Archive for Honda

The Indian small-car automotive industry is dominated by Maruti Suzuki, a joint venture between Suzuki Motor Corporation and Maruti Udyog Limited. Now there is another player who wants to challenge the giant in one of the world’s most promising upcoming markets - Honda Motor Co.

Honda intends to make it’s first small car in India in 2009, at a new factory in the western state of Rajasthan. Small cars make up three quarters of all cars sold in India. “With GDP growth and an increase in individual incomes, car sales will continue to grow in India despite some issues like the rise in interest rates and oil prices,” said R.K. Gupta of Credit Capital Asset Management in New Delhi.

However, Honda does not intend to go head to head with Maruti Suzuki, instead it will try to sell a similiar car but positioned as a more premium offering. A hatchback, most likely. Like the Honda Jazz? Honda cars in India are all more premiumly priced than it’s equivalent competitors - the top-end Honda Accord is about 17 percent costlier than the top of the range Hyundai Sonata Embera.

The Toyota Camry is in for some serious competition soon. Soon after the latest minor model change facelift, the next generation Honda Accord is already going on test routes in the USA. It shares a similiar front to the Honda Accord Coupe Concept, but with 4-doors of course.

Fat, square, boxy, and VIP-looking. A hint of the BMW 5-series there too. Looks quite nice really. Click on the image on the left to view the full spyshots.

No news of when the new Honda Accord Sedan will be launched in Malaysia, or worldwide even, as the latest facelift has just been launched. We might be looking at the end of 2008 or beginning of 2009.

Honda Malaysia organised a 2-day Safety Driving Course at the Asia Pacific Auction Centre Subang in appreciation to customers continuous support. 30 lucky people got to participate - 15 customers and 15 guests of customers, and everyone were given the opportunity to learn safety techniques in both theory and practical applications. There was ample instructors around - one instructor per two participants to ensure everyone got the attention they needed. The trainers were from Bukit Batok Driving Centre (BBDC).

They learnt new techniques and identified the six adverse conditions that lead to the cause of traffic conditions. By learning to understand the relationships between the driver and vehicle limitations, they now know what to avoid and what to adopt. The main concepts like blind spots, driving posture, steering wheel control, braking & avoidance, speed & cornering and etc. were covered thoroughly to ensure participants grasp the importance of practical that can save their lives on the road. Such a course is a priceless lesson that most drivers take for granted.

The vehicles available for drive during the session were all of the local Honda offerings, however the customers also got to try out the Integra Type-R, Honda Legend and the Honda MDX, cars that not many Malaysian can say they’ve driven.

“Many drivers think they have all the practice and skills equipped to avoid accidents. Always go back to the basics where you keep reminding yourself to be cautious. Frequent drivers have their own habitual manner of driving and it makes them less defensive on the road,” said Chief Trainer Jonathan Tang.

“This course is refreshing and it is a useful bonding session with my mom. I find it very beneficial especially for female drivers to learn more on safety skills. The course has opened our eyes in identifying the threats of safety and I will apply the practical training Ive learnt from now onwards!” said Shirl from Cheras, who owns a 2006 Honda Civic.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Honda Malaysia 2 day Safety Driving Course

Related follow-up stories:
New Honda Jazz S and V launched in Malaysia!

AutoExpress carried a story late last month saying that Honda will be replacing the Jazz with a new version, however it’s styling will be following that old adage “don’t fix what’s not broken”. It will look more like a facelift of the current Jazz rather than an all new model, however it will be 50mm longer and 20mm wider. The new 2008 model Honda Jazz will make it’s debut October at the Tokyo Motor Show and will go on sale in 2008.

The images in this blog post is AutoExpress’ own artist’s impression. However, a Japanese magazine has a different take on the new Jazz. I somehow trust the Japanese magazine a little more as the same issue also had an artist’s impression of the new 2007 Honda CR-V way before it launched and the production model turned out to look exactly like it. This Japanese magazine artist’s impression is available after the jump, or in the related post linked below. The Japanese take on the new Jazz looks somewhat like a smaller version of the new Honda Stream.

So who is right, AutoExpress, the Japanese magazine, or neither? Or perhaps both will be right and two different Jazz designs will be done for different market tastes, just like how the Civic has both USDM and JDM designs.

Check out more images after the jump.

Related Posts:
2007 Honda Fit/Honda Jazz

Click here to read the rest of New 2008 Honda Jazz

After missing the media test drive held somewhere in the East Coast of Malaysia, I finally managed to get a hold of the new 2007 Honda CR-V so I can report my findings to the ever eager and critical readers of this blog. Read my findings after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of 2007 Honda CR-V Test Drive Report

Here is a video that Honda made to showcase it’s Honda FCX Concept. To keep things short, the Honda FCX is basically a 4-seater car running on an AC Synchronous Motor putting out 129 PS and 256Nm of torque available constantly throughout the rev range of the motor. This motor gets it’s power from a 100kW PEFC (proton exchange membrane fuel cell). Maximum range is 570km, which is comparable to a modern small car with relatively good fuel economy on mostly highway driving. Video after jump.

Click here to read the rest of Honda FCX Video

An engine that has surfaced and pretty much faded in a short time is Honda’s i-VTEC I Engine, a variant of the K-series DOHC engine family featuring gasoline direct injection. It made it’s debut in the previous generation 2004 Honda Stream 7-seater MPV in Japan, but the current Stream does not use this engine anymore, instead using a 2.0 liter version of the R-series i-VTEC SOHC engine.

The engine featured the ability to use ultra-lean air-fuel mixtures of about 65:1, much leaner compared to the the usual direct injection engine 40:1 ratio, and of course so much more leaner than the stoichiometric air-fuel mixture of 14.7:1 - this saves fuel. Fuel consumption dropped to 15km per liter. Power ratings remain the same at about 155 horsepower. This engine in the Stream is mated to a CVT gearbox with a manual 7 virtual gear shifting feature.

Honda also had a demonstration engine back in end 1999 where a 1.4 liter DOHC Honda engine was equipped with a VTEC-DI system. This was Honda’s first demonstration of direct injection to the public. The engine was installed in a Honda Logo (the predecessor to the Honda Fit/Jazz) and made power and torque outputs of 107 hp at 6200 rpm and 133 Nm at 5000 rpm.

Check out a video of the i-VTEC I engine after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Honda’s i-VTEC I Engine: Direct Injection

Through a patent filing filed by Honda Motor Co Japan, we now have a preview on how Honda’s next generation AVTEC system will work. Basically, AVTEC enhances the features of VTEC and i-VTEC by providing a fully variable valve timing and lift control system. i-VTEC previously provides continuous valve timing, but not valve lift. The only fully variable valve timing and lift system on the market currently is BMW’s Valvetronic, which also removes the need for a throttle butterfly. Every other system as of today has fully variable valve timing, but valve lift is only switchable between two fixed profiles.

So how does AVTEC work? The full text of the patent including drawings is available after the jump, but I will attempt to summarise it from whatever understanding I have. Honda’s new AVTEC system basically uses a small drum that surrounds the intake camshaft. This drum is connected to a rocker shaft. When this drum turns, it alters the position of the rocket shaft, thus affecting valve timing and valve lift.

Read the full patent together with diagrams after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Honda files Advanced VTEC patent

Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd has updated the 2.0S version of it’s 8th generation 2006 Honda Civic, a move that I see as an effort to further differentiate the 1.8S and 2.0S models. I’ve heard that many people are dissatisfied that the two versions look similiar externally, even sharing the same sporty chrome dual exhaust tips.

The only difference is the 1.8S is missing the red 2.0 liter badge at the rear, and the 2.0S has a different alloy wheel design, however the size and tyres are the same - 16 inch sized wheels wrapped with Eagle NCT5 tyres.

With this update, the Honda Civic 2.0S now has 17 inch alloy wheels and come with performance tyres - Michelin Pilot Preceda. The new enhanced Civic goes for RM128,800. There is also a new exclusive 2.0S color option - Sparkle Gray Pearl.

Click here to read the rest of Honda Malaysia updates the Honda Civic 2.0S

The next generation Honda Accord Coupe should be unveiled to the public soon, since the car has already been going around on test routes. However, when it is unveiled it will most likely not be a big suprise to many of us as from these spyshots it looks very similiar to the Honda Accord Coupe Concept that Honda showed us at the Detroit Motor Show early this year.

As predicted, the production version will likely feature a more conventional bumper design rather than the techy multiple horizontal lines featured on the concept, as a single wide air intake grille in the center would allow better airflow for engine bay component cooling. The nice diffuser-like design on the rear bumper is retained.

The question some of you will be asking is… will the new Honda Accord Coupe be the first car to receive Honda’s new Advanced VTEC (AVTEC) engine?

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Next gen Honda Accord Coupe spyshot