Honda CR-Z Mugen 2011

So here comes another visual treat for the hardcore Honda fanboys from Mugen, Honda’s racing arm. And this time it isn’t a boring Accord or a Civic sedan, but a more purposeful CR-Z hybrid coupe, Mugen’s version being dubbed the CR-Z Mugen.

Apart from its homeland, the CR-Z has been on sale in the Western hemisphere since mid-2010. The Middle East being a hybrid-repellant region due to fuel being cheap, the shores where a vast majority of Honda fans reside never even got a glimpse of this fuel-efficient sports hybrid from Honda.

The 1.5-litre four-pot along with electric motors powering the original CR-Z has been treated by Mugen with a supercharger, thereby promising a staggering 50% increase in power and a rumoured juicy figure of 197 hp and 245 Nm of torque. Add to it a 15% weight reduction treatment done on the chassis and Mugen’s intentions for a hybrid beast has become reality.

In addition to the original set of driving modes retained from the standard car, there is a ‘Mugen’ mode which supposedly gives the driver an option to sacrifice efficiency for performance. Mugen claims that this one can match an Euro Civic Type-R, or even outrun it. While the Civic Type-R hatch makes almost anyone who drives it a Honda fanboy, one could only imagine what impact this one would have on the crowd – if only the GCC region is destined to be blessed with the CR-Z Mugen.

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Honda Civic 2012 Sedan and Coupe Designs in Europe

A peek through the European patent office files revealed images of Honda’s freshly launched in North America, 2012 Civic in both four-door sedan and two-door coupe guise. Given that the European market will get its own, bespoke version of the Civic, chances are that Honda simply wanted to cover its back like most of the competition just in case another automaker (we are looking towards you China) got any crazy ideas.
However, it is possible that Honda will offer the four-door saloon model in certain European countries to compete against the Volkswagen Jetta. With the exception of one version of the Civic sedan seen in this set of images and which features slightly modified taillights with additional strips that extend towards the license plate holder, there are no other differences compared to the North American Civic.
The European version of Honda’s compact model will make its world premiere at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show in September. It will be available in five-door and three-door body styles, while the Japanese automaker has also confirmed the development of a smaller displacement turbo diesel engine that will fit right under the current 2.2-liter i-DTEC unit.

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Honda’s Hot CR-Z Mugen

Honda's sporty-looking CR-Z hybrid will finally get the performance to back its looks, as the Japanese carmaker teamed up with its tuning partner Mugen Euro to develop a high-performance version of the hybrid model. The car will be unveiled at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July, but until then, you can take a look at the first official photos of the car to see if they match the sketches released by Honda two months ago.
The Japanese company says development of the CR-Z Mugen is on track, with “performance figures already looking promising”. Honda revealed that early tests with a prototype car based on a standard CR-Z and a mid-tune engine have given 0-60 mph (96 km/h) sprint times around that of the European market Civic Type R (6.6 seconds). Later on, Mugen increased output by another 15 percent and reduced the chassis' weight by 50 kilograms, so that overall performance is expected to be even better than the Type R's.
The car will feature modifications to both the 1.5-liter i-VTEC petrol engine and the Honda IMA system in order to boost power and torque. Mugen Euro didn't reveal any output figures, but referred to the fuel consumption, deeming it encouraging.
"We've retained the three driving modes from the standard car and economy ranges from 50+mpg (41.6 mpg US) in 'eco' mode to mid-30 mpg (29 mpg US) when tapping into the supercharged power in a special 'Mugen' mode," said Colin Whittamore from Mugen Euro.
Engine and hybrid system aside, the CR-Z Mugen will also benefit from upgrades to the brakes and suspension, as well as from using lightweight components such as a carbon fiber bonnet and forged alloys to lower the overall mass. As the pictures show, the CR-Z Mugen sports a new body kit with upgraded front and rear bumpers, plus a rear wing and diffuser to improve aerodynamics.
For the time being, the CR-Z Mugen is treated as a pure concept study, but as Honda has shown in the recent past with the 240HP Civic Type R Mugen in 2009, there’s a good chance we may see a limited production run in the very near future.

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Toyota and Shell Build New Station in California

Toyota and Honda celebrated today the opening of the first hydrogen station in the U.S. fueled directly from an industrial hydrogen pipeline. Located near the headquarters of Toyota USA, in Torrance, California, the station is built on the company's land and is the result of a collaboration between Shell, Toyota, Air Products, South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) and the Department of Energy.
The station will provide hydrogen for the Toyota fuel cell hybrid demonstration program vehicles, as well as other manufacturers' fuel cell cars in the Los Angeles area.
“Building an extensive hydrogen re-fueling infrastructure is a critical step in the successful market launch of fuel cell vehicles,” said Chris Hostetter, vice president for product and strategic planning at Toyota USA. “We plan to bring a fuel cell vehicle to market in 2015, or sooner and the infrastructure must be in place to support our customers’ needs,”
Until then, other manufacturers that have fuel cell vehicles are free to use the station. Honda, for instance, celebrated the opening of the station by inviting users of its FCX Clarity model to fill up their tanks, with client Jon Spallino becoming the first retail fuel-cell vehicle customer to fill at the station. The FCX Clarity is available on a limited retail basis in Southern California with more than two dozen cars currently on the road.
"This is a positive step for our FCX Clarity customers and the industry as we continue to put vehicles on the road and demonstrate the real-world capabilities of Honda fuel-cell electric vehicle technology," said Elmer Hardy, senior manager at Honda USA.

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Honda, Nissan and Toyota Donate $3.75 Million Each for Japan

The massive earthquake followed by the even more devastating tsunami that struck the north-east coasts of Japan last week has brought together the country’s biggest automakers including Honda, Nissan and Toyota, which announced today that they will donate $3.75 million each for relief and recovery efforts in communities affected by the disaster.
In addition to the contribution in money, Nissan said it is also studying further relief efforts including complimentary provision of vehicles, such as trucks and forklifts, donation of medical supplies and daily commodities including blankets, antiseptics and masks, gift matching donation from Nissan employees, promotion, and support of blood donation activities.
Honda announced that it will donate a total of 1,000 power generators along with 5,000 gas canisters to the people left without electricity, while Toyota is considering the provision of goods and services as needed.
The three automakers have also announced the closure of some of their factories in Japan. From March 14 through March 20, Honda will suspend all production activities at its plants in Sayama, Saitama, Ogawa, Tochigi, Hamamatsu and Suzuka, plus all facilities in the Tochigi area, where damage was more serious. From March 15 through 20, Honda will also suspend production at the Kumamoto factory.
Nissan announced that operations at the Tochigi and Iwaki plants are suspended until March 18, while the Oppama, Kyushu, Shatai and Yokohama plants will be closed until March 16. As for Toyota, officials announced that the Hokkaido, Tohoku, Miyagi and Iwate plants are closed, with all employees having been evacuated to safe areas. The factories will remain closed at least until March 16.
Other automakers affected by the earthquake include Mazda, Mitsubishi, Subaru and Suzuki, which have either suspended or slowed down production because of supply shortages.

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Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan

A massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit the northeast part of Japan earlier this morning triggering a 10-meter high tsunami on the coasts of the country sweeping away homes, cars and buildings. The disastrous earthquake, which was followed by many aftershocks, is said to be the world's fifth-largest since 1900 and the biggest in Japan in 140 years.
The full extent of damages caused by the earthquake and the ferocious tsunami remain unknown for now, but we’re already hearing news of people being evacuated and many homes and factories destroyed.
On the automotive front, Toyota and Honda were forced to shut down some of their production plants and evacuate their workers from several factories in the quake zone. According to reports, Toyota, which has a large manufacturing presence in northern Japan, was affected the most with the shutdown possibly affecting production of cars like the Yaris sedan and the Scion xB and xD models.
Honda initially closed down both its Suzuka and Sayama plants, but production at the first factory resumed shortly after. The Sayama plant, which manufactures the US-bound Fit among other models, remains closed. 

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Honda Accord 2011

It seems that the petrol-sniffing Yellow Sac spider that forced Mazda to issue a recall on some 52,000 cars in the USA last week has a thing for mid-size Japanese sedans as the eight-legged arthropod also caused problems to Honda in the past. According to reports, Honda posted a Technical Service Bulletin in the summer of 2009 alerting its dealers to check Accords for possible infestation by the Yellow Sac spider, but had not issued a recall then.
“Spider webs are clogging the EVAP canister vent hose or the drain box,” said Honda’s service bulletin with the corrective action being to clean the webs and install a spring in the drain box.
Now, in the wake of the Mazda6 recall, Honda reportedly told its dealers to be on the lookout for the same spider in 2008-2009MY Accords.
But while in the Mazda6 the spider webs could cause air pressure problems in the gas tank potentially leading to a crack and fuel leakage, Honda says that’s not the case with the Accord. "It's just not happening in our cars," Honda spokeswoman Christina Ra told CNN. The company said that in the Accord, the spider webs create blockages with the only visible symptom being a "check engine" light coming on.


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