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2009 Honda City officially unveiled in Thailand!

September 10, 2008 at 1:35 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under 2009 Honda City, Cars, Honda, International News

2009 Honda City

Honda Automobile (Thailand) Co., Ltd. has started selling the all-new Honda City in Thailand today. It will be sold in Thailand for between 524,000 to 694,000 Thai baht. We don’t have much details on the wheelbase and some other details yet.

The new Honda City is powered by solely by a 1.5 litre i-VTEC engine mated to either a 5-speed automatic or a 5-speed manual It is 4,395mm long, 1,695mm wide and 1,470mm tall, so it is slightly longer (+5mm), slightly wider (+5mm) but not as tall (-25mm) as the previous model. Making it wider and not as high reduces the whole hatchback with a boot tagged on look that the City it replaces had.

It’s quite an attractive car and the lines flow alot smoother than the model it replaces. I hope that for those who don’t fancy the grille at the front all that much (as expressed in some previous posts), there will be a replacement Modulo grille that they can opt for. This was an option that Accord owners who preferred not having an “empty” grille – they could opt for a Modulo grille that had a little bar running through it.

UPDATE: More photos including high resolution photos of the new Honda City have been added after the jump. The new City is sold in Thailand in three variants: S, V and SV. The S and V variants come with a beige interior while the top of the line SV model comes with a dark interior and all 3 variants also come with different alloy wheel designs.

Six colours are available – Habanero Red Pearl, Deep Lapis Blue Metallic, Alabaster Metallic, Polished Metal Metallic and Bold Beige Metallic and Crystal Black Pearl. Sadly white is not available but maybe it will be in Malaysia if Honda Malaysia deems it as a potentially popular colour, which I think it would.

More details to be updated soon, for the moment please have a look at a collection of photos of the new City after the jump.
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New Honda Civic facelift unveiled in Japan!

September 5, 2008 at 6:30 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Honda, International News

Honda Civic facelift
Click to view larger image

The Honda Civic facelift or minor model change in Honda speak has been unveiled in its home market of Japan so we now have an idea how our own facelifted Honda Civic will look like. This comes shortly after Honda revealed its American market Honda Civic. Next will be the European Civic hatch I suppose.

True to its namesake, the changes are indeed minor which include a new front grille design which has a thicker chrome bar at the top and reshaped with sharper edges thus giving the grille a wider appearance, a new front bumper with wider air intakes to appear sportier, and new tail lamps with a larger internal lense (no longer round now). That’s about it for the exterior. Thankfully our model does not get the chrome bar between the tail lamps that the USDM version gets.

The interior does not get much changes except for updates to the in-car entertainment system to support the latest inputs like USB as well as new fabric for the seats. The high grade MXST Civic Hybrid also gets an Alcantara interior.

The engines under the hood of the facelifted Civic remain largely the same as the pre-facelift version – a 2.0 litre i-VTEC DOHC engine putting out 155 PS at 6,000rpm (a quick check shows pre-facelift version put out the same 155 PS at a higher 6,500rpm) and 188Nm of torque at 4,500rpm, and a 1.8 litre i-VTEC SOHC engine producing 140 PS at 6,300rpm and 174Nm of torque at 4,300rpm. It’s not known if the engines have any other tweaks or not while remaining with the same power output levels.

Thanks to Vincent for the tip! Look after the jump for more photos of the Civic facelift.
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New Honda Motion Adaptive Electric Power Steering

September 5, 2008 at 1:35 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Honda, International News, Technology

Honda VSA with Adaptive ESP

Honda has added a new safety feature to its Vehicle Stability Assist system called Motion Adaptive Electric Power Steering (Motion Adaptive EPS). Currently only available with the newly launched Honda Legend, it will be added to the Japanese-market Honda Accord (not the same as our Accord as it is known as the Honda Inspire there) and the next generation Honda Odyssey.

Motion Adaptive EPS provides steering wheel feedback to the driver during an unstable slippery corner to prompt the driver’s action in steering the wheel the right way as sometimes drivers tend to over-correct the steering angle. It can also correct steering input when braking on a surface which causes uneven traction between the left and right side wheels of the car.

While it remains a premium feature for now, like all technologies Motion Adaptive EPS should slowly trickle down to the rest of the Honda range. The only question is how long?

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Second Generation Honda Insight Concept unveiled!

September 5, 2008 at 1:06 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Concept Cars, Honda, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, International News

Honda Insight Concept
Click for hi-res photo

This is Honda’s second take on a hybrid-only car, to be shown in concept form first at the 2008 Paris Motor Show. The production version of the second generation “Cadillac of hybrids” (as John Travolta’s character called it in the movie Be Cool) the Honda Insight will on sale in April 2009.

Honda UK’s environmental manager John Kingston said earlier this week that this car will change customer’s perception of hybrids thanks to real economical savings compared to just that mostly “green” feeling that other hybrids give.

The 5-door, 5-seater hatchback car will locate the battery and control unit beneath the cargo space. Like Honda’s previous IMA system it will feature an internal combustion engine and an electric motor for assistance. Honda also claims significant cost and weight reduction with the new car, allowing the hybrid to reach more customers.

The new Insight Concept will be displayed alongside Honda’s two other alternative fuel/hybrid cars – the Honda CR-Z lightweight sports car concept and the Honda FCX Clarity. Look for one more shot of the cars after the jump.
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Honda Civic 5D MUGEN Concept

September 3, 2008 at 8:07 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Concept Cars, Honda, International News

Honda Civic 5D Mugen

Mugen showcased this concept model called the Honda Civic 5D MUGEN at the 2008 Moscow International Automobile Salon. It’s based on the 5-door Civic hatchback sold in European markets. You can see the family resemblance to the Honda Civic Mugen RR concept shown back in 2007 thanks to the usage of triangular shapes in the various design details of the kit. The Civic Mugen RR went into a 300 unit limited production so we may see the Civic 5D MUGEN entering production as well.

Look after the jump for a few more shots.
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Cheaper Honda hybrid hatch this week?

September 3, 2008 at 7:48 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Honda, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, International News

Honda FCX Clarity

According to just-auto.com, Honda UK’s environmental manager John Kingston said Honda’s new “cheaper” family hybrid car will be announced tomorrow and will be unveiled to the public as a concept car at the 2008 Paris Motor Show. The car will then go into production in Spring 2009. The new affordable hybrid will be a 5-door hatchback and will carry styling cues from the Honda FCX Clarity (shown above).

The new hybrid car will feature a heavily revised hybrid powertrain with major components made lighter, more compact and placed under the cargo space instead of behind the rear seats like the current generation Civic Hybrid. Weight savings will be significant, further improving fuel economy.

“It is a very important car for Honda and our future direction. This is a car that will change customer perception of hybrids,” added John Kingston. He did not elaborate on how affordable would this new “more affordable” hybrid be, but he said it would be enough for people to choose such cars for economical reasons rather than just wanting to be “green”.

It was also revealed in the story that Honda will add another 3 more hybrids by 2010 – a sports car hybrid, a new hybrid Civic and a new hybrid Jazz.

Source

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2009 Honda City Teaser Video from Thailand

September 3, 2008 at 7:36 am By Paul Tan Filed Under 2009 Honda City, Cars, Honda, International News, Videos

2009 Honda CityHonda Thailand has put up a teaser TV commercial for the new Honda City up on their website.

Nothing much is revealed except the new “Optimus Prime” front grille of the car, inspired by the Honda FCX Clarity.

Watch the video after the jump.
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2009 Honda Civic Facelift for US market

August 26, 2008 at 11:20 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Honda, International News

USDM 2009 Honda Civic

Official details of the facelifted Honda Civic range in America has surfaced, which should lead to an announcement pretty soon on an updated Civic for our market. Though essentially the same car under the sheet metal, our Civic and the American Civic has a few styling differences especially on the rear end where the Civic has a totally different rear lamp shape compared to ours.

In the US, the base non-Si Civic is only available with the 1.8 litre inline-4 SOHC i-VTEC engine, while we have both the 1.8 litre SOHC and the 2.0 litre DOHC i-VTEC. The only 2.0 litre Civic there is the Civic Si with a high-revving 197 horsepower DOHC i-VTEC engine. For the 2009 model year facelift, the power output for the 1.8 litre motor remains unchanged at 140hp, mated to a 5-speed manual or a 5-speed automatic with dual overdrive ratios.

There are also not much changes to the interior except that the integrated head unit now features USB input as well as a built-in Bluetooth hands-free system. As for the exterior, the front gets a new grille and bumper while the rear gets a new tail lamp lense design as well as a large chrome panel between the headlamps.

Look after the jump for videos and a hi-res gallery of the US-market Civic facelift.
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Free rear center belts for 2003-2005 Honda City

August 26, 2008 at 2:50 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Honda, Local News

Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Road Safety Department of Malaysia to support the government’s move for safer cars in Malaysia.

The Road Safety Department recently pushed for car manufacturers to install rear seatbelts on cars that did not have them for free, and Honda is the first non-national make to do so.

According to Honda Malaysia’s CEO Atsushi Fujimoto, there are 25,480 units of the Honda City sold between 2003 to 2005 that do not have rear center seat belts.

Free installation of belts for the affected cars will begin in October 2008 and all costs will be born by Honda Malaysia. It will be done in batches and owners will be informed on when they can come in to install their belts.

UPDATE: All Honda Citys do have 2 rear seatbelts at the rear. This exercise is to install a 5th seat belt for the middle seat.

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New Honda City i-VTEC fully undisguised exterior and interior revealed!

August 23, 2008 at 1:32 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under 2009 Honda City, Cars, Honda, Spyshots

New Honda City

UPDATE: 2009 Honda City: in-depth details and specifications. Click the linked text to find out you need to know about the upcoming new Honda City in Malaysia.

It’s confirmed – the car we’ve been seeing in China and India is indeed the new Honda City. Reader xstan pointed out this flickr page with photos of the new Honda City – fully uncovered including photos of the interior!

It’s not known at the moment which country these photos come from. As expected, the interior is no longer based on the one in the Honda Jazz but instead uses a design that is perhaps cheaper to cast and manufacture.

Look after the jump for full images and details!
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