The beginning : New small model details revealed by Honda

A few months ago, there were reports that Honda has announced the introduction of 3 new models in the 'Kei' (mini/super-mini) segment. At their JDM cum corporate website, the first of these new models are now showing up as a teaser. 

This new model is a mini-van, and indeed the teaser has indicated that Honda will be reviving their long extinct 'N' name for this new model. Details that Daniel could extract from the Honda website are as follows:

• They are indeed reviving the "N-series", and the important part is the "series" part. The N-Box debuts a whole new K-car (660cc) platform, and will be followed by a family of "N-cars".
• New platform builds on Fit ideas, with an underfloor fuel tank, taking the good old Honda "Man Maximum Machine Minimum" to a extent never seen before.
• A new engine will come along with the new platform, even more compact than before, and introducing a CVT for the first time on a Honda 660cc. It will also be the first non-hybrid Honda to use auto-idle stop

Honda has also opened a new 'UStream' website and has uploaded a video of the launch of the Freed Hybrid, Insight Exclusive and this new model. The url for to watch the video is below:

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/18132664


Frame captures by Daniel shows us some details of the new N minivan. It seems it will be a 5-door mini-van with the engine placed right in front and at the bottom of the driver's foot well. All of Daniel's frame grabs are below but do bear in mind that they are screen grabs which is why their resolution and quality are quite low.  

As usual, there is no indications if this will make its way out of Japan. For Malaysia at least, since it will be in direct conflict with the Perodua range of K-cars, the chances seems to be small.

Confirmed : Honda CR-V to be launched ON SCHEDULE in Decemeber for the U.S.A.

At our TOV forums, there are now confirmations from dealers that their stocks of the new 4G CR-V are en-route. This directly confirms that for the U.S. at least, the launch of the new CR-V will be on schedule, in the month of December (next month). 

What about Asia ? The flood situation in Thailand is definitely affecting all asian models. Initially it was revealed that there will be an MMC for the City next month and the new 9G Civic and 4G CR-V will debut in Asia early next year.

But, with the Honda facilities in Thailand now under more than 2 metres of water, it is a certainty that all activities related to asian models will be delayed. 

In fact the delays are affecting not only the new models but even productions of current models. Mr Yoichiro Ueno, CEO of Honda Malaysia has said that current stock are only enough for them to maintain supply till the end of this month. Thereafter, the Melaka factory will stop operations due to unavailability of critical components. 

Honda's first priority at the moment is to ensure that their employees are safe from any ill effects of the flood. Next would be to help ensure their suppliers are safe as well. There will be no layoffs but contracts for some short term employees will not be renewed as obviously there are no need for their services (the non renewal of short-term contracts is a normal thing in all industries. Everyone who accepts a short-term contracts knows this well and this renewal should not be twisted into a 'Honda is laying off people' rumour). 

Honda will try to source for parts from other places outside of Thailand but there are some critical items which is only available from Thailand. And at the moment, the flood is not only not showing signs of receding, it is in fact threatening parts of central Bangkok itself. Nevertheless, a friend who recently stopped over at Bangkok for his holiday at Bhutan, told me that once again, all the stories about Thailand seemingly drowning are partially exaggerations are over-hyped. He said that while there are indeed lots of dire concerns, life in Bangkok and many parts of Thailand are still going on as normal.

Things are still very uncertain at this moment and if I get any news, I will update here once I know of them.

EXCLUSIVE : Higher performance CR-Z in the works !

Ever since the CR-Z was launched, hardcore Honda enthusiasts have been incessantly pointing out how another higher performance variant to complement the current 124ps variant should be Honda's most logical step forward for this model. Everyone agrees that this model is very attractive and has lots of potential and that Honda just needs to fully develop it. More fuel was put into the fire recently when a few magazines from Europe, principally Auto Express U.K. published articles quoting the CR-Z LPL Norio Tomobe-san as saying he indeed had wanted a higher performance version all along and that he is in fact working on one. 

And so, at the launch of the CR-Z for Malaysia, where Tomobe-san himself was seated at the media press conference, guess what would be the one question I was dying to ask ? (no prizes here !)

Not knowing how appropriate the question would be, and also thinking that it can also be a rather insensitive one given that it is the current version that is being launched, I held back throughout the whole press conference without asking any questions. When the press conference was over, I hung around waiting for the right moment. Luckily I didn't had to wait long.

My question to Tomobe-san was straight to the point. Indeed I pointed to exactly the Auto Express magazine's claim that he (Tomobe-san) told them (Auto Express) that a higher performance CR-Z is in the works. Is that true or was he misquoted ?

Tomobe-san's response was non-verbal. He gave me a thumbs-up.

!

This was direct confirmation, by the man himself, that a higher performance CR-Z is indeed in the works. 

What was more surprising was his response to my next question, "Can I publish this in my site. Can I quote him ?" 

"Daijobu" - OK, i.e. "yes, go ahead" !

Naturally I tried to push my luck (I don't think anyone can blame me). I followed up with further questions about rumours of the turbo-charged version, or a 2.0l DOHC version. But my run of luck ended there as Tomobe-san indicated that he is not at a liberty to disclose such details.

Nevertheless, the most important question of all has now been answered and I can confirm because I heard the answer myself.

A higher performance variant of the CR-Z is indeed in the works. The CR-Z model range is (not will be, is being) developed.

Having published this piece of news, I also feel I need to add the following personal opinions. Any higher performance variant of the CR-Z will naturally also be higher in price. Thus if you have already decided to buy the current variant - what has been launched, I feel this piece of news do not invalidate your decision at all. I would think it is quite certain that a high performance CR-Z would sell at the RM150k price point if not higher, if it is still IMA, and closer to RM200k if not IMA. Honda Malaysia CEO Yoichiro Ueno-san actually made this statement, that had it not been for the Malaysian government's exemption of inport and excise duties for hybrid cars, the CR-Z would have to be priced closer to RM200k instead. So the question to ask would be whether you are willing and able to pay the higher asking price that is to be expected of the higher model - how hard-up are you for the extra performance.

Honda CR-Z selling for RM115k !

My internet connection failed right on the day of the CR-Z launch, preventing me from putting up timely updates about the event. With service restored today, I can finally get on with my coverage of the CR-Z for Malaysia.

Honda Malaysia has put the selling price of the CR-Z at an astonishing RM115k, OTR. This is really an incredible price ! To be honest, early last week I SMS'ed some 'friends' with questions about the selling price. Obviously they won't be able to tell me the price outright so I carefully worded my questions, by comparing with existing models. The model I chose was the Civic 2.0l. My 'friends' responded with some hints which suggests to me that the CR-Z will be cheaper than the Civic 2.0l. I stopped at that, not wanting to over-push the 'generousity' of my friends. This is why I posted saying that I believe the CR-Z will sell below RM130k (the price range of the Civic 2.0l). I had honestly expected it to be around RM125k, with a best case of between RM119 to RM121k. But Honda Malaysia outdid themselves and surprised even me, by putting the price at RM115k.

To be honest, the CR-Z has not really been received well universally by all Honda enthusiasts. And my own reaction to it has been lacklustre as well.Much of that has to do with its relatively modest engine power but a little also with the rear suspension layout (torsion beam). However, this low a selling price - RM115k - changes the whole playing field altogether. In one single stroke, the Honda CR-Z is the most affordable 2-door sporty coupe in the Malaysian market. It is the cheapest amongst japanese, korean, and european brands. Even the Kia Forte Koup is slightly more expensive (though by a trivial RM1k). Within this price range too, the CR-Z's modest 124ps rating has also become quite respectable too. The Kia Forte Koup becomes probably the only competitor which is more powerful, thanks to its 2.0l engine. Other comparable cars (2doors, coupe or hatch) in the same price range, well, there really are not that many of them ! 

The closest alternatives are the hot hatches from Suzuki and local manufacturer Proton: the Suzuki Swift Sport 1.6 and the Proton Satria Neo respectively. Both of these uses a 1.6l DOHC engine with variable valve timing. Both are rated at 125ps. There is also the limited edition Proton Satria Neo R3 which has a more powerful 145ps engine though it is less of a direct competitor as it has been 'hardcored', much like a Type-R. 

Over the next few weeks, I plan to spend some time dwelling into this question. It should be a question Honda Fan readers will be interested in as well I think.

More thoughts on the Honda CR-Z for Malaysia/ASEAN

Its barely a day to the official launch of the CR-Z here in Malaysia. So, what can Honda enthusiasts expect from this car ?

To start off, the CR-Z have not and will never be called a 'sports-car' or even a 'sports coupe', certainly not by Honda enthusiasts. And I think it make no pretensions to be one either. After some initial wishy-washy-ness, Honda now calls it a 'sporty coupe'. Actually in terms of overall design, the CR-Z feels every inch a sports coupe. Feedback, even from fussy Honda enthusiasts have been universally positive regarding this aspect of the car. It feels and looks great and sporty, both exterior and interior.

The main area where negative comments are directed at is how it drives. Actually more accurately, it is how it accelerates. Here, focus have mostly centered around two main things : the suspension and the engine. 

The suspension configuration of the CR-Z is a strut / torsion beam layout for front and rear respectively. Honda performance enthusiasts generally prefers the double-wishbone/ independent-multilink layouts or at least strut/ independent-multilink layouts. So the torsion beam rear has came under some fire. But I think one thing to bear in mind is that the CR-Z is part of the Honda line-up segment which holds models like the Fit/Jazz, City, Insight, etc. These models are slotted below the Civic segment and are designed to use the strut/beam suspension layout. There are inherent disadvantages with the torsion beam  but in the end, this is what models in the CR-Z segment uses and thus this is what the CR-Z have to use. Nevertheless, it is worthwhile to bear in mind that the Euro Civic, including the previous generation Euro Civic Type-R uses this suspension layout - strut/beam and it was really very fast and handles quite well indeed, based on personal experience.

Coming to the engine, it is a 16V SOHC-VTEC design and VTEC switches the valve train between 12V and 16V mode, much like the original L15A VTEC used on 1G Jazz 1.5. Power rating of the engine alone is similar, around 110-111 hp. But extra power comes from the IMA motor which delivers around 10-11 hp. So the max power rating for the IMA engine is a combined figure for both the petrol engine plus the IMA motor. Now, Honda however has never really supplied a figure for the CR-Z, at least not for Japan though it is generally held to be around 124ps. Honda U.S. (AHM) specs the max power for the USDM versions at 122hp. So the version to be launched will be spec'ed at around this range : 122 to 124hp (SAE).

While the max power rating for the engine is rather 'ordinary', it is not as much an issue as its lack of power delivery at high-rpms. The IMA motor is basically a high-torque low-rpm motor. It delivers ample torque from anywhere just above 0rpm upwards but falls off drastically once above slightly over 3,000rpm. Redline is around 6200 to 6300rpm which is a bit low when compared to the screaming DOHC and especially the crazy DOHC VTEC engines of the past. So the engine is powerful at low-rpm but will lack the high-rpm capability of past Honda sports engines like the legendary B-series.

But really, all these are just on paper only and surely the more important question is how the CR-Z actually drives on the road, which obviously is where it all counts. 

Based on experience from the Insight and Civic Hybrids and I believe the CR-Z will feel similar, the CR-Z should actually be quite preppy at low-speeds. Even the Insight, which has a smaller 1.3l engine but the same IMA motor, will respond quite nicely to prods at the throttle when one is lazying at low-speeds. The car lunges nicely forward when I blip the throttle in gear on the Insight, despite the buffering from the CVT gearbox. As it is expected that the CR-Z will be launched tomorrow with the 6MT gearbox, so the CR-Z will feel powerful (and is relatively 'powerful') at low-speeds. Normal city driving should be a great experience, especially when one wishes to overtake some crawling chicanes on the roads. It would be when we want sustained power delivery right to the rev-cut, e.g. to do an extended overtaking maneuver over several vehicles at one go, that would be when we feel the limitation of the IMA engine. The programming of the ECU in terms of IMA assist, plus the basic low-rpm nature of the IMA motor means we will get a very nice initial surge of acceleration but which will fade rather rapidly as one sustains the WOT into the rev-cut rpm zone. It do not mean the CR-Z is not capable of high-speed driving. Even the Insight managed to hold its head high when I indulged in some high-speed driving on the highway so I think the CR-Z won't be embarassed when called upon to do that. Its just that it won't deliver what the SiRs or Type-Rs are capable of. 

But hang on, to be fair, Honda never did say the CR-Z is an equal to those legendary models. In any case, it is also doubtful whether there will be many potential buyers of the CR-Z who are previous owners of those models.

Coming to the CR-Z's handling, comments from actual owners in the U.S. and Japan have actually been quite positive. It seems many CR-Z owners in Japan are even taking it to gymkhana competitions and some are turning in respectable times. In our TOV forums, owners of the CR-Z have also given generally positive feedback on the driving feel and handling of their cars.

So basically I think and hope the CR-Z should find some good reception after its launch here in Malaysia and we shall all find out tomorrow.

For more readings about the CR-Z, especially owners feedback, in the TOV forums, follow this link :http://www.vtec.net/forums/forum?forum_id=866821

Thoughts regarding the Honda CR-Z in Malaysia/ASEAN

With the launch of the Honda CR-Z now almost upon us here in Malaysia, my thoughts have been wondering along the lines of considering what kind of buyers would be interested in this rather unique sporty coupe and what would be the cars they will be cross-shopping against.

First of all, thanks to the dominance of the U.S. on the internet, the widely held assumption is that the CR-Z is a 2-seater coupe. This is most probably not the case for our units here. The Honda CR-Z launched here will be imported CBU from Japan, as is all CR-Zs sold across the world. But it will be a RHD version and it will most probably be a 2+2, i.e. the ability to seat 4, or maybe even 5 persons (at a rather tight squeeze for the back passengers). The unit on display at the KLIMS last year was a 2+2, though perhaps not many people will have noticed since it wasn't easily accessible. 

Those who have booked the CR-Z (as I understand, quite a few already) will probably know and those who are interested should also be aware of this. It is like the case of the original CR-X, on which the CR-Z is supposedly the spiritual successor (thought subjected to some controversy). The CR-X was a 2-seater in the U.S. and a 2+2 everywhere else.

Price-wise, understandably Honda Malaysia cannot give me any indications at all. But if we use the JDM pricing, where the Insight starts at around 2 million yen while the CR-Z starts at 2.2 to 2.3 million yen, then a 'purata' estimation suggests that it should be around 15 to 20% higher in price. Given that the Insight starts at around RM100k, that suggests maybe a best price of around RM120k ? Highly unlikely I would think, due to the logistical and economical reasons. 

The biggest problem with a niche model like the CR-Z is precisely that it is 'niche'. Honda Malaysia has been very 'brave' for insisting that they must have a niche model in its line-up while many countries here in ASEAN doesn't even bother. A niche model, is by definition very low in sales volume. While models like even the Freed or Jazz may be measured in terms of sales volumes of hundreds or even thousands a month, the FD2 Civic Type-R last time for e.g. was measured in terms of 60 units a year in sales volume, i.e. single-digit sales figure per month. Anyone who knows how it is like to do business will know that this kind of (extremely low) sales volume drives costs of sales up tremendously. The issue is with warranty, maintenance of spare parts inventory, recovery of expenses incurred in sales (advertisement, P.R. cost, etc), and all sorts of other things. As a consumer, it is very easy for us to state that we are not bothered and that it is the responsibility of the manufacturer, but in the end, every car maker exists to make a profit. They need profit to continue to even exist. 

Given this, my own personal estimate is that there is a chance CR-Z will be launched at a selling price above RM130k, perhaps between the price of the Civic 2.0l and the most basic Accord variant. 

But this is only one part of the picture. 

My personal opinion, based on my own opinions of the Malaysian car marketplace is that selling the CR-Z, given its current specification, at above RM130k is going to be a certain recipe for disaster, effectively ensuring the CR-Z will never sell here. 

So in the end, my personal hope is that Honda Malaysia will launch the CR-Z, very soon, at a selling price closer to that of the Civic 2.0l. Who knows, maybe they might pull off another 'FD2R' with the CR-Z and go below RM130k, cheaper than the Civic 2.0l ? I feel this is not very likely but I thought the same for the FD2R last time too so no matter how unlikely it may be, I think there is always hope !

I will continue with more thoughts in follow-up posts over the next few days.

New Freed Hybrid variants go on sale in Japan

TOKYO, Japan, October 27, 2011 - Honda Motor Co., Ltd. announced it would begin sales of the all-new Freed Hybrid minivan and Freed Spike Hybrid tall wagon at dealerships across Japan on October 28, 2011. Like all models in the acclaimed Freed series, these new hybrids offer a spacious, comfortable interior and a large cargo area in a compact body. Both models will combine a smooth ride with outstanding fuel economy and affordable price, as with any Honda hybrid vehicle. The refreshed Freed and Freed Spike gasoline-engine models will also become available on October 28. Furthermore, Honda will launch a new range of Freed special-needs vehicles on November 25, including a wheelchair-accessible model with a newly developed electric winch, a side lift-up seat model, and a passenger lift-up seat model.

For the public news release, go to the Honda worldwide website at the link below:
http://world.honda.com/news/2011/4111027Freed-Hybrid/index.html?from=rR