Category: Honda

Honda never really made it in the executive segment because the carmaker never made the jump to V8 powertrains like Nissan/Infiniti or Lexus did. If it’s not essential in Europe, it’s considered like a crime of lese-majesty in the country of V8s explaining. But the situation might change.

The Japanese car magazine reveals that Honda is currently working on a new V8 engine which is expected to be featured on the Honda Legend also sold under the Acura label in the US as the RL model. The V8 engine would have a displacement of 4.5-litre and a power output of about 400bhp. The car is expected to be launched in Japan first in 2010. So if true, a V8-powered wouldn’t reach our shores before 2011.

With the rumoured V8, it appears that Honda has ruled out the possibility to sell the V6 diesel engine that the company is readying for Europe. The future V6 unit is expected to be featured on the Honda Accord and maybe on the Legend in order to increase its sales.

Source: WindingRoad

Honda has announced that its British factory located in Swindon rolled off the two-millionth car since it started manufacturing cars 16 years ago. The two-millionth car was a silver CR-V.

The Swindon opened for the first time 22 years ago to build car parts before producing car in 1992. Recently, the company has invested £80 million to integrate more and more parts manufacturing. Of this amount, Honda invested £22m in a new plastic injection and painting facility capable of moulding and painting 1,300 sets of bumpers for the Civic and CR-V each day. The engine plant gets £16m for a new casting facility which will enable it to independently cast diesel blocks, a process which, until now, has only been carried out in Japan. £50 million is being invested in welding and paint production technology, increasing efficiency and production flexibility.

The factory which employs 4,200 people, has a production capacity of 250,000 vehicles, 50% of the company’s current sales in Europe. Last year the production reached 237,783 units. The Swindon factory builds the three-door and five-door Civic, included the Type R version, and the CR-V.

Honda has certainly lost the first battle in the hybrid war, but it isn’t over. The Prius eliminated the Insight and The Civic IMA, but Honda might have the eagerly-awaited answer to knock down the ubiquitous Toyota.

One of the direction taken by Honda will be to launch a sporty vehicle with a strong personality, something Toyota has never been able to do in eighty years, under the form of an affordable coupé. Honda hopes to conquer the heart of European customers in an attempt to boost the global sales of hybrid cars.

The upcoming coupé derived from the CR-Z will be lunched first in Europe and to this end Honda is currently developing the coupé at Offenbach in Germany. The future CR-Z would be sold at a competitive price between £19,000 and £22,000. However, if the demand for the hybrid powered CR-Z is not string enough, the Japanese carmaker is ready to build a normal version powered by a petrol engine.

Honda will try to go ahead of Toyota by unveiling a new hybrid model sold at a competitive price and expected to account for 200,000 units per year.

The Japanese carmaker has set the ambitious plan to take on the ubiquitous Toyota Prius and will go mainstream with a hybrid model smaller than the compact Civic. The future car is expected to cost between £12,000 and £15,000. The most affordable Prius starts at £17,777. The car is expected to offer low CO2 emissions likely to be below 100g/km. The Insight (pictured) achieved an impressive 80g/km.

With such a low price, Honda wants to sell 200,000 cars per year likely to cover the cost of this ambitious project. Half of the production would be sent to the US while Europe would get a quarter of the quota and the rest of the world would share the other 25%. The company wants to model to account for 10% of its total production.

The small hybrid model would be the first model of a family of hybrid vehicles to reach the market. The range will be topped by the future CR-Z Concept unveiled at the last Tokyo Motor Show. Honda wants between 400,000 and 500,000 hybrid car each year by 2011.

Honda’s refreshed S2000 is now on sale in the UK with new suspension settings an a few cosmetic changes.

The S2000’s handling and performance characteristics have been enhanced by changing the suspension set-up. From now on, the S2000 features the same suspention tuning as seen on the S2000 Type-S. The dampers have been re-tuned and the anti-roll bars have been thickened.

The exterior and interior styling evolves a bit. The revamped S2000 comes with a new design of 17-inch 5-spoke alloy wheels and a new paint colour Synchro Silver. on the inside, there are three new leather interiors to choose from – Black with red stitching, Brown with red stitching and Red with black sides. There is also a design change to the headrest frame which has been re-shaped to offer greater roll-over protection.

These few changes will likely help the car to maintain its sales. Last year thew S2000 sales totalled 563 units.The model is priced from £28,050 for the Roadster and £28,600 for the GT model with detachable roof.

Acura has unveiled the next-generation TSX salon which will make its debut at the New York Auto Show. The Acura TSX is the American version of our European Honda Accord which whose next generation will be unveiled in Geneva.

The car’s styling is more an evolution than an all-new design. According to the press release, the saloon will feature”numerous advancements in performance, styling, technology and safety.” The statement is rather obscure; however it is already known that the TSX will be the first Acura to be powered by a diesel engine.

Honda has announced that it will release a new NSX by 2010. This is not good news as the car was expected to be unveiled next year and hit the showrooms in 2009.

How Honda, once the most brilliant engine manufacturer, can take so long time to develop a successor to the NSX? It is rumoured that the executives thought at one moment to give up all sporty models to focus on diesel engines but changed their mind later as sporty models would help the car maker to sell more cars and would improve the brand image.

If the car is planed for 2010, Honda will likely unveil the car at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show. According to the Japanese car magazine Best Car, the nippy Honda will feature a V8 engine whose displacement will be either 4-litre or 4.5-litre. It would also feature the in-house all-wheel drive transmission.

The car will hit the American market at first as Acura’s deployment on the Japanese market has been postponed to 2011.

The Japanese car maker has announced that it will recall 43,000 Acura RL saloons to fix a faulty power steering hose. The device could crack and lead to fluid leaking onto the catalytic converter possibly resulting in a fire.

The recall affects cars built between 2004 and this year, that’s to say 2005-2008 models. No injuries or fires have been reported as of yet. The Acura RL is a re-badged Honda Legend for the American market, which means that Honda might also recall the Legend in Europe to fix the same problem if the Acura RL and Honda Legend share this component. Wait and see.

For Honda, this is second time this year the company recalls a model. Earlier it recalls 182,756 Civic saloons in order to fix a faulty wheel bearing that could cause the wheel to fall off.