Honda CR-Z CVT is here !

Honda Malaysia launched the CVT variant of the sporty hybrid CR-Z yesterday. The CR-Z was originally launched with only the 6MT as Honda Malaysia rightfully considered that a proper sports car should come with a manual gearbox. Nevertheless at the press conference during the original launch, I witnessed with some amusement how several media journalists commented negatively that the automatic gearbox is not available for the CR-Z. I could actually see bewilderment on the faces of the Honda Malaysia marketing staff when they received the comments. Nevertheless, they reacted promptly to the comments and has now made the CVT option available as well. Price is RM119,000 OTR. Significantly the CR-Z now comes with a 5 year or 140,000 km waranty for the IMA battery. To read the full Honda Malaysia press release, click on the link below.

Honda City MMC

Honda Malaysia launched the MMC for the super successful Honda City yesterday. The MMC features a number of external design changes, most prominently the front grille. The engine now also comes with a new 'ECO' mode for when driving conditions are optimal for fuel economy. However, Honda Malaysia could not answer if this means there are any technical changes to the drivetrain. Specifications for the drivetrain are unchanged. More significantly is the introduction of a 5 years unlimited mileage warantty for the City (T&C applies) as well as an extended service package (T&C applies). The improvements given by this MMC should enable the City to continue its success and Honda Malaysia is confident enough to project monthly sales of 2,000 units. I will cover the MMC in a little bit more detail in TOVA soon.

Next gen Accord, insider infor

Someone in our TOV forums posted this in a thread. It contains some important information on the new Accord which is expected to debut early next year in the U.S. For Asia, it is expected the new Accord will debut either end of next year or early 2014. The asian Accords should be getting variants of the engines fitted to the U.S. Accords.

New Accord spy photos

Autoevolution website has purchased and published a set of very clear next generation Accord spy photos. Click on the link below to go to the website where you can view the photos.

http://www.autoevolution.com/news-g-image/spyshots-2013-honda-accord/77782.html 

Next Gen Accord spy photo

We (TOV/TOVA) have published spy photos of what is believed to be the new Accord, being tested on the streets in the U.S. The car caught on photo will be the U.S. version but from history, it is known that other than Japan and Europe, the rest of the world will be getting a variation of this model, including most of asia.

For more photos and discussions, visit http://www.vtec.net/news/news-image?image=1066673/13accord_kgp-01.jpg

The Making Of : Acura's Avenger Supercar

One of my facebook buddies posted this on his wall, an article which talks about how the Acura supercar that is featured on the Avengers movie and driven by Tony Stark was made. I think you would be interested if you have not already read the article.

http://autos.sympatico.ca/features/13757/the-avengers-hero-car-how-to-make-a-one-off-acura

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.