Is The Natural Gas Honda Civic The Only True Green Car?

 Cars, News  2 Responses »
Dec 112011
 

2012 Honda Civic

One of the least known Honda Civic alternative fuel vehicles is the Compressed Natural Gas(CNG) vehicle. Environmentalists are all smiling about their hybrids and how much less fuel they use and how eco-friendly they all are for using electricity instead of gas. Well, the CNG Honda Civic is a hundred times more environmentally friendly on its worst day.

Why? The plants that produce the electricity used in a hybrid must burn oil, coal, or use a nuclear reaction to provide it. CNG comes from the ground and is easier to drill for than oil, so does not impact the Earth as much during extraction. A CNG vehicle’s carbon footprints is the size of an ant’s next to a hybrid’s. The Civic Natural Gas vehicle is the cleanest-running internal combustion engine ever certified by the Environmental Protection Agency.

What about fuel economy you may ask. How about a Honda Civic that offers 38 mpg and 240 miles between fill ups? Not bad at all. Then there is the time it takes to refuel. Minutes for a CNG Civic. How many hours for your plug-in hybrid or EV? Hours, isn’t it?

Now the other shoe falls. There is a decided lack of infrastructure for the CNG Civic. Refueling stations are rare, even more rare than commercial recharge stations for electric vehicles. A CNG refueling point costs more to install than a traditional gas station, as well. The federal government is considering offering companies incentives and funds to develop CNG infrastructure. The end goal of some investors is to see CNG points next to traditional gas pumps, just like diesel is today.

The Honda Civic CNG was introduced in 1998. Honda has sold few vehicles to the general public, but has enjoyed limited success with municipal fleets. The car was awarded the 2012 Green Car of the Year Award. Hopefully, the added attention will hep to bring the vehicle more into the mainstream.

 Posted by at 8:03 pm  Tagged with: , ,

CEO Ito Accepts Responsibility For Lackluster 2012 Honda Civic

 Cars, News  No Responses »
Dec 042011
 

2012 Honda Civic

The 2012 Honda Civic has been far from a critical or sales success. Critics express their displeasure with words and buyers have been expressing their displeasure by not buying Civics. During an interview at the Tokyo Motor Show, Honda CEO Takanobu Ito accepted responsibility for the poor performance of the Civic and vowed that his company would improve the car in the very near future.

U.S. sales of the Honda Civic are down 14.8% from last year’s mark, through the first ten months of 2011. Granted, inventory levels were down due to the twin disasters in Japan, but the Civic is showing no signs of life now that inventory levels are close to pre-disaster levels. Given that caveat, Honda’s design team admits dropping the ball and that the Civic’s current design is ”dull and uninspiring.”

Honda creative director Yoshinori Asahi was recently quoted as saying,” In the past few years the cars have been a bit boring.” Ito attempted to explain the lack of new design features by blaming market research that indicated Americans would accept more cheaply made cars during the recent recession, if they were fuel efficient. The company should seriously consider firing the group that performed that market research and examine their own inability to consider that the economy could turnaround before the 2012 Civic hit dealer’s lots.

Honda is hinting at a dramatic change for mid-cycle in 2013. A near complete redesign was scheduled for 2014, but sales for the Civic are so low and complaints so common that Honda has bumped that up a year. American Honda President John Mendel said that the company has been ” appropriately energized” to update and revamp the Civic.

1973 Honda Civic RS

The 2012 Honda Civic is being further crippled by its competitors. Ford, Chevrolet, Hyundai, and Kia have all released cars in direct competition with the Civic, but their offerings include updated tech features and, in some cases, better fuel economy. Given the current market, Honda needs to get something done quickly or the iconic Civic may need to be shelved.

 Posted by at 10:12 am  Tagged with:

Civic Type R – Performance for the budget-minded schumachers!

 Cars, News, Photo's  7 Responses »
Dec 072009
 

Ferraris, Maseratis, and Porsches make you your pulse rate go up and the hart start racing, but the money in the near or even mid-term future is barely enough for a decent family sedan… Why go for a typical yawnmobile when for your dollar you can have a ride to take you anywhere at the speed of lightening? Yes it is the current generation of Honda Civic Type R ready to match the bill!

Civic Type R - Front View

Just start the engine and as the revs will rise, you’ll understand why this vehicle has legions of fans that would not trade it for anything else. This extreme version of the popular Civic comes loaded with features to create a driving experience like nothing else.

It makes a statement with its stunning original styling: sitting low to the ground showing off its seductive and yet aggressive lines, with a black mesh grille setting the tone for performance.
It looks smart and brings to mind the long years of victories of Honda in racing competitions. Moreover, in 2008 Type R won the 2008 Wheels Automotive Design Award outclassing some of the very serious competitors, such as Audi R8 and TT; Saab 9-3 Cabrio and VW Eos.

And it does have plenty of power to back up its looks. It comes equipped with a powerful 2.0 liter engine with i-VTEC variable timing controlled via a fully electronic throttle system producing 201 hp and 193 Nm of torque at 5600 rpm. The close-ratio gearbox helps effectively transform all the output into the thrust sufficient to race through time and space. In addition an advanced Limited Slip Differential (LSD) helps it maximize traction and prevent wheel slip during tight turns.

Civic Type R - Interior

To sum it all up, the Civic Type R drives as good as it looks, with a handling capability that very few cars in this category can match. Its tight suspension builds emotional involvement from your part, making the process of negotiating the curbs a dream that so many folks are after. And all of that for only 9.3 liters per 100km – a number that looks very well comparing to the similar-sized cars which are not built for racing performance. So why look anywhere else, when Type-R is the way to pump in plenty of adrenaline without going financially broke?

 Posted by at 2:07 pm  Tagged with: , , ,

The next generation of Honda civic will be even more futuristic

 Articles, News  1 Response »
Dec 022009
 

As the time passes the faithful adepts of the Civic model are watching closely the news anticipating the new generation of the best-seller. In what ways will it change, in what ways will it be better? Will it continue to be a highly reliable and fuel efficient car equipped with a rather hot tempered power-train?

The new model of Honda Civic of the new generation which is scheduled to debut in a year or two will be more compact and will have an even more futuristic design than the previous model. This is the prognosis of the executive director of Honda Tzuneo Tanai as expressed in his interview to Automotive News.
civic 1
According to Tzuneo, the initial plan was that Civic was to be larger and more expensive than its predecessor, however after the thorough analysis of prognosis of prices for oil products, rolled metal products and other types of raw materials the decision was made to bring modifications to the project. Now the new model is aimed to become more compact, lighter and more fuel efficient. Besides that, the new Honda Civic platform will be initially adopted for the use of a hybrid power-train.

It is good to keep in mind that Civic platform is widely used by Honda Motor company and serves the basis for other models, such as crossovers CR-V and HR-V, a minivan Stream, and a compact FR-V. Presently Civic comes as hatchback, sedan and a coupe.

Honda’s new CEO Takanobu Ito states that the Japanese auto giant is “taking sufficient time to redesign the new Civic as well as all the other models”. Honda seeks way to make most of the research possibilities and seeks to comply with the possible changes in the environment. Honda is committed to reducing the size of its highly successful Civic model, but assures that the interior space and a sense of roominess will not decrease. A new futuristic Civic!? Why not!

 Posted by at 3:20 pm  Tagged with: , ,

Honda Civic On the Road – performance review

 Articles, News  3 Responses »
Nov 242009
 

civic on the roadQuite a few folks are interested to see how the new Civic performs on the road. Honda fans have always been fond of the hot-tempered power trains employing racing technologies that Honda was famous for.
Well let’s look at all the new upgrades. The main distinction is that now Civic has a 5-step automatic transmission in stead of former 6-step robotized gear box. This transmission is very basic, has the low sectors like “D3”, “2”, and “1”, but no “sport” or manual modes.

civic frontAn upgrade from the side of power trains is that the basic engine – 1.4 l (95 hp) is a little cleaner with 12 hp greater output. A 1.8 engine with the output of 140 hp continues to be the sought after modification. Trying it on the roads it soon becomes obvious that hat this engine performs more than adequately in all the situations. But one would not go bananas over the way the vehicle with automatic transmission accelerates. The steps of the automatic gear box are outstretched – you may reach the speed of 37 miles per hour on the first gear, 65 on the second, and 105 on the third.
With all that said, the handling for the Civic is above reproach. It follows fanatically all the slightest turns of the steering wheel, and the higher the speed is, the greater confidence Honda gives you of the fact that you are in control. The precise neutral cornering ability makes negotiating curbs a dream! It is just a little stiffer then the previous Civic even though the dealers affirm that the suspension hasn’t undergone any changes. It could be that the replacement of the robotized transmission with the automatic one added the additional 118 lbs to the front of the car….
civic side

The interior is dead silent. New weather strips keep the road noise down. VDC stabilization assistance system engages itself only in extreme situations, allowing for some sweet wheel slip.

To sum it all up – the new restyled and modernized Civic is roughly 4 % more expensive than its predecessor. There is certainly no doubt that the automatic transmission will perform well. But if it was for us to decide, we would pass the offer on both robotized and automatic transmissions, as the real Honda should come with a stick.

 Posted by at 11:50 am  Tagged with:
 Older Entries
© 2012 Honda Civic Blog Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha