2026 FL5 Speculation Thread

[onepointsix]

I've asked our friends to the north about this some time ago. I was told it would be close to a push after jumping through hoops and paying import fees to get the car in the country. Maybe @onepointsix or another Canadian member can weigh in.

It's not worth it for us. Early days of the FL5 run, a luxury dealership imported a Boost Blue FL5 up here and slapped a 90K price tag on it. It's still for sale to this day:

45K USD is 62K CAD. I assume there's going to be import fees and taxes from the state it originates from, then additional taxes and fees from the province... It'd be a mess. I bought mine from another province and couldn't drive the car for a week because of paper work issues between provinces.

Sponsored

 

[kobi2002]

I knew this was the last hurray for the Type R petrol only version. I don't think they make any money on the car. I believe it's a loss leader. I don't see many if any cars in the USA without start stop idle in engines. The Savagegeese interview with Honda - Honda mentioned this was to going to be the last of the only pertrol versions before they move to hybrid. So the writing was on the wall.


Germany still has some one sale - I'm sure they will get taken off the market soon

https://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/search.html?dam=false&fr=2023:&isSearchRequest=true&ms=11000;3;;&pw=223:&ref=srp&refId=06bca0c9-bf01-152c-9915-e0f772e22a76&s=Car&tr=MANUAL_GEAR&vc=Car

Only 22 new ones available in Germany:

https://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/search.html?con=NEW&dam=false&fr=2023:&isSearchRequest=true&ms=11000;3;;&pw=223:&ref=srp&refId=09e79b0b-de4a-8ee7-b160-8c507d3b1a96&s=Car&tr=MANUAL_GEAR&vc=Car

I am jealous of the non-use models with folding mirrors and front and rear parking sensors.

Curious has anyone tried to convert that to the USA model?

Yes, I have put both park sensors and folding mirrors on a USDM fl5. For everything from mikstore. My next two things I will be installing will be rear ac vents and auto wipers. Those are features that for some reason didn’t make it to the us market.

 

[johnloov]

Send pics of the parking sensors, does it look exactly like oem the holes in the bumpers?

 

[kobi2002]

Folding mirrors can be retrofitted pretty easy, mikstore has kits and they are not hard to install.

Parking sensors can be refit, also from mikstore. You need to drill through the bumper and run harnesses. Not impossible, just a pain.

Park sensors were not that bad to put in. You actually have a hole punch for the front and rear bumpers to make the holes for sensors. Wiring is just 2 pin outs and depending if you have the auto dimming mirror you’ll then have 3 pin outs to deal with. But it wasn’t that bad at all to install.

 

[kobi2002]

Send pics of the parking sensors, does it look exactly like oem the holes in the bumpers?

It looks like oem. However, you do have to get front retainer clips from Japan for 2 sensors that go into grill. You may also have to paint match the sensors and the adhesive tape to attach the sensor to the bumper isn’t thick enough so the sensors sticks out a tad. That can be fixed by either thicker tape or use hot glue gun to put sensor on bumper.
Make sure you get the oem version and not the aftermarket one if you are going to do it.

 

[kobi2002]

Is there a step by step somewhere - many thanks!

No step by step. I just kinda figured it out. I will post a howto when I take of my bumper again. It isn’t hard at all if you work on your own car.

 

[kobi2002]

Send pics of the parking sensors, does it look exactly like oem the holes in the bumpers?

You do have to order these separately. I advised mikstore that they had the wrong retainer clips, but I think they still sell kit with the wrong retainers. Order these from Japan. I tried to order from Canada, but it was back ordered three months. Got it shipped from Japan and received in 1 week. (car is a little dirty)

 

[JCZ5]

Amazing @kobi2002!

I do wish Honda would make some of these quality of life features as an option for the US market. I know Honda was trying to keep it at a certain price point. But I would have gladly paid extra for some of these features (i.e., auto windshield wipers, parking sensors, auto-dimming mirrors, etc.)

 

[kobi2002]

Amazing @kobi2002!

I do wish Honda would make some of these quality of life features as an option for the US market. I know Honda was trying to keep it at a certain price point. But I would have gladly paid extra for some of these features (i.e., auto windshield wipers, parking sensors, auto-dimming mirrors, etc.)

As you say that, I’m sourcing the auto wipers now.

 

[sackofcheese]

I know we all tend to be "Sky is falling" when it comes to the news about models being cancelled in other markets, but it is important to remember that the reason MY26 is the last year for the FL5 in Europe is the K20C1 not meeting the new emissions standards they have. VW had to kill their manual Golf R and GTI for this reason.

Here in North America, we don't have those same emissions requirements coming, and it is looking like the current emissions plan is going to get rolled back. I think we're jumping the gun on saying it is over. Honda has already announced the 11th gen will run longer than planned by a year too.

 

[onepointsix]

I know we all tend to be "Sky is falling" when it comes to the news about models being cancelled in other markets, but it is important to remember that the reason MY26 is the last year for the FL5 in Europe is the K20C1 not meeting the new emissions standards they have. VW had to kill their manual Golf R and GTI for this reason.

Here in North America, we don't have those same emissions requirements coming, and it is looking like the current emissions plan is going to get rolled back. I think we're jumping the gun on saying it is over. Honda has already announced the 11th gen will run longer than planned by a year too.

Keep in mind though the car is built in Japan, which also has strict emissions rules. They're not going to build the car beyond MY26. I believe the date was June/July 2026 that the rules come into affect there but the plant building the car will stop in March. This is off memory, so it may be off...

 

[Cueyo]

I know we all tend to be "Sky is falling" when it comes to the news about models being cancelled in other markets, but it is important to remember that the reason MY26 is the last year for the FL5 in Europe is the K20C1 not meeting the new emissions standards they have. VW had to kill their manual Golf R and GTI for this reason.

Here in North America, we don't have those same emissions requirements coming, and it is looking like the current emissions plan is going to get rolled back. I think we're jumping the gun on saying it is over. Honda has already announced the 11th gen will run longer than planned by a year too.

Contrary to that, the golf R and GTI losing their MTs effected everyone even though it was a EU problem. I think the rollover will happen everywhere.

 

[someguy115]

Keep in mind though the car is built in Japan, which also has strict emissions rules. They're not going to build the car beyond MY26. I believe the date was June/July 2026 that the rules come into affect there but the plant building the car will stop in March. This is off memory, so it may be off...

All the K20C engines are made in the US, but all the car assembly and unique bodywork is all Japan. The ITS is build in America already, and the only real functional difference is the bodywork. It wouldn't be impossible to retool an American line to pickup production- but why would Honda stop producing a line of standard Civics that produces probably 50k sales a year for a civic that will generate probably 10k sales a year for maybe 1 more model year?

The fiscal sense isn't there, to be honest. I agree with you that Honda is likely to retool Saitama for something else and when that happens- the CTR is done for- at least for the FL5 model. Japan does penalize manufacturers who make export-only models. Officially- the FL5 isn't export only, its not "discontinued" in Japan, they just aren't taking new orders. Come 2026- it will be fully discontinued in Japan- Leaving Honda the option of spending a lot of money moving the tooling to the US and harming sales of another model- or continuing to manufacture and eat (or pass on) the penalty.

 

[sackofcheese]

Contrary to that, the gold R and GTI losing their MTs effected everyone even though it was a EU problem. I think the rollover will happen everywhere.

That was because essentially no one but the NA market was buying the manuals. The VWoA product planner fought hard just to get us the manual MK8 GTI/R, as the Germans didn't see the point (Ignoring half of MK7 sales were manual)

 

[onepointsix]

All the K20C engines are made in the US, but all the car assembly and unique bodywork is all Japan. The ITS is build in America already, and the only real functional difference is the bodywork. It wouldn't be impossible to retool an American line to pickup production- but why would Honda stop producing a line of standard Civics that produces probably 50k sales a year for a civic that will generate probably 10k sales a year for maybe 1 more model year?

The fiscal sense isn't there, to be honest. I agree with you that Honda is likely to retool Saitama for something else and when that happens- the CTR is done for- at least for the FL5 model. Japan does penalize manufacturers who make export-only models. Officially- the FL5 isn't export only, its not "discontinued" in Japan, they just aren't taking new orders. Come 2026- it will be fully discontinued in Japan- Leaving Honda the option of spending a lot of money moving the tooling to the US and harming sales of another model- or continuing to manufacture and eat (or pass on) the penalty.

Agreed. The ITS will fill the void left by the CTR and continue for another year or so. That will be Honda's "solution" to the problem.

Sponsored