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Catch our Honda HSV-010 Super GT Racer live interview at 3 PM today on Facebook!

June 16, 2010 at 12:26 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Honda, Local News, Motorsports

Honda HSV-010

If you’re a fan of Super GT you would know that Honda has retired the NSX from the race and have replaced it with the new Honda HSV-010 GT race car, a model that’s not available for production as of yet. The HSV-010 is a front engine, rear wheel drive car and competes in the GT500 class. It’s powered by a 3.4 litre V8 engine. In case you’re curious, HSV stands for Honda Sports Velocity.

The car is definitely production ready for sure as Super GT is meant to be for production cars. Honda has actually managed to find a loophole in the Super GT rulebook that permits cars that are production ready to be fielded, so the car doesn’t actually have to be in production, although I’m sure a lot of you would like to see such a car in production!

We’ll be having a joint interview together with Zerotohundred with the Honda today at 3 PM on Honda Racing Malaysia’s Facebook Fan Page. It should be very interesting as this is not a car in production so there won’t be any “test drive reviews” to read from the world’s media. The only information we’re going to get are from Honda themselves.

Perhaps we can grill them to put the car into production :P Come drop by and watch the interview and participate in the Q&A section later.

UPDATE: Read the full interview here.

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Honda Malaysian Racing Team heads for the Merdeka Millenium Endurance Race

June 14, 2010 at 2:15 pm By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Honda, Local News, Motorsports

The Honda Malaysian Racing Team have officially announced their participation in the 11th Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race that will be held at the Sepang International Circuit on Sunday, August 8th 2010. The team will be competing in the 12-hour endurance race which starts at midnight and will have a whole host of challenges to overcome such as the tropical heat and humidity.

Thus it’s only right that they front an experienced group of drivers and that’s exactly what they have done in the form of Eddie Lew Kar Wai, Aaron Lim and Rueben Wong. Returning with them is the Honda Type R that was used last year along with the 22 members of the HMRT from Honda Malaysia.

Last year the HMRT team managed to achieve a podium finish in second position for the Class A2 and have plans to do better this year. This will be the 8th year that HMRT is participating in the MME race and HMRT’s objective is to instill “Honda racing DNA” into its associates and create a platform which allows local talents to thrive and to build up local team’s expertise in motorsports.

“I am very proud to witness the improvement of the HMRT from a team guided by MUGEN to today’s fully Malaysian team. Our local Honda associates demonstrate commendable passion and commitment in local motorsports to build up their skills and knowledge, and to support each other towards a victorious MME race 2010,” said Mr. Toru Takahashi Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Honda Malaysia who is also the HMRT Team Principal.

“Over the past few years, HMRT gradually became more independent from the guidance and supervision of MUGEN from Japan. Today, the team is confident enough to manage on their own. This in itself is a significant achievement and a big motivation for the team. This is also the ultimate objective of HMRT – to train and build up the skills of local talents to thrive in the motorsports and automotive arena. This year, 11 members from last year’s team returned to HMRT to lead in different divisions and to transfer their skills and knowledge to the other new HMRT members,” added Takashi.

“One of the biggest factors in helping us achieve 2nd position last year was good communication amongst the team members and great teamwork. No one is above anyone else. We all work together towards the one single goal. I am the fuel man leader for HMRT this year. My most important responsibility is to motivate the new team members and familiarize them with the job. I will also share with them what we learnt last year and how we can improve for this year. I sincerely hope that HMRT can win this year and learn from last year’s mistakes, focus and improve the weaknesses to ensure zero mistakes during the race,” said Muhd Faizul, a senior HMRT member.

Look after the jump for more pix of the team.
[Read more...]

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Honda faces yet another strike at locks supplier

June 11, 2010 at 3:33 pm By Jacob Alexander Filed Under China, Honda, International News

Honda has been facing a host of strikes at different plants in China recently. The latest is at a lock supplier, located at Southern China’s Pearl River Delta. The workers plan to extend their strike to a third day.

Demands this time are for an increase in annual wages of nothing less than 15%, improved allowances, benefits, the right to organize independent labour unions and a promise from management that anyone joining the industrial action won’t be dismissed. The workers at the plant donned white overalls and pressed up against the factory fences shouting for their demands while being watched by police. “We’re definitely going to strike tomorrow, our wages are too low,” said one of the workers.

Honda Lock have confirmed that shipments to Japan were unaffected for at least a day or two as they have enough existing stock ready for shipment, but went on to add that the negotiations were on going and a prolonged dispute could disrupt the flow of supply to Honda’s car plants. “We’re still gathering information, and we don’t know when the negotiations will end,” Honda Lock’s Hirotoshi Sato said.

Previous strikes at an exhaust pipes maker in Foshan ended late last Wednesday, and as production returns to normal, shipments to Honda’s suspended factories would return to normal on Friday. This seems to be only a temporary agreement though, as key negotiations over pay are still underway it could still turn in either direction.

As we mentioned before, strikes and their accompanying settlements have sparked a whole new revolution in terms of factory workers pay. If automakers are worried about the fact that China’s labour costs might outweigh profitability, they needn’t fret.

One auto analyst from JPMorgan said that wage hikes would have little impact on Honda’s profits as labour cost accounted for just 5 to 6% of its total revenue, even in Japan! “So if we assume wages in China are between one-fifth and one-third those in Japan, the cost of factory floor workers in China comes to around 2% of sales. Assuming factory wages in China were raised a uniform 30%, we estimate the impact on the China operating margin would be (a decline of) just 0.6 percent,” according to report written by analyst Kohei Takahashi.

More company executives agree that higher pay is inevitable for an economy like China which is developing immensely. There have even been some comparisons made between China and Japan in terms of their development.

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Honda’s exhaust supplier in China hit by workers strike

June 9, 2010 at 11:26 am By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Cars, Honda, International News

Just when Honda thought the worst was over, they have been hit by another strike by workers at its exhaust factory in Chancheng, China, just days after the settlement of a strike at another supplier.

According to reports, the strike at Foshan Fengfu Autoparts started early Monday when around 20 workers began rallying their colleagues to take part in the demonstration.

It gathered steam and numbers rose to 250 workers in a few hours, which is more than half of the 460 people working at the plant. No word has been given as to the reason for their strike, though it would be safe to assume that it would be regarding pay or work conditions.

Foshan Fengfu Autoparts is a joint venture between Yutaka Giken, which is 70% owned by Honda, and a Taiwanese company. The factory makes mufflers and other exhaust parts for Guangqi Honda, a 50:50 joint venture between Honda and Guangzhou Automobile that produces the Accord, Odyssey and Fit, among other models. Honda is assessing the situation but have confirmed that there are enough parts to continue making cars, for now.

Workers from a Guangdong plant supplying transmissions to Honda received a pay raise last week after striking last month over wages, bringing Honda’s car production in China to a halt. Their success spurred Foshan Fengfu’s staff on. “If their strike hadn’t been successful, our workers here probably wouldn’t be as united as we are now,” a 22-year old worker from Hunan was quoted by South China Morning Post as saying.

The Guangdong plant “victory” could spark a whole new revolution in China when it comes to factory worker wages. China could possibly cease being the cheap labor haven it currently is.

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Honda agrees to 24% pay raise for Chinese workers

June 1, 2010 at 1:39 pm By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Honda, International News

Things are all okay now at Honda Auto Parts Manufacturing Co in China as Honda Motor Co. have managed to convince most of its Chinese workforce to continue working with a pay increase of about 24 percent along with benefits.

This is still slightly lower than the 53% increase to 2,300 yuan a month that the worker reps were trying to secure, according to two strike leaders who by the way were fired by Honda after the walkout began on May 17th.

According to Honda, there were still “several dozen’ employees who haven’t accepted the company’s offer and are trying to “disrupt work at the factory”. Nonetheless, most of its 1,990 workers at the Honda Auto Parts Manufacturing Co. plants will be returning to work allowing the company to partially restart production of transmissions and engine gears.

This will also allow Honda to start operations at all four of the Chinese joint venture final-assembly plants as it was previously shut down due to lack of key components. It looks like Honda have to rethink its calculations about labour practices in China, which previously was an attractive place to produce cars due to cheap costs.

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Honda shuts down Chinese plants due to workers strike

May 29, 2010 at 1:57 pm By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Cars, Honda, International News

Honda has shut down production in all its four plants in China due to workers from a parts manufacturing unit going on strike. 1,850 workers making transmissions and engine parts at Honda Auto Parts Manufacturing Co in Foshan, Guangdong walked out, demanding for higher pay that’s on par with staff from the main car plants. They want salary to be increased to between 2,000 Yuan ($293) and 2,500 Yuan, from the current 1,500 Yuan.

As a result of this strike, Honda, Japan’s second-biggest carmaker, was forced to close two plants in Guangzhou, Guangdong province and factories in Guangzhou and Wuhan, Hubei province. Honda, representatives from the disgruntled employees and government officials in Foshan are having talks to end the strike, and settle the issue, Honda has said.

The parts factory started operating in 2007 and makes transmissions for the Accord, City, Odyssey and Fit models, according to the company. Honda plans to raise production capacity in China by 28% to 830,000 vehicles a year by the second half of 2012 from 650,000 and introduce two new models as car demand grows in the country. Honda sales in China accounted for 17% of its global sales last year. It’s not known how many vehicles have been affected by this problem.

“China is experiencing a labour shortage that’s shifting the natural bargaining power to workers,” said Chang-Hee Lee, a Beijing-based industrial relations specialist at the International Labour Organization.

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Honda suspends Thai operations due to Red Shirt protests

May 24, 2010 at 3:56 pm By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Cars, Honda, International News

Honda has suspended operations for a day at two of their factories in Thailand, due to the bloody turmoil created by the Red Shirt protests. One of them is a car manufacturing plant in Ayutthaya while the other is a motorcycle plant in a Bangkok suburb. The company also closed its main office in the capital as the military cracked down on the Reds.

“We’ll decide whether to operate our business on a day-by-day basis, watching the changing situation there,” a Honda spokeswoman told AFP. The Ayutthaya plant churns out around 240,000 vehicles a year, mostly Accord and Civic sedans meant for the domestic market.

After last week’s wave of arson attacks by angry Red Shirts, which consumed buildings such as the Central World shopping landmark and the iconic Siam Theatre, the City of Angels is being cleaned up now, and normal life is starting to resume, along with the traffic jams.

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Honda skeptical of electric cars, to focus on improving fuel efficiency in internal combustion engine

May 20, 2010 at 10:21 am By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Cars, Honda, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel

Honda is skeptical of the electric car as the future of motoring. Tomohiko Kawanabe, president of Honda’s R&D unit, said that “they lack confidence” in EV tech. “It’s questionable whether consumers will accept the annoyances of limited driving range and having to spend time charging them,” he went on to say.

“We are definitely conducting research on electric cars, but I can’t say I can wholeheartedly recommend them,” said Kawanabe, who is an engine specialist. Honda will still sell electric vehicles in the US though, but only to help meet California emission rules. From model years 2012 to 2014, the largest carmakers by volume in The Golden State must sell about 60,000 plug-in hybrid vehicles and electric cars combined. Kawanabe stated that their main goal is to improve the fuel efficiency of new and upgraded models.

Honda has been researching battery powered cars since 1988 and started leasing out the EV Plus in the US and Japan before the turn of the millennium. That car used a nickel-metal hydride battery pack which ran 210 km on a single charge, very good even for today’s standards. The company then shifted to hybrids and hydrogen-powered fuel-cell vehicles; Honda believes that the latter is the ultimate zero-emission vehicle.

Honda’s stand is the opposite of what Nissan believes. The Renault-Nissan Alliance is betting big time on an electric future and will roll out 500,000 units per year across the globe from 2012, starting with the Leaf. Alliance CEO Carlos Ghosn said that EVs will make up 10% of the global car market by 2020. Who do you think is right?
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Torque Developments supercharger kits for FN Type R

May 19, 2010 at 2:00 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Honda, International News

The Honda Civic Type R, whether in JDM or Euro spec, is famous for its howling, rev hungry i-VTEC engine, which makes trips to the redline so addictive. But when faced with turbocharged Euro hot hatches, the Honda driver will need a lot of hard work and commitment to keep pace due to the relative lack of grunt. Forced induction might be the answer, as suggested by Torque Developments (TD).

The tuning house developed three levels of supercharger upgrades for the 197 bhp 2.0-litre K20AZ3 i-VTEC engine that powers the European Civic Type R hatchback. The conversions are based on a proven package produced in the US by CT Engineering, which has required revisions for right hand drive installation, plus the reworking of major components to ensure optimum fit and performance.


Click to enlarge

The Stage One supercharger was designed to work with the stock air intake and exhaust system, and is a straightforward bolt-on “Roots-style” kit that requires no modifications to engine. This low pressure (4-5 PSI) unit includes a Hondata ECU reflash to optimise ignition and fuel settings plus a carbon fibre fuel rail cover.

Meant to provide “linear boost”, Stage One adds a healthy 75 bhp (to 272 bhp) and bumps torque from 193 Nm to 258 Nm. Weak low end pull is one of the CTR’s weak points; with 90% of max torque available from 3,500 rpm things should be much improved. It costs £4911.50 in the UK, and comes with a 12-month/50,000 km warranty.

Stage Two builds on the above, with the addition of a smaller supercharger pulley to increase boost pressure by a further 3 PSI, larger fuel injectors and extra Hondata ECU remapping, which raises the FN’s rev limit to 8,500 rpm. In addition, a choice of Mugen, Toda Racing or HKS induction kit is “advised” for better performance. Adding 95 bhp (to make 292 bhp) and 85 Nm (to 278 Nm), this kit costs £5955.75.

Stage Three is the same as Two, but with an even smaller pulley for an additional 1 PSI. This ultimate CTR provides 302 bhp and 285-292 Nm of torque to play with. Now that the Honda’s front wheels need to handle significantly more grunt, TD suggests some parts to “retain the cohesive nature of the driving experience”. Cost options include a Wavetrac LSD, Fast Road suspension geometry set up, lowering springs, adjustable coilover suspension and exhaust systems from Toda or Mugen.

The Stage One set sounds quite appealing, as it’s simple, safe and significantly ups performance. Know of any local FD2R with forced induction?

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Honda Civic to live past five years, new model in 2011?

May 18, 2010 at 11:09 am By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Cars, Honda, International News

It has been five years since the current Honda Civic made its debut. So based on the standard 5 year product plan, a new model should be unveiled later this year. Not so, says Honda, which cites changing market conditions and emissions regulations as the reasons behind the pushed back release to 2011.

“In general, we are not changing cycles. We change vehicles as need be. The ability to do something based on more current information is better than waiting a full model cycle. Some of that is being able to have the opportunity to change (based on) what you see happening in the marketplace,” explained John Mendel, American Honda Motor Co’s Executive VP.

The next Civic was supposed to grow in size over the FD2, but Honda COO Tsuneo Tanai said at last year’s Tokyo show that the design had been altered midstream and resized closer to the current car.

Five years already? The current Civic doesn’t feel very dated in our books, and is still very competitive against younger rivals, if not better. Good to hear that it won’t be further enlarged though; those who want a bigger car can get the Accord or an MPV.

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