Drawing Board: Lightweight RWD sedan

Imagine this but with two more doors and a fixed roof...

We haven't done one of these in a while, so lets take this opportunity in this new year and pontificate about a car that currently does not exist on the market.

From 2007 until 2012, my wife and I were proud owners of a hand-me-down 1999 Mazda Miata. It was a special edition car made in limited quantities and packed with lots of performance goodies like the then new 6-speed manual transmission and a limited slip differential between the rear wheels. The car was an absolute hoot to drive thanks to a curb weight of just 2,350 pounds. Its raw and tossable nature always made me wonder why Mazda never attempted to translate the chassis into other vehicles to add to the line-up. Just imagine what a treat it would be to have a light weight compact four-door sedan that offered all of the fun of the Miata, but significantly more practicality.

So that got me thinking, what would such a car really look like?

Drawing Board: Acura Integra/RSX

Image courtesy of Car Domain

A rumor out of the SEMA Show in Las Vegas says that Honda could be working on a successor to the much loved Acura Integra and RSX. During the Acura panel at SEMA, head design honcho, Dave Marek, kept bringing up the Acura Integra of the 90s. No one is completely sure what to make of this, but if Honda really is working on an Integra/RSX successor, they are going to have their work cut out for them.

When the ILX made its debut two years ago, Honda and Acura fans had thought that it was going to be the second coming of the Integra sedan: an affordable and practical Acura with an injection of sportiness and luxury. Unfortunately, the only version of the ILX that could even be remotely considered related to the Integra is the 2.4 liter equipped "performance" model. While the performance of this particular variant was decent, it only came with the six-speed manual and its overall packaging was not enough to differentiate it from a Civic Si. As sales numbers have shown, the ILX was far from a success and Acura needed to fix it. At this year's Los Angeles Auto Show, Acura introduced the all new, refreshed 2016 ILX that fixed the biggest issue with the car: the engine that everyone wanted was now actually equipped with an automatic (the TLX's eight-speed DCT technically). With all the new technology stuffed into the ILX though, it is still missing a coupe version to truly make it a successor to the Integra.

Drawing Board: BMW M7

Alpina's B7, the closest thing to a M7 you can get
at this time (image courtesy of Autoblog.com)

BMW's M division makes some pretty amazing vehicles, and they do make some questionable ones too. Cars like the M3 and M5 are consistently lauded for their incredible performance while vehicles like the X5M and X6M make people scratch their heads and wonder "why?" In all the years the M division has been creating monster machines though, BMW has never taken it upon themselves to create a super version of the full-sized 7-series sedan. As it stands right now, Mercedes Benz and their S63 (soon to be S65) AMG, and Audi's S8 have no competition from BMW. While you could compare the S63 AMG and Audi S8 to vehicles from Rolls Royce and Bentley, would it not be more interesting if t were the German big three slugging it out?

"But guys, there's the Alpina B7!" Yes, the Alpina B7 could be considered BMW's super luxury barge, but it is not built by BMW or its M division, but rather by Alpina (a separate company that builds their own cars based off of BMW's vehicles). Enter the BMW M7. This would be BMW's super luxury barge built by their own in-house tuning arm to take on the Mercedes S63 AMG. While the car does not actually exist, and is questionable whether it ever will, its non-existence allows us to imagine what the car would be like. BMW claims there is no market for such a car, and that buyers wanting a performance version of the 7-series would just buy the V12 equipped 760Li. We believe the Mercedes S63 AMG and Audi S8 prove otherwise.

Drawing Board: Honda S2000 sucessor

The rumored S1500
Image courtesy of GTChannel

Since its introduction in 1999, the Honda S2000 has been considered one of the best sports cars ever produced, with its high revving four cylinder engine, track ready suspension, and classic looks. The last S2000 rolled off of Honda's Tochigi, Japan factory in 2009, and enthusiasts have been wondering what Honda has in store for the S2000's successor. Current rumors swirling about point to an "S1500" being the successor, with a 1.5 liter four cylinder engine (some rumors indicate it will be a naturally aspirated 1.5 liter, while others say turbocharged 1.5 liter), a weight lighter than the S2000, and sized smaller than the current MX-5 Miata. As the S2000's successor is still in the rumored phase, here is what we think the S2000's successor should be like.

Drawing Board: 2015 Acura TLX

Image courtesy of Motor Authority

With Acura TSX production ending in December 2013, the ILX taking up position as Acura's entry level sedan, and the current generation of the TL ending its run, Acura needs a sedan to slot into the position left empty by the TSX and TL. Enter the all new Acura TLX. This is the car that Acura is setting up to compete against rivals such as the Lexus IS, Mercedes C-class, BMW 3-series, and Audi A4. The TL and TSX have, in their own ways, been excellent cars and we here at East-West Brothers Garage certainly hope the TLX will combine the best ingredients of both for a truly amazing sport sedan.

With the announcement that Acura will be debuting the TLX prototype at next month's North American International Auto Show in Detroit, that got us wondering what the TLX will include.  In their press release, Acura has stated that the TLX will introduce two all new powertrains to the Acura lineup. This does not necessarily mean the TLX will only have two powertrains to choose from. We are expecting Acura to introduce multiple trims for the TLX, with a healthy number of powertrain options. Here is what we would like to see as those trim and powertrain options.

Drawing Board: Honda Fit Si

Image courtesy of The Torque Report

Writing the long term review for my fiancee's 2011 Honda Fit Sport got us thinking about the possibility of Honda producing an Si version of the Fit for the US market. As far as we currently know, Honda has no plans to develop an Si version of the Honda Fit for the United States market. The Si version of the Fit and Jazz that do exist in other markets is more or less similar to our US Market Fit Sport, but with a smaller engine and rear disc brakes. There are those that would argue that the Fit Sport is already good enough to be considered an Si model, with its sportier suspension tuning and Sport exclusive aero parts, but it seems to be missing some things to keep it from being truly considered an Si.

Image Courtesy of Honda Tuning Magazine

There is, of course, another route to take for those that want to inject more sport into their Fit: the
aftermarket. There is a fairly healthy offering of aftermarket parts available for the Honda Fit. Everything from power adders to suspension modifications are available through reputable aftermarket tuning companies. More intrepid Fit owners, and those with the financial backing, have considered swapping out the 1.5 liter L15A7 inline-4 for Honda's go to performance four-banger, the K20. At this time though, I do not know of any successful swaps with a current generation, US market Fit, though there are plenty of successful K20 swaps into the previous generation Fit.

Engine swaps, cold air intakes, and suspension tuning are all great, and can add a great deal of performance to a car, but what about those that want the car to perform better out of the factory? What are enthusiasts who would rather not void their warranty to do? This is why we feel there should be a true Si version of the Fit for the US market. We want to see a Fit that is capable of doing battle with Ford's new Fiesta ST. Here is what we think a proper Fit Si should have.

Drawing Board: Acura ILX

As car enthusiasts, we tend to look at a car's features and specifications and wonder what could be done to a car to make it better. Sure, there are some cars out there that do not need much improvement, but there are also cars that have a lot of potential, but are handicapped by poor planning, lack of clear direction, or are simply trying too hard to be too many things to too many people. Starting with this post, we will start a series of "what if" articles, focusing on what changes we would like to see on certain cars that we believe would make the car perform and sell better.

Our first specimen for this series is the Acura ILX.