Noticias HONDA

Con 406 puntos, el Honda CR-Z ha sido elegido entre 10 finalistas y, con este galardón, convierte a Honda en la marca que más veces ha conseguido esta distinción, ya que ha ganado un total de 11 ediciones de las 31 que se han celebrado.

«Nos sentimos muy orgullosos de que el CR-Z haya sido seleccionado entre los grandes competidores que optaban al Coche del Año 2010-2011en Japón”, señala el Presidente y CEO de Honda Motor Co., Ltd, Sr. Takanobu Ito. Y añade: “Este reconocimiento demuestra que el público ha aceptado de buen grado la aspiración de Honda por ofrecer un alto rendimiento medioambiental en un automóvil híbrido y a la vez de conducción deportiva. Este galardón obtenido por el CR-Z también refleja el verdadero valor de los esfuerzos que han realizado tanto nuestros partners de negocio, así como todos aquellos que han contribuido en el desarrollo del CR-Z y en su fabricación. La intención de Honda es seguir ofreciendo más satisfacción a un número todavía más amplio de clientes”

Desde el año 2000, Honda ha conseguido el premio al Coche del Año en Japón en 6 ocasiones. Este dato refuerza aún más, si cabe, la avanzada tecnología y el moderno diseño que caracteriza a los productos de Honda.

Summary of Changes:

• Revised exterior styling
• Detail changes to interior finishes
• Improvements to emissions and economy on all engines
• 138 g/km 2.2 i-DTEC introduced
• Ride and handling improvements for all models
• Auto High-Beam Support System and Active Cornering Lights debut on Accord
• 180 PS Type S model now available across Europe with bespoke interior and exterior  styling

Exterior Design

Both the sedan and Tourer have benefitted from small but noticeable changes to the head lights and bumpers to complement the changes under the skin. The head lights have been given a cleaner, crisper appearance with the previously amber indicators now in a clear finish. On top grade cars the lights are now bi-xenon and feature Active Cornering Lights to improve night time visibility. The grille has been subtly remodelled with the two central spars finished in the same chrome material as the outer grille, for a sportier look. The cooling duct and fog light recesses on all models have been re-profiled with the taper of these areas given a more aggressive line, giving the car a more planted appearance.

The rear of the sedan model has been subtly enhanced with the rear lights having a light red finish for the reversing light and indicators to match that of the fog light, giving a balance to the rear styling. The exclusive styling of the sedan is rounded off with a light chrome garnish above the rear licence plate on most models and a dark chrome finish on Type S grade cars. The new exterior design cues are finished off with three new colours consisting of Alabaster Silver, Graphite Lustre and Celestial Blue Pearl added to the line up.

Interior Design

The exterior styling changes have been complemented by a number of subtle changes to the interior with most grades having new seat materials and door linings, changing the ambience of the cabin. Type S models have exclusive half leather, seats in a dark grey finish and a black head lining to further distinguish the top grade. The metal-look finish interior trim that covers the hand brake, gear lever surround, steering wheel garnish, door inlays, with a red background and sweeps up across the centre of the dash is now in a darker hue, to complement the new interior fabrics. The footwells of the majority of models are now illuminated blue if the headlights are on and red on Type S models.

Fuel Economy and Emission Improvements

The refined 2.2 litre 150 PS i-DTEC diesel engine has had internal frictional losses reduced to improve fuel economy and emissions. The result of these changes is an 9 g/km drop in CO2 emissions for the sedan with the 6-speed manual transmission and an 11 g/km reduction for the automatic variant. These internal changes have been combined with a host of underbody aerodynamic aids, including a larger front air dam, underfloor and a rear subframe cover Honda’s engineers have also put effort into reducing the frictional losses in the wheels and tyres with low friction wheel bearings and reduced rolling resistance tyres. Accords equipped with Automatic transmission have also benefitted from minimised frictional losses in the gearbox and optimised ratios to improve economy and emissions.

Quieter Cabin

The already impressive NVH performance of the current Accord has been further improved with the adoption of higher density foam in the under bonnet and dashboard areas. The underfloor noise insulation has also been revised and teamed with additional sound deadening shields on the DPF and exhaust manifold cover of the diesel engine. The suite of noise reductions techniques is completed with a small 0.9 mm increase in the thickness of the rear window glass, improving the rear passenger experience.

Chassis

Engineers from Japan worked with their counterparts in Germany and the UK to further refine the dampers of the Accord Tourer and sedan for the vast range of road conditions found in Europe. Detailed refinement of the dual mode dampers has given improvement in both high speed stability for highway driving and a significant improvement in ride quality, even over poor road surfaces.

Active Cornering Lights

One of the most visible changes to the top of the range Accords is the addition of Active Cornering Lights, which provide enhanced illumination when the vehicle is turning. Additional lights units have been subtly integrated into the existing lights units, casting all of their light to the side of the vehicle to help the driver in low visibility conditions. The light unit on the relevant side will be illuminated when the driver activates the indicators in that direction or turns the steering wheel more than 90 degrees. When the vehicle is in reverse, both lights will be activated to give a good view to either side of the driver.

High-Beam Support System

Another new lighting technology for Honda is the High Beam Support system, which is fitted on vehicles with the bi-xenon headlights. This system is controlled by a CMOS camera fitted to the windscreen in the area of the driver rear view mirror. The camera detects oncoming headlights or the taillights of a vehicle in front and automatically dips the headlights onto their normal setting if they are on high-beam. This allows the driver to fully concentrate on the road conditions, without having to manually control the high-beam setting.

Marc Serruya, presidente de Honda España, opina que dada la situación económica actual, en España sobran la mitad de los concesionarios presentes. El directivo ha realizado estas declaraciones durante la presentación del nuevo Honda Civic en Málaga, un modelo que encabezará una ofensiva para relanzar a la marca en el mercado europeo y, que como ayer anunciaba AUTOBILD.ES, llegará con retraso debido a las inundaciones en Tailandia (El Honda Civic llegará más tarde de lo esperado).

El presidente de Honda España explicó a los periodistas que hoy el mercado supone el 50% (800.000 unidades matriculdas) del que había en 2007, por lo que es previsible que la parte de la distribución sea la que sufra los mayores cambios en los próximos meses. Asimismo, añadió que son los concesionarios los que más están padeciendo la crisis, puesto que actualmente tienen una rentabilidad media negativa del 0.8%.