Honda Freed and Freed Spike Hybrids

Concurrently, Honda has also announced hybrid versions of the Honda Freed and Freed Spike for Japan. The base Freed and Freed Spike uses a 1.5l SOHC i-VTEC engine and the new hybrid variants will also be using a 1.5l engine, i-VTEC with IMA. Again no other details are available at this moment in time. The relevant url is at

http://www.honda.co.jp/FREED/new/

New 1.5l Insight variant for Japan

In their domestic website at www.honda.co.jp, Honda has announced a new variant for the Honda Insight for Japan. This new 'exclusive' or 'premium' variant will be carrying the larger 1.5l i-VTEC IMA engine. There are no official details yet so it is not clear whether the engine will be the one from the Honda Civic Hybrid or the Honda CR-Z. On the relevant page, there is a photo of the tachometer showing a redline at almost 6,000rpm which suggests the former as more likely, though it is not confirmed if the photo is for the new 1.5l variant. There are no indications if the battery will remain the NiMH type or the new LiOn type. Note that the new 9Gen Civic has not been launched in Japan and currently there is no Civic in its line-up. So the HCH and its detail is from the U.S./Canada version.

The url for the announcement of this new variant is :
http://www.honda.co.jp/INSIGHT/new/

Full Technical Review of the Honda Brio

Well no, not done by me but this is an official Honda article where the designers of the Honda Brio talks about the design objectives and salient points for the interior and exterior of the Honda Brio. The article can be read at http://world.honda.com/design/designers-talk/brio/exterior/. At the bottom of the page is the link to the page on interior design.

Honda Brio launched in India

The Honda Brio, Honda's 'energetic and cheerful' mini-car was launched in India on September 27 2011. The Brio was actually developed following Honda’s extensive market surveys in India on people’s driving needs and lifestyles. The Brio is powered by a four cylinder 1.2-liter i-VTEC engine that delivers maximum output of 88 PS @ 6000 rpm and Torque of 109 Nm (11.2 kg-m) @ 4600 rpm, while giving an excellent fuel economy of 18.4 km/l, as per test data. Brio is available in India with only a 5-speed manual transmission. Honda's article on the launch is available at http://world.honda.com/news/2011/4110927Brio-India/?r=. 

This launch suggests that the Brio might possibly be making its way across Asia in the near future.

New INTERIOR spy shots of 4Gen CR-V !

China's China Car Times, published spy photos of the new 4Gen CR-V, the photos picked up and then re-published (with full credits given) by Australia's caradvice.com.au website. These shots are the first known proper shots of the interior of the new CR-V in very high detail. More importantly for asian Honda fans, these photos are also indicative of the asian market CR-V which is expected to debut starting from early next year (2012).

The interior photos reveals a general evolution of the current CR-V. A close up photo of the dashboard with a tacho that redlines at 6,600rpm, same as the current generation, suggests that the R20A engine will continue to be used in the new CR-V. The center mounted gearshift layout is retained and the steering wheel continues to be devoid of paddles so the CR-V will continue on without a sequential manual shift override option (which can be useful on certain occasions, when the CR-V is fully loaded). Interestingly there is a 'START' button feature.

The australian website link is http://www.caradvice.com.au/132257/2012-honda-cr-v-interior-and-exterior-spy-shots/. The photo above is taken from the website.

4Gen CR-V Concept Public Debut

The new 4Gen Honda CR-V Concept made its public debut at the Orange County International Auto Show in Anaheim, California U.S.A. The actual model will debut at the Los Angeles Motor Show in November this year and will go on sale in the U.S. at the end of this year. Thereafter it should start showing up in the rest of the world. For ASEAN, it is supposed to be launched somewhere in the 2nd quarter of next year (2012), probably the latter part of the quarter. Along with the concept, Honda has talked about a more fuel efficient (but not new) engine plus reduced body weight. Honda has also provided a video for the concept and the press photos plus this video can be seen at our news and rumours section.

New 4Gen CR-V fully revealed !

A very sharp eye'ed reader and a very net-savvy TOV 'head' led us to the discovery of pictures of the new 4Gen CR-V on an european patent website. Apparently Honda has filed patents in Europe for the 4Gen CR-V and thanks to a lead from TOV reader Frank Opperman, TOV 'head' Jeff Palmer found computer generated 3D diagrams of the 4Gen CR-V on the website.

These diagrams more or less shows exactly how the new CR-V will look like. The computer graphic above is one of the diagrams and there are five more, from all angles of the car, available at our news and rumours article here.