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2012 Civic finds itself in a different world

 Projects  3 Responses »
Jul 312011
 

Honda rolls out the new Civic and in all honesty though it looks good, it enters a rather different market, than the previous models. This ever-popular car has to face much stronger opposition than ever before.

Here is what is actually happening at the moment. Let’s say 10 years ago there were surely other offers in this segment of compact, fuel efficient cars, selling for under $20000. Besides Civics’ strongest rival – Toyota Corolla, there were just no matches from Korean or American manufacturers. The Koreans haven’t gotten there yet and the American car manufacturers, who traditionally shined in the full-size part of the market, did not do too well in the department of the compact and fuel – efficient cars.

Well the times have changed. Now, Kia and Hyundai have fine cars to sell, and so do the American car manufacturers.  They all now produce consistently impressive cars in the sub-$20K range, the build quality and look of which match or even beat Honda. Well, think for yourself, in all honesty, a world in which the Chevy Cruze or Ford Focus match up against a Civic is truly a different world.

Now what does the new Civic has to put up against its rivals? It continues to be a compact and presently futuristically shaped car and it can also come in a form of a hybrid or be powered by natural gas. The car that uses regular fuel has fuel efficiency that matches that of regular hybrids (36 mpg highway), while the Civic hybrid is rated at 44 mpg, which is an outstanding result in my opinion.

So, considering the rather fierce competition, Civic continues to be a nice machine, however it no longer is the only one of a kind. It still is a good a comfortable drive and   is priced just right.

 Posted by at 3:30 pm

Civic continues to go strong, in line with the current environmental trend

 Projects  1 Response »
Jul 172011
 

Honda shows much wisdom in its approach to the problem of air-pollution, global warming and the diminishing resources of the fossil fuels. It continues to lead studies and experiment with hydrogen technologies, electricity-powered engines and its biofuel cars.

The especial breakthrough in this field was the introduction, in September 2006 of Flex Fuel Vehicle (FFV), using the platform of Civic. The Civic FFV is unique in the sense that it is capable of operating on both E-85, the already available bio-fuel in the US, Sweden, Finland and to a very limited degree in Canada and on 100% ethanol, used far and wide in Brazil. The concept is not new in any way; however it is the Honda’s advanced research and production capabilities that make this vehicle so adaptive to varying fuel mixtures, and ambient temperature changes. FFV’s made in the US are currently setup to run on straight E85, straight gasoline, or any ratio of both fuel types. Honda is introducing an FFV into the Brazilian automobile market suited to run on a much higher blend of ethanol – E20 to E100.

The challenge here is to eventually achieve comparable performance and economy from E100, as from petroleum based gasoline. A factor to consider is the temperature, as low temperatures can contribute to poor starting and performance. And yet Honda manages to fix this problem, by introducing a secondary, gasoline fuel tank. The new Honda ethanol fuel feeder adapts to varying ethanol to gasoline ratios measuring the concentration of ethanol in the tank via time exhaust measurements.

Well, here is the deal. Ethanol, also known by the name of biofuel, is made from feed stocks such as sugar cane and corn. Thus using biofuel does not much increase the atmospheric CO2 and makes the ethanol an effective alternative to fossil fuel. And yet it is the government that has to make use of biofuel more attractive, by dropping the prices, so that cars, such as Honda Civic FFV would be bought not only by the smart people concerned about reducing the carbon footprint, but also by the majority of the population thinking of saving a dollar here and a dollar there. So let’s hope for that!

 Posted by at 1:21 pm

Honda’s engine used to power a supercharged monster

 Projects  No Responses »
Jun 262011
 

I see Civics every day. There are lots of them that people use to get from point A to point B; different generations and in different shapes – some are shining and proudly showing off their body-lines, others eaten by the rust from the ground up.
But there is one thing that has always made Hondas stand from the crowd of similar Toyotas, Nissans, and countless Korean makes presently storming the market, and it is their engines. Tracing their heritage to the car and motorcycle racing, Honda continues to design its engines being more performance oriented, comparing to the other fellow Asian opponents.

 

It’s interesting that it is a rather common practice to use Honda’s souped-up engines in building one of a kind concept cars or racing fireballs. Have a look at the following example of this phenomenon.

What you see here is called Ariel Atom – which is nothing, but a student project of Nick Smart from the University of Coventry. This concept car is built around Honda Civic Type R power train and is ready to be driven on the common highways, though it doesn’t have the doors, or windows, neither stereo system or air conditioning.

I wonder, if you had asked yourself a question, as to why so many boutique companies that are capable of coming up with rare and exceptional sports cars choose the easy way and equip their creations with already known and widely used engines bought from the mainline manufacturers? Why in stead of coming up with an exclusive multi-cylinder engine, they instead weld together two Volkswagen V6s, for example?

And the answer to this is the resource and reliability of a well tested and time-proven engine that can not be beaten by exclusive, newly designed prototype engines. The same goes true in the case of the Ariel Atom – Honda’s Civic Type R engine has all the muscles, reliability and the output one may want, with none of the hassles. This popularized creation of the engineering craftsmanship produces 245 horse powers and 218 N·m of torque at 7,000 r/pm, utilizing Mugen parts, namely camshafts, exhaust and ECU. All this power derived from Honda’s engine allows Atom to reach 60 mph in just 2.9 s, with the maximum speed of 225 km/h.

So regardless what would be the choice of the prospective buyer – a fast and furious Civic or Accord Type R, a supercharged Honda-powered Atom, or a reliable and socially acceptable Civic, with Honda engines one can never go wrong!

 Posted by at 3:03 pm

Honda rolls out 2012 model of bestselling Civic

 Cars  2 Responses »
Jun 082011
 

The auto critics were well aware that it was in Detroit that Honda rolled out the new 2012 Civic concept.
Now as we enter the hot summer months, Honda’s ninth-generation Civic should had already arrived to the dealerships, following a somewhat delayed schedule, comparing to the timetable of the rest of the automakers.

But Civic’s appearance at the Detroit auto gives us a quick preview of what will eventually land in the showrooms. Following the traditional Honda fashion, the concept looks practically identical to car, which will go in production, though it comes equipped with a bit more aggressive wheel and headlights treatments.

The concept shown in Detroit is nothing, but a styling mule – there are no signs of an interior or the engine. Honda purposefully chose not to announce any engine details for the new model, but one could safely conclude that if will be a four-cylinder engine line, which will definitely include a base version and a higher-charged option for the sportier Si trim. The current Civic in production uses a 1.8-liter, 140-hp I4, while the Si comes equipped with a 2.0-liter, 197-hp I4.

Much discussion has been devoted to Honda’s decision to postpone the introduction of the new Civic, giving birth to rumors of Honda scrapping its work and choosing to get back to the drawing board and the basics. However, as a Honda spokesman confirmed, this was not the case. The spokesman attested to the fact that the delay held up the introduction of the new Civic only by three or four months, and the changes were introduced in response to market demand.

The concept shown in Detroit is nothing, but a styling mule – there are no signs of an interior or the engine. Honda purposefully chose not to announce any engine details for the new model, but one could safely conclude that if will be a four-cylinder engine line, which will definitely include a base version and a higher-charged option for the sportier Si trim. The current Civic in production uses a 1.8-liter, 140-hp I4, while the Si comes equipped with a 2.0-liter, 197-hp I4.

Much discussion has been devoted to Honda’s decision to postpone the introduction of the new Civic, giving birth to rumors of Honda scrapping its work and choosing to get back to the drawing board and the basics. However, as a Honda spokesman confirmed, this was not the case. The spokesman attested to the fact that the delay held up the introduction of the new Civic only by three or four months, and the changes were introduced in response to market demand.

The result that we see is a car that is evolutionary, rather than evolutionary. But is the bad at all? I reminded of the success of the American classic 18 wheelers or the Harley Davidson motorcycles, which continue to stay on their path, perfecting what they already know is the best in its class. Dimensions are close to those of the vehicle currently in production. The suspension retains the familiar MacPherson struts in the front and a multilink setup for the rear.

And finally, the answer that is of interest to all the prospective buyers of the new Civics. The base pricing should be match closely with the current car’s price of $16,355 for the coupe and $16,555 for the sedan. So, whose will it be?

 

 Posted by at 1:18 pm
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