Acura’s recent announcement that the RSX moniker would be returning on a new EV crossover unsurprisingly pissed off a few people who made their feelings known online. Slapping the name of a once-beloved sport compact onto an electric SUV was somehow blasphemy. I’m here to tell anyone that’s mad about it to get over it. It’s really not that big of a deal.
Look, on the one hand I get. Here’s Acura yet again bringing back a nameplate from its past that’s seemingly so far removed from the original model you wonder what they were thinking. People were mad about the Integra when Acura brought it back as a four-door hatch, even though it’s still a Civic-based compact car just as the original was. Some were even mad the ZDX made a comeback as an electric SUV, as the original was a great looking SUV coupe thing. All of that outrage was annoying.
As confusing as the anger over those name plates is, being mad about the RSX name coming back makes even less sense, especially when you take into account the RSX itself. The original RSX was introduced in 2002 as an affordable, sporty replacement for the Integra — the car was even called Integra in other markets like Europe and Asia. Even though it was only on sale for four model years, it gained a following for its handsome styling, great driving dynamics and excellent K Series engine, which made up to 210 horsepower in the RSX Type S. As the years went on and production ended in 2006, the RSX became a darling of the aftermarket world. I still see more than a few running around on the streets of Southern California.
The built a following despite being only around 150,000 cars being sold over just a handful of years. That’s great, but it doesn’t mean that Acura shouldn’t bring back the name for a different sort of car. Last time I checked, the RSX wasn’t some legendary, long-running nameplate that couldn’t be touched. People are letting their fond memories of cheap sport compacts with high-revving engines and manual transmissions cloud their thinking.
While some might be mad that Acura isn’t bringing back the RSX as a two-door non-crossover coupe, let’s be honest with ourselves. Acura was never going to bring back the RSX we knew it to be, electric or not. Sure, maybe Acura could have made something based on the upcoming hybrid Honda Prelude to go against the Toyobaru twins, but aside from those outliers, the sport coupe market the RSX played in basically doesn’t exist anymore. It’s why the RSX was discontinued in the first place, as the market for these kinds of cars was shrinking even then.
This isn’t Acura doing something wild and ridiculous. It would be understandable if this were, say, the NSX coming back as an electric crossover, but it’s not. The RSX name never had enough brand equity for the outrage that Acura has been getting. When it first came out, people were annoyed it wasn’t just called the Integra! Besides, if this thing has the right performance, range and price, it could be a hit. I’m willing to give it a chance and so should you. Let’s just not get caught up in being angry about Acura using a model name from 20 years ago that only existed for four years.