Pricing details are now available for the rethought 2012 Honda Crosstour featuring a more cost-minded four-cylinder engine.

The 2012 Crosstour will start at $27,655 and go all the way up to $36,540 for the four-wheel drive version with navigation. At the base price, you get a 192-horsepower engine that squeaks out an extra three miles-per-gallon in the city and two on the highway. The 271-horsepower V6, which is unchanged over previous models, is still available as well.

The company made the official announcement about their plans to launch a less expansive version of their crossover last December. They hoped it would help the Crosstour finally feel marketable in light of failed sales. Despite that failure, Honda still seems confident and determined to make the Crosstour work.

“The new four-cylinder Crosstour offers sleek design, unmatched passenger comfort and ingenious functionality now with four-cylinder pricing and fuel economy,” said John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda Motor Co. “With four-cylinder and V6 options and a long list of standard features, Crosstour should be on every CUV buyer’s shopping list.”

That might be how Honda feels, but the Crosstour has been consistantly criticized as the ugly duckling in the lineup. Consmers complain that it’s too much like a larger Accord, which makes sense because that’s how it was originally marketed.

Speaking of ugly ducklings, it’s probably important to point out that the top-of-the-line Nissan Juke sells for about $4000 less than the base Crosstour. It also gets better mileage than the two-wheel drive crosstour, with all-wheel drive. Sure, you sacrifice four horsepower, but who cares?

The only new selling point for Honda’s less potent 2012 Crosstour is a lower price, but we say that fails to deliver against the competition.

Gallery: 2012 Honda Crosstour

General Motors unveiled their new family of small displacement engines, a group of three and four cylinder engines ranging from 1.0L to 1.5L in displacement. The engines were designed in concert largely with GM’s Chinese subsidiaries.

GM didn’t divulge which vehicles will get the new engines, but did say that North America won’t be an initial market for the three-cylinder  engines. GM was also tight-lipped about the specifics of the engines, only stating ”they will feature lightweight design and advanced technologies such as direct injection, turbocharging and alternative fuel compatibility” as well as “…[being] designed to reduce noise, vibration and harshness.”

Continue Reading…

To celebrate the company’s 25th anniversary, Acura is producing a Special Edition of the TSX. The TSX Special Edition model will give the popular sedan a sportier, more aggressive look – a good thing, considering the upgrades are all cosmetic.

The TSX will receive a more aggressive front spoiler, unique side sills and rear fascia as well as new polished 17-inch alloy rims with a dark grey background. On the inside, the seats will be finished with black suede inserts that contrast the red stitching. The red stitching will also carry over on the steering wheel and shift knob. The red theme continues on the gauges, overhead lighting and foot-well. The sedan will also receive aluminum pedals and silver plating for the steering-wheel-mounted shifters.

Powering the TSX will be the K24 2.4-liter 4-cylinder engine, mated to either a close-ratio 6-speed manual or 5-speed automatic transmission. The TSX Special Edition will make its debut at the Orange Country International Auto Show on September 22nd, and will likely go on sale at the same time.

GALLERY: TSX Special Edition

With the debut of the all new 2012 Toyota Camry yesterday (review here), Honda’s Accord soldiers on for another model year mostly unchanged save for the addition of a Special Edition (SE) trim level. All Accord models will also receive a USB audio interface for 2012.

The Honda Accord will also receive four engine variations , with the base 177-hp 2.4-liter i-VTEC engine in the LX,LX-P and SE sedans. Next is the 190-hp 2.4-liter 16-valve DOHC i-VTEC engine that’s standard in the EX and EX-L sedan. The top of the line 3.5-liter 24-valve SOHC, i-VTEC V6 engine produces 271-hp and is available  in the EX and EX-L.

Transmission choices vary between engine and trim level choices. There is a 5-speed automatic transmission standard for all 4-cylinder and V6 models. A 6-speed manual transmission will be available exclusively for the Accord V6 Coupe. The 4-cylinder Accord with the 5-speed automatic transmission will rank as the most fuel efficient model, achieving 23 mpg city and 34 mpg highway for a combined 27 mpg rating.

Honda’s Satellite-Linked Navigation System is available on the EX-L model and has an 8-inch screen and an interface dial for user input. The 2012 Accord sedan also earned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s best-possible Overall Vehicle Score 1 of 5 stars.

In celebration of Honda’s 39th anniversary of the popular compact, the Japanese automaker has put together a video titled “Heritage”, where we take a look at the histroy of the car.

With some help from the British house music trio Dirty Vegas, the video shows us the evolution of Civic dating back to 1973. Since the first Civic was first produced, 19,000,000 units have been sold.

The all-new 2012 Honda Civic will feature a 1.8-liter 4-cylinder engine producing 140-hp.  The Civic is rated at 28 mpg city and 39 mpg highway which is gain of 12 percent in the city and 8 percent on the highway, over last years model. The Civic coupe will start from $15,605 and the sedan starts from $15,805.

Check out the AutoGuide review of the 2012 Honda Civic and view the “Heritage” video after the jump!

Continue Reading…

Toyota’s new Yaris just made its local debut at the 2011 Melbourne auto show, ahead of its showroom release at the end of the year. The current Yaris is the third most popular compact car in the Australia, behind the Mazda2 and the Hyundai Getz.

Toyota stretched the Yaris to help create more space for rear seat passengers. Fuel efficiency has been improved by more advanced aerodynamics and the windshield gains “UV-reducing” glass with a single large wiper blade. The new Yaris will be offered as a three-door, five-door hatchback and four-door sedan. Toyota stated that this new model was designed with more of a European flavour than its predecessor.

Engine choices for the new Yaris are expected to be similar to the outgoing model, including a 1.3-liter and 1.5-liter powerplant. Toyota Australia will not release any more details until its launch.

Gallery: 2012 Toyota Yaris

[Source: Drive]

MINI has recently released the all-new 2012 Coupe and it will pack a serious punch. The company’s racing heritage will continue with this sporty two-door in the John Cooper Works Coupe Endurance. This race car has been developed to compete in this weekends 24-hour Nürburgring-Nordschleife circuit. MINI will race the “Green Hell”, as the track is affectionately known with two cars wearing numbers 146 and 147. Three other MINI teams will also track two cars each, making for eight MINI’s in a race of 250.

The race car gets a specially-tuned version of the factory produced John Cooper Works engine, packsinga 1.6-liter four cylinder equipped with a twin-scroll turbocharger and direct injection. The car will produce 250-hp with an over-boost function cranking out 330 lb-ft of torque and a top speed of 240 km/h.

The car looks and sounds great in the video and looks very quick. The exhaust system sounds mean and the minute and a half long video is definetly worth watching.

Check out the video after the jump!

Continue Reading…

The all new stylish 2012 Toyota Vitz model, sold here as the Yaris, appears to have new photos, that is if these pics from a Hungarian Toyota dealership’s Facebook page are anything to go by.

In an age where fuel economy is a major selling aspect, the subcompact B-segment is more important than ever, and the new Yaris fits the description.

The new Yaris functionally has gained some size. In total, the Yaris grows 100mm from end to end, with half of that between the wheelbase for more interior room. The car has also grown 20mm shorter overall, probably to lower the center of gravity and improve handling. The new model in Japan has a range of small four cylinder engines, but we should expect a 1.5L version as the sole option.

Stay tuned for more details!

GALLERY: 2012 Toyota Yaris

[Source: Autoblog]