V6 255 was a "pocket supercar" and routinely LOVED by the Journalists at Evo.
So....what's your beef with the French Renault?
On Honda's S2000. Engine = Technological marvel...but the chassis....? Everything I read about in magazines says that the car has a snap chassis; snaps into oversteer when you least need it to, and in a way where it is hard to regain control. Not exactly a great chassis to have when you're storming along your favorite section of road. And where I live, that would be akin to suicide, getting spat off the road into a cliff face, or sheer drop. Lovely.
I swear though, Toyota needs to bring back something in the vein of the MR2 again, they are literally letting Mazda walk away with the pocket-roaster niche that no one else has bothered to go after really.
*sigh* I can't decide between Nissan and Toyota (I find Honda's cars rather ugly or bland), and thus I am not bothering to vote.

Yeah, I'm really not sure why Toyota is killing the MR-S. Or rather, I'm really not sure why the MR-S isn't selling well. It's an interesting alternative to the Miata; a bit harder to master, but a bit more rewarding to a good driver. It's also one of the cheapest, if not the cheapest car, to offer an SMG.

I have to say Nissan is the best. I am aware of the quality issues compared to that of Toyota and Honda. Nissan has the best performance IMO. The 350z is just a sweet car. The other would be the Honda S2000. But why is the 350z's engine built in France?!?!

..seeing as you are talking about japanese cars, wouldn't the obvious term simply be "japanese"?

and why only US market cars?
it's kinda like looking at half a picture.
just cos you may not get the car doesn't mean it doesn't exist.



Why only US cars...? I dunno, 'cause that's what I, the poster, was curious about. Smart make great cars, but I've never seen one. I have no intimate knowladge of what they are like. And the Accord in Europe, as far as I can tell, is an Acura TL. I ask about US-Japanese cars because I have no idea what Hondas are like in Japan. I know that the Supra, 300ZX, and until recently replaced, the RX-7 were available there as well. And that makes a huge difference.

This is not about who is the best global competitor, it's about how the american market feels. Because I only know about the american market.
If I didn't clearify it up front, then it would have spawned into sub-arguments in the replies, with nissan as the dominator in USA, but Toyota in the global market (for example).
Besides, if asking why only US-Japanese cars, why not ask, why only Japanese cars in general? Why dont I put all the available global brands in the post? What is it, like 350 of them. The line has to be drawn somehwere, and I drew it at Honda, Nissan, and Toyota.

As for just using 'Japanese', i guess that's obvious. Because I am specifically asking about 3 brands available in the United States, then 'Japanese' would be a misnomer.

the european accord is the ACURA TSX.

the american accord is the HONDA SABER.

the ACURA TL is * shrug *

[QUOTE=Oscuro]*shrugs* Who gives a damn if the 350Z's engine is built in France? Renault is making some excellent cars, heard of the Clio? The Clio 182 Cup is kicking ass as a Fast Hatch. The Renault Sport Clio V6 255 was a "pocket supercar" and routinely LOVED by the Journalists at Evo.
So....what's your beef with the French Renault?

I'm not saying that the Clio V6 is a bad car, I actually think the Clio V6's are nice cars. But the engine has reliability issues. The performence of a car is not the only thing that makes a car good. Mabye you should check out the Clio forum to see some of the problems people have with the reliability of their Clio's. :rolleyes:

...tangent...
the european accord is the ACURA TSX.

the american accord is the HONDA SABER.

the ACURA TL is * shrug *

Good call on the TSX, my bad :) But I checked out the saber (having never heard of it) and I'm pretty sure thats a TL, the old body style ('99)

Euro Accord = U.S. TSX
Jap Saber = U.S. TL (99) (google/image it, I dont see a later model Saber)
Jap Accord = Euro Accord?
Quote "...this new car, the TSX, would be but a tweaked version of the European and Japanese Accords..." (http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews/sedans/0304_acura_tsx/)

Learn something new every day :)

I agree with Lakehaze. Someone who is asking about the role of Japanese cars in the American market obviously can't compare cars that aren't available in America. Also, about the Honda Accord debate, I think it goes like this:

USDM Honda Accord = JDM Honda Saber
USDM Acura TSX = JDM Honda Accord Euro-R
USDM Acura TL = no clue

US/AUS/NZ Accord = JDM Honda Inspire
EU Accord = US Acura TSX = AUS/NZ Accord Euro = JDM Accord
Acura TL = JDM Honda Saber

That's how the scheme works.

Consistancy Honda, thats all I ask!

I had heard that in Europe Honda is a high class brand, and Acura is the cheaper model. but why would they invert it in North America?

There is no such thing as Acura in Europe. You heard very wrong ;)

:banghead: well dont I feel foolish...excuse me I have somebody to beat up

:chair:

I thought this was a pretty interesting thread, so just thought I would throw in my thoughts. And BTW, the following comments are made from a U.S. perspective simply because that is the lineup that I know best. If you're in Europe or Asia, compare accordingly.

Toyota is, by far, my least favorite of the Japanese automakers. They still make good, reliable, comfortable cars- but they are the least interested in the wants of enthusiasts. It is especially frustrating since you know they are more than capable of building some of the world's best performance cars. Hell, the MR-S has been given its death notice, and they're killing the Celica too. The only slightly sporty car left in the whole lineup is the Scion TC. Toyota is setting its sights on beating GM in the sales department, so I wouldn't expect things to get a whole lot better. The cars we want just don't fit into the big time sales equation. I just hope they see the light at some point in the near future.

Honda builds great cars too, but their reputation as an engineering company is slipping. Vtec is old news, and there are alot of companies out who have valve timing designs more advanced than Honda now. Take Vanos from BMW and VVT-i from Toyota for example. And some of their previously great suspension designs have been benched in favor of ergonomics and build cost. That's much of the reason why the current Civics aren't as highly regarded as the models from the late 90's. Like Toyota, Honda has set its' sights on profit margins and sales, and that philosophy is beginning to show through in some of its' models. Lastly, with the exception of the S2000, there is still no rearwheel drive models in the line up. The S2000 is an awesome car- but a bit too frenetic for my tastes. I've driven three of them, and much prefer the 350z (I've driven about 5 of those) as an everyday car- mainly because you don't have to hit 6000 rpm before it really starts going strong.

Nissan has undergone some of the biggest cost cutting of the three. They improved the Altima interior, but the line up as a whole isn't on par with the general build quality that Nissan presented in 1995. Still, I feel like they have made good strides with their cars' mechanicals. As for the French engine in a 350 Z, they might be building the motors in France (I have never heard this, though), but the design has no French origins that I am aware of. And the 350Z itself was designed right here in the U.S., on the west coast. The VQ was around before Renault ever got hold of the company. My understanding is that it is the result of the VG motor's innability to meet emission standards. A 3.0 liter predecessor of the 3.5 VQ was what powered Maximas from the mid nineties on. I feel like, as a whole, Nissan offers more models for enthusiasts, so they get my vote. Honda is still a good company, but I wish they would make a rearwheel drive coupe with the motor from the Accord V6 and sell it for about 28 grand (ala 350Z). As for Toyota, well, lets just say that if I were throwing a party, they wouldn't be invited. Yet.

P.S. I LIKE Renault. But then again, I wish Peugot would come back to the states, so I might just be wierd.

This is going to be a VERY stupid sounding question, but does Honda even sell Acura's under the Acura name in Japan?

This is going to be a VERY stupid sounding question, but does Honda even sell Acura's under the Acura name in Japan?

nope.

there's no lexus, acura or infiniti in japan.

I believe that Toyota is in the process of introducing Lexus to the Japanese market. They may be done already.

infiniti is also, their web page says by '07 they'll be in korea and japan as well as a few other countries. and even more in the years to follow.