So here it is… My new home for my thoughts and wacky ideas. I would like to thanks those who have encouraged me to go full steam with my blog, and those who have shoved me here… Accidentally or not, so my blog at wordpress have becoming a full featured website here at http://michaeladhi.com/ Continue reading
As Acura most successful and most selling product, the new 2009 TSX has a lot of ground to cover. Acura didn’t mess with success and designs the new TSX with similar cues as the out going generation. To satisfy the demands of its customers, Acura made the new TSX bigger and with a revised engine, producing slightly lower horsepower but more improved torque. More pictures and witty comments after the click. Continue reading
So the buzz is out! Well, at least according to a nameless source from Edmunds.com, Honda will finally build a top of the line over the top luxury full size sedan featuring all of Honda’s latest technology and the first ever production V8. Under Honda’s own luxury brand, Acura, the car will carry on the RL moniker, which in turn was Honda Legend. Continue reading
Being featured as an enforcer car on the Ultraman show in Japan really shows the futuristic if not cartoony design of Honda Insight. Honda’s first hybrid vehicle might not be as popular as Toyota Prius, but just what happens when you put a high output motor into a body of a purposed built efficient hybrid shell? Sheer unadulterated fun… More witty comments and pictures after the click. Continue reading
Well, apparently, my intention of upgrading this blog into something more “enjoyable” to view has been met with numerous challenges. I’ve took a domain name… Well, it’s a no brainer what the name is (you’ll know soon enough), but I couldn’t find the “it” template to use. Luckily, a good friend of mine offered his help to modify the new site visuals. There’s also time problem, as like before, this is my toughest month of my life (part final). This month could very well dictates my future literally.
Until the new website is ready, please enjoy some news I collect about Honda Accord in the United States (US and global, not the sexy Euro version) this past week.
Honda Accord is Car and Driver Best Family Sedan
Basically, the Accord has been with Car and Driver’s 10 best car since its 32 years of existence, a record breaking 22 times. What not to love from the Accord? Being the best in the United States of America means that Accord offers the perfect balance of performance, comfort and economy, something that its competitor must sacrifice at least 1 aspect of what Accord has from the start. Car and Driver praises Accord’s driving responsiveness and highly ergonomic interior, the editor also mentioned how steeply reclined the back seat is… Probably giving it delicious seating posture for those back seat drivers.
Honda Accord Coupe is Motortrend Best FF Coupe
We have the Accord sedan and exclusive for America is the Coupe version, a supposedly grown up Prelude (RIP) and a sporty Accord. Although sporty and Accord shouldn’t be said in one sentence because the Accord is basically a family car, it actually works. Motortrend tests and compared three FF coupes available in America which are the Accord Coupe, Nissan Altima Coupe, and Mitsubishi Eclipse. The Accord wins hands on in this comparison, being the longest wheelbase around, it sits 5 adult comfortably, and with the best drivability in the comparison, the Accord brings home the gold. Even though Accord’s 3.5L produces 268HP, less than Altima’s 270HP, the overall combination of fun to drive decimates the competition.
There you go, the Accord, it has the looks of a so-so vanilla ice cream cone, but when you drive it you’ll swear you are licking a strawberry Sunday surprise for sure, a super ice cream taste without the fancy dressing.
Acura apparently has admitted that they are not up there with the likes of Mercedez, BMW, or even Lexus at a recent dealer meeting. Starting next year, Acura will make a huge “shift” to tier 1 although I suspect that this shift will probably just the start of something big, not necessarily the “it” factor, so expect results in 2-3 years time. Here’s the summary of what Acura shift will be. Articles and witty commentary after the click. Continue reading
On 11 February 2008, Honda officially announced the all new Accord for Europe. Building from previous success of the Accord lineage in Europe, Honda rebuild it with extensive and ground breaking technology for safety, performance and environmental awareness (how much does Honda paid me to write this stuff?).
Frankly, I’ve never been a “wagon person”, I’m more into the sedan crowd. However, after seeing the Accord Euro Wagon, I’m amazed how the design can excite me so much. Personally I consider wagons design take their cue from a hearse, but not this Accord. Well, if I have to be snobby, this Accord Wagon also looks like a hearse, but a cool, futuristic, jet age hearse. I want my dead body to be carried on that hearse.
And… We also have the usual sedan guise for the Accord. I have to admit, the design is a stark reminder of previous generation Accord Euro but with a more modern and cool feel. Honda take the cue of past design and redo it perfectly… So why the fat Accord (American/Asian Accord or Japanese Inspire) looks like… Well, it looks like vanilla compared to Accord Euro’s Triple Chocolate Chip Raspberry Durian Surprise (I want to make that ice cream flavor).
Now let’s talk about its safety feature and everything else…
To say that this car is safe, we have a lot more and I should emphasize this, A LOT MORE to talk about. Unlike those auto company whom claim that their cars are the safest needs to worry a lot about this car. For its safety package (some are optional) Honda offers several step ups for the all new Accord Euro. First, let’s talk about its active safety package. The all new Accord Euro has Motion Adaptive Electronic Power Steering. This steering aid is not just your average electric driven power steering, it also detects instability in slippery conditions both during cornering and under braking and automatically initiates steering inputs aimed at prompting the driver to steer in the correct direction. Being a front wheel driven car, this system benefits a lot during aqua planing, a situation where the steering suddenly jerks towards a deep puddle when the front wheel is running through it. There’s also Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA), where brakes are applied to left and right wheels and automatic engine modulation to maintain trajectory stability. Both systems are a standard across the Accord Euro range. There’s also the usual complete set of airbags, brake assists, ABS, and every boring safety stuff in the current automotive world.
Then we have the Advanced Driving Aid System (ADAS) which is optional for the car, and I have to say, you got to have it. The ADAS is a combination of three system, the Lane Keep Assist System (LKAS), the Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), and the Collision Mitigation Brake System (CMBS). Weird marketingless acronym and technical jargon aside, the ADAS is the most complete active safety package Honda currently offers, only lacking the infrared vision found on Honda Legend and automatic parallel parking feature. Let’s break the ADAS system one by one:
I don’t condone the use of excessive driving aids actually, it makes the driver less apparent towards the condition of the road. Honda is aware of this and doesn’t apply the full auto pilot control of the car to the itself. The LKAS for example, it can actually turn for itself on gradual bends (not sharp) and thus making the car totally self driving. However, if the car noticed that you are not holding the steering wheel, it will tell you to hold it back… Or what? Don’t know… Potentially, the car can drive for itself for 15 seconds before the LKAS system asks you to hold back the steering wheel again. After all, the LKAS only maintains straight line given you manually steer the car. Theres’ a video link I put about how ADAS system works at the end of the entry.
Powering the car will be three engines, all new for 2008 Accord Euro. A 2L i-VTEC engine producing 156 ps, revised to deliver better fuel economy, a 2.4L i-VTEC producing 200ps (the engine that is used on Acura TSX), and the all new i-DTEC diesel engine. As the second generation diesel engine from Honda, it produces 150ps from a 2.2L, up from 140ps from the passing i-CTDI engine and it is claimed to be more frugal. All engine complies to Euro-5 emission standard that will be effective next September. Just for comparison, my country only recently adopts Euro-2 emission standard (that’s 3 level below Euro-5). All engine type have a choice of 6-speed manual or 5-speed auto sans the diesel which only available in manual trim. However there are rumors abound that next year it will be offered with 5-speed auto. Probably current generation automatic Honda transmission couldn’t handle the abundance of torque generated from the engine.
That’s that for the all new Honda Accord Euro 2008 sedan and wagon. As usual, the car will come to North America under the guise of Acura TSX. I actually like the Acura grill better, let’s hope the ADAS system makes it to the states because it could be that “luxury” item Acura needs (pending the V8, full size flagship sedan and supercar).
Source and viewing material
Official Honda press material
Video on how ADAS system works
Finally, Acura of America officially released some words about the launching date of its successful TSX model. The 2nd generation TSX will be launched in New York International Auto Show on mid March. Pending further photos, here is one official one from Acura.
Above is the picture of 2009 Acura TSX to be launched sometimes middle of this year or earlier. Honda/Acura of America uses advance year model to describe brand new model year. You know, like those fashion magazine, February edition is launched in January and so on… This is actually quite a novel marketing concept, I’ll discuss about it later on.’
The model pictured above doesn’t have front parking sensor like the Accord Euro Wagon teaser picture.
Oh, Acura TSX is also Honda Accord Euro sedan with different bumper/grill combo, as like the picture from the teaser ad for it.
Wow… I’m actually speechless, the car looks sweet indeed. It is not so much different than current generation Accord Euro Tourer, but somehow it’s sharper and leaner from this angle. For those in the not know, Accord Tourer is essentially a wagon version of Honda Accord Euro, or more famous in America as Acura TSX. The picture is taken somewhere north of the world’s hemisphere (from the license plate). The original poster on Temple Of VTEC forum didn’t state the origin.
Above are several photos regarding Honda Accord Euro in transit on a transport truck in Japan. I can now able take an assumption from all of those pictures regarding Honda plan for their products. As you can see from my previous post about refreshed Acura RL, this new Accord Euro/Acura TSX have similar backlights, it has that curved midpoints just like the RL albeit longer. The front end (estimation from the Accord Euro Wagon) also looks similar to the RL, from the hood line straight down to the front grill. Honda probably wanted to seamlessly update their product portfolio so we can see clear distinction between Honda and Acura. After all, Honda is planning to make Acura as a separate entity, this Accord Euro/Acura TSX might be the last “rebranded” product.
Behold, the 2009 Acura RL, the most expensive minor model change (MMC) Honda luxury division, Acura ever done to a single vehicle. New for this MMC is… Well, it’s just too many actually, but let’s take a look one by one as we peel the outer shell of the new Acura RL into its inner core.
From the outside, Acura brings about massive changes to the front and rear end styling of the car. Beginning from the front, the headlamp, the grill, and the bumper has been totally revised. New for the MMC RL is a streamlined design of hood, grill and bumper. As you can see, there’s a crease running from the base of the engine hood (the nearest point to the front window) straight down to the lower line of the bumper, before, this crease stops at the lower bumper area where it met with a large air duct. For 2009 model, the air duct is replaced with a uniformed bulge and crease from the hood, streamlining the whole front fascia. The headlight also changed, from the usual tear drop shape to now… Well, I should say that the designer pay a homage to BMW 5 series headlight.
The rear end also got a massive treatment, for this MMC, Acura designers only left one thing, it still retains dual exhaust, and that’s it, everything else is changed. The original 3rd generation Acura RL has a large rearlights housing the turning signal, brake lights and the reverse lights. For the MMC Acura RL, the reverse lights are now separated and is put on the chrome panel on top of the name plate holder. The “flower” shaped brake lights and turn signal are now replaced with a full LED lights for both. The rear lights housing also moved slightly towards the front and a bit more curved, giving it an edgier look. The lower bumper is revised and given a crease, the muffler tips are fatter, giving it again an edgier look. The overall design is not just for show, it is claimed that at high speed, the new rear design actually reduces lift… No need for that huge ricey wings for this baby to carve the road.
On the inside, according to Temple Of VTEC reports, is that the rear seating area is enlarged. There are no definitive data or claim how much it is bigger, but probably would not be much. One poster mentioned about the rear roofline is moved further back, indicating larger seating area though. The overall design also changed, there are a lot of minute changes, you can see it at Acura website later when the car’s website is fully launched. Suffice to say, the most important things are: Larger rear seating area, better sound insulation, lots of visual changes.
And now we come into the most interesting part… The drivetrain, the engine, gear, SH-AWD system and some more. For this MMC, Acura gone the whole nine yard by offering the same engine found on the successful Acura MDX in the refreshed RL. A nice round 300 HP and 271 lb-ft of torque from a 3.7L VTEC engine will propel the car with ease. However, don’t let the MDX engine pedigree fool you, this is a revised engine with some important changes. This 3.7L V6 VTEC engine is equipped with VTEC valvetrain system for both the intake and the exhaust valve, it used to be only on the intake side. The intake manifold is a dual stage design, as can be operated in single or dual plenum manifold depending on the engine load.
As always, the car features Acura own advanced all wheel drive system, dubbed the Super Handling All Wheel Drive system or simply SH-AWD; Unique because it vectors torque to the outside rear wheels during aggressive cornering to maintain balance of the car. For the refreshed Acura RL, the computer management system seems to be updated to allow quicker respond on high twist areas.
Now for the witty commentary…
On Temple Of VTEC news post about the car, there are lots of users who complaints about the car looks. To me they are talking nonsense and more gibberish than fact. The car is basically the same car as it is 3 years ago, a refreshed model this scale is more than enough for Acura to rewrite its Acura RL saga. Before, the RL was deemed as too boring and plain looking as a true “flagship” product. I even personally called the RL as a super Accord, because dimension wise it looks like Honda Accord, it underpins the same platform, but it uses large V6 engine and snazzy all wheel drive system… Which was tested on a modified 7th generation Honda Accord.
Before the 2008 MDX was launched, Acura basically doesn’t have any flagship product to be proud of. The new MDX is the crème de la crème, it won many accolades as the best luxury SUV in America, but the RL… Well, it’s just an old man car (a reliable, boring car). With this refreshed RL model, I believe Acura can turn for the best, as it is now more daring and kind of show that the car is actually expensive. Before, well, suffice to say that the RL is looking rather… affordable. I’ll be talking about Acura history and why it’s not up there with the big dogs at separate entry.
For the haters out there, really… Don’t buy the refreshed Acura RL. Sometimes, we need to slap our loved ones to bring them out of nightmare. So please do boycott Acura RL if you (whomever you are who claims wanted to buy Acura RL but didn’t because it is ugly) doesn’t like the car, spread rumors, spread hate words and convince them to buy Infiniti or Lexus. That way, Honda/Acura would listen and make the next generation Acura RL a real killer.
P.S. Almost forgot to add some info, Acura RL = Honda Legend in Japan and Europe. So expect to see the same visual changes fo Honda Legend soon.