Yearly Archives: 2009

Thanks For The Letters

Posted on by
Reply

Dear valued readers,

To sum this thank you post in one sentence would be a travesty to the emails you have sent to me. Ever since I put my email address on the bottom right of the sidebar, I’ve tons of emails to read (okay… But 18 emails from a live person not some spammers is a lot for me). Be sure that I will reply to you all, but most of all, I would like to publicly thank you all for the support and kind words.

But to answer the most basic question of why I wrote my blog mainly in English is because I wanted to practice my English, if it weren’t already bad enough in the real world… So I put most of my post in English. Technically speaking also, most of my readers (75% according to Google analytics) are from English speaking countries (with USA & Singapore leading the viewers).

So, all in all, thank you once again for all the supporting words and hoping that my blog post is any of use to you guys.

Best regards,

Michael Adhi

Honda Freed Real Life Fuel Consumption

Posted on by
6

Here it is folks, real life consumption of Honda Freed ASEAN edition. One local Indonesian automotive magazine has extensively tested the car fuel consumption on highway and inner city driving. The result is mind boggling, but… Well, here it is…

The magazine test result nets 1 liter for 10-12 Km of inner city driving and 1 liter for 15 Km of highway driving. The fuel used is not mentioned, but safe to assume they use RON 91 92 (thanks Frozen_Heart) grade fuel, as previous road tests are done using RON 91 92. So the million dollar question is… Is it good enough? And the answer is a simple yes.

Mind you that the car is as aerodynamic as brick with slanted front window. No matter how hard Honda engineers try to make the car efficient with the standard 5 gear autobox, the car physiques is it drawback in term of fuel consumption. 1 liter for 10-12 Km of inner city driving is very very very respectable number… Hell, my automatic SX4 hatch barely manages 1:10 on perfect day. But the 1:15 for highway driving? Meh… This is where Freed users pays for its awesome interior space.

The Freed is taller and heavier than the Fit/City while still using the same engine (and detuned). Honda never stated its coefficient drag number for Freed, but let’s say that it’s not very good… And this goes to tall haulers like Elysion, Alphard and Elgrand for which Freed emulates. Wind resistance doesn’t take its toll on slow moving cars, it is when the car goes up to speed that you will feel the resistance. As such, Freed highway mileage suffers by a bit… Just a bit because most 1.5L haulers manages 1:16 at the minimum. To take into retrospect, my SX4 hatch manages 1:16 of highway cruise. This shows that the inclusion of 5 gear autobox on the Freed is a must, if not for the 5th overdrive, the car might be sluggish on slower speed (*cough*like my SX4*cough*).

All in all, the Freed is truly a must have. Tall cabin = very good shoulder and head room, something that few of its competitors manage to give but with a compromise. Although for its roominess Freed users must pay with slightly off highway cruise fuel consumption of its peers, the car still scores very well. Sure there’s that no rear aircon thing, but just turn the AC fan to 2 and put good quality window film.

New Honda President: No FR Sedans! But…

Posted on by
Reply

Straight from Honda new President, Takanobu Ito, Honda cancels development of rear wheel drive cars.  A sad news for many enthusiasts because they balked at the fact that the previous Honda President, Takeo Fukui announced exciting projects for Honda, namely a new flagship rear wheel drive sedan, powered with a new V8 engine and the arrival of the most awaited replacement for Honda supercar, NSX. Spy shots of the new rear wheel drive mule car are abound, and the NSX replacement, sporting its V10 engine is screaming around the test track, everything is ready… Until Takanobu Ito arrives on the scene. Takanobu Ito is no stranger to Honda spirited roots, he is in fact, the guy in charge of creating NSX all aluminum body. So he knows a thing or two about what makes a great car (not an excessive engine).

The move is warranted though, not because Ito-san hates the enthusiasts or something, it’s just Honda couldn’t afford making these so called “question marks” products… At least according to BCG high growth/low demand matrix. The halo effect is there positively, but how is the demand? Let’s take a look at Honda profit ending 2008… 20 Billion Yen… WOWZA! A lot of cash no? No! Ending 2007, Honda profit is roughly 200 Billion Yen, 10 times of that last year. What Honda needs are cash cow products, products that makes profit like well, Fit/Jazz, Accord, Freed, and anything in between.

The new flagship sedan would just create costs and like any late comers, it will not sell well. Honda will need to cover for loss of the new car, something that Honda simply just couldn’t afford. What they can afford though is the creation of car variants from existing platform, that’s why the ZDX came to be, because it’s just a bigger Accord.

So what if Honda doesn’t have a 370Z, RX-8, ZR-1, SLK? What Honda needs now is to survive and that’s a priority over slow selling (albeit super sexy) cars anytime, anytime. Takanobu Ito will have a tough time and will have his photo on the target range of any misled Honda fans. But for true fans who understand the situation, he is actually a savior who dares to take the seat and all the responsibility (and one of the responsibilities is to take shit from enthusiasts).

But there’s still good news though; the NSX replacement is shelved, but that’s just the V10 version. There is news about Honda going to create another supercar… A hybrid supercar. Yep, Honda is rumored to scrap the V10 engine for a V6 hybrid system, just like Toyota planned hybrid Supra revival. But unlike Toyota’s hybrid 400 horsepower engine, Honda own super hybrid will generate up to 450 horsepower. This new bigger hybrid system will also found its way onto family friendly cars, probably destined to found its way under Acura hoods.

My take on the cancellation of anything rear wheel coming out from Honda is not the end all devastating news. So what if Honda or Acura is not becoming like Mercedes, BMW or even Toyota/Lexus? Honda well, they are going after Audi and Volvo… At least they both have the same front wheel vanilla cars and AWD spicier version. However both Audi and Volvo are not so stingy with their engine offering, at least there’s turbo and big V8s on Volvo side, and Audi have like what… V8, V10, W12… Acura could have gone the way of the Audis and I would care less just add more engines… A-VTEC would be nice Ito-san!

Source:

Rumored Honda super hybrid is coming

Takanobu Ito: FR Sedans are lame

Ito as new Honda President: Red marks all over

Suplemen Vitamin E, Vitamin “junk food”?

Posted on by
6

Tidak perlu diragukan, vitamin E adalah vitamin yang sangat berguna untuk tubuh. Khasiat antioksidan yang tinggi merupakan kunci menuju kehidupan yang sehat karena tubuh dapat dengan mudah bertahan akan radikal bebas. Akan tetapi, Universitas Berkeley negara bagian California Amerika Serikat yang menemukan vitamin E ini pada tahun 1922 menyatakan bahwa vitamin E dalam bentuk suplemen makanan tidak memiliki kegunaan sama sekali. Ingin tahu lebih lanjut? Continue reading →

CR-Z & Fit Hybrid Confirmed Next Year

Posted on by
Reply

Argh, how can I miss this one… It’s official, Honda revival of the CR-X and Insight 1.0 is heading our way *at least in Japan* in February 2010. The CR-Z which was announced late 2007 will be available to Japanese market early next year, claiming “sporty Hybrid” as its tagline. The Fit will also receives a Hybrid trim line, and completes Honda hybrid offering as one of the entry level hybrid model. The Fit hybrid still have no definitive release date, but expect it to be launched by the end of 2010.

Bigger hybrids are in plan, but it’s still up in the air where the engine will head to. Well, considering Honda cancels implementing Diesel engine to their premium Acura line, it’s a safe bet that the bigger hybrids will be found inside Acura’s engine bays in the near future.

On related news, the Insight is fairing very well in Japan. The car manage to get number 3 most selling car for the month of May just behind Honda venerable favorites, the Fit. Despite the overall decrease in automobile demand in Japan, most small and efficient cars still fares the best.

Source:

Honda confirms two more hybrids for next year

Insight and Fit leads Honda domestic sales

CR-Z design sheet

Honda Freed Hands on Impression

Posted on by
4

Here it is folks, pictures and witty comments of 2009 Indonesian Honda Freed. The model you’ll be seeing is the baseline version with the uprated rims from the original Japanese Honda Freed and some exclusions to fit with the intended target market price bracket.

Let’s start to take a look from the exterior sides first.

Short nose, highly advanced engineering

Taking the same platform of the Fit/Jazz, the Freed inherit the same “near-zero” hood, because that’s how awesome Honda engineers are, able to create such a compact engine to make a compact and easy to maneuverable car. But one thing you will notice from the outside is…

Smoked headlight for added oomph

Smoked headlight, standard for all model. Nice addition and makes this white over black headlight really nice. Although not as nice as the…

Uprated tires and rims nudge the ground clearance higher

Uprated rim and tires from the original JDM model. Freed JDM models employs 14” rims as standard and 160 mm of ground clearance. Clearly the use of 15” rims by Freed competitors and the necessity to heighten Freed’s original ground clearance for shoddy Indonesian cities roads warrant this upgrade. Freed uses 185/65 tires on 15” rims, which boost Freed’s ground clearance to a healthy 165 mm. Not tall enough, but enough as not to destroy the driving dynamics. Which you want because…

L15 engine although slightly detune

The Freed has the same engine as the Fit/Jazz and City. Notice the same air duct towards the intake of the car positioned near the firewall of the engine bay? That means fresh relatively cool air is fed towards the intake for maximum efficiency at high speed. Even though the power is down from 120ps that of Fit/Jazz and City to 118ps to the Freed, it’s still the most powerful engine for its given capacity (1.5L). Which you want to utilize because…

Side visibility is superb

The driving position is very nice. Although this car doesn’t feature telescopic steering only tilt and there is no height adjustment on the driver seat, good seating position is achievable. Which gives… Nice visibility from driving position to all sides. The A pillar is slanty enough so you can see tall objects on the side and the instrument cluster is nicely positioned just slightly below the front glass, perfect for glancing while driving.

Cheap AC controls, but awesome dash design

Phew… It’s quite hard to write something that continuous, so let’s continue with the usual flow… Interior size wise, the car is adequate for the majority of Asians, although some tall guy including me will need to adjust the seat quite extremely to find the perfect seating position (just slide the seats all the way back). Seating position for second and third row is limited for my “178 cm long in the legs” posture, as my knee will always scrub against something. Not so much for the first row because there are more leg room upfront.

Upholstery is not what I expected, but still nice

I found that the seating position is a bit low, thus I couldn’t find comfortable seating position on second and third row. Bearable on short trips, but not so much for longer ones. Tall people, definitely sits at the first row only.

One thing that I found very satisfying sitting inside the Freed on the second and third row seat is the tall roofline. The tall roofline gives a lot positive feeling psychologically, being that It’s like you’re sitting in a more spacious room. The same thing applies I guess to your house design, low roofline and you will feel that you’re living in a smaller place than if the roofline is higher… It’s psychobable, because you live horizontally not vertically, but it’s real.

Flat floor + sexy legs

There is one minus point for the second row interior, in that, although the captain seat has arm rest, it’s only on the inner side of the interior, and not the outer. In fact, the outer position where the doors are, there are no arm rest and even a crease to put your arm. You can only rest your arm on the inner side of the seat.

Entry point is very accessible

Entering and exiting the car for the second row is very nice for average and tall people. Thanks to the side handles, small size persons (a kid) can just grab on the handle and climb up the footstep, thank goodness the car ground clearance is not too high as to hamper entering and exiting the car. While trying to enter and exit the car, now I realize, having a tall ground clearance have its adverse side effect; because the taller the ground clearance, the taller the entry/exit point is. Imagine your Grandmother have to literally “climb” her way up to your Land Cruiser… Yeah, buy that LC Grandma haters…

Access to the third row seat is through the alley of the second row seat. Which is kind of tight because of the protruding armrest. But given that this is me “not your typical Asian” we are talking, medium size people will be able to pass through the alley with ease.

The third seat as pictured before, folds upward and splits 50/50. I can easily get out from the third row seat when one was folded upward through the rear hatch… Although I didn’t know why you would do that…  The minus point for this folding upward seat is that it won’t allow wide tall objects to be put on the floor, because the seat above it will obstruct the object. Tall slim objects are perfect though.

Final words

The Freed is definitely geared towards average Asians upstart family who wants comfort and entry level luxury. The size is obviously perfect for average size Asians, thanks to its box shaped overall body structure. Legrooms might be tight, but shoulder and head room is ginormous. The second row and third row features reclining seats, because there are lots of space available, and it even still has some space left behind the third row seat.

Honda really did it this time. The car price is dead on, fits perfectly between the Jazz and the City and really seals the image that Honda is premium brand. The local advertisement of Indonesian Honda Freed might be too much on the framing of the target market and less about the car, but it’s okay, Honda Indonesia really nails the premium aspect of the car.

Given the price, the Freed is expensive to say the least. But consider this: Freed emulates to a perfect degree of expensive people movers such as Alphard, Elysion and Elgrand. Because the car chassis and platform (FF) mimics perfectly of its more expensive brethren. Nissan Grand Livina is the closest direct competitor to Freed platform wise, but it sits lower and the roofline is lower. Sure the Nissan Grand Livina has the advantage in driving dynamics, being lower and all, but it won’t easily beat Freed’s spacious interior vertically.

I see that the demographic for Freed is very wide ranging. From 30 to 45, and economic strata of A & B+. From upstart family to just those who started a new life together. Perfect? Not really. Hit the target? 102%

Thanks to Pak. Harris at Autoland Kelapa Gading for putting up with me and the family long after the dealership closing time, and no thanks to Nokia E75 shitty low light pictures.

Freed Is Officially Launched… Price and all

Posted on by
Reply

Honda Freed Indonesia is officially launched, and behold the wonderful good news about the car.

The car, as I predicted is priced reasonably starting from Rp. 237 Million and topping out at Rp. 257 Million… I missed the pricing by about Rp. 3 Million as I predicted the car will be priced at Rp. 240 Million and Rp. 260 Million respectively.

The ground clearance, as I predicted also raises for about a good 5 mm, from the original Japanese Freed spec of 160 mm to 165 mm. Thanks to the use of a healthy 15″ rims and tires.

It’s not as tall as I expected, but remember, Toyota Alphard has only 170 mm of ground clearance for its top of the line model. So a 5 mm difference wouldn’t be too much, when Freed bottoms out on a section of road, most likely the Alphard does the same.

The car came exclusively with 7 seater configuration with optional advanced safety mechanism for the top of the line version.

Both version comes with 5 gear automatic transmission featuring Grade Logic Control which holds gears on uphill and downhill roads, shift holding mechanism which… Well, holds the gear when turning, which is nice to have although not necessary when you are not driving fast and furious. Finally, the autobox features torque converter lock up… Which I cannot fully comprehend technically… Suffice to say, Wikipedia article on it says fuel efficiency, so we go with that one.

The main engine power is still 118ps, same with the Japanese domestic model. Powerful but definitely needs RON 92 grade fuel, no thanks to its high compression ratio of 10.4:1. You can still uses lower grade Pertamina Premium fuel, but probably that power would go to waste… So if you want to unleash the full VTEC experience, stick with 92 grade fuel.

The main difference between the entry level and the top of the line Freed is the addition of:

  • Dual SRS Airbag (the entry level doesn’t have any airbag)
  • Front row armrest
  • Convenience hook behind the front seat
  • Sunvisor with vanity mirror
  • Finally, automatic sliding doors

For that much (Rp. 20 Million), the additional feature is actually quite a bargain. Just for that automatic sliding door, I see yuppies community will bought it at volume.

For the Asia Pacific region, this trim line will probably the same for you guys living in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Philippine. So, enjoy it for all your needs 🙂

So that’s that folks, my next family car for sure.

Source:

Honda Freed Indonesia official specification

JDM Honda Stream Refreshed, Adds RST Trim

Posted on by
Reply

It’s official, Honda just refreshed its famous lean 7 seater MPV, the Stream.

Notable improvement (for all models) are:

  1. Refreshed front and rear bumpers.
  2. Retuned suspension settings.
  3. New “smoked” rearlights.
  4. The addition of the RST trim.

The RST trim is quite a turnaround, and can be called the biggest twist in the story. Honda already gives the RSZ trim for Stream which is the highest trim level, but here it is, RST… Is it a downscale of RSZ? Or an even upscaled RSZ? Not quite!

The RST is actually the “performance” variant of the RSZ. Sporting bigger 17″ rims, it has reduced weight thanks to the removal of the third row seat… Yes, they remove the seat. Instead of putting a turbo engine which enthusiasts has hoped from the obvious T… They just remove the seats! Making Stream RST a wagon or some sort. Oh, and they retune the suspension for sportier driving.

The engine still comes in two flavors, the 1.8L i-VTEC @ 140ps and 2.0L i-VTEC @ 150ps… So, calling the RST a “sporty” wagon should be unjustified.

Pictures will follow… A lot of crap going on right now…

Source:

Official Japanese Honda Stream refreshed

Guesstimating Indonesia Honda Freed Price

Posted on by
3

Okay, since I have a lot of unapproved messages and readers asking about the new Honda Freed price in Indonesia, I’m going to one up Honda Indonesia and try to guess the Freed price. Frankly, I didn’t know the price, I have contacts in the “inner circle” but not that kind of inner circle, just friends at the dealership and media, so my best info will be your best info from local auto magazines.

I don’t know much how Honda Indonesia established their product price, but it is safe to assume that the Freed will be priced around Jazz price. Why? Because:

  1. Honda Jazz and Honda Freed are both locally assembled.
  2. Honda Freed is basically a stretch Jazz.
  3. Both car shares the same engine and transmission.

The most expensive Honda Jazz, the RS, is priced at Rp. 221,5 Million. Now taking into account that the Freed is basically a stretched Jazz, the Freed shares most of its inner working with Jazz such as engine, transmission, and even suspension. The latter might be modified to handle Freed extra weight, but it is still the same McPherson Strut front and H-Shaped torsion beam back. So the changes might be just a different absorber and spring size.

So, the extra cost for Honda mostly comes in the form of sheet metal, plastics, and window, given as the Freed is bigger than the Jazz. Also for the automatic sliding door mechanism…

Do mind that Honda Indonesia only assemble the cars here, that’s why we call it CKD (completely knock down). So a lot of contents are still imported. Remember the basic economic equation of orders? When you buy something from period A, you sell it with period A price + margin. So if Honda purchases Freed components then when the dollar is at its highest, it’s not their fault… It’s the forex speculant’s.

So how much do you think the Freed will be priced? Personally, I guess the price will start at Rp. 240 Million, and topping out at Rp. 260 Million. This is actually a very conservative guess because even at Rp. 240 Million, Honda will sell a ton of this car. Because with just a premium of 8% from Jazz RS, you got a bigger capacity car and I see LOTS of Jazz RS running around Indonesia capital.

Why a conservative guess again? Because of the competition. At Rp. 240 Million Indonesian can just buy Toyota Innova, the venerable car of choice in Indonesia; 8 seater, 2L engine, enormous utility, high ground clearance. Then at Rp. 270 Million you can buy yourself an entry level Nissan Serena; 7 seater, 2L engine, bigger than Freed,  same exquisite FF platform. So, Honda Indonesia needs to play its card right. Thankfully, Honda brand equity in Indonesia warrant a price premium, although not much… Pricing the Freed over Nissan Serena level will be suicide, and Honda Indonesia should know better. So that’s why I personally guess the price will not go over Rp. 270 Million.

For trim level I’m guessing that Indonesian Freed will have two trims. The standard and top of the line. With automatic as standard, and the top of the line model featuring automatic sliding doors. The seating capacity will be strictly 7 seater captain seat variant.

With the economy is still in the red and buying capability of the market still low, it’s best for Honda to aim for the top with the Freed. 7 seater cars are synonimous with luxury people movers such as Honda Elysion, Toyota Alphard and Nissan Elgrand. With Freed’s premium pricing strategy, it’s best for Honda Indonesia to target a specific market than to cater to wider demographics.

But still, these are just plain guessing. I’m not affiiliated whatsoever with Honda Indonesia. So, the car is on track to its release date and the car is already booked in many dealers, have you booked yours today?

Newsflash: Freed Receives Very Minor Updates! Wha?

Posted on by
3

News so flashy it blinds your eyes! Honda Freed has received the best selling minivan status in Japan for 5 straight months from November 2008 to March 2009. Thus, Freed insane popularity in Japan has warrant Honda engineers to mildly refresh the car in a very discreet fashion. Very discreet actually, you cannot see it and it might just count as an addition of a trim level.

First and foremost, the Freed does receives an extra trim level dubbed “just selection”… According to Google effort. However, Yahoo Babel Fish translate the trim level as “jiyasutoserekushiyon”, and if you add some cing-cong language there, then “jiyasuto” is pronounced as “jay-su” or sounds like just and “serekushiyon” is pronounced as “se-rection” or sounds like selection (Japanese words doesn’t have “L”).  So, Google might have the edge here… Or Honda just have something about erection on Freed latest trim.

G Just Selection profile

Anyway, the “Just Selection” trims ads HID as a standard item for the G trim and the G Aero receives standard 15″ aluminum wheel and heated windshield wiper… Get it right folks, heated wiper, not heated windshield, although the heating element is on the windshield. The logic behind this is to make the wiper melts snow particles to reduce tearing effect of the blade on the long run.

You just don’t believe me do you…

As for the price, the standard G is priced at 1.699 Million Yen, while the “Just Selection” is priced at 1.794 Million Yen. A difference of 95K Yen or US$1K, and you get factory warranted HID lights, nice enough. The G Aero “Just Selection” have a different of 132K Yen or US$1.2K  from the basic G Aero… Nice enough, but I don’t think the heated wiper will help non snowing countries.

So a trim level addition? Pfft… Not worth having “minor update” status. Wait! I forgot to mention that all Freed captain seat version now have their second row seat to slide an extra 40mm/4cm, and map lights and grab rails as standard.

Now I wonder if Honda Indonesia will incorporate the above additions for the Freed imminent release… At least the grab rails and extra sliding distance, because both really adds another value towards the car. Safety while entering the car, and extra leg room if needed .

Oh, and for you Indonesian readers, I have some bad news about Freed’s price. I heard news from the street that the price is hovering steady at Rp 270 Million when the Freed launches. Wowza… At that price point you can get a brand new (old gen) Nissan Serena or Toyota Innova for less. But it’s still up in the air as it’s just a word from the street, and who knew… Miracles do come true you know, at least I’ve witnessed a couple.

Source:

Honda of Japan Official Freed Update Page