Picture a classic car in your head: likely it’s an American icon like a late ‘60s Mustang or even earlier like a ‘50s Fairlane. Maybe your taste is a bit more exotic and you’re imagining a classic Ferrari or even a British sports car like an MG or Triumph.
Maybe you’ve been in this situation: stuck on the side of a road, a punctured tire needing to be changed out for the spare one in the trunk. You have a pair of options, do you choose to change the tire yourself, or do you call for roadside assistance. Both options can take a while to get you back on the road, especially if you’ve never changed a tire yourself before. And even if you have, sometimes it can take some serious elbow grease.
After Honda lost in its small claims court gas mileage suit, the Japanese automaker filed an appeal on the ruling and headed back to court. Earlier on Wednesday, Honda won the reversal of the small claims loss to Heather Peters.
The mid-size family sedan segment is one of the most competitive markets in the industry and with many of its rivals recently revamped, Honda is prepping an all-new 2013 Accord.
Honda manufacturing of Alabama is entering the One Lap of America endurance race again this year, running in an Odyssey minivan that pumps out 523 hp.
The race covers 10 states and eight race tracks over a period of seven days, and consists of all types of racing events including straight line time trials, banked oval track timed laps, road course segements and more.
The Honda Odyssey would not be the first choice for most racers, but the engineers at Honda Alabama decided to have some fun with the typical family vehicle and added some pep to the kid carrier. A stock Odyssey runs with a 3.5-liter V-6 that makes 266 hp, while this race version uses a turbocharger and modified version of the same engine to provide 523 hp.
[Source: Birmingham News]
The newest commercial from Honda highlights the brands long history, and the new designs that will carry them into the future.
Honda has been criticized plenty for having lost its passion, building cars that lack the “fun to drive” experience of their predecessors. After the 2012 Civic Si was generally panned it seemed as though Honda got the message, announcing it would revamp the car ahead of schedule.
Another positive sign came when Honda unveiled a new Civic Si race car at last year’s SEMA Show, more recently committing to the SCCA World Challenge series as part of an increased motorsports presence.
This past weekend Honda flexed its motorsports muscle at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah, with involvement from not just dedicated racers, but even from the folks behind the desks. In the inaugural running of the new B-Spec series for sub-compact cars, topping the podium in the third of three races was none other than Sage Marie. Unlikely to be a household name even amongst the most dedicated motorsports enthusiasts, Marie just so happens to be the recently appointed head of Honda public relations in America.
“It’s remarkable that the cars from so many manufacturers were so close right out of the box, and it’s fantastic that the folks at World Challenge
put this class together,” said Marie to AutoGuide.com. “HPD put a great package together for the Fit, and clearly the Honda was the best car today!”
Extolling the virtues of the series, Marie commented that, “It’s a great way to get into pro racing in a competitive, low cost and low maintenance format, and World Challenge puts on a great show.”
Marie was far from the only Honda driver on the podium this weekend with Todd Lamb in the No. 71 HPD Honda Civic Si placing first, third and then second in the three races, while his Compass360 Racing teammate Ryan Winchester in the No. 72 HPD Honda Civic Si placed second, second and third in the three races.
As a result of the strong weekend finish, Honda now sits first int he manufacturer points race in the Touring Car series with 39, followed closely by Mazda with 34. Driver’s Lamb and Winchester sit second and third respectively in the Drivers’ Points.
Honda announced a technology breakthrough today capable of detecting the potential for traffic congestion by actively determining whether the driving pattern of a vehicle is likely to create bottle-necking.
As promised back in March after Heather Peters won her settlement concerning the Honda Civic Hybrid’s MPG claims, Honda is heading back to court to appeal the small claims decision.
American Honda’s lawyers are hoping to overturn the highly publicized court award to Heather Peters, who netted $9,867 after suing Honda stating that her Civic Hybrid failed to get the promised 50-mpg. As a result of her successful small claims suit, 1,700 Civic Hybrid owners have opted out of a class action settlement, presumably to take Honda to small claims court themselves.
Honda will be heading back to court on Thursday and the court will once again hear testimony from both sides in what is basically a retrial. But unlike the small claims trial, Honda has legal representation and Peters will be presenting new evidence she has discovered. Peters also renewed her law license and has already testified in the first part of the hearing with Honda’s lawyers questioning her.
The Japanese automaker is hoping the appeal will curb other Civic Hybrid owners from filing their own small claims suits similar to what Peters did successfully.
[Source: The Detroit News]
Acura just announced pricing for its new ILX sedan, which will start at $25,900 and runs all the way to $34,400 for the highest-priced hybrid model.
Ranging from a 2.0-liter inline four cylinder engine in the base model to the 2.4-liter powerplant sourced from the Honda Civic Si and topped out cost-wise with the 1.5-liter hybrid drivetrain, the ILX will go on sale at dealerships starting May 22.
Honda announced today that it will start a mass-production recycling program to extract rare earth metals from used car parts.
Partnering with Japan Metals & Chemicals Co., the automaker will begin extracting the materials, which are 95 percent controlled by China. The majority of material harvesting will be from nickel-metal hydride batteries collected from used hybrid vehicles sourced from Honda’s massive dealer network.
Currently, China’s near-monopoly over the material is causing drastic price inflation, but finding a way to circumvent that cost is obviously advantageous.
The project will extract 80 percent of the nickel-metal hydride from used hybrid batteries and will eventually use the process for other components as well.
Price, looks and size… these are the few factors that used to decide what vehicle you’d park in your driveway. Looking for a cheap and small car? A Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic will do. Need something bigger, perhaps a mid-size Hyundai Sonata or an SUV. Things used to be pretty easy.
With increasingly high gas prices and an overall movement towards green, fuel efficient vehicles, fuel economy has become more important. In fact, for many price, looks and size are now completely trumped by fuel economy.
“Buyers just look at the MPG on the sticker,” says IHS Automotive Analyst Devin Lindsay commenting that car buyers are now completely mesmerized by the EPA sticker label.
Take a look at the Toyota Prius, for example. It’s not terribly big, is fairly expensive, and looks… well… weird. But that didn’t stop three million of them from being sold, all thanks to a hybrid gas-electric engine that provides excellent fuel economy.
The Prius isn’t the only option for someone looking for a fuel efficient car, however; especially those in search of a more engaging driving experience. If you want to cut down on trips to the pump, and still drive a fun, powerful, good looking car, your best bet might just be in a diesel powered vehicle. That does mean you’ll almost certainly have to drive German, although a flood of new diesel-powered vehicles are about to hit our shore.
Zipcar, the nations largest car sharing service, is teaming up with Honda to provide customers with the latest in fuel saving cars and EVs.
All Zipcar customers, known as Zipsters, will have access to Honda’s Insight hybrid, the new CR-V and the all electric Fit EV come this fall. The Accord plug-in hybrid will be added to the stable beginning in early 2013.
Zipcar’s urban presence has driven up the demand for fuel efficient small vehicles which make more sense in the city, and Honda is answering the demand, also spurred by the fact that Zipcar customers have consistently rated Honda vehicles as the most favored cars in the fleet.
“As the car sharing market leader, Zipcar is the best choice for us to showcase our newest energy-efficient transportation technologies, given the strength of their brand, their tech-savvy, conscious and connected members and the geographic reach of their operations,” said Steven Center, the vice president of the Environmental Business Development Office at American Honda.
Zipcar was the first car sharing company in the US to adopt electric vehicles to its roster, and is now expanding on its fuel efficient choices to make sure that they stay current with the the latest market trends.
Looking to double sales in China over the next three years, Honda has announced it will introduce more than 10 all-new or replacement models in the world’s largest car market during that period.
The Japanese automaker has already released teaser images of two of those models ahead of a planned debut at the Auto China motor show in Beijing later this month. The first appears to be a hatchback or van, while the second looks to be a sedan version of the Accord Coupe Concept first shown at the Detroit Auto Show earlier this year.
Honda says all of its China-market models will shift to use its next-generation Earth Dreams Technology engines. In the mean time, Honda has announced the launch of three of its hybrid models in China: the CR-Z, Insight and Fit Hybrid. Honda will also launch the new 2013 RDX in China as well as the ILX, while the RLX will go on sale next year. In addition, Honda is planning smaller sized engines for many of models based on demand for such product in the country
Honda will announce more at the start of the Beijing Motor Show on April 23rd, with doors opening to the public on April 27th.
Despite questionable sales and previously poor customer reception Honda unveiled a re-thought and re-designed Crosstour today at the New York Auto Show.
As part of its strategy to sugar-coat what has otherwise seemed to be a bitter pill to most American consumers, the 2013 Crosstour has sharper lines, improved engines across the board and a standard six-speed automatic transmission for the V6 and five-speed automatic with the four. Though not offered on the four-cylinder, V6 customers will also get paddle shifters.
Among the other changes offered in the 2013 Crosstour, improved interior material and a new eight-inch infotainment display are meant to improve the driving experience from a comfort standpoint.
Honda has begun construction on its $800 million plant in Mexico, where the Japanese automaker will begin production of the Fit sub-compact starting in 2014. The new facility in Mexico is part of Honda’s ongoing plan to grow its operations in North America.
The new Honda de Mexico plant will be in Celaya and will have an annual capacity of 200,000 units with 3,200 employees. The Honda Fit models produced from the facility will mainly be for the U.S. and Canadian markets but will also be exported to other regions.
The plant will be 5.66 million-square meters in total size and is 210 miles from two existing Honda plants in El Salto, Jalisco which currently build automobiles, motorcycles, and auto parts. This new plant will mark the eighth auto plant for Honda in North America and will increase total automobile production (in North America) from 1.63 million units to 1.87 million units in spring 2014. Once Fit production begins in Mexico, four of its global models will be produced in North America.
Honda has announced it will be importing Fit models to the Canadian market from China, and it appears that all Canadian Fits will come from China for at least the next couple of years.
While many new plug-ins boast the convenience and simplicity of recharging the car battery from a household wall socket, how many vehicles can claim to provide the opposite?
Honda has installed an inverter in the trunk of one special FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle, providing output power that could supply up to 8 kilowatts of electricity for more than seven hours from a full tank of hydrogen — a figure that is supposedly enough to power the average Japanese home for six days. This particular FCX has been delivered to the Saitama Prefecture government, which was also an early-adopter of a solar-powered hydrogen station.
Concerns over power shortages have heightened since last year’s natural disaster and the subsequent nuclear plant shutdown, causing a spike in interest for electric vehicles that may double as emergency power suppliers for homes. Last year, Nissan demonstrated its Leaf-to-Home, which claimed the power output could generate enough to sustain an average household for two days. Unlike fuel cells, an electric battery can only store electricity rather than generate it, resulting in a less flexible application when compared to fuel-cell technology.
Honda is issuing a voluntary recall today for around 554,000 CR-V’s and Pilot SUVs. The recall affects model-year 2002-2004 CR-V’s and 2003 Pilots (shown above).
The company claims that there is potential for failure with the wiring of the headlight switch, which can result in the loss of low-beam headlights. No collisions or injuries have been reported as a result of this defect.
Honda encourages all affected customers to take their vehicles to the nearest authorized dealer for a free inspection, and part replacement if necessary. Letters will be mailed to all affected owners starting in late-April. For more info on the recall you can click here, or call (800) 999-1009 and select option four.
Honda has had a rough go as of late, with reduced sales in 2011 due to production shortages as a result of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Prior to that, there were criticisms of the new 2012 Honda Civic.
None of that, however, has phased consumers it would appear, with Honda being named the full line Automotive Brand of the Year in the latest Harris EquiTrend Poll. Measuring brand leadership in a total of 127 different categories, Harris Interactive surveyed 38,529 U.S. consumers aged 15 and older.
Ranked second overall is Toyota, another Japanese automaker that’s had its share of bad press over the past few years. This would seem to indicate the long term reputation of each of those brands hasn’t been affected by these most recent events.
In third place is Ford Motor Company, which topped the list last year followed by Chevrolet, then Honda, Toyota and Nissan. For 2012, Chevrolet has dropped two spots to fourth, while Nissan remains in fifth place.
In terms of luxury automotive brands, Mercedes-Benz tops the list followed by BMW and then Lexus.
We know that Honda is heavily investing into continuously variable transmissions (CVTs) but what about a standard automatic transmission offering?
It appears that the Japanese automaker could be investing in a nine-speed automatic manufactured by German supplier ZF. Chances are though that we won’t see any Hondas or Acuras on the road equipped with it until 2014 at the earliest.
The transmission is called 9HP by ZF and could be the same unit that Chrysler plans on using in its model lineup. Even though the Japanese automaker has developed its own transmissions over the years, the 9HP is designed for transverse installations, making it ideal for front- and all-wheel drive vehicles. In addition it utilizes planetary gearsets, helping save space.
According to ZF, the transmission is capable of supporting up to 354 lb-ft of torque and could be used in both start/stop and hybrid drive systems.
Of course the Japanese automaker didn’t confirm or deny the reports, but if the rumors are true and Honda is indeed switching to the transmission by 2014, we could see it with the new-generation Acura TL to start.
[Source: Automobile Mag]
When it comes to historic automobiles like the Honda RA272, which was the first Japanese car to win a Formula One Grand Prix, memorabilia is hard to come by.
So what’s a fan to do? Build it of course. This Lego Honda RA272 was built by “Biczzz” and is simply a work of art. In fact, at some angles, you really have to inspect to realize it’s made out of Legos. Clearly “Biczzz” wanted to pay homage to the race car Honda used for the 1965 Formula One season, which was powered by a 1.5-liter V12 engine that had 230 hp but revved up to a screaming 14,000 rpm.
When it became the first Japanese car to win a Formula One Grand Prix, it did it in impressive fashion. Richie Ginther drove it at the Mexican Grand Prix and led from start to finish.
Projects like this make the Lego projects most people did as kids look like, well, child’s play.
[Source: Farm of Minds]
If you own a 2006 model-year Honda CR-V, you might need to keep an eye on your mail box.
Honda is voluntarily recalling 1,316 CR-V’s because it suspects that the weld that they used to hold the right front lower control arm was improper. With time, that weld can break which potentially can lead to an accident.
So far, no one has reported this issue and Honda hopes to address this problem before anyone has an unfortunate accident.
Honda will be mailing out the recall notice to the affected customers by mid-April. Customers are encouraged to visit a Honda authorized dealer as soon as they get their notice.
If you think your vehicle could be affected and yet did not receive a letter from Honda by mid-April, you can also check the status of your vehicle by going online to www.recalls.honda.com or by calling (800) 999-1009 and then selecting option 4.
With a less-than-impressive track record and generally poor customer reception, it’s remarkable that Honda continues to work on making the Crosstour a palatable vehicle.
Nonetheless, the Japanese automaker is soldiering on, most recently announcing today that it will debut the 2013 Crosstour concept at the upcoming New York Auto Show.
It’s been a sad tale — that of the frankencar Honda originally branded as an Accord, but the Crosstour hasn’t just stayed in the company’s lineup. Instead it’s enjoyed continued evolution in an insistant effort by the company to make the car sell, despite dissenting consumer feedback.
The most recent of those evolutions was an added four-cylinder engine, which was meant to make the not-crossover appealing to a wider audience. Unfortunately, the smaller engine gained inconsequential gas milage and dropped dismally in its power rating.
Worse yet, the car (seen above) is ugly. That’s why it’s not surprising to see Honda announcing new styling for the car. The real question is whether or not that will be enough for customers to revisit the idea of buying one.
It seems like the Ford F-150 is going to keep its current look, despite a Chevrolet Silverado update slated for the next couple years.
“Segments like the midsize car, where we need to make a big noise against Honda and Toyota, are much better places for Ford to make strong gains, but where we already have a strong presence and people are holding onto their trucks longer than ever before, we’re likely to continue giving customers what they want,” Eric Merkle said at the Motor Press Guild monthly meeting at the Ford Design studio in Irvine, Calif.
That doesn’t mean Ford fans will have to deal with dated drivetrain tech. Merkle was clear in telling the Chicago Tribune that updates will still happen, though cosmetic changes will be minimal. Instead, major changes will be focused on powertrain updates.
Those updates will probably include smaller, more efficient engines given that the company is talking about doing the same with the Mustang, which probably comes the closest to rivaling the pickup truck community’s V8 fanaticism.
There’s another budding branch in the Ford family tree of pickup trucks, one that we reported in August of last year.
“You know we announced the partnership with Toyota,” Merkle said, “to explore the idea of a hybrid pickup truck. … I think it would be kind of cool to use whatever electric generator that might include to run a bunch of power tools or set up a well-stocked campsite,” Merkle said.
Despite what the hardcore truck community might think, there are changes on the horizon for all gas-thirsty vehicles, pickups included. For now, the loyal old school can take comfort in Merkle’s prediction that the F-150 will stay true for the coming years.
[Source: Chicago Tribune]
