Honda Recalls 375,000 Cars

Honda took the honorable route in all this Toyota mess. When Ford, GM, and Hyundai all offered trade-in bonuses for Toyota owners who wanted to unload their vehicles, Toyota’s biggest Japanese rival just kept their course steady.

If they didn’t, what a big bunch of hypocrites they’d be. Especially with a new round of recalls in effect. Honda’s calling back 378,758 US vehicles for a fault airbag inflator. They’ve already issued a recall for 2001-2002 Accords and Civics due to this problem but they’ve decided to add the 2001-2002 Odyssey and CR-V to the list.

Honda’s not alien to faults requiring recalls. Just a while back, Honda recalled 646,000 units of the Fit/Jazz and City models due to a faulty window switch.

Concerned owners can go to this Honda site for recalls or they can call (800) 999-1009.

Honda CEO Wants New Prius-Killer

So the Honda Insight failed to give the Prius a run for its money in the hybrid market. Honda positioned the Insight to be the Prius killer with its cheaper price tag. But the Prius name seems to be more than enough to offset the price. What’s Honda got to do?

Honda CEO Takanoby Ito’s at it again, challenging his R&D team to build a new Prius killer. Their goal now is to get better fuel economy figures than the Toyota hybrid. It might not be slotted in as a next generation Insight and might be a new hybrid model to expand their lineup.

Honda is keen on being the world’s greenest automaker, ditching gas guzzling efforts such as top-tier motorsports and focusing on hybrids and other non-petroleum-based fuels like hydrogen.

With Toyota intent on creating a Prius sub-brand, Honda will have their work cut for them to try and beat Toyota in that department. I’m a Toyota fan but I just wish Honda makes a breakthrough with hydrogen technology. I think if they crack it, it will indeed be game, set and match for Honda.

Source: Automotive News (subs required)

Honda HSV-10 GT Unveiled

So Honda decided to end the NSX production a while back. They also announced that they’d be making a replacement but even that was scrapped.

Now Honda is vying for the title of “greenest automaker” and building speedy sports cars and motorsport seem to be at the bottom of their list of things to do.

It’s a good thing though that they still show signs of life in those areas. They might have pulled out of Formula One but they will still be participating in Japan’s SuperGT series. And they also decided to work with what they had with the NSX replacement and turn it into their race horse.

Here’s what the car looks like. The car scraps the planned V10 for the road car in favor of a 3.4L V8 tuned to dish out 500 bhp. The car weighs a mere 1100 kg and packs a flappy-paddle gearbox.

Don’t get your hopes up on a road-going version, Honda isn’t really into it these days.

Production Honda CR-Z Revealed

Here it is, folks. The Honda CR-Z in its production form.

For those who were wishing that it’d carry on the stylings of the concepts, you might be disappoint since the styling has been toned down a bit with most of the sharp edges sleeked out. But it still looks good as a 2 + 2 coupe.

It sure is a sporty looking thing. Too bad it will be a hybrid. It sports a 1.5L engine dishing out 102 bhp and an electic motor dishing out 20 bhp.

122 bhp might not enable it to go faster than the consumer family sedans but we’re pegging this to be quick off the line though with 128-lb-ft of max torque available at just 1500 rpm.

Now we want to see what the Mugen version has to offer on top of this.

Honda New Small Concept

If Toyota isn’t willing to make serious moves to take on the Nano, it’s Japanese rival Honda might just.

Seen in the Auto Expo 2010 in New Delhi is the New Small Concept – a small sive-door car that’s set to take on the Nano in terms of size.

No details have been given on what will power the car though Honda has been kind enough to show us what their “Effecient Energetic Exterior” would look like. It looks aggressive as is common in Honda’s recent designs.

Honda plans to have the car out as a 2011 model and will be marketed to “ermeging markets.” But this being a Honda, we’re not really expecting it to drop its price to Nano levels.

Who knows? This car might just take on the Etios and the Swift as well.

Top 10 Best Cars of the Decade

So it’s the year and the decades end and it’s all about lists. So we’ve made our own and checked it twice on our pics for the best cars of the decade. Largely our basis for choosing is the car’s impact to motoring. If it’s all about speed and performance supercars will pepper the list. For some reason, it does, but that doesn’t stop us from looking at the sensible side of things.

10. Toyota Prius

While die-hard gear- and petrolheads aren’t throwing in the towel yet in this econmentalist revolution that has affected the motoring industry, we have to admit the the impact of the hybrid. It might be slow to drive and you might look like a smug and sanctimonious bastard who likes the smell of his own farts owning one. But it did challenge the status quo regarding cars and saving the planet. And quite frankly, whether we like it or not, that’s where motoring is headed.
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