Honda Hotness Is Coming Back?

2008 was a great year for Honda fans and maybe even for automotive scene in general. Just imagine this, Honda, a conservative company who swears on sensibility and quality is throwing those notions away for a V8 rear wheel luxury sedan and a V10 powered super car. The automotive scene roars with high expectations. Spy photos of the rear wheel sedan test car is everywhere and the super car already making runs on a race track. Alas, comes 2009 and demand for automotive products dwindles as most sought after cars are econoboxes. Honda new President, Takanobu Ito back then changed his tune about the new cars and tells the fans and the scene to go “enjoy yourself” (there’s a new profanity filter in effect). So everything was scrapped, and all hopes out the window.

Denied luxury: The canceled mule of the FR Luxury Sedan

Rumors from inside automotive industry said that the V8 rear wheel luxury sedan which was destined to go to Acura division was a great car one that should put Honda luxury division on par with tier 1 luxury marque. While the super car lives on as a special fielded race car on Japan’s most prestigious racing event, the Super GT and won it. So as you can read, it’s very unfortunate for Honda to cancels both of these cars altogether.

Denied performance: Reportedly, this car doesn’t even consider GT-R and LF-A as competition

But this morning, birds are chirping beautifully on my front porch, the wind blows softly and the sun rose with a hint of blue and orange altogether. While I browsed Autoblog and Temple of VTEC the next minute, I was shocked out of my pants that Takanobu Ito in a way hints a little hope of a super car comeback after Honda discontinued the NSX. Apparently, Takanobu Ito was interviewed in Japan and some reporters asked if Honda would make a road going version of the super car that won the Super GT.

Ito’s answer for the question was “I have something in mind”. Now for those who don’t know Takanobu Ito, this guy is all straight as an arrow kind of leader. He always answers question in a definite way, yes or no and that’s that. For Ito to answer “having something in mind” well, it’s still ambiguous but having something is better than nothing right?

Such a tease: “I have something in mind”

Okay, so the news came from a French auto news site, which might make some little mistranslation (from Japanese to French to English). However, according to Temple of VTEC news section;Yahoo Japan and Asahi Shimbun also confirms and clearly stated that Takanobu Ito greenlight the project once again. Asahi Shimbun which post the news in English also mentions that Ito hints at making two sports car, the affordable and high performance… *faints*…

For those who don’t know, this is actually earth shattering news. Honda currently has no true performance sports car in its lineup, well, sure there’s the Civic Type R, but it’s more of a pedestrian car with souped up engine. Honda Prelude ends its production in 2001, Honda NSX ended in 2005, Honda Integra ended in 2007 and finally Honda S2000 ended in 2009. What came from the demise of those cars? Hybrids and lots of it. Civic Hybrid, Insight 2.0, CR-Z, and Fit Hybrid, not to mention Freed Hybrid and next generation Accord with Honda next generation hybrid system.

The shift from hardcore to green for some was considered too rough as there are no transition product in between. It’s quite understandable actually, as technology to produce performance with fuel economy wasn’t available yet. The  2010 CR-Z was Honda answer to this and although the blend of performance and fuel economy is good enough, as usual,  some consumers demand more… Well, to be fair… This particular consumer is too accustomed to huge ass performance gas guzzler 2 door sports car that’s bigger than a Honda Fit. Still, the CR-Z receives acclaims and accolades in a place where sensibility is praised.

But remember folks, Honda has set its sight straight in the green line and we’re not talking about money. Ever since the green revolution in the late 00′ Honda has been making fuel sipper as priority. So when you think about Takanobu Ito statement, don’t forget to add the green juice. Honda has fielded NSX with KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System, a form of hardcore hybrid system for racing) as a test bed for SuperGT 2012 rule change that mandates smaller engine and a hybrid system. It’s unclear whether this will be applied to Honda super car but you can be sure Honda will put every single piece of technology in its super car.

Front engine – KERS NSX test car: notice the exhaust tip on the side skirt?

Whatever it is Honda… We are awaiting with arms wide open, but until this car shows up in the real world, I’m putting a question mark on the title. We’ve been burned before Ito-san, and I won’t let my heart be broken the fourth time.

Source:

Temple of VTEC: Ito san changing his tune about NSX/HSV

Yahoo Japan: NSX development to resume (Japanese)

Asahi Shimbun: Honda to develop high performance sports car

SuperGT: 2012 KERS rule

JDM Fit Refresh: Angry Fit RS Cometh!

For its best selling JDM model, Honda finally breaks the mold and refreshed the Fit with flair and fireworks that almost eclipsed a new product launch. When usually a refresh just offers minor cosmetic changes, Honda did the almost unthinkable, expand the model portfolio. The result is tantalizing to say the least, a new hybrid trim line and tricked up performance trim line colors the refreshed Fit for a greater choice to consumers.

The info here are taken from Temple of VTEC member, DanielGR who lives in Japan and kindly scans the refreshed Fit brochure. For higher resolution pictures and more info please click here.

Let’s start with the baseline model first. The refreshed baseline Fit comes with a refreshed bumpers front and back with slightly remodeled turning light position in the headlight and LED taillights. Fuel consumption gets better by 0.5 Km/L according to the translation. The best IMHO addition is the optional inclusion of ECON mode and assisted parking system for the refreshed baseline Fit. The ECON mode when switched on affects the throttle reaction, making it mushier and slightly lethargic Aircon system. I don’t know much about ECON mode yet, but safe to assume it’s going to make the car drives a little bit more lazy and the aircon a little bit hotter.

The assisted parking system is like your cool uncle, he’s not your father so it’s a little bit hit or miss. The assisted parking system is not a full blown automatic parking system like Toyota’s version, but rather a combination of simple systems. First you need to manually line up the “parking sight” on the passenger door side, engage the assisted parking by selecting parallel parking or reverse parking, and then the car will automatically engage slowly and turns the wheel automatically. After a preset distance is achieved, the driver manually engages the reverse gear and the car will again automatically reverses slowly and turns the wheel automatically. A cheaper alternative to full blown camera assisted automated parking but it gets the job done.

Then comes the hybrid trim line, the jewel of Honda green movement for the masses; The Fit hybrid. You see, the car is special, not for its crazy fuel miser capability; at 30 Km/L or 70 MPG (US) it’s expected for a hybrid. Nor for its great design, which is basically an old model with a new engine. The Fit hybrid is special, because it will be the first cheapest hybrid ever, period, exclamation point. Starting at 1.59 Million Yen, the Fit Hybrid will undercut Toyota Prius that starts at 2.1 Million Yen.


The Fit hybrid is essentially a cheap Honda Insight with the same drivetrain and driving platform. Well, if this is a chicken or the egg question, the Jazz is actually the egg to Insight’s chicken because the Insight is actually a modified Jazz. You’ll find the same 1.3L i-VTEC IMA engine producing around 100ps with the same battery placement under the boot replacing the spare tire and with the same McPherson Strut – Torsion Beam combo suspension. Attractive pricing and respectable fuel consumption, my expectation of the car is that it will sell well, very well even.

Finally we came to Fit RS. Honda RS trim is not what you expect from competing Ford RS trim. Although I don’t know about Ford RS trim stands for… (but Rapid, Racing, Speed, comes to mind)… The RS trim on Honda means Road Sailing, it’s never meant to be a demon like fast or burn rubber at any moment notice kind of car, heck, the 1.5L engine 120ps not only just good enough, it’s available on the non RS trim. For people who want to drive the car at its limit, the baseline 1.5L 5MT is enough and cheaper to modify and tricked up. Honda seems to acknowledge it and finally comes out with a great enough reason for people to buy the RS trim line… Because it’s now a monster… Well, cookie monster cute, but still… A 6 gear manual should pique your curiosity.

The refreshed Fit RS now comes with an aggressive front and rear bumpers, complete with faux front and rear brake air ducts. I assume that these faux ducts can be made functional with just a little bit of tinkering. But the biggest addition of all is the 6 gear manual transmission which will make improving the engine’s power more freely with the extra gear. It’s been proven that with an Intake + Header + Exhaust upgrade, the Fit engine produces 139 ps easy (Indonesian Link), you can even break the 100ps/L barrier with a proper tuning. So a 6th gear will definitely help you gearheads getting the most out of this little gem.

It’s been a while since Honda mild model change tantalizes me. The late Stream model received significant face lift that warrants a Stream 1.5 moniker as it literally change the whole front of the car, making it much more modern. My brother still drives the first generation Stream refresh, and it doesn’t look old, it aged well, very well. Other refreshes from Honda doesn’t offer much in way of making the car stand the test of times, but the Fit refresh seems like it will stand its ground nicely.

What I’m expecting is the demise of Honda Keii cars with the Fit hybrid existence. Honda Keii’s small 0.6L engine and chassis means it will deliver good fuel economy but at the expense of power and interior space. The Fit hybrid starts at 1.59 Million Yen, yes, more than Honda Life that starts at 945 Thousand Yen, but rated fuel economy goes up from 22 Km/L (Life C) to 30 Km/L (Fit hybrid). Bigger interior space, better fuel economy… Does the Keii car relevant anymore?

Source:

Temple of VTEC DanielGR scans

Otomotifnet modified compact shootout (Bahasa Indonesia)

Honda Fit/Jazz Hybrid Official Pictures And Some Facts (plus estimated price)

The MOST anticipated entry level hybrid from Honda is coming in hot and Autocar jumped the gun on the media embargo and present the Jazz Hybrid to be unveiled at Paris Motor Show next month. Please visit Autocar website for better resolution pictures of the car here. You can also check at your other favorite auto blogs or online automotive news about the Jazz hybrid.

As you can see, the difference is merely cosmetics, different grill, bumper and blue shaded headlights differentiating the regular and the hybrid Fit. The rear also receives similar cosmetic changes with clear taillights, accented bumper and chrome accented trunk garnish.

Without the hybrid plaque on the rear, you will surely miss this hybrid on the road… Which is good, because you don’t want to attract attention to criminals whose MO is to puncture your tire with a hollow nail and rob you silly (because you don’t have spare tire).

It has been confirmed that the Fit/Jazz hybrid will be sporting the same engine used on the Insight 2.0, a 1.3L i-VTEC with IMA producing around 100ps. Interior pictures are still kept secret from Honda, but words are circulating that the Fit/Jazz Hybrid will have single color dashboard and blue lit dials. You can check out my entry about Honda Insight engine here, but for peace of mind sake, I’ll divulge a bit about the heart of Honda hybrid system.

Honda hybrid system or Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) is a simple system where an electric motor is sandwiched between the internal combustion motor and the driving wheel, in Honda case it’s always the front wheel to date. Back when it was introduced with the 2000 Honda Insight, the IMA doesn’t have the ability to purely run on electric motor. However, when the Insight 2.0 launched early last year, the IMA system was updated to purely run on electric motor albeit with a very strict condition… Steady cruise speed without any inclination… Any degree of inclination, then the motor kicks in again. Still good anyway.

A cut out of Honda IMA system, notice how the engine’s width is very narrow

Honda called its hybrid system IMA for a good reason, it simply “assists” the internal combustion engine at low speed and when the car is accelerating fast. A good thing because the nature of electric motor to produce maximum torque at just 1000 RPM means the engine doesn’t have to burn unnecessary excessive fuel to launch the car at stop and go driving. The IMA also acts as a starter motor because the whole engine has the ability to be turned off at idle (traffic lights) automatically and restarts at the press of the gas pedal.

To produce electricity, the IMA system itself is a cylindrical generator system that spins with the internal combustion engine. At steady speed, the IMA recharge the battery and when there’s a forward movement usually caused by braking the IMA also captures this momentum to spin the generator the opposite way and producing electricity.

A complete Honda IMA engine + transmission, the IMA system is marked yellow at the bottom picture

Something to note is that Honda engineers can’t magically insert an IMA system to an existing engine *snap* like that. The IMA takes considerable space inside the engine bay, therefore something got to give and it’s usually the engine that gets the shorter end of the straw. Honda hybrid system uses a specifically designed narrow engine to allow the placement of the IMA system next to the gearbox.

Now for the million Pesos/Ringgit/Sing Dollar/Rupiah/Baht/Dong question for us Asia Pacific residents… Will we get it? We don’t get the Insight, the CR-Z and the Civic Hybrid costs an arm and a leg. Are we getting the cream again instead of a bite of the cake? Not quite! We’ve seen the almost miraculous Honda Freed launched in the Asia Pacific, exclusive even outside of Japan… And why? Because the Freed is produced in the Asia Pacific region to gain advantage of AFTA. The Fit/Jazz has been produced in Indonesia for quite sometime, so you see where I’m going, it’s too easy for Honda to just import the hybrid engine and assembled it in Indonesia and imports it to other country in ASEAN. If this is inline with Honda global plan to be the leading automaker of hybrids (it’s in the CEO midyear speech which I’m going to cover soon), then, we will see a near simultaneous release of the Fit hybrid all over the world; Europe, America, Australia and Asia.

So when? The Fit hybrid in Europe will be announced at the Paris Motor Show next month and launched early 2011, in the United States it’s still unconfirmed but it will be there around 2011 as 2012 model, nope, it’s totally unconfirmed. The United States might even missed the hybrid Fit/Jazz totally… A bit of a “huh” moment, because the Europeans will get it although they already has the Insight 2.0 just like the Americans. On the other side of the world, Japan’s Nikkei confirmed that the Fit hybrid will be launched around Fall in Japan. Using Freed’s launch time frame, then it’s just a matter of 1 to 1.5 years before us ASEANs can drive a genuine affordable hybrid courtesy of Honda. So expect the Fit/Jazz hybrid to announced at the end of 2011 and available at the latest early 2012 in ASEAN.

How much? Now this is the interesting part… Because of difference in currency and taxes, I’m just going to use Indonesia expected price and price estimate slot, which will be universal. Honda Jazz RS in Indonesia is priced at Rp. 222 Million (2 Million Yen) while the Japanese Fit RS is priced at 1.69 Million Yen, specs are the same except we use 5AT instead of CVT, price difference between both automatic transmission should be negligible. The Freed in Indonesia is priced at Rp. 258 Million (2.4 Million Yen) while the same Freed is priced at 1.99 Million Yen in Japan, again specs are the same (digital AC control & power retractable mirror just recently added), except for the use of 5AT instead of CVT and the lack of HID.

Let’s do a simple math, now both the Fit/Jazz RS and the Freed in Indonesia reflects a 18 & 20% mark up in price compared with its Japanese brothers, let’s take 20% as our baseline number. Now let’s take Nikkei’s reported Fit hybrid price which starts at  a cool 1.59 Million Yen, in Indonesia, the Jazz hybrid will be priced starting at Rp. 202 Million… Now I suspect that it will be a manual version, so add the usual 10-14 Million for an automatic version, and voila! The estimated Honda Jazz hybrid automatic will be offered in Indonesia for around Rp. 216 Million (roughly US$22K), hell! Round that up to Rp. 220 Million and people will still buy it! Now let’s say Honda decided to go greedy or wanted to add the RS trim to the Jazz hybrid. In Indonesia, the Jazz RS commands Rp. 13 Million more than the baseline Jazz, so added to the baseline Jazz hybrid, the Jazz hybrid RS will still worth Rp. 229 Million… And that my friends are something totally purchasable.

If, and this is just another silly if from me… If Honda wanted to play “screw you all, this is the first commercially affordable hybrid in ASEAN, I’m putting price premium to you suckers!”, the Jazz hybrid will still be below Freed’s price  or at the very least, the same. Still, I’m buying one if I don’t have any car by that time. The Jazz hybrid reported fuel consumption is 26 Km/L or 61 MPG (US), but I suspect it’s just highway number. For inner city driving, I expect that number to drop to half at 13 Km/L or 30,5 MPG (US)… Again, that number is already phenomenal, my 1.5L SX4 automatic only manages an average of 8,4 Km/L or 19,7 MPG (US) for pure inner city driving.

Personally, I’m betting that the Jazz hybrid price range will be around Rp. 220 Million to Rp. 230 Million. It will be priced at Jazz RS level, and complement each other. One you pay premium for exhilarating drive and the other if you are down with the earth and stuff. Tax wise, the car wouldn’t be a luxury import because it is based on an existing car… So if there’s any different tax imposed, I’m really speechless.

Update: 26 August 2010 – more info from other online media

Source:

Autocar.co.uk: Honda launches new Jazz hybrid

The car connection: Honda Jazz hybrid will start a price war

Electric vehicles: Forward to the past

Honda Insight is Hout!

EGMcarTech: Jazz Hybrid Unveiled, No US Plans

Honda Fit/Jazz Hybrid Will Get Insane Mileage

Hot off the oven, real life be damn, this is one news too awesome to skip (as awesome as the Expendables movie cast announcement). Temple of VTEC forum member Kiwi VTEC just post this great awesome news from GoAuto.com about a semi official word from Honda of Australia official on Fit/Jazz hybrid mileage… And hoo boy, that car got mileage.

According to Honda Australia spokesman Mark Higgins, the Fit/Jazz hybrid will net 26 Kilometer per Liter of fuel or 61 MPG (US) estimated using Japan’s new stricter government measurement standard. If anything the figure would be a highway figure rather than inner city (hell) driving. Still, with hybrid charge cycle/stop go characteristic, inner city driving would net better mileage than regular internal combustion engine anytime.

Another amazing point (two to be exact) is the weight and type of battery used in the next Fit/Jazz hybrid. The car is going to weigh in at 1100 KG and it will use a Nickel Hydrogen battery. Nothing so special if you think about it for a second right? Well think about it for a minute, and bing/google current generation Fit/Jazz weight and what is Nickel Hydrogen and you’ll see it’s very special.

Current Fit/Jazz weighs in at 1100 KG (FIT RS, CVT, Japan domestic market) and the next Fit/Jazz hybrid weighs in about the same. It’s special because hybrid cars has two extra component on top of regular cars and it’s the battery and electric motor. The battery alone take considerable space, that’s why most hybrids doesn’t have spare tire, and the electric motor puts extra weight on the engine bay. So it’s quite amazing that Honda can match the old Fit/Jazz weight with the extra gizmos on the new Fit/Jazz hybrid. Then, there’s the battery.

Toyota and GM with its Prius and Chevrolet Volt will usher in the new generation of hybrid and electric car using Lithium Ion battery. Said to be smaller yet has the capacity to hold more charge than the outgoing Nickel Metal Hydride battery used in many hybrids nowadays. Now, Australia Honda spokesman hinted that Honda is still using a Nickel based battery, but a Nickel based battery that is currently used in outer space.

I won’t try to act that I know about Nickel Hydrogen, so let me shamelessly quote a short article about it from hydrogencarsnow.com which offers the simplest explanation about the battery.

According to the Florida State University website, “The nickel-hydrogen battery has a nickel oxide positive electrode similar to the nickel-cadmium cell, and is like the hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell since it has a hydrogen negative electrode. This hybrid battery has a long cycle life, high specific energy, high power density, and also exhibits tolerance for overcharge, and is therefore the choice battery in many aerospace applications, especially geo-synchronous (GEO) and low earth-orbit (LEO) satellites. In addition, the battery’s hydrogen pressure is a good indicator of the charge state of the battery.” The nickel-hydrogen battery from the FSU website is pictured above.

So in a way, this Nickel Hydrogen battery is essentially a hydrogen cell packed inside a battery, that’s why it’s called a hybrid battery… And what do you know? Honda will use a SPACE AGE technology battery that is a HYBRID by itself for its hybrid car… (sorry, couldn’t resist).

There’s no real life comparison  between Nickel Hydrogen and Lithium Ion in term of effectiveness, power holding capability and shelf life. But think about it this way, Nickel Hydrogen battery is the battery of choice for satellites, something that’s when launched is usually left for its own for years even decades. So each components must be redundant enough to withstand environmental hazard like the extreme cold or the extreme heat of outer space.

Well, this news could be a hoax after all. I never imagined that this groundbreaking news would be told first by Honda Australia official. But if it’s real… Honda will have its factory workers works double time over the Fit/Jazz hybrid lifetime, especially if the persistent rumor that the company will bet everything in hybrids and making it go mainstream came true. Sub 200 Million Rupiah /US$20K hybrid in Indonesia? Hell YEAH!

Source:

GoAuto.com: Honda Jazz Hybrid More Efficient Than Prius

Hydrogencarsnow.com Nickel Hydrogen battery explained