High-Res Photos of WTCC Civic

We offer you two high resolution photos of the new WTCC 1.6l Turbocharged Honda Civic. They are provided by Honda of Europe's media service. These photos are in their original sizes and only differs in the small TOVA watermark added.

Scoop photos on new CR-Z MMC : Power Comparison

TOVA reader Alan posted some photos to our TOVA Facebook (thanks Alan), the same photos being also posted on our TOV forums. It is likely these photos are taken off a japanese magazine due to the quality of the photos, as well as the layout of the last photo which seems to be more of a montage of photos. Nevertheless, these photos gives us very interesting info on the new CR-Z MMC to be launched on the 27th, just 10 days away from the date of this posting.

The first photo, which I look at in this post, is the power comparison. From this comparison, we can see that the MMC will nett power increases for the CR-Z as follows:

(A little bit) More info on the CR-Z MMC

We have received a little bit more information on the CR-Z MMC which will be launched at this coming Paris Motor Show on the 27th of this month.

Firstly, while the official Honda of Europe's press release has called it the '2013 CR-Z', we have been hearing the term 'CR-Z GT'. It would seem that there is a possibility the MMC CR-Z will be called the CR-Z GT in Europe.

Honda has already announced that the MMC CR-Z/CR-Z GT will feature increases in power of both the petrol engine and the IMA electric motor but yet still keeping the same fuel consumption and emissions. What we have heard from our source is that the actual increase in power is 12ps/hp. However we are not told if this is for the petrol engine alone or for the combined output. Even if this 12ps/hp is for the combined (engine+IMA motor) output, it still means the new MMC CR-Z/CR-Z GT will now have 136ps/hp max power, which will finally make it more than just acceptable. 

Note however that as with all 'scoop' and 'insider' info, there is no guarantee that this is correct or that this will not change when the actual final car is launched in Paris.

The photo above is from Honda of Europe's media site.

USDM 9G Accord reviews now appearing...

A week after its official launch, U.S. reviews of the USDM 9Gen Accord are now appearing on print and around the internet. Unlike the 9Gen Civic, reviews of this new Accord are generally very good to excellent, underlining the fact that Honda have made another great effort for this perennial best seller. 

0-60mph in the Honda CR-Z 6MT

I just put up my article on 0-60mph and 0-100kph testing on the Honda CR-Z 6MT. The article can be reached via http://asia.vtec.net. If you are a CR-Z 6MT owner who have done similar testing, would be interesting to hear from you and compare results. 

Please do read our disclaimer on standing start acceleration testing.

'New' Honda CR-Z coming this month !

For the JDM, Honda has officially announced the launch of a new CR-Z variant on the 27th of September (this month). The official 'announcement' is on the Honda domestic website http://www.honda.co.jp/CR-Z/new/. This announcement actually doesn't really say anything much, with only 3 teaser photos and the official date of launch. The three photos suggests that the 'new' or MMC CR-Z will get LED daylight running lights (DRLs), a new wheel design and a button on the dashboard labelled 'S+'. What does this 'S+' button do ? There is nothing else on the Honda.co.jp page.

However, one TOV reader/supporter reports that the main items of significance introduced in this facelift, or MMC, are a 'slightly more powerful' engine and special "push-the-button-to-the-boost" feature. This 'push button' seems like the 'S+' button above. The information suggests that this button offers a function like the F1-KERS, and gives the option to consume maximum of electrical power in short time. However, no other details are available at this time. 

It is not known if or when CR-Z's sold outside of Japan will get this facelift.

UPDATE :
There is a suggestion from another TOV forumer who has 'credentials', that this MMC will introduce the new '2nd generation' IMA powerplant for the CR-Z. This is the new 'Earth Dreams' or ED engine with uprated IMA motor and the Lithium Ion battery pack. The ED engine have just been debuted with the launch of the new 9Gen Accord in the U.S. and it would make sense that ED will now start making its way to the other models. 

It is also noted that on the same date (Sept 27th), the CR-Z MMC will also be launched in Europe. According to the European press, the same day will also see the launch of the new 9G Civic Type-R for Europe, which they are guessing will have the new ED 1.6l turbo-charged engine from the HPD (Honda Performance Division) racing Civic. 

Finally, do bear in mind that there have been rumours of a turbocharged CR-Z in the works, a rumour which I was able to confirm as real with one Honda insider I had contact with at one time. So there was also a suggestion that perhaps the European press have made a mistake or was misled, and the MMC CR-Z will see the introduction of the much talked about 'hot' CR-Z that the CR-Z LPL told me in person, that will be launched by Honda. I.e. this MMC will see a 1.6l turbocharged CR-Z which some rumours claims will have a max power of 180hp.

Sept 27th is but 3 weeks away from today. I will be trying to get more info so stay tuned and check back this post often, or go to TOVA facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TOVAsia for notifications of updates to this post.

New Accord

We (TOV) have just published official PR photos of the new USDM Accord, known as '2013 Accord' in the U.S. For asian Honda fans, do pay close attention as this version will be roughly what we ourselves will be getting when it comes time for us to get the new Accord. Do not expect this until earliest possible end of next year (2013) though, perhaps possibly even as far away as 2014. 

For the U.S., AHM has already more or less committed that the new Accord will debut Honda's new generation of engine line-up which they calls the 'Earth Dream' engines. This is a line-up of engines that have been specifically developed to offer new advances in emissions control and in fuel economy. Honda's IMA hybrid set is also set to feature prominently in this line-up. Also included in the line-up will be a new generation CVT gearbox which, from what I have heard from some Honda engineers, will offer significantly better efficiency that any automatic gearboxes Honda currently offers, with drive-train losses well below 20%. 

For the official AHM press release, click on the link below. However, do keep in mind that this is the USDM version but also that our asian version will be heavily based on it. 

http://www.vtec.net/news/news-item?news_item_id=1083381

Honda CR-Z Review is out.

My initial review of the CR-Z is finally finished. There was a slight delay in getting it published on TOVA but it is finally up as at yesterday night. As I did several different tests on this car, I have taken the strategy of publishing several articles so this initial review will be followed by a few other shorter reviews addressing specific areas, like dyno results, or 0-100kph standing start acceleration tests. 

The NSX is coming !!! Part Two

The first time the new NSX was confirmed was just after the Tokyo Motor Show of this year, when Jeff told me he had to rush back to the U.S. for a very special preview. I did not know, nor expect the significance of that at the time. Previously, while Honda CEO Ito-san had publicly confirmed a new Honda supercar, he did not confirm it would be the NSX. In fact, from the many conflicting and chaotic reports on the media, many actually claims that their 'insider info' says that it will be the HSV-010GT FR supercar that Honda has been competing with in the Super GT competition over the past two years.