Honda Resumes Production at Automobile Plant in Thailand

March 26, 2012 - Honda Automobile (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (HATC), the Honda automobile production subsidiary in Thailand (headquarter in the Rojana Industrial Park, Ayutthaya), today resumed production of automobiles after suspending production since October 4, 2011, due to the damage sustained from the flooding in Thailand.

CR-Z reviews to start soon

I just returned the CR-Z to Honda Malaysia, during lunch time. I had the car for around 4 days, picking it up early Friday morning. To be honest, I did not have much expectation for the car, due mainly to what I perceive to be its 'below spec' engine. I.e. us Honda freaks are used to sporty Honda cars with 8000rpm redlines and sky-high specific output engines, so a 1.5l i-VTEC with 'only' 125ps didn't exactly stir any excitement when I picked the car up. 

Perhaps it is this lack of expectation, though I would think it has more to do with the generally high-quality of execution Honda did on the CR-Z, I am happy to say it has exceeded my expectations a lot ! I really did enjoy driving the car over the extended weekend. Due to its 'status', as the flag bearer for Honda's sporty driving DNA, i.e. the only truly sporty Honda in the current line-up, I did an almost full suite of testings on the car, like what I used to do on TOVA back many years ago. And the CR-Z really did perform well in most of them.

I will start on my reviews for the CR-Z soon. I will be doing a series of them, covering various aspects of the car. For now, as some sort of teaser, I can say that the CR-Z out-deliver in many areas, at least based on my personal expectations. For the standing start acceleration test for e.g., despite a less than ideal environment, I managed to dip below 9.5 seconds for the 0-100kph test, and below 9 seconds for the corresponding 0-60mph test which required one gear change less. 

And just now, on the dyno, the CR-Z once again surprised me with its much much higher than expected delivered power at the front wheels. The power I registered on the Dynojet just now was more on par with an engine in the 140+ps power output range, rather than the 'only' 124ps that Honda spec'ed it for. 

The series of articles I plan to write on the CR-Z includes an initial preview, then how it performed on the Genting run, coverage of it on the dyno, and the standing start acceleration test. All of these I will compare against other models in the local Honda line-up. Then I will close with a series of three more articles - assessment of the CR-Z from both the Honda enthusiasts and the regular driver points of view and a final assesment. Please check back here at TOVA Honda-Fan for previews of the articles and at TOVA to read the articles themselves.

The Jazz Hybrid is coming !

I can confirm that Honda will be launching the Jazz Hybrid here in Malaysia in the very near future. It will be this month itself though I don't think I should disclose the actual date of the launch at this time. I believe interested buyers will probably already know roughly when as they should be able to place a booking for the car now. This makes a total of three hybrid models in the Malaysian line-up.