Sadly, "sports" is not on Honda's mind right now guys. The double whammy of the gas price spike in 2008 and the economic crash in 2009 has completely altered Honda's entire product strategy. Wrong or right, Honda has instituted a new corporate identity that is focused on efficient, green personal transportation. This goes from Ito down to the lowest manager and is why you are hearing the same message from everyone, including the folks at Fiesta. This is Japanese corporate group-think at its best. Everyone is on message and this is how it will stay until, if ever, Honda determines the market is right for a sports car product line.
With that said, it doesn't mean that Honda is not working on sports cars or high-performance powerplants. It does mean that until that fateful day, these projects will stay strictly internal. As I mentioned earlier and in other posts, we do know for sure that Honda is developing a new line of engines that are smaller, more advanced, more efficient and specifically designed to work with a hybrid-electric motor system. We also know that this new powertrain will be able to operate in manual, automatic and manumatic transmission applications. The first example of this concept is the CR-Z, but that car uses a version of Honda's IMA system from the Insight, and as I understand it, the new powertrain is either a brand new concept or a heavily modified version of the IMA. This system CAN BE applied to a sports platform. Electric motors can produce gobs of torque (~400 lb/ft), which is great for sports cars. I have no doubt that this system can be applied to a mid-engined platform and produce a viciously fast car. However, a hybrid NSX will probably be the last product to come out of this new line, not the first.
