Archive for May, 2010
Honda To Unleash Mugen Type Rr In Japan
Japan is set to receive a special edition of the Civic sedan the Mugen Type RR which will have a retail sticker price of 39000. Come September this year Japanese car enthusiasts will be able to get their hands on the hottest Civic Type R yet those who are quick and moneyed enough at least for only a very limited 300 units will be available.
The beast designed to be the ultimate frontengined/frontwheeldrive performance car gets 240 horsepower a sport suspension and brakes lowered ride height and Recaro seats.
But the heart of the Type RR is Honda’s magnificent DOHC 2.0liter iVTEC fourcylinder. Mated to a sixspeed manual gearbox the engine delivers the whopping 240 horsepower and 161 poundfeet of torque.
The Type RR sits on Bridgestone Potenza RE070 performance tires 225/40R18 all around and weighs a mere 2734 pounds. Honda maker of top of the line parts like Honda control arm has also upgraded the vehicles dual exhaust system and revised its air intake. The Mugen Type RR will come in Milan Red finish.
Hondas Type R models are special performance editions of their respective model families with the design of Type R “R” for “Racing” models originally focused on race conditions emphasizing on minimizing weight and maximizing performance potential e.g. engine tuning suspension setup etc.
Type R vehicles traditionally have a red Honda badge and Championship White paint as an option to relate to their first F1 winning car. Honda’s racing and F1 cars often feature a red Honda badge.
The first Honda car to carry the nameplate was the NSXR a strippedout version of Honda’s NSX supercar. More affordable Type Rs followed including the Integra Type R which debuted in the U.S. in 1997.
The Civic Type R has never been sold in the United States including its latest model. In Europe the Civic Type R is an alternative to ageold favorites such as the VW Golf GTI.
Each Type R model is bound by a common philosophy to deliver a raw edgy racederived driving experience. A highrevving normally aspirated engine is a must as was a quickfire gearbox. The original Civic Type R delivered all of these things but its harsh ride and poor refinement made long journeys extremely difficult. Todays models however now offer a greater breadth of ability whole maintaining the Type R philosophy.
Honda had earlier released the new Civic Type R in Japan March this year.
About the writer: Ally Wahlberg is a Computer Information Systems specialist. Ally leads an active lifestyle and he is a fan of extreme sports. He is also a car enthusiast and writing about his interests is one of his passions.
Honda Service
How to save money on your next Honda service
Honda servicing is now much cheaper for those in the know.
Thanks to European legislation you no longer have to be tied to high Honda service costs dictated by your local dealer.
In October 2003 new European legislation affecting the motor industry came into force called Block Exemption Regulation 14002002 BER and this now means that you can book your next Honda car service online and save up to 50 on what you might pay at your local Honda dealer.
Before the law changed it was difficult to have new cars within their warranty period serviced outside a franchised dealer. If you wanted to shop around for the best prices on Honda servicing your hands were tied.
The change in the law now gives every car owner the freedom to service their car away from the main dealers and still have their warranty protected.
Thousands of Honda car owners have now taken advantage of their new right and reduced their Honda serving costs whilst benefiting from the convenience of booking with national car service providers such as Service A Car.
Service A Car is a leading online car servicing network that prides itself on the quality of its Honda servicing their customer service and transparent pricing. Because the company is not tied to any particular car manufacturer they are able to service any make of vehicle and compete freely in the market on a likeforlike.
Every vehicle is rigorously serviced according to the manufacturers servicing schedule using genuine recommended parts fitted by qualified technicians. This means that every Honda car service fulfils the warranty criteria and there is no compromise on the servicing standards of a main dealer.
Companies like Service A Car who fulfil the warranty criteria when servicing your Honda are able to maintain your service book just as main dealer can thereby protecting your warranty and helping you to maximise the resale value of your Honda car.
Of course booking direct with a national car servicing network has its own advantages:
You no longer have to do all the running around. Service A Car collects your Honda in the morning and delivers it back that afternoon free of charge
You pay a fixed Honda service price which can be up to 50 below the price at the Honda servicing desk of your local dealer
No additional work is carried out without your agreement which means no nasty surprises when it comes to paying the bill
Trained Customer Advisers are on hand throughout the day to keep you informed of progress and report back on problems you asked to be investigated as part of your Honda service e.g. knocks and rattles
Your Honda service includes a free wash and vacuum clean
You simply pay with your credit or debit card and your car is delivered back to your home or work address.
Our advice for saving money on Honda car servicing is to contact a national car servicing network who is not tied to any one particular car manufacturer like Service A Car.
So before you book your next Honda service why not ask your local dealer to tell you the cost of the service plus parts oil and any extras and then compare it with a fixed price quote from a national servicing network like Service A Car?
Happy motoring
Howard.
Chairman Service A Car
About the writer: Service A Car is the fastest growing independent car servicing specialist in the UK with a network of over 500 garages nationwide.
Honda Is Americas Greenest Automaker
The recent increase in the price of gasoline has forced car buyers to look for fuel efficient vehicles. Aside from that the awareness of the threat of global warming is increasing among American motorists. That translates to an increased demand for fuel efficient and ecofriendly vehicles.
To meet that growing demand car manufacturers are developing and producing clean cars which not only offers savings on fuel consumption but also reduces the amount of emission released into the atmosphere. One of the leading car manufacturers in the manufacturing of green cars is the Japanese brand Honda.
Recently the company was given the distinction of being the 2007 Greenest Automaker by the Union of Concerned Scientists.
The distinction was given to the second largest Japanese car maker for the fourth consecutive time. The award is given biennially which means that for almost a decade Honda is the greenest car manufacturer. The award is based on the low overall production of smogforming and global warming emissions of Hondas U.S. auto fleet.
The design of Hondas vehicles allows the engine to burn conventional gasoline but this also limits the release of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere by the use of filters designed exactly for trapping carbon dioxide.
Don McKenzie a vehicle engineer for the Union of Concerned Scientists has this to say about Hondas accomplishments: Honda remains the greenest U.S. automaker. The company installs clean technology across its entire fleet of cars and trucks and that consistency makes it a top environmental performer. Honda is one of only two automakers to have betterthanaverage global warming scores in every class of vehicles it sold in MY2005. In addition Honda continues to have the best smog score in four out of the five classes.
The distinction is the result of Hondas threefold environmental goals. The companys first challenge is to produce vehicles which will have good fuel efficiency and at the same time reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon dioxide is mainly the largest contributor to the threat of global warming. This greenhouse gas is produced by burning petroleum based products like gasoline. This means that by reducing the amount of gasoline burned they are also reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions.
The second goal for Honda is to reduce smogforming emissions. This is a response to the growing problem of air pollution on major cities all over the world. By reducing emissions harmful gases will not be released into the atmosphere where they react with other gases to produce acid rain.
The third goal for Honda is the development of alternative fuels which can be used as a substitute for gasoline in the long run. This effort is due to the fact that petroleum products come from nonrenewable sources of energy. That means that there will come a time in the future that the amount of petroleum products produced will not meet the demand of the global community.
So in order for the world to reduce dependency on that nonrenewable source of energy Honda is aiming to develop alternative fuels for their vehicles.
The Japanese brand while producing ecofriendly vehicles is also known for the reliability of their cars. That is one of the strongest selling points of Hondas lineup their reliability. And this kind of reliability is very similar to that of Volvo V70 parts.
About the writer: Glady Reign is a 32 year old is a consultant for an automotive firm based in Detroit Mi. She is a native of the motor city and grew up around cars hence her expertise in the automotive field.
