Archive for the ‘Honda’ Category

Honda stabs the Ridgeline dead by 2012

2008 Honda Ridgeline

Launched in 2005, Honda Ridgeline was supposed to be a strong competitor to light duty truck in North America. It is indeed good looking, versatile and has plenty of cool features, but it seems it hasn’t exactly touched a string in American buyers’ hearts. Though it was the first truck to incorporate an independent rear suspension, a unibody design and a tailgate that opened both like a car door and a traditional fold down pick-up style tailgate, it has sold only 16,464 units, far below the 50,000 + units Honda hoped to sell.

So Honda decided to cut it off of their line-up for 2012. Dunno if this is the best decision to take. Maybe Honda should have investigated the reasons for which Ridgeline hasn’t met the sales expectaction and refresh the model if there is a design or performance problem. Thogh I doubt Hondas may have performance issues…

Honda joins Toyota, recalling 410,000 Odysseys and Elements for brake problem

Lately, there has been a trend for automakers to recall cars due, especially, to brake issues. Though everything swirled around Toyota and people have hinted their attention on Toyota’s problems, there are some other carmakers that face recalling.
Honda has announced a recall for some 410,000 vehicle due to a defect with the Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) module. According to the automaker, 344,00 Odysseys and 68,000 Elements (MY 2007-2008) are affected by the problem and owners will be notified via mail this April to take their vehicles into dealers. (more…)

Honda CR-Z demand to outrun sell scheme?

Honda CR-Z hybrid

The new Honda CR-Z has only been on sale in Japan for two weeks, and already the automaker has received over 7,000 orders for the small hybrid. This represents about 60 percent of the 12,000 units that Honda anticipated to sell domestically in the hatch’s first year of production. If this trend continues, Honda may have to ramp up production of the CR-Z in Japan to meet the high demand.

The CR-Z’s fortunes in other markets will be every bit as interesting to watch, of course. Some question whether Honda’s idea of a sports hybrid that takes just under 10 seconds to hit 60 miles per hour might not be what the doctor ordered, especially when paired with surprisingly disappointing fuel economy figures. Of course, that’s largely just what the online enthusiast community is saying at the moment, and not necessarily any indication of the car’s eventual marketplace success whatsoever. (more…)

Fourth generation Odyssey

Honda Odyssey Concept

Honda’s popular minivan that was revealed at Chicago Auto Show can be considered the fourth generation Odyssey. There have been made some modifications to the body for better aerodynamic efficiency, namely to the roofline which is lower by 1 inch and wider by 1.4. The front and rear pillars feature a steeper rake, tapered rear cabin, and fender flares offer a sportier appearance. Wheelbase dimensions remain unchanged at 118.1 inches.

European Honda CR-Z at Geneva

Euro Honda CRZ Hybrid Coupe

Honda has prepared an European market CR-Z hybrid coupe which will have its premiere at next month’s Geneva International Motor Show. The biggest difference from the two-seater North American-spec CR-Z that was unveiled at the Detroit Show in January is that the European version features a 2+2 seating layout. (more…)

Worldwide recall for Honda Jazz switch defect

Honda Jazz

After all the flurry with Toyota’s sticking pedal and their recall for 8 models worldwide, it’s time for Honda to join the club and recall Jazz over a power switch defect that could cause a fire, by allowing water to enter the power window switch. A total of 646,000 cars will be called in globally to fix this switch defect. This includes Jazz/Fit models built in Japan, China, Brazil, Thailand, Malaysia and India. To these figures, Honda includes also 27,000 City models in Asia.

However, there is good news in all this nuisance: Honda Siel Cars India said that India will not be a part of the global vehicle recall, because the Jazz that is being sold in India is a second generation vehicle, which is not a part of the global recall. The official said the Jazz that is being recalled globally is the previous generation model.

There have been reported three cases of fires due to the defect – two in the US and one in South Africa. The latter had a sad ending, as a two-year-old  girl was killed in Cape Town when the Jazz she was sleeping in caught fire.

Another hybrid-fever victim: Acura

Future seems pretty predictable: we WILL drive electric and hybrid cars and WILL stay in line at street corners with a point in our hands to charge our little zero-emissions friend like a cell phone.

Big brands have lined up with this trend and have thrown into this cruel world various proppeling combinations with tiny batteries that can develop up to 600hp. (more…)

New Honda CR-Z or “What the hell were you thinking?!”

You like simple, compact, sporty, Japanese cars that go for more than 50mpg? Well, aparently Honda have been trying to prove us that simple, compact, sporty Japanese cars can go up to 37mpg! And they’re tooting their own horn for this!

It is new, it looks new…new, rejected first edition Honda.  It is a new kind of hybrid, the manual six speed paired to the 1.5-liter i-VTEC 4-cylinder engine belting out 122 HP and 128 lb-ft of torque at a low-low 1,000 to 1,500 RPM (123 lb-ft for the automatic CVT version).  A hybrid having all available torque at 1,000-1,500 rpm is interesting, and I would like to see how that translates into the driving experience. No production hybrid has been designed for sports in sacrifice of milage, but…37mpg highway?!?! Now I finally understand why rice-eaters go by bike!

(more…)

2009 HONDA Pilot SUV

Honda’s new SUV has a 3.5 liter V-6 engine,mated to a five-speed gearbox,making 250 horse power and 253 lb-ft of torque.A new feature is represented by the VCM : Variable Cylinder Management.It means that the engine can use all six cylinders for great power or it can use just for or three cylinders to reduce fuel-consumption.

The 4-wheel drive powertrain,bluetooth, power tailgate,lift-up hatch and the hill start assist remain just options.

If you liked this post,you can subscribe to receive latest news from AutoRoyalty

Acura don’t do hybrids

Honda’s upmarket brand, the Acura isn’t interested in making less fuel consuming vehicles and considers hybrid engines more suitable for small cars.

Despite increased public interest regarding hybrid technology and competitor Lexus; success in that area, Acura isn’t even considering developing such engines for the time being or the near future. Dick Coliver, vice-president of Acura says: “when you go into the bigger vehicles, it’s going to be very difficult. Our position is it’s better-suited for smaller cars.”

However Acura plans to introduce a diesel powered model sometime in the future, a 2.2litre 4-cilinder I-DTEC, produced by Honda. This may prove to be a bad idea, as recent studies show Americans are less enthused by diesel technology than they are by hybrids.

Blog Directory - OnToplist.com MV Blogs Directory Business Directory for Miami, Florida Yellow Pages for USA and Canada  Top Blogs  Blog Directory TopOfBlogs BlogMeeting.com Blog Ratings Web Hosting This site is listed under Vehicles Directory  Dr.5z5 Open Feed Directory BLOGbal Top Blogs - Increase SEO of Your Blog, Blogging Resources Automobile Blogs  Webfeed (RSS/ATOM/RDF) submitted to http://www.feeds4all.nl