The Honda CR-Z had all the potential for being a car that many would’ve probably bought if only for the looks. Too bad Honda’s headed to a different direction and sort of ruined the car for many gearheads like me.

First, they turned it into a hybrid. Then they toned down the styling unlike the one we all liked with the concept. Those are two big enough reasons to get me turned off with the car. The Mugen-tuned one’s not too shabby though.

Anyway, the car’s set to go on sale later this year but insider buzz has revealed that this nearly never came to fruition. The reason – the US execs didn’t want the car in their showrooms. They wanted the idea of a sporty looking hybrid but many of them wanted it to have a stronger punch to match the style.

The CR-Z packs a 1.5L i-VTEC with a hybrid motor. It produces a total of 122 hp which isn’t really powerful. That’s the same power figures that one can get with a standard Japanese family saloon car.

I really wonder what’s the big deal with one-seater “personal mobility” vehicles. The Segway was an interesting concept but it still failed to revolutionize the way we travel. Toyota came out with the iUnit and the iSwing. Now Honda has come up with the 3R-C which will be showcased at the Geneva motor show.

Good thing Honda also makes bikes since you really can’t tell whether this thing is a car or a trike that decided to run backwards. The electric vehicles has three wheels, sits one person, and has a canopy but leaves the driver’s head exposed.

And the 3R-C operates similarly to a bike as well. It runs on bike tires and the driver uses a handlebar-like wheel to steer. Good thing this thing will not be put to production yet and only serves to show Honda’s current take on urban personal mobility.

Now this is what the CR-Z should’ve been in the first place – a sporty and aggressive looking car that dishes out at least 200 hp.

This here’s the Honda CR-Z Type R. Instead of the 1.5L i-VTEC engine that dishes out 122 hp paired with an IMA hybrid system found in the standard CR-Z, this one packs a 2.0L dishing out 150 hp paired with a larger 50 hp electric motor.

That’d allow the CR-Z Type R to go from 0-60 mph in just 6 seconds and go all the way to 140 mph. The car also gets a drive system with four selections – Sport, Econ, Normal and a Sport Plus setting (exclusive to the Type R).

The car’s also fitted with better brakes and stiffer suspensions to round up the Type R package.

Mind you that the Type R is just a performance version and is technically still part of the CR-Z lineup. Mugen is reported to be basing its version of the CR-Z for its reworked version.

Hey, remember that announcement last week that Honda will be updating the Ridgeline come 2011? Well, the latest skinny on the matter says that it that would not be the case.

“American Honda apologizes if there was inaccurate information shared at the Chicago Auto Show about the Honda Ridgeline pickup. I can confirm that there will be no significant change to the Ridgeline through the 2011 model year,” said Honda PR Christina Ra.

Honda AVP for product planning Vicki Poponi initially announced that updates will be made on the Ridgeline after five years of stagnancy.

Perhaps Honda’s still deliberating on the Ridgeline’s place in the company’s strategy. Honda is currently competing to be the world’s greenest automaker and has focused on developing hybrids.

Source: Pickup Trucks

Honda might have said that it wouldn’t play vulture to Toyota’s huge f*ck up but we all know that they’re still Toyota’s biggest Japanese competitors.

Just check out the new Honda Civic Type R by Honda’s in-house tuner, Mugen. The car gets an interesting body kit to differentiate it from the base Type R.

Improvements are mostly on the the styling. The car boasts of new front and rear bumpers and a new set of 19-inch Lightning allows. Mugen badges are slapped on the car fro good measure.

The car still packs the same 2.0L i-VTEC engine that dishes out 198 bhp but the car gets a limited slip differential as standard to help it better deal with the corners. Additional tuning parts will come as options.

Mugen is surely going to have quite the time competing with Toyota’s new G-Sports line with Mugen’s renewed market visibility. Mugen will also be tuning the new CR-Z sports hybrid.

Not too much news are on pickups for quite some time now. (Aside from the Toyota Tundra being part of the recall.) Pickups are still pretty much a North American staple.

If you’re looking for a pickup from Japan, Honda announced that the Ridgeline pickup will be getting some upgrades for its 2011 model. Finally, after five years.

Honda needs to shake things up on their pickup as sales of the Ridgeline has declined over the last year. Competitors have been building pickup trucks that have pretty much trumped the Ridgeline’s appeal.

Only 16,464 units were sold last year, a drop of more than 50% from the previous year.

“The customers love the Ridgeline. It’s really a unique truck. It’s its own segment. But because it’s a niche vehicle, they’re really aren’t many people out looking for it. It’s also a bit older than we like.” Honda assistant vice president for product planning said.

Let me say it again. Honda had a great chance to build a great sporty looking car with the Honda CR-Z that could’ve been viable for the mass market. Too bad they made it a hybrid. It’s basically a very good-looking Insight.

Glass half-full type of people would definitely say that Honda just made hybrids better with this car but Toyota’s got the G-Sports tuning accessories line and that doesn’t look too shabby.

Now here’s the Euro-spec version of the CR-Z that would be making its debut at the 2010 Geneva motor show. People living in areas with high congestion charges would probably like this. The 56.4 mpg’s still worse than many hot-hatch diesels but the 117 g/km of CO2 is not bad at all.

This hybrid coupé is based on the hardware of the Honda Insight petrol-electric saloon, so don’t get carried away with all this sports car chat. The two share the same 1.5-litre i-VTEC engine and IMA hybrid tech.

The Euro-spec car will get a three-mode drive system that tweaks steering, throttle response and electric boost through full performance, eco setting and normal modes.

The car will be available this summer.

The thing with business is it really is a dog-eat-dog world. Falter and your competitors would be more than happy to kick you while you’re down.

Toyota might be the biggest automaker today after GM went bust but it might not be able to hold on to the title for long. Especially with mighty Volkswagen eating away at the lead and, of course, in the light of one of the biggest recalls in history.

An accelerator problem prompted Toyota to recall millions of vehicles worldwide. The company even halted US sales of select models until its engineers figure out a permanent solution to the problem.

Ready to pick on the wounded giant are GM, Ford, Chrysler and Hyundai who are offering Toyota customers incetives on trade-ins.

Chrysler is offering $1,000 bonus for Tundra, Tacoma, and Sienna owners who’d want to get any new Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge or Ram. A similar $1,000 offer is made by Hyundai for any new takers of a Sonata, Elanta, and Elantra Touring.

Call it honor, but Toyota’s biggest Japanese rival Honda which has been permanently trying to pip Toyota’s model range, takes the high road in not trying to steal Toyota’s customers in such a manner.

I wish Honda weren’t so hardcore with their going green plans so that their good old gasoline-powered cars can continue to support their classics. Their latest move possibly related to this greening effort – axe the NSX GT racer.

Even though the NSX was put out of production in 2005, Honda continued to race it due to insistent Japanese motorsport fan demand. The car will be ending its 13-year run in the Japanese Super GT championship.

Powered by the 3.5L V6 (compared to the road car’s 3.0L) the car gets 500 hp thanks to some hardcore tuning by Mugen. The car won the driver and team cups in 2000 and 2007 and has proven to be quite the competitor.

Honda will still continu competing in the top tier GT Japanese motorsport though no word yet on what car it will be fielding.

Source: Autocar

It seems that even with a losing fight to the growing ecomentalist revolution, gearheads can seek refuge with tuners to give us power and performance.

Take the case of Honda for example. They’re the ones who gave us the first proper Asian supercar in the NSX but they killed that off. They quite Formula One. And now, they’re only interested in being the greenest automaker.

The CR-Z looks like it has all the potential to be a pocket rocket but our hopes got doused when they decided it’s going to be hybrid-only.

Good thing tuning firm Mugen’s announced that they can put their greasy hands on the CR-Z and turn it to something more than the hybrid pansy that it currently is. They claim that the hybrid systems offer quite the opportunities for tuning.

Source: Autocar

Can’t wait for that.

And true to Honda’s claim that they intend to be the world’s greenest automaker, they’ve unveiled the CR-Z – which is, technically, the first hybrid sports car intended for mass production.

Powering the car is a combination of a gasoline and an electric engine. The CR-Z concept initially packed a wee 1.3L petrol engine but the production version will be using the 1.5L i-VTEC engine.

If that’s the same engine found in the current Honda fleet, then the 1.5L engine dishes out around 110 bhp. Combined with the electric motor, the CR-Z is expected to dish out 135 bhp.

Not at all shabby for a compact. Still, don’t expect to be dusting cars at the red light with this thing and it makes you wonder what the heck is wrong with a Civic Type R for a “sports” car. Oh yeah, it’s not green enough for Honda these days.

Honda’s taking aim at the Volkswagen Scirocco in the compact sports car market segment. Come to think of it, it does rival the ‘Roc in terms of size and shape.

Source: Autocar

Honda seems to have their future planned out well. They already announced the arrival of the CR-Z and Fit hybrids to come next year as part of their plan to be the greenest automaker on the planet. It seems that part of that plan is to phase out some models too.

The company announced the phasing out of the FR-V MPV. The six-seater vehicle will be discontinued this April and the last of its kind will come from the Suzuka line in Japan come August.

Honda isn’t keen on replacing the FR-V citing the Insight and the Fit/Jazz to cover the market segment. A wise business decision, IMHO. While other automakers are flooding the market with cars that target overlapping market segment, Honda seems to be keen on offering on car for specific markets.

The FR-V saw a bit of action in the European market, being one of the only two compact minivans with a 3+3 seating option together with the Fiat Multipla.

Honda announced that more green cars will be in store for buyers next year. Coming to Honda dealerships will be the CR-Z and Fit hybrids. These will be welcome additions to the Insight and Civic hybrids currently in the market.

Initially expected to be the Prius-killer, the Insight’s sales continue to disappoint. The addition of an edgier-looking hybrid in the CR-Z and the current reception to the Fit small car will enhance Honda’s offerings in the green car segments. Honda intends to be one of the “greenest” automakers in the world.

Both cars will be using Honda’s Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) technology that are currently in use in the Insight and the Civic hybrids. A 13hp motor work in tandem with the gasoline motor. The system is also equipped with an Intelligent Power Unit capable of capturing kinetic energy from braking which is stored for future use.

The CR-Z will definitely be one that would catch interest. Its futuristic design together with a rumored 140 hp power rating from the hybrid powertrain is shaping up to be a treat.

The cash for clunkers program is almost ready for roll out. It’s a two-pronged attack to help boost the ailing US auto industry and to keep gas-guzzling older models off the roads. But with the attractiveness of smaller and economical cars from the Pacific for the credit, will the program really do the US any good?

Take for example Honda which listed almost all of its models except for the S2000 roadster, the Accord V6 Coupe manual and the FCX Clarity as eligible for the tax credit. That means almost all their cars are economical and eco-friendly.

• 2009 Fit – All models
• 2010 Insight – All models
• 2009 Civic – All models
• 2009 Accord – All models except V6 Coupe with manual transmission
• 2009 CR-V – All models
• 2009 Element – All models
• 2009 – 2010 Pilot – All models including 2WD and 4WD
• 2009 – 2010 Odyssey – All models

And who wouldn’t buy a Honda? They do sure have quality builds and score quite fine in reliability rankings. But doesn’t this mean that taxpayer dollars will ultimately benefit Japan instead? Oh well, good news for Honda fans though. $4,500 off a Fit or a Civic’s very nice indeed.

The Honda FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel cell car has been hailed as the greenest of them all, receiving the title of 2009 Green Car of the Year at the New York Motor Show. The FCX Clarity beat 21 other contenders for the award.

The award was decided from a pool of 22 contenders nominated by 59 World Car jurors taken from 25 countries. To explain handing the FCX Clarity the award, the jurors said that the car “is an utterly real, hydrogen-fuelled luxury sedan that provides the amenities people expect in a premium car with 430km range, fuel consumption of about 3.3 L/100km (72 mpg US) equivalent and zero tailpipe emissions.”

While the rules say that new production cars are eligible for the award, there is a stipulation that says experimental prototypes with 10 or more units released for fleet evaluations are also qualified for the award.

The Honda FCX Clarity beat other contenders such as the Audi Q7 3.0 TDI, the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, the Toyota iQ, and the Tesla Electric Roadster.

Source: Motor Authority

As part of cost-cutting measures thanks to the economic downturn, Honda has confirmed that it is withdrawing from this year’s Frankfurt Motor Show. Additionally, the Japanese automaker has no new models to unveil, making participation at the show irrelevant and unnecessary.

According to Honda spokesman Paul Ormond, Honda simply cannot ignore the current global economic crisis. “It is regrettable,” he said. “But we have to make some tough decisions… While we see the show as a significant event, we have already launched the new Honda Insight, and any other launch activity planned for this year will be at the Tokyo motor show.”

He added that the money that would have been allotted for the Frankfurt Show will be used to fuel dealership promotions and marketing, which would of course be more viable and practical in these dire times.

That pretty much sums up what we should expect from Honda in the future. The Tokyo Show is still quite some time from now, and Honda is keen on avoiding auto shows until then. Perhaps all Honda fans can do now is say, “see you in October.”

Source: Autocar

The Honda F1 Team will continue to race for the 2009 Formula One season after all. The team will now be called Brawn GP Formula One Team, pending approval of an ownership turnover agreement between team principal Ross Brawn and Honda.

“The past few months have been extremely challenging for the team but today’s announcement is the very pleasing conclusion to the strenuous efforts that have been made to secure its future,” said Brawn.

Additionally, the agreement practically saves the season of drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. They would have had a hard time looking for a roster spot with the other teams, as most have finalized their one-two driver lineups already. Button and Barrichello are on their fourth year together as drivers, currently the longest among all lineups.

Honda has been pretty disappointing the past couple of seasons, but 2009 was seen as a bounce-back year for the team. Then, the economic crisis had to come in and make Honda decide to let its F1 team go to save money, putting the entire operations—and the drivers’ seasons—in limbo. At least things look brighter now: Honda continues to race and F1 won’t stand to lose another team.

Source: Formula One

While there have certainly been offers for Honda’s Formula One racing team, the Japanese automaker has stated that it has not yet found a serious buyer among all the prospective candidates.

This revelation comes a few months after Honda announced it was selling its F1 team and is thus leaving F1, mainly because of the persisting economic problems that plague the world, most especially the automotive industry.

Honda CEO Takeo Fukui said that Honda execs “find the sale process difficult,” confirming that there have been some offers, but that Honda has yet to find one they want. From the grapevine, it is said that the Virgin Group had expressed interest and there was even talk of an internal buyout by management.

The search is starting to reach a critical point, as the 2009 Formula One season draws near. Should Honda not find a buyer, its personnel, including driver Jenson Button, would be left in limbo. What’s more, it will reduce the F1 ranks by two midfield competitors, and this will figure largely in the big picture of the sport and the competition.

Source: Formula 1 Site

The 2010 Honda Insight hybrid electric vehicle, which started sales last February 6 in Japan, is already seeing high sales figures. To be more precise, consumers are purchasing Insights at a rate double than that of Honda’s expected monthly targets.

The Insight retails for some 1.89 million yen (converted to around $20,600), making the 5-door hatchback practically the least expensive hybrid. The EPA rated the Insight at 40 mpg on city traffic (with 43 mpg on highway traffic). The excellent fuel efficiency coupled with the low cost makes the Insight an attractive prospect.

Honda is also planning hybrids in other vehicle segments, perhaps also in the sports car segment. The Japanese automaker is targeting 500,000 units in annual hybrid global sales by the next decade.

Of course, it has yet to be announced if the Insight will see release in North America. If this success continues, and Honda can prove the car will meet with a measure of the kind of success it has seen in Japan so far, then that may be likely.

Source: 4wheelsnews

Let’s face it, fellow gearheads. The crunch has everyone reeling all over the world. Even in the supposedly resilient Japanese automotive industry, automakers are declaring loses and job cuts. For enthusiasts there also the grim news of the Acura/Honda NSX being either shelved or binned. And that raises the question, will we be able to anticipate any other Godzilla cars from Japan any time soon.

The Nissan GT-R has proven that it is quite a great track car, putting cars twice its price to shame. But if you’re one who thought the Aston Rapide and the Lamborghini Estoque were great ideas, then you might enjoy the prospect of a four-door GT-R that they plan to release in 2011 to be released as an Infiniti. Oh and for those looking for something larger, how about a GT-R based SUV?

For minicar enthusiasts, Honda is also set to unleash an all-new two-door Beat. In addition, an S2000 coupe, is still slated for a 2012 debut at the latest.

For sportscar lovers, the Toyota-Subaru has been shelved but the Lexus V10 LF-A is still on course. Mind you that Lexus has been quite cautious on how they could make the LF-A the definitive Japanese supercar. And with the GT-R already in the market, Lexus has their work cut out for them.

Now we could just hope that these projections still stay on course.

Source: Inside Line

Honda emerged as the top automaker to retain new-vehicle buyers, according to the results of the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Customer Retention Study. The study pegged Honda at a 64.7% retention rate, a marginal improvement from 2007.

The study measures the percentage of people who buy a new vehicle from the same automaker as their previously-owned car. Honda’s 2008 rate is about 2 percentage points higher than last year’s. Toyota had the second-best percentage at 63.2%, while Toyota’s luxury vehicle brand Lexus went third at 60.4%.

“Honda’s reputation for creating safe vehicles with high resale value has been instrumental in retaining owners,” says J.D. Power and Associates. In contrast, Jaguar retained a mere 25% of its buyers. The overall retention rate is 48%, which is down from 2007’s 49%. Land Rover posted the highest improvement; the company’s 49% is up by 18% from last year.

This is a clear sign that companies who put a premium on safety and value will get their buyers coming back for new models. If owners get satisfaction out of their cars, chances are they’ll go for the trusted brand the next time they buy a new one.

Source: 4wheelsnews

The Swindon factory in Wiltshire, England is set to stay silent for two whole months in 2009—February and March—which means some 21,000 cars will be scratched off next year’s production figures. The plant mainly manufactures the CR-V line for US export and the Civic line for the European market.

This is perhaps the largest-scale production run limitation for a mainstream automaker in the UK, but it is definitely not the first. The Bentley factory in Crewe currently implements a three-day workweek. The Land Rover plant in Suhill has a four-day workweek. Last but not least, Toyota totally cut the night shift at its Burnaston factory.

The good news is that there are no planned lay-offs for the plant’s workers. They will still be getting their basic pay for those two months; there just won’t be any overtimes or special pay.

Honda also has plans to limit the Ohio and Alabama plants’ run next year, to cut production because of continually declining demand, as well as to further aid in cutting costs in the face of a struggling automotive industry.

Source: Autocar

Hydrogen power is what the Honda FC Sport concept is all about. The three-seat concept was unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show amidst all the hybrids and electric cars. The concept makes use of Honda’s proprietary hydrogen fuel cell technology, dubbed the Vertical Flow, or ‘V Flow’, which is used only by the company’s FCX Clarity saloon.

Honda is banking on the fuel cell system’s flexibility, along with the FC Sport’s high-power electric motor and the ultra-light construction of the car to provide performance levels that approach that of supercars. Aerodynamics also influenced the car’s design heavily. The designers made sure that weight distribution was optimized by putting the V Flow’s heaviest components down below the rear seats. The motor is located to the rear axle’s front, to enhance vehicle handling and to provide more cabin room.

According to Honda US vice president Dan Bonawitz, the FC Sport “explores how to satisfy automotive performance enthusiasts in a world beyond petroleum.” He’s got the performance part nailed, and the sleek design and environment-friendly drivetrain should make the Honda FC Sport a favorite to become the sports car of the future—if it sees production.

Source: Autocar

Toyota and Honda will be showcasing their separate vehicle-to-vehicle communications systems in the World Congress on Intelligent Transportation Systems, which will be held from November 16 through 20 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York. The creation of such systems follows the lead of several European automakers in the development of the “future of car safety”.
Many view such communications systems as the key to reducing accidents by preventing collisions and facilitating awareness of cars’ locations with respect to each other along roads and on intersections.

The Honda system, tested on an Acura SL sedan, uses sensors and radio communication to provide audio-visual warnings to the driver. This is especially useful in situations where road view is obstructed by, say, buildings or other structures. Toyota’s system uses radio communications to assist in traffic monitoring, speed control, and avoidance of collisions with pedestrians or other vehicles. Both systems use the 5.9-gigahertz frequency for short-range communications, just like the one used by European manufacturers for their Car-2-Car communications system.

With more and more automakers committed to providing the best in terms of vehicle safety, we could see this kind of inter-vehicle communications becoming a staple feature in the near future.

Source: Motor Authority

Say hello to the latest incarnation of Honda’s compact sedan – the 2009 Honda City. The car has been totally restyled and now features a new powerplant that Honda claims to give the City more power and better performance.

The new engine – a 1.4L i-VTEC – was lifted from the new Honda Jazz. With this, the City gets 17 more horsepower giving the car a total of 100 horses without having to trade off fuel economy and emissions. Performance isn’t too shabby for a compact sedan. Not blistering but quite decent, reaching 0-62 mph in 11.8 seconds. Still, quicker than the previous version.

The engine is mated to a modified version of the current gearbox. The improvement resulted in smoother changes and better performance through optimized gear ratios. A sport mode for the automatic also comes as an option.

I find it weird how some models just won’t get the same exposure as others. Never mind if the new City has been remodeled and improved, it won’t be basking under the spotlights of the Paris Motor Show as it will debut at the 2008 Istanbul Motor Show instead. Perhaps Honda is picking their spots but is Turkey a larger market for the Honda City than the greater European market or is the Honda City just a second-stringer in their fleet?

Source: Honda