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2009 Honda City to hit Malaysia in mid-December!

November 10, 2008 at 3:33 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under 2009 Honda City, Cars, Honda, Local News

New Honda City

Honda Malaysia has officially announced that the new 2009 Honda City will be launched in mid-December 2008! A date has been set for the 18th of December 2008. They are also having pre-launch competition where you’ll be able to win passes to the launch and the latest generation iPod Nano.

For everything you need to know about the new Honda City (except for driving impressions of course… that’s to come later), please check out my related posts below.

Related Posts:
2009 Honda City: in-depth details and specifications (must-read!)
2009 Honda City set to hit the European market
2009 Honda City officially unveiled in Thailand
Modified Australian Honda City “Concept”

98 Comments      

All-new Honda Life launched in Japan

November 9, 2008 at 4:24 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Honda, International News

2009 Honda Life

Will the new small Honda for India be based on this new vehicle? Perhaps, but for the moment let’s have a look at the Japanese market version of the new full model change Honda Life that was launched in Japan earlier this week.

The new Honda Life is available in three styles and two engines. The standard Honda Life is the yellow one you see above, while the Honda Life Pastel is the pink car with a front nose that follows Honda’s new corporate nose more than the other two. Finally, the Honda Life Diva is the top of the line appearance package with a sporty large and wide bumper intake flanked by foglamps at the sides.

The Life, Life Pastel and Life Diva is available with a 660cc 3-cylinder i-DSI engine (52 PS at 7,100rpm, 60Nm of torque at 3,600rpm) in both FWD and 4WD models while the Life Pastel and the Life Diva has another turbocharged 660cc 3-cylinder i-DSI version (64 PS at 6,000rpm and 93Nm of torque at 4,000rpm), also in FWD and 4WD. All are mated to a 4-speed automatic transmission.

Honda Life

The car is built on a monocoque chassis with MacPherson struts at the front and a torsion beam at the rear for FWD versions, while 4WD versions get a 3-link de Dion tube at the rear. The power steering settings and suspension geometry have been optimized for a light, nimble feel when maneuvering the car.

On the interior, the front passenger and driver gets a hip point 35mm higher than the previous life, which makes entering and exiting the Life easier. The windows, pillars and headlight markets have also been opimised for this new hip point. The new rear suspension design now allows the distance between the front and rear seats to increase by a massive 85mm, increasing rear occupant space by a large margin. Rear seat cushion thickness has been increased by 25mm (Honda says it is now as thick as the Accord’s), seat length increased by 55mm, seat back height incrased by 50mm, and the rear headroom now gains an extra 60mm.

The cheapest Honda Life Type-C with the normally aspirated 660cc engine in FWD costs 945,000 Yen (RM34,277) including consumption tax while the most expensive model is nearly twice the price at 1,680,000 Yen (RM60,938) including consumption tax for the Life Diva Turbo Styling Package with the 660cc i-DSI turbo engine.

Still kind of expensive… for this to become a low cost car for the Indian market it still needs to have some cost slashing.

Look after the jump for more images of the Honda Life.
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Dongfeng Honda to develop its own Civic hatchack

November 6, 2008 at 10:30 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, China, Honda, International News

FN Honda Civic Hatchback

Dongfeng Honda Automobile Co currently sells the Honda Civic sedan in China (as opposed to Guangzhou Honda which decided to develop a C-segment sedan from the City platform as the rights to the Civic belongs to Dongfeng) but was considering launching the hatchback version of the Honda Civic as well.

After some consideration it found that the Euro Civic’s price tag may be a deterrent to sales as its estimated to be about 26,000 yuan higher than the sedan model. The Chinese car buyers who love getting the most metal for their money (they even have a special long wheelbase version of the E60 5-Series) will find it hard to accept that a small hatchback version of the Civic costs more than a larger sedan model.

So Dongfeng has decided to develop its own Civic hatchback, which will be based on the Civic sedan platform. This means a multilink rear suspension instead of the Civic hatchback’s torsion beam.

Source

26 Comments      

SEMA: Honda Fit by MUGEN and Gene Tjin

November 6, 2008 at 2:09 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Concept Cars, Honda

SEMA Mugen Fit
Click to enlarge

Two Honda Fit concepts (the car known as the Honda Jazz on our local shores) are being exhibited at the SEMA show this week. One is the 2009 Honda Fit MUGEN Concept, which is equipped with a line of new MUGEN accessories that will be available through US dealerships.

The other one is the Tjin Edition 2009 Fit project, which is done up by Gene Tjin. It’s more of a luxury pimpage, which gives it a set of 16 inch BBS RS alloy wheels and a Webasto TVS 900 aftermarket sunroof. On the interior you get some really posh looking leather seats that somehow look rather heavily padded and promises to be really comfortable. A nice Realm Audio aftermarket audio system is installed too.

If you notice, the Honda Fit looks less like a cute bulbous little thing in US. This is due to their crash test standards which usually call for larger bumpers, making the Fit look longer and more grown up than our version.

Look after the jump for more shots of the SEMA Fits.
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SEMA: Galpin Honda Accord Coupe Concept

November 5, 2008 at 10:07 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Concept Cars, Honda

Galpin Honda Accord Coupe
Click to enlarge

Honda exhibited a Honda Factory Performance Accord Coupe at last year’s SEMA show that came with a reduced ride height, a bodykit and 19 inch wheels but that was about it. It was still rather sedate and understated, which is actually what most people would want a classy D-segment coupe to be anyway.

This year there’s a more radical ride prepared by Galpin Honda, a Honda dealer in Los Angeles. The Galpin Accord Coupe features a flashy blue paintjob with a carbon fiber hood and a GT wing at the rear, as well as a really low ride height and huge wheels.

There seems to be some form of intercooler at the front but it might just be a fake one for show as part of the front bumper, because look at the size of those tiny brakes! For some odd reason the front brakes look like they’re stock standard but the rear gets small but crossdrilled discs (look at enlarged pics for detail).

Look for two more shots of the Galpin Accord after the jump.
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14 Comments      

SEMA: 2009 Honda Civic HFP Concept

November 5, 2008 at 9:19 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Concept Cars, Honda

Honda Civic HFP Concept
Click to enlarge

This year’s Honda Civic Honda Factory Performance (HFP) Concept is an odd concoction. It’s based on the Civic Si with the powerful high-revving i-VTEC engine but has aerodynamic elements from the Honda Civic Hybrid in order to improve fuel efficiency.

The HFP Civic Si “Hybrid” features aerodynamic wheels similiar to those you find on the Civic Hybrid, a lighter HFP exhaust system and an upgraded HFP suspension. According to Honda, a similiar kit is already being used in the real world in the Super Taikyu Series race in Japan.

Look after the jump for more shots of the SEMA Civic sedan and coupe.
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16 Comments      

Modified Australia Honda City “Concept”

November 2, 2008 at 9:57 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Concept Cars, Honda

Honda City Concept

The Honda City was displayed at the 2008 Sydney Motor Show as a SEMA-like concept, not surprisingly called the Honda City Concept. This tricked out Honda City features wing mirrors that use cameras instead of a mirror, LED headlamps and tail lamps as well as a bodykit and alloy wheels. Photos courtesy of Jeff Choo. More after the jump.
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Honda developing new car smaller than the Honda Jazz for emerging markets

October 17, 2008 at 8:30 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Honda, India, International News

Honda ZEST

Honda has a few K-cars in the Japanese market like the Honda ZEST (shown above) and the Honda Life, but they’ve been reserved for the Japanese market so far. I actually drove the Honda ZEST with the turbocharged 660cc i-DSI engine last year during the visit to Honda’s R&D facility in Tochigi and it really felt quite zippy thanks to the turbocharger’s torque and the 4-speed automatic.

India’s Honda Siel has revealed that Honda is working on developing a new car smaller than the Honda Jazz for emerging markets – that’s pretty much markets such as the Indian and ASEAN market, so we may even see it in Malaysia as a contender to the likes of the Hyundai i10 and the Kia Picanto.

The powerplant is currently a question mark, but Honda Siel says the engine could possibly be under 1.0 litres in displacement. Honda has two 660cc engines – a normally aspirated version which produces 52hp at 6,700rpm and 61Nm of torque at 3,800rpm, and a turbo-ed version with a top-mounted intercooler making 64hp at 6,000rpm and 93Nm of torque at 4,000rpm.

Given that Honda’s Indian unit is the one revealing this juicy bit of info, India could most likely be the production base for the new car.

Source

13 Comments      

New 2009 Honda Odyssey unveiled in Japan!

October 17, 2008 at 6:08 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Honda, International News

Honda Odyssey

The new Honda Odyssey has been unveiled in Japan, revealing styling that is very much like the recently launched Honda FCX Clarity, as with pretty much all new Honda cars and concepts these days.

The standard Honda Odyssey is powered by a 2.4 litre DOHC i-VTEC engine producing 173 PS at 6,000rpm and 222Nm of torque at 4,300rpm. It rides on double-wishbones both at the front and rear. The FWD models are mated to a new CVT transmission (with torque converter) with ratios ranging from 2.470-0.450 while the AWD models are paired to a 5-speed auto with dual overdrives (ratios ranging from 2.651-0.566).

A high-spec Honda Odyssey Absolute uses the 5-speed automatic for both FWD and AWD variants and is powered by a tuned up version of the K24A engine. Thanks to higher revving and a higher compression ratio of 11:0:1 (instead of 10.0:1), it produces 206 PS at 7,000rpm and 232Nm of torque at 4,300rpm for the FWD version, and 204 PS and 230Nm of torque for the 4WD model.

The wheelbase remains the same as the outgoing model at 2,830mm but length has increased from 4,770mm to 4,800mm. While the width remains the same at 1,800mm, it seems that the new Odyssey in FWD form is lower at 1,545mm compared to the outgoing Malaysian spec FWD model’s 1,550mm height.

Honda Odyssey Meter

On the interior, the dash carries over a similiar “spaceship”-like design of the outgoing model, but updated to look different. The instrument panel features a display in the middle of the speedometer to function as a trip computer and display other key vehicle information such as a real time fuel consumption meter.

A redesign of the second row seats provides an additional 40mm of legroom and 20mm of knee space for the third row. The left and right seats of the second row is now moved 25mm forwards the center of the vehicle to create a V-shaped layout, which Honda says provides for a clearer forward view. The second row splits 3 ways – all 3 seats can be folded down individually.

The tailgate has been made thinner so that there is a slight increase of storage volume in the rear of the Odyssey. Over at the front, the A-pillars of the Odyssey have been modified to be 30% thinner for better visibility.

There is a new ECO button for the CVT models which controls both the CVT transmission shift pattern as well as the air conditioning system to reduce engine load, thus reducing fuel consumption in the process. Honda claims a fuel economy of 13.2km/L in the Japan 10-15 mode for the FWD CVT models.

Look for more images of the new Odyssey after the jump.
[Read more...]

19 Comments      

2009 Honda City: in-depth details and specifications!

October 13, 2008 at 2:45 am By Paul Tan Filed Under 2009 Honda City, Cars, Honda

2009 Honda City

The Honda City is now in its third generation, and has been launched in countries such as Singapore, Thailand and India. In line with the global economic outlook as well as global fuel prices, manufacturers have been downsizing their cars and the new City makes a perfect compact sedan in the Honda line-up slotted in under the Civic for world markets. It is considered to be a world car now, as it has also been recently revealed that the City will also be sold in Europe. Look after the jump for an in-depth look at the new City.
[Read more...]

108 Comments