Me too!: 2012 Hyundai Veloster expected to breach the 40 mpg barrier

I can't help but think that what Honda and Toyota took 50 years to achieve, Hyundai is trying to accomplish in a short amount of time, alot of this seems rushed, only time will tell. Their cars are sure looking nicer, I'll give them that, and only time will really tell if they are on the right track. Competition's healthy though.

Hyundai’s upcoming small sports coupe will pierce the 40 miles-per-gallon barrier, according to Hyundai Motor America president John Krafcik.


In an interview at Los Angeles, Krafcik told reporters that with this figure, its coupe will be able to beat the new 2011 Honda CR-Z, which, which despite having a hybrid powertrain, achieves only 36/39 city/highway when equipped with a CVT and 31/37 with a manual gearbox. The Hyundai coupe, which could be named either Veloster or Tiburon, will be able to achieve those figures with a conventional four-cylinder engine, avoiding the additional cost, complexity and weight of a gas-electric system. Krafcik gave assurances that this model will beat the Honda in fuel economy and will also perform better as well as provide added utility, including rear seats and better access. Krafcik explained that since its coupe isn’t powered by a highly expensive hybrid drivetrain, it’s likely to be priced lower. Krafcik told Autoblog that the coupe will appeal to the world’s younger generation and increasingly auto-ambivalent consumers with additional technology. All Velosters are fitted with a large screen on the dashboard as standard equipment to manage connectivity features aside from the more conventional vehicle functions.



Source;

http://www.4wheelsnews.com/2012-hyundai-veloster-expected-to-breach-the-40-mpg-barrier/

Gas Pains: Mileage Myths and Misconceptions

Found this to be really good read at Car & Driver....
Yes, get rid of the junk in your trunk. And the rack on your active-lifestyle roof.

BY MICHAEL AUSTIN, PHOTOGRAPHY BY TOM COSGROVE, ILLUSTRATION BY TOM COSGROVE December 2008

Read more Gas Pains coverage: Destination: 35 MPG

Quickie quiz: True or false?
A. Lukewarm water freezes more quickly than cold water.
B. Penguins inhabit the North Pole.
C. Noodles were invented in Italy.
Fooled you on at least one, right? All of the statements are false even if they sound as though they could be true. There are a lot of popular conceptions—and misconceptions—about fuel economy as well. Some of them involve common sense, such as keeping your tires properly inflated, whereas others are myths that people accept as the truth. Because fuel efficiency is the new cause célèbre in the automotive world, we decided to test a few fuel-saving and/or fuel-sapping situations to see just how much of a difference these tactics can make.

Our test scenario was to drive around a 2.5-mile oval at steady speeds (35, 55, and 75 mph) and measure fuel economy from the vehicle’s OBD II data port. We repeated the circuits under a variety of conditions (cargo added, windows down, etc.) and compared the results. Each test involved just one vehicle, so the numbers you see here aren’t exactly cast in stone. But our findings do give us a good idea about the degree of effect that each situation has on fuel economy—the results may vary for different types of vehicles, but the general trends should be similar.

Here are all the things that they cover, just click on the title and it will take you to the article.

Turn Off Your Air Conditioner

When Coasting to a Stop, do Not Shift Into Neutral

Take the Junk Out of Your Trunk

Inflate Your Tires Properly but Beware of Overinflation

Take Everything Off the Roof

Turning Off the Car's Engine Saves Fuel When the Stops are Long, but It's Not a Good Idea For Short Stops

Keep the Convertible Top Up While Driving on Highways

Here's the link;
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/high_performance/features_classic_cars/gas_pains_mileage_myths_and_misconceptions_feature

Hypermiling – Evaluating common fuel-economy tips on the road

In "Hypermiling - The new menace on the road?" I wrote about drivers who compromise safety and traffic flow in an effort to get the most out of a gallon of fuel. And while some people may employ annoying or even dangerous hypermiling techniques such as driving 45 mph on the highway, turning the ignition key off when coasting, or tailgating a big rig for aero, many people are just looking for a safe and effective way to save fuel.

Some of the responses to my previous blog encouraged me to research and report more on hypermiling. I went to cleanmpg.com for information from the "mild" to "advanced" ways to hypermile.

Armed with our Prius Touring that we tested for the June issue, I headed out on a weekend camping trip with my son in an attempt to beat the EPA cycle without doing anything unsafe or annoying to my fellow motorists.

After much study and practice, here are a few of the hypermiling tips that I tried, some successfully, some not so much:

1. Maximum tire pressure: Among the most-common hypermiling advice is to fill the tires to the maximum inflation pressure on the sidewall. However, this tip violates my safety criteria: You should inflate the tires to the recommended pressure set by the vehicle manufacturer. High inflation pressures can adversely effect emergency handling by upsetting the balance of the car, minimizing control on bumpy roads, and hurting grip on slick ones. It will also cost you money by prematurely wearing out your tires. So for a trip with my son, this one was out. (Learn more about tire safety and care.)

2. Keeping the speed down: OK, this is an obvious one. In our own fuel-economy testing, just going 10 mph slower can save a lot of gasoline. Getting in the right lane on a desolate highway and holding the limit is one thing, but my trip was mostly smaller roads. While I tried to go the local speed limits, I quickly found myself being tailgated by annoyed locals wondering what was wrong with me. So I have to admit I did go a bit faster, but only when I was sharing the road with others.

3. Forced Auto Stop (FAS): The Prius Hybrid system allows the engine to turn off when not needed. It does so seamlessly and safely, and it is possible to drive in a way to maximize the engine’s off time. On a conventional car you would have to turn the ignition key off to make this happen (and then quickly back on so the steering wheel doesn’t lock up). But while driving in a car with the engine off may save fuel, the car may not save you if you need to stop quickly, accelerate, or turn to avoid something. Most cars will lose their power steering and brakes very quickly in such a situation, so don’t try this one. Because the Prius does this on its own, I did my best to keep that engine shut–off when I could.

4. Timing the lights: The trick here is to hit the greens as much as you can. Why go full-steam up to a red light, slam on the brakes, and then start off from a stop again when the green comes? Smooth out your driving by slowing before the red to keep some momentum as you go through the light. This takes some practice, but it does work. However, people driving behind you may not understand what you are doing and get frustrated as you slowly coast to the light. Another problem is it is easy to convince yourself that it is OK to coast through a stop sign or go through a light that has just turned red because you are doing your part to save the Earth. Do not do this! Actions like this lead to many deaths each year at intersections.

5. Pulse and glide (P&G): For me, this one was the coolest. For everyone who thought maintaining constant speed was the most fuel-efficient way – all things change when you are in a Hybrid. Under 41 mph the Prius can coast with the engine off without charging or using its batteries if you push down on the accelerator pedal ever so slightly. The P&G technique can only be used on slower roads, preferably with nobody else around you. The trick here is to accelerate briskly to 41 mph, and then coast as long as possible with the engine off and the batteries not being used, and when you get down to, say 34 mph or so "pulse" again back to 41 mph. On my trip, I took a lot of back roads and came back early in the morning. So with the road to myself, I wound up using this technique a lot. While unintuitive to do initially, when you think about the fact that the engine is only running several seconds each minute, the technique begins to make sense quickly!

Bottom line:
I drove 283 miles over the weekend and got (drum roll please)… 68.2 mpg average on the trip computer. Even I was surprised when I looked at the Prius-ometer at the end of the weekend. And 68+ mpg is downright impressive compared to the 42 mpg overall we got in our testing, but then again I didn’t do any of the stop-and-go city driving that we simulate in our tests. At $4.00 a gallon I saved about $10.00. But at what cost? I have to admit that in my concentration on fuel savings sacrifices were made. For instance, I missed a few scenic spots, talked to my son less, and at one point tried to talk him into "holding it" instead of stopping in order to maintain momentum.

When my wife heard about my mileage, she was eager to try out hypermiling. The next day we drove her 2006 Prius to the local supermarket with me at the wheel demonstrating my newfound talents. The trip was all back roads that allowed me to P&G nearly the entire way. The few lights I hit, I was able to time perfectly. As I backed into the space at the market (a hypermiling trick to allow a quick get-a-way, minimizing warm-up time) my wife’s jaw dropped at the display reading 92.7 mpg. On the way home, she tried it out herself. After about five minutes of driving, total fuel savings: None. It took us that long to make it out of the parking lot because she kept making wrong turns as she focused on the fuel economy display. She still tries to moderately hypermile her Prius, but she’s perfectly content getting 50 mpg and still having the ability to hold a conversation with our son.

Source:
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2008/09/hypermiling-tip.html

How the VCM works in a 2008 Honda Accord V6 Engine

VCM = Variable Cylinder Management.

Here's how it works;

i-VTEC with 3-stage Advanced Variable Cylinder Management™ (VCM™)
The Accord’s available SOHC V-6 with automatic transmission includes i-VTEC with Advanced VCM. With the boost in fuel efficiency attributable to VCM, the larger and more powerful Accord V-6 with automatic transmission actually gets better fuel economy than its smaller, less powerful predecessor when tested with the same methodology.

VCM Operation
To help improve the fuel efficiency of the V-6 engine available with the 5-speed automatic transmission, the latest generation of Honda’s VCM is used. This is the first application of VCM on a non-hybrid Accord model. Unlike previous VCM systems that switched between three- and six-cylinder operation, the Accord’s system can operate on three, four or all six cylinders.

During start-up, acceleration or when climbing hills – any time high power output is required – the engine operates on all six cylinders. During moderate speed cruising and at low engine loads, the system operates just one bank of three cylinders. For moderate acceleration, higher-speed cruising and mild hills, the engine operates on four cylinders.

With three operating modes, the VCM system can finely tailor the working displacement of the engine to match the driving requirements from moment to moment. Since the system automatically closes both the intake and exhaust valves of the cylinders that are not used, pumping losses associated with intake and exhaust are eliminated and fuel economy gets a further boost. The VCM system combines maximum performance and maximum fuel economy – two characteristics that don’t typically coexist in conventional engines.

VCM deactivates specific cylinders by using the VTEC (Variable Valve-Timing and Lift Electronic Control) system to close the intake and exhaust valves while the Powertrain Control Module simultaneously cuts fuel to those cylinders. When operating on three cylinders, the rear cylinder bank is shut down. When running on four cylinders, the left and center cylinders of the front bank operate, and the right and center cylinders of the rear bank operate.

The spark plugs continue to fire in inactive cylinders to minimize plug temperature loss and prevent fouling induced from incomplete combustion during cylinder re-activation.

The system is electronically controlled, and uses special integrated spool valves that do double duty as rocker-shaft holders in the cylinder heads. Based on commands from the system’s electronic control unit, the spool valves selectively direct oil pressure to the rocker arms for specific cylinders. This oil pressure in turn drives synchronizing pistons that connect and disconnect the rocker arms.

The VCM system monitors throttle position, vehicle speed, engine speed, automatic-transmission gear selection and other factors to determine the correct cylinder activation scheme for the operating conditions. In addition, the system determines whether engine oil pressure is suitable for VCM switching and whether catalytic-converter temperature will remain in the proper range. To smooth the transition between activating or deactivating cylinders, the system adjusts ignition timing, drive-by-wire throttle position and turns the torque converter lock-up on and off. As a result, the transition between three-, four-, and six-cylinder operation is unnoticeable to the driver.

Canadian Driver's 50 Litre Challenge Finds the Most Efficient Compact Cars

Well, Canadiandriver.com has done another 50 Litre Challenge, what they do is take 13 of the most popular Compact cars, they then fill the tank and drive them until they are dead empty. Here are the results with the km's travelled.

Group One Kilometres
Toyota Corolla 1017
Honda Civic 947
Pontiac Vibe 854
Group Two
Hyundai Elantra 812
Mazda3 784
Pontiac G5 755
Mitsubishi Lancer 754
Kia Spectra 742
Ford Focus 742
Nissan Sentra 717
Group Three
Volkswagen City Golf 670
Dodge Caliber 653
Suzuki SX4 637

Here is the link;
http://www.canadiandriver.com/50litre/main.htm

HONDA for World Domination!

I have often said that as a salesperson, I have the easiest job on the planet, I sell Honda's which pretty much sell themselves. That has been especially true in this current market of high gas prices. Honda is positioned exceptionally well, with vehicles that are either at the top of their class in fuel efficiency or right up near the top. Here is a good read from Detroit News on some speculation of where Honda might just end up. Canadians, keep in mind that any numbers thrown around (mpg, $4/gallon,...) are all in US numbers, canadian numbers are different.

Honda's fuel-efficiency strategy pays off
Christine Tierney / The Detroit News

In recent years, while many automakers were building bigger and brawnier trucks and SUVs, Honda Motor Co. stuck to its core business of making fuel-efficient vehicles. Unlike its leading Japanese rivals, Honda passed on developing a full-size pickup. It didn't offer a powerful V-8 engine for its premium cars and SUVs either, focusing its resources instead on designing better versions of its stalwart Civic compact and tiny Fit.

That strategy is now paying off. This year Honda has clocked the best performance of any major player in the U.S. market. Its sales are up 4.8 percent in a market that contracted 8.4 percent in the first five months of 2008. In May, the Civic became the top-selling vehicle in the United States, displacing the longtime champion, Ford Motor Co.'s F-Series trucks, as consumers traded in gas guzzlers for more frugal models.

"They have an array of products that is in tune with today's economic climate," said Jim Hossack, a consultant at AutoPacific Inc. in Tustin, Calif. "They don't have a Suburban, they don't have a Super Duty, but they have small, fuel-efficient vehicles. They're in good shape."

Honda could sell even more vehicles in the United States if the Japanese automaker shipped more small cars to its American Honda Motor subsidiary. Fit subcompacts are sold within five days of reaching showrooms, said John Mendel, executive vice president at American Honda. But Honda is also scrambling to meet demand in Japan, where the Fit is the best-selling vehicle. "Sixty percent of the world market is small cars. We compete with the rest of the world for the Fit," Mendel said. It gets 27-28 (35-40 in Canadian numbers) miles per gallon in the city and 33-34 mpg (49-52 in Canadian numbers) on the highway.

This past weekend, Jim Kurtz, a software specialist living near Baltimore, struggled to track down a Fit for his daughter. "I called five dealers, and only one of them had the car," Kurtz said. "The demand is unbelievably high for these vehicles."

This year, Fit sales are up 64 percent, Civic sales are up 20.5 percent, and sales of the Civic hybrid are up 17.5 percent, according to Autodata Corp.

Honda's trucks, however, are not performing as well. The CR-V crossover is popular, but Honda has a tough time moving its boxy Element vehicles. They spend nearly three months on dealer lots, compared with a 56-day average for compact crossovers as a whole, according to J.D. Power and Associates' Power Information Network. Honda's midsize Ridgeline pickup is also a slow seller, and now carries $3,500 in incentives, according to online auto research firm Edmunds.com.

Sales of Honda's premium Acura vehicles have been weak, too, in the last months before the rollout of redesigned models.

But Honda cars are hard to keep in stock. "Particularly in this climate, where gas prices have spiked since mid-April, Honda is top of mind with consumers," said Mark McCready, vice president for market planning and pricing at online retailer Carsdirect.com. "Honda has for years positioned themselves in their marketing as being economical, with good fuel-economy, reliability and best cost of ownership."

Demand for Honda's midsize Accord sedan is strong, as SUV owners migrate to smaller -- but not much smaller -- vehicles. That shift explains why more Accord buyers are opting for V-6 than four-cylinder engines, Mendel said. Accord sales are up 9.4 percent this year, and ahead 38.9 percent in May.

With gas costing $4 a gallon, fuel economy is a top priority for consumers. Allen Chen, a vice president at a Silicon Valley firm, looked at small, fuel-efficient cars and hybrids. With hybrids, "the gas savings, even assuming $6 a gallon gas, didn't work out because of the extra cost of the car, and the cost of the battery replacement down the road," he said. Last weekend, Chen settled on a Civic with a 1.8-liter engine costing $17,865, including tax.

Honda's archrival Toyota Motor Corp. has many fuel-efficient models in its bigger lineup, but Toyota's performance has been hurt by weak demand for some of its larger vehicles, such as the new Tundra pickup. Toyota has slowed production of Tundras at its Indiana and Texas plants, and Nissan Motor Co. is also slashing output of light trucks in North America.

Compared with Toyota and Nissan, Honda has been more cautious in adding production capacity. But that trait is causing Honda to scramble to supply dealers with more cars. It is increasing Civic production at its Alliston plant in Ontario and it is opening a car plant in Indiana this fall.

But McCready says Honda may run short during the summer selling season. "They don't have the volumes or the inventories to do what they did in May for the rest of the summer."

You can reach Christine Tierney at ctierney@detnews.com.

What to Expect in a North American Diesel Honda Accord/Acura TSX

Well, it looks like the Acura TSX is going to be getting the Diesel treatment here in North America before the Honda Accord. The diesel is currently being sold in Europe as the European Accord (for those of you who don't know, this Euro Accord is smaller than our current NA Accord and is badged under the Acura Logo TSX). I am guessing that the NA Accord will get the diesel by 2010 or 2011 along with the Honda CRV. Here's an artcle I found on the NYTimes. Keep in mind, all of you Canadians, the US gallon is smaller than the Canadian gallon, so MPG numbers will be dramatically different here, four Canadian gallons = five U.S. gallons.

A Honda on a Diesel Diet
By LAWRENCE ULRICH

HONDA has spent decades establishing a reputation for fuel efficiency. But nothing in the company’s current lineup, including its Civic Hybrid, can match the mileage of the diesel Accord that I recently tested in and around New York City.

Minus its diesel powertrain, the European-market 2007 Accord that I drove is nearly identical to the car that Honda had been selling in the United States as the Acura TSX. That Accord should give a solid indication of the mileage and performance American consumers can expect when

Honda offers a diesel option for the redesigned 2009 TSX.

The Accord — a demonstration car provided by Robert Bosch, the German technology company, to highlight its fuel injectors and other diesel components — returned a remarkable 53 miles a gallon on the highway, 34 in the city and 44 in combined driving. Those miles included a bumper-to-bumper crawl through Manhattan, the worst possible conditions for fuel efficiency.

The model I drove was powered by a 4-cylinder diesel displacing 2.2 liters and producing 140 horsepower and a stout 250 pound-feet of torque — the force that drivers feel pushing them into their seats under acceleration. That huge torque relative to the engine’s size is a main advantage of modern turbodiesels, making them well-suited to small economy cars and to burly S.U.V.’s that need torque for towing and hauling.

The America-bound Acura will use a new version of the 2.2-liter engine that I tested. The engine is notable for meeting 50-state emissions standards with no need to carry an onboard tank of urea, an ammonia-generating solution that other diesels use to scrub smoggy nitrogen oxides from the exhaust. Honda’s patented pollution system generates its own ammonia to fulfill the same mission. While that cleaner emissions system wasn’t installed on the Honda I tested, engineers expect it to have no discernable effect on fuel economy.

As with other diesels I’ve driven recently, the Honda’s frugal highway mileage and versatile power are important advantages over the typical hybrid. The Accord covered the zero-to-60 run in just under 9 seconds in my testing, which doesn’t sound spectacular on paper. But its passing power from 30, 50 or even 70 miles an hour was terrific, as the Honda easily shot past slower cars.

And as more hybrid owners are discovering, their cars deliver little or no mileage gain on the highway. That’s because battery packs and electric motors add several hundred pounds, and the system also contributes negligible energy at freeway speeds.

Also unlike hybrids, which require drivers to go easy on the gas pedal, watch the speed limit and coast when possible to improve the mileage, the diesel Honda delivered brilliant economy with no special effort. Even spirited driving didn’t dent the mileage much. The Accord delivered 50 m.p.g. even during a 75-m.p.h. cruise and 40 m.p.g. when I flogged it like a Nascar yahoo.

The Acura’s only diesel telltale is an idle that’s slightly louder than a gasoline car’s, though it’s not at all obtrusive. There was no trace of diesel smell or black exhaust and except for the enormous diesel decal on the car’s side, my passengers would have been unaware that a diesel was under the hood.
(Nice!)

I also recently spent a week with the Audi Q7 3.0 TDI sport utility, which will go on sale in January. That model, with a 3-liter turbocharged V-6, delivered about 25 m.p.g. on the highway. But the Audi’s mileage seemed more fragile than the Honda’s, dropping sharply in city traffic and in spirited driving. That was probably due to its sheer mass; the Q7 weighed more than 5,000 pounds.

Audi also demonstrates the performance possibilities of diesel with its exotic R8 V-12 TDI concept sports car, which I took for a too-brief test drive. That blood-red, all-wheel-drive Audi had a 12-cylinder diesel mounted behind my head, generating 500 horsepower and an astounding 737 pound-feet of torque. Audi claims the R8 will rocket from 0 to 60 in about 4 seconds and reach a top speed of 190 m.p.h., all while delivering 24 m.p.g. Audi has not said whether it will put the car into production.

Link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/18/automobiles/autoreviews/18DRIVE.html?_r=3&fta=y&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Honda Civic #1Selling Car in US for Month of May (1st Time!)

This is old news for us Canadians, because the Honda Civic has been the #1 selling car for 9 years straight! This is pretty big news in the US though.

http://en.autos.sympatico.msn.ca/guides_and_advice/article.aspx?cp-documentid=6198519

The Honda Civic has become the best selling car in the United States in May, beating out both the , the Toyota Camry, by 53,299 for the Civic and 51,291 for the Camry.

If you really want to see what $4.00 a gallon gas has don,e then note that it has beat out the Ford F-150, the long time best selling vehicle, by 10.326 units!

Never underestimate the power of the pump!

Source:

http://www.autospies.com/news/Honda-s-Civic-Blows-Out-The-Competition-Out-For-Number-One-Spot-In-May-30690/

Honda Positioned Well in Current Market Conditions

With the current state of high gas prices across North America, buyers are switching their buying habits to smaller cars, which makes some manufacturer's more prepared than others. While some manufacturer's are shutting down production and laying off workers (Ford, GM, Dodge....), Honda with it's class leading Honda Civic and Honda FIT are selling in droves, which is having a positive affect for Honda's production. Sure, sales of the Ridgeline, Pilot, and even Odyssey have dipped a bit, but with the surgence of the Civic, Fit, and I will even say CRV, instead of laying off worker's or shutting down plants, Honda is just switching production around and moving workers from one plant to another to keep up with demand.

Honda saving U.S. jobs by switching models

Yuri Kageyama / Associated Press

TOKYO -- Honda will meet growing U.S. demand for small cars while maintaining North American jobs by moving production of two bigger models from Canada to Alabama, Chief Executive Takeo Fukui said Thursday.
Honda Motor Co.'s Pilot sport-utility vehicle and Ridgeline pickup, now rolling off its plant in Alliston, Ontario, will be produced in Lincoln, Ala., allowing the production of the Civic sedan to be raised in Canada, he said.
"Gas prices continue to rise, and the demand for cars with good mileage is growing," Fukui told reporters at a Tokyo hotel. "Efforts are under way to increase the local production of the Civic."

Even the usually booming Japanese automakers are sensing the pinch from a U.S. economic slowdown and soaring material costs, including steel. But the Japanese are holding up better than their American rivals because of their reputation for fuel-efficient offerings.

General Motors' top managers are working on additional restructuring measures to deal with a declining U.S. auto market and an accelerated shift from trucks to more fuel-efficient vehicles, a person familiar with the plan told The Associated Press late Wednesday.

Such a move would come on top of thousands of job cuts at GM over the past three years mainly through buyout and early retirement offers.

Ford said earlier this week that it's planning involuntary layoffs of salaried employees by August as part of a restructuring in the face of slumping sales and record-high gas prices.

Honda's production changes won't create -- or cut -- any jobs in North America. But Fukui noted it will maintain sales momentum.
"And the point is we won't have to reduce employment," he said.

Honda will create American jobs when its plant to build Civics opens in Indiana later this year. That plant, Honda's seventh in North America, is expected to add about 2,000 jobs.
Fukui said Honda's Fit subcompact is another model that is emerging a hit in the U.S., a nation previously known to favor gas-guzzlers.
Still, the overall U.S. auto sales are expected to drop to around 15 million vehicles this year -- down from 17 million as recently as 2005.

For April, General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler all saw double-digit U.S. sales declines compared to last April. But Honda, along with Nissan Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp., reported year-on-year gains.

Relatively new auto plants are flexible in production, allowing models to be switched to respond to shifts in demand. At some plants, the same assembly line can produce different models, one after the other.

Source:

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080529/AUTO01/805290438/1148

How the 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid Sedan Works

This is Honda's hybrid answer. The Honda Civic hybrid showcases Honda's renewed commitment to Hybrid technology and gives drivers a environmentally friendly car without any compromise on style, performance or comfort.

Honda's Hybrid system is called Integrated Motor Assist (IMA). Developed in 1999 it was first launched in the 2 seat-er Honda Insight which gave an idea of how advanced it was - 83 miles per gallon on a combined cycle.

Hybrid is the combination of a gas engine with an electric motor. The electric motor is coupled to a powerful battery. The electric motor helps the engine by giving it a boost during acceleration and solely runs the car at idle to reduce emissions and fuel consumption. The battery that powers the electric motor charges itself up with regenerative energy from deceleration and braking. A regenerative brake is a mechanism that reduces vehicle speed by converting some of its kinetic energy into electrical energy. A brake pedal sensor sends a signal to the car's computer, activating systems whenever the driver applies the brake. This allows braking energy from the wheels to be stored as electrical energy in the high voltage battery for future use. Therefore the car never needs to be recharged from an external power supply. This regenerative brake assistance also extends the life of the brakes and their components as it reduces its workload appreciably.

The majority of the hybrid cars available in the market today aren't that good looking. And nobody wants to drive around in a car that looks like a deflated football. Honda engineers have taken note and engineered the components to enhance looks and more importantly, help achieve their primary targets.

The elegant styling combines a sweeping roof-line, a sharply raked windscreen and short overhangs that contribute to the vehicle's advanced mono-form profile. Superior aerodynamics is achieved by ultra-tight body panels that fit firmly around the monocoque frame. A chin spoiler and a lip spoiler are also designated to aid the aerodynamics by reducing turbulence beneath and behind the car. The low-drag alloy wheels are made specifically for the Civic Hybrid so to enhance the looks and reduce excess weight while the opposable windscreen wipers serve both styling and efficient cleaning purposes.

The fuel tank is made from an innovative six-layer polyethylene composite material that blocks fuel evaporation and saves weight. The front sub-frame which accommodates the engine and transmission is produced from hydro-formed elements for increased strength and rigidity. Special rubber floating mounts minimize the level of road and engine NVH (Noise, Vibration, Harshness) entering the passenger cabin.

But it's not all about the looks. Honda's new IMA system gives out more power than a conventional 1.6-litre engine (115PS), but only uses the same amount of fuel as a 1.1-litre car. There's no ambiguous starting procedure or complicated operating system – it looks and drives like a modern, stylish saloon with a top speed of 115mph. The Civic Hybrid's engine took top honors for three successive years at International Engine of the Year "1 litre to 1.4 litre" size category award from 2002 through 2004 and the "Best Fuel Economy" category for 2003 and 2004.

The Civic hybrid is one of the safest cars in its class. It is equipped with ABS and Electronic Brake force Distribution (EBD) to achieve decent stability and high braking performance. Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) assists the driver in maintaining maximum possible control during cornering, acceleration and sudden manoeuvres by applying braking either to the right or left wheels accordingly while controlling the throttle and brake systems simultaneously.

The Civic Hybrid uses multiple "load paths" to limit penetration of the car's structure by absorbing more of the crash energy if it encounters a collision. Whatever energy gets through is mitigated by the car's eight standard air bags. The Civic Hybrid has earned top safety rankings from NHTSA and IIHS. To help reduce pedestrian injuries in the event of a collision, the Civic Hybrid's bonnet and wing areas are designed to deform if contacted by the head of an adult or child pedestrian. Energy-absorbing collapsible bonnet supports, wiper arms and wing mounts are designed to allow a degree of deformation in an impact making this car very safe to travel in.

For more information on some other 'Green Cars' check out the link;
http://www.automotoportal.com/article/5-best-selling-green-cars

The Honda FIT; The Car of the Future Today

Honda's Fit meets fuel economy rules that are still several years away.
Joseph B. White
Wall Street Journal
06 May 2008 03:32

Detroit is partying like it's 1979.

Gasoline prices are soaring. Big V-8 powered muscle machines are gathering dust on dealer lots. Sales of small cars are surging. The government is ordering steep increases in new vehicle fuel economy in the cause of reducing America's reliance on foreign oil.

What's this nasty flashback mean for the future of the automobile? Maybe you think the antidote to gas pump angst is a plug-in hybrid such as the Chevy Volt, or a new generation all-electric car such as those that Nissan Motor Corp. says it may launch in the U.S. as soon as 2011 . If so, you'll need to wait, or take your chances with one of the flock of tiny upstart car companies testing their wings on the Internet.

But there are mainstream, name-brand cars you can buy today that can vault you all the way to 2011 or 2012 -- at least in terms of the new fuel-efficiency targets the Bush administration is proposing for the next seven years. One such car is Honda Motor Corp.'s Fit.

The Fit, which typically sells for about $16,000, occupies a niche in today's U.S. auto market similar to the one the early Honda Civic hatchbacks occupied during the 1979-80 oil crunch period. Standing in for the gas-guzzling Pontiac muscle cars and Lincoln land yachts of the late 1970s are vehicles like the Chevrolet Tahoe, one of the best-selling big sport utility vehicles that lorded over the highways just a few years ago.

The Fit gets about double the mileage of a Tahoe -- 30 miles per gallon combined compared with 16 miles per gallon for the Chevy, according to government fuel-efficiency estimates. (fueleconomy.gov) The Department of Transportation is proposing that by 2015, the average fuel efficiency of all new vehicles -- cars and light trucks -- should be about 31.6 miles per gallon. If our vehicle fleet operated at the 2015 standard today -- roughly equivalent to all of us trading in our rides for Fits tomorrow -- it would be about 25% more efficient than the cars and trucks we ride around in today.

At $3.51 a gallon, a Fit would burn up about $1,753 in gasoline during 15,000 miles of driving. A Tahoe would siphon $3,291 out of your wallet, unless you could fill it up with an E85 ethanol blend, in which case the toll would be $3,136 a year. One plus for the Tahoe: After you put $82 or so into the tank, it would run 374 miles before you had to visit the gas station again. The Fit's tiny 10.8 gallon tank only holds enough for 292 miles of driving between F and E.

If you're keeping score on carbon, the Fit would put 6.1 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere every year, compared with 11.4 tons for the big SUV.

In other ways, the Fit represents a significant advance over the tiny Hondas that got their big break around the time Jimmy Carter was making "cardigan" a political four-letter word.

The Fit is tiny compared to the Tahoe, weighing in at just 2,551 pounds to the big Chevy's 5,233 pounds. Still, the Fit scored a five-star rating for front passenger protection in the federal government's crash tests, and a five-star rating for side-impact protection for front-seat passengers. The rear-seat passenger side impact score was three stars.

Those are the same scores as the Tahoe, except for the rear-seat side-impact test, where the tall-riding SUV scored five stars.

That doesn't mean I'd want to crash my Fit into a Tahoe. I didn't pay a lot of attention in high school physics, but I grasped the basics about mass and momentum.

But Honda's focus on the problems presented by making a subcompact car more crashworthy has produced a vehicle that is objectively safer for its occupants than a 1979 Civic, but also feels safer and more solid on the road.

The Fit also offers clever solutions to the other problem with small cars. They're small. There's not as much room for people and stuff. The Fit uses a variety of tricks – including positioning the gas tank in the center of the car so that the seats can fold flatter and lower to the ground – to increase cargo capacity. (Other manufacturers who've focused on improving their small cars over the years work what industry people call "packaging" just as hard – including the European and Asian arms of the Detroit manufacturers.)

So are we all ready to drive cars like the Fit? A lot more of us are than were a year ago. The Power Information Network's analysis of vehicles traded by people buying Fits shows that the top three trade-ins are larger Honda models. But at No. 5 on the list is the Dodge Caravan, with the now discontinued Chevy Blazer SUV at No. 6.

Sales in the "lower small" segment as defined by Autodata Corp., which includes the Fit and rival cars such as the Chevy Aveo or the Nissan Versa, are up 33.9% through the first four months of this year, jumping even as sales of all cars and light trucks fell nearly 8%. The Fit isn't the biggest seller in its segment – that title belongs to the Toyota Yaris. But new Fits are selling in just 20 days after hitting the dealerships, according to Power Information Network data. That's one day faster than the average Toyota Prius and more than twice as fast as the average Yaris.

How bad is the big SUV market? General Motors Corp.'s production of vehicles like the Tahoe has been crippled for nearly three months by a strike at a major supplier, and GM dealers still had 125 days worth of unsold Tahoes nailed to their lots as of April 30. Overall, large SUV sales are cratering, down 29% so far this year, according to Autodata figures.

The asteroid has landed on the dinosaurs. Vehicles like the Fit look like the crafty mammals that will thrive among the wreckage, until something more highly evolved comes along.

Why Automakers Don't Sell a Car that is 50(US)mpg

So gas just hit another miserable milestone. Unleaded regular is averaging a record $3.30 a gallon and seems likely to blast past $4 by Memorial Day. Wouldn't it be great if you could drive a car that gets 50 miles per gallon? Well, you can. Just hop on a plane and fly to Europe, where all new cars average 43mpg, or Japan, where the average hits 50mpg. Here in the United States, we're stuck at 25mpg in our considerably larger and more powerful cars, trucks and SUVs. So why can't we do better? Here's the dirty little secret: we can. "If you want better fuel economy, it's just a question of when auto companies want to do it and when consumers decide they want to buy it," says Don Hillebrand, a former Chrysler engineer who is now director of transportation research for Argonne National Labs. "Auto companies can deliver it within a year."

A 50mpg car would certainly put a tiger in the tank of the moribund U.S. auto industry. But don't get your checkbook out quite yet. The reality is that you won't see a car on a showroom floor in America with 50mpg on the window sticker for at least three years and maybe longer. Sure, all auto companies are focusing on jacking up fuel economy, especially since Congress just mandated that all new autos sold by 2020 must average 35mpg. The new mileage mantra also is motivated by the fact that car sales are weak, partially because of panic at the pump. But putting out a 50mpg car any time soon is daunting even to the maker of America's mileage champ, the 48mpg Toyota Prius. "We're close enough to spit at that now," says Bill Reinert, Toyota's national manager of advanced technologies. "It's not an incredible stretch, but it's an incredible stretch to do it on a mass-market basis."

It might seem ludicrous to you that there isn't a mass market right here and now for a 50mpg car. For crying out loud, we've entered the age of the $128 fill-up. (The cost of topping off a Chevy Suburban). But here's the problem: to get to 50mpg in the near future, consumers would have to trade off at least one of three very important things—cost, drive quality or safety. That's because the quickest way to make a car more fuel-efficient is to make it smaller, lighter and equip it with some high-tech (a.k.a. costly) propulsion system like a plug-in gas-electric system. Consider the exercise Ford just went through. It ran a computer simulation on what would happen to the mileage of a Ford Focus small car if you built it entirely out of lightweight aluminum. Losing the steel allowed the Focus to drop 1,000 pounds—30 percent of its body weight. That enabled Ford to outfit it with a tiny one-liter engine, half the size of its old engine, but far more fuel efficient because of new technology. Best of all, the small motor goes just as fast as the big one because the car is so much lighter. The result: fuel economy on this fabulous Focus went from 35mpg to 50mpg. What's stopping Ford from moving this car from pixels to pavement? The cost of an all-aluminum car could top $50,000—not a sum the typical economy-car buyer is willing to pay. "What's going to be the cost acceptance for this much improvement in fuel economy?" asks Dan Kapp, director of Ford's advanced engines and transmissions. "We don't know yet."

Still, all the major automakers are putting their cars on a crash diet. Ford wants to drop 250 to 750 pounds in all its models by 2012. Toyota and Nissan want to cut the fat by 10 to 15 percent. But this slim-fast campaign is running into the drive for more safety features in automobiles. Back in the 1980s, the Honda CRX-HF and the Geo Metro each got more than 50mpg, but they didn't have airbags or steel beams in their doors to protect occupants in a crash. These days, cars are equipped with six air bags, steel safety cages and electronic stability control to prevent spinouts. That makes cars much safer—but a lot fatter. "We are working in two directions," says Toyota's Reinert. "One is to make cars as safe as possible, and that generally makes them heavier. And the other is to make cars as fuel efficient as possible."

Downsizing also has its drawbacks. For starters, U.S. highway statistics show the smallest cars have death rates 2.5 times higher than the biggest. What's more, wimpy engines often (under) power small cars and that's a drawback many Americans won't abide. I recently drove the diminutive Smart car for a week. While it's certainly cute, its puny 70-horsepower engine and slow-shifting transmissions made me feel like Fred Flintstone could outrun me. That might be enough power for twisty Old World roads, but here in America, we have a need for speed. "Going zero to 60 in 15 seconds doesn't fit the average American consumers idea of mobility today," says Reinert. "That's too doggy."

Another quick way to improve fuel economy—and chase away customers—is to strip out stuff that makes the ride comfortable. For example, engineers could remove the soundproofing material that keeps road and engine noise out of the cockpit. Back in the '90s, when Detroit was fond of noting that gasoline was cheaper than bottled water, Hillebrand worked on the popular Chrysler minivan. They were having problems making the cabin quiet, so they sacrificed mileage to add sound insulation. "We just sprayed penny a pound asphalt into it to quiet it down because that was what the customer wanted," recalls Hillebrand. "Another mile per gallon would not make Car and Driver headlines. But having no wind noise did."

These days, though, more mpg makes news. And GM has certainly been getting plenty of mileage out of the Chevy Volt plug-in electric car it hopes to have on the market by 2010. On Thursday, they took reporters inside their Volt lab for another in a series of updates--unusual for a work in progress. And next week, GM will conduct a global online discussion with journalists to address the question: "Why don't automakers produce a 100mpg car?"

So when I called to ask why there are no 50mpg cars, Volt chief engineer Frank Weber practically scoffed at me. "Fifty miles per gallon is not the target," he said in his German accent. "We are working in the three-digit range." All hype aside, analysts say GM just might be the first to achieve 50mpg with the Volt, which Weber assured me will get well over 100mpg. Crackling with confidence, he "guaranteed" the car's advanced lithium-ion battery is ready for the road. Many automakers are racing to develop lithium-ion batteries (like those used in laptops), which juice up faster and go farther on a charge. But only GM is claiming to have cracked the code. Weber also said there is "no doubt" the Volt will deliver on GM's promise of driving for the first 40 miles on pure electric power. After that, a tiny engine kicks in, but only to recharge the battery, not to turn the wheels like conventional hybrids. "Our goal," says Weber, "is to avoid the usage of gasoline completely."

Wouldn't that be nice? But at what price? Analysts predict the Volt will top $30,000, and consumers might have to pay an additional $100 to $200 a month to lease that advanced, but unproven, battery pack. Weber dismissed battery leasing as "an old idea," but declined to divulge pricing on the Volt so far from its launch. Any new technology like this, though, comes with a hefty premium, which takes years to pay off in savings at the gas pump. So taking the high-tech road to high mileage comes down to a question of pay now or pay later. (In the case of some high-priced hybrids, like the late and not-so-great Honda Accord hybrid, the payoff never came.)

In the end, what I found most fascinating about raising this 50mpg question is just how nervous its made Honda and Toyota. Honda wouldn't even speak to me about it. Perhaps that's because Honda has a Prius competitor in the works that it has promised will have better mileage when it hits the road next year. Let's see, what's better than 48mpg? And Toyota is in the midst of creating an entire lineup of Prius models, which will include a wagon, a family car and a tiny urban runabout beginning in 2010. So if you take the Prius power plant and put it into a Smart-size car, what do you get? Toyota isn't saying, but there could be a hint in Reinert's assessment of Mercedes's mighty mite. "The Smart is incredibly attractively packaged," he says. "It could be the iPhone version 1 of cars." Version 2.0 could roll into a Toyota showroom in a few years—with a window sticker well above 50mpg.

And not a moment too soon.

Source: http://www.newsweek.com/id/130439/output/print

Car & Driver's 10 Closet Hogs, No Honda's

Car and Driver Magazine has a pretty cool article about 10 vehicles that have been 'hiding serious drinking problems'. No Honda's on this list, but I thought that some of you would appreciate the article none the less.

BY JARED HOLSTEIN, PHOTOGRAPHY BY AARON KILEY AND THE MANUFACTURERS February 2008

It’s not just big trucks that get lousy fuel economy, either. The culprits of poor fuel economy are many, but common underlying causes include portly curb weights, older drivetrains, and the conscious exclusion of fuel-saving technologies to keep production and purchase prices down. Before you spend your money on a new car, make sure you pay attention to the equipment list, because with the wrong engine or transmission choice, heinous fuel economy is sometimes just a checkbox away.

2008 Saab 9-7X Aero
6.0-liter V-8, 4-speed auto, 4-wheel drive
Link; http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/high_performance/features_classic_cars/closet_gas_hogs_feature+page-2.html

2008 Jeep Wrangler
3.8-liter V-6, 4-speed auto, 4-wheel drive
Link; http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/high_performance/features_classic_cars/closet_gas_hogs_feature+page-3.html

2008 Jeep Liberty
3.7-liter V-6, 4-speed auto, 4-wheel drive
Link; http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/high_performance/features_classic_cars/closet_gas_hogs_feature+page-4.html

2008 Saturn VUE XE
3.5-liter V-6, 6-speed auto, 4-wheel drive
Link; http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/high_performance/features_classic_cars/closet_gas_hogs_feature+page-5.html

2008 Pontiac G6 GT Convertible
3.9-liter V-6, 4-speed auto, front-wheel drive
Link; http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/high_performance/features_classic_cars/closet_gas_hogs_feature+page-6.html

2008 Mazda RX-8
1.3-liter 2-rotor, 6-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Link; http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/high_performance/features_classic_cars/closet_gas_hogs_feature+page-7.html

2008 Mazda CX-7
2.3-liter inline-4, 6-speed auto, 4-wheel drive
Link; http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/high_performance/features_classic_cars/closet_gas_hogs_feature+page-8.html

2008 Volvo S80
3.2-liter inline-6, 6-speed auto, front-wheel drive
Link; http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/high_performance/features_classic_cars/closet_gas_hogs_feature+page-9.html

2008 Pontiac Solstice/2008 Saturn Sky
2.4-liter inline-4, 5-speed auto, rear-wheel drive
Link; http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/high_performance/features_classic_cars/closet_gas_hogs_feature+page-10.html

Anything on E85
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/high_performance/features_classic_cars/closet_gas_hogs_feature+page-11.html

Honda's New Hybrid to be Shown this September at the 2008 Paris Motor Show

It's been no secret that Honda has plans of building a new Hybrid vehicle from scratch, so this won't be based on anything that is out there right now (although I could see it using the FIT's platform). This vehicle will be smaller than both the Civic and the Prius and will use a updated version of the IMA (Integrated Motor Assist) that kicks in and out to help acceleration.

Honda is targeting a lower price point for this model, to come in well below the current Prius and the Civic Hybrid.

57mpg 20 yrs ago from Honda? Who knew....

Twenty years ago the car that got the best mileage in the nation was a real techno-wimp compared to what's on the road today. It wasn't even a hybrid. But it got better fuel economy than any car sold now - even the Toyota Prius.

Looking back at the 1987 Honda Civic CRX shows us why cars use so much more gas today and about the trade-offs we've had to make.

The CRX HF got an Environmental Protection Agency-estimated 57 mpg gallon in highway driving. Today, the most fuel-efficient non-hybrid Civic you can buy gets an EPA-estimated 34 mpg on the highway. Even today's Honda Civic Hybrid can't match it, achieving EPA-estimated highway mileage of just 45 mpg. The Toyota Prius, today's fuel mileage champ, gets 46 mpg on the highway.

One answer for the mileage drop is that the rating system has changed. Beginning with the 2008 model year, the EPA began using a more rigorous fuel economy test that means lower numbers for most cars. But that's only a small part of the answer.

The bigger answer is that the Honda Civic has changed a lot in twenty years. Honda no longer sells a tiny two-seat version like the CRX. Even Civics with back seats are much bigger and heavier today than similar versions were in 1987. It's in the nature of the car business that companies want to offer more - more legroom, more trunk space - with each redesign. As a result, cars get bigger and bigger. Besides size, American consumers expect a lot more convenience out of a car than they did in 1985. Today, we expect power steering, power brakes, power windows and more.

The base CRX HF did not have power steering or power brakes. (As light as it was, it really didn't need them.) Air conditioning was optional, as it was on most cars in those days, so it didn't figure into the EPA's fuel economy ratings. Today's consumers also expect safety. In the 1980s, car companies would sell cars that got one-star or two-star crash test ratings. Numbers like that would now cause car companies fits. Four out of five stars is considered the minimum acceptable rating.

Here's the rest of the article;
http://money.cnn.com/2007/12/17/autos/honda_civic_hf/?postversion=2007121911