What's new at Honda

Business ‘Insight’ Challenge Heats Up

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 11:22:56 +1200

The competition is heating up in the quest to find New Zealand’s most fuel efficient company behind the wheel.

Following a convincing display of thrifty driving from five of New Zealand’s telecom giants, it’s now time for some of New Zealand’s top media titles to gear up for the 2012 Honda Business Insight Challenge.

Drivers from Stuff.co.nz, the New Zealand Herald and NZ Business Magazine will go head-to-head during the Easter weekend in an attempt to prove their efficiency behind the wheel.

Each weekend during the next three months, a nominated driver from participating companies will put their thrifty driving to the test behind the wheel of a Honda Insight - New Zealand's most effective car to run in 2010 and Supreme Winner in the 2010 AA Energywise Rally. Drivers will collect their Insight from a Honda showroom on a Friday afternoon, where they will have their picture taken with the car. After a weekend of efficient motoring, drivers will return the car on the Monday and their average fuel consumption for the weekend will be recorded on the Honda Business Insight leader board.

Costing 40% less to run than the average hatch, the Insight has the perfect credentials for use in an eco-drive challenge.Orcon, 2degrees, Telecom, Telstraclear and Vodafone kicked off the Honda Business Insight Challenge last weekend. Despite efficient driving efforts from all contenders, Telstraclear’s Byron Mclean was victorious. With an average fuel consumption rate of 4.5 litres per 100km over the course of the weekend, Telstraclear currently tops the Honda Business Insight leader board.

Honda’s challenge is still open to companies of all sizes, from all sectors and from all corners of the country, interested in proving their efficiency behind the wheel. So, why not throw down the challenge to your competitors, suppliers or even customers. The winning company will be awarded the Honda Business Insight trophy and the kudos of being New Zealand’s most fuel efficient company behind the wheel.

To enter the Honda Business Insight Challenge, simply email your business name, city, contact person, contact phone number, nominated driver and details of any company you would like to challenge to, business.insight@honda.co.nz or enter via the tab on the Honda Facebook page at www.facebook.co.nz/HondaNZ.

Follow the Honda Business Insight Challenge at Twitter@HondaNZ.

Japan Day 2012 Competition Winner

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 10:50:40 +1300

One lucky individual has won a night’s accommodation with breakfast for two at the luxurious Bayview Wairakei Resort in Taupo.

Patricia Fielding attended Japan Day 2012, at the ASB Showgrounds, and entered the Honda New Zealand Competition draw. Our lucky winner, Patricia will drive there in style with a brand new Honda of her choice.

Congratulations Patricia, we are sure you will have an enjoyable time!

480,000 Trees Help Make New Zealand Greener

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 12:08:13 +1300

Honda’s ambition to support New Zealand's biodiversity takes another step forward this week, with the achievement of a significant tree planting milestone.

Through its highly regarded TreeFund initiative, Honda is now officially responsible for the accumulated funding of 480,000 native trees.

The most recent planting took place at Kahikatea Reserve in Blenheim, where over 1,200 native tree seedlings were planted by the local community. With a full programme of plantings for the coming season, the significant milestone of half a million trees funded is anticipated very soon.

Passionate about restoring bio-diversity, Honda developed TreeFund as an opportunity for customers to become involved in the greening of their own local community and to encourage local bio-diversity. With 13 native trees planted for every new car sold, Honda has been funding tree plantings nationally since 2004.

Honda’s Thailand Manufacturing Facility Resumes Production

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 16:13:42 +1300

Honda New Zealand today welcomed the news that production has resumed at Honda’s Thailand automobile production facility.

Production came to an abrupt halt six months ago, when catastrophic floods devastated Thailand in October 2011. As a result, Honda has been supplying alternative automobiles from Japan to some countries in the Asia Oceania region to ensure continuity of supply.

Following extensive efforts to drain flood water, clean, inspect, repair and replace plant facilities and manufacturing equipment damaged by the flood, production resumed this week and is expected to be fully stabilised in April.

Honda’s Thailand production facility is located in the Ayutthaya province of Thailand and produces 4.5 per cent of global Honda vehicle supplies, with a production capacity of 240,000 units per year.

Stylish Newcomers Make Fashion Debut

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 09:23:00 +1300

Two hot new models are set to grace the catwalk this Saturday, 24 March. But, these aren’t your average international fashion models, and this isn’t your average catwalk!

Honda’s new sporty coupe, the CRZ and fresh new Civic Sport will make their debut at this year’s Newmarket ‘Catwalk on the Street’ event – a traffic-stopping fashion fiesta featuring four outdoor catwalk shows between 11am and 4pm.

Both cars will be perfectly positioned for admiring glances and photo opportunities, amidst the 30 fashion designers, 45 models and 25 metre runway on Newmarket’s Osborne Street. One of the day’s highlights is the eagerly anticipated announcement of the Next Face of Newmarket winner.

The Almighty Johnsons’ Jared Turner will make an appearance at Honda’s Newmarket showroom from 11am. Pop along to hear Jared’s thoughts on the Honda Insight he’s been test driving during filming.

Giveaways add to the day’s appeal and two lucky people will get the chance to win one of two Honda weekend getaway packages worth $1,450 each.

First prize features a weekend away in the Honda CRZ Sport with the second prize winner experiencing the Honda Civic 2.0 Sport for the weekend. Both winners will be treated to two night’s accommodation at the Flagstaff Lodge and Day Spa in the heart of Russell, with a Day Spa treatment, evening drinks and canapés and superb á la carte breakfast.

Plus, 40 lucky people can park stress-free at Honda’s Newmarket showroom, so there’s no excuse to miss out on the action. The first 40 people to enter the Honda prize draw will receive free event parking. Simply visit www.facebook.co.nz/newmarketexperience and click ‘like’ for further details.

Come along and check out the latest fashion trends and Honda’s hot new models for yourself.

‘New Car Smell’: Honda Civic Scores Best on Toxic Chemical Report

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 11:03:34 +1300

(ANN ARBOR, Mich.) — When car buyers pull out of a dealer’s lot with the latest models, there’s almost nothing more indicative of their brand new purchases than that “new car smell.” But what many drivers may not know is that the appealing aroma is actually a blend of toxic chemicals that could make you sick.

“What people don’t realize is the new car smell is actually the smell of chemicals. These are chemicals that are in the interior of vehicles — plastics, adhesives and fabrics,” said Jeff Gearhart, the research director at the Ecology Center, which released its fourth annual consumer guide to toxic chemicals in cars on Wednesday.

After testing over 200 of the most popular 2011-2012 models, the report found that the Honda Civic scored the best in ranking this year.

“This year Honda was our best performing company in terms of their vehicles. Honda led the pack in terms of PVC reduction. They phased out the use of PVC in almost their entire fleet of vehicles,” Gearhart said.

Honda’s CR-Z also placed in the top three. The Toyota Prius came in second.

Among the worst offenders were the Chrysler 200 SC, the Kia Soul and the Mitsubishi Outlander Sport, which came in last. The Ecology Center said the Outlander “contained bromine and antimony-based flame retardants in the seating and center console; chromium treated leather on several components; and over 400 ppm lead in seating materials.”

As Gearhart explained, “These chemicals can have a wide range of impacts. Liver toxicity, hormone disruption, reproductive impacts as well as cancer.”

So how can new car drivers reduce their exposure to these chemicals?

“They should ventilate the car frequently before they enter it. Using a solar shade on the windshield to help minimize the heat and solar exposure in the vehicle,” he said.

Source:

East Idaho News

Eco-Drive Challenge Gives ‘Insight’ into Most Efficient Business

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 11:26:52 +1300

The heat is on in the search to find New Zealand’s most fuel efficient company behind the wheel.

The Honda Business Insight is an exciting new business eco-drive challenge that encourages companies country-wide to rev up their competitors, suppliers or even customers, as they battle it out for the title of 2012 Honda Business Insight Champions.

Each weekend during the next three months, a nominated driver from participating companies will put their thrifty driving to the test behind the wheel of a Honda Insight - New Zealand's most effective car to run in 2010. Drivers will collect their Insight from a Honda showroom on a Friday afternoon, where they will have their picture taken with the car. After a weekend of efficient motoring, drivers will return the car on the Monday and their average fuel consumption for the weekend will be recorded on the Honda Business Insight leader board.

First up, marking the official launch of the Honda Business Insight Challenge on Friday, 23 March, are five giants of the telecoms industry. Orcon, 2degrees, Telecom, Telstraclear and Vodafone, have all fielded drivers, who will go head-to-head in the fuel efficiency stakes this weekend. And, as the pre-challenge build up intensifies, all five drivers are equally keen to be the front runner and claim the eco-drive title.

Graeme Meyer, Head of Marketing for Honda New Zealand, is laying down the Honda Business Insight Challenge to companies of all sizes, from all sectors and from all corners of the country.

“Are you the most fuel efficient company in your industry? In your city? How about in New Zealand? Prove it with the Honda Business Insight Challenge, where you get the opportunity to give fellow companies an ‘insight’ into your thrifty driving habits,” says Graeme.

The winning company will be awarded the Honda Business Insight trophy and the kudos of being New Zealand’s most fuel efficient company behind the wheel.

Costing 40% less to run than the average hatch, the Insight has the perfect credentials for use in an eco-drive challenge, as demonstrated by its status as Supreme Winner in the 2010 AA Energywise Rally.

Follow the Honda Business Insight Challenge at https://twitter.com/#!/hondanz.

CRZ wins wheels car of the year

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:18:43 +1300

A well-designed sporty coupe, the CRZ is a fun drive that lets you play in the real world.

So, it will come as little suprise to those who have test driven the all-new CRZ that it has recently won Car of the Year in the esteemed Australian magazine Wheels.

The CRZ took out the award amongst five other finalists, including the Volkswagen Scirocco, Audi A6, Ford Focus, Range Rover Evoque and Skoda Yeti.

Click here to see the full story or click here to test drive the CRZ.

Honda CRZ is wired for fun

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 11:45:03 +1300

If Honda still made the Prelude, its one-time staple performance coupe, it would probably cost $55,000-plus in 2011 money. When you figure that by conventional wisdom, adding hybrid power to something also adds to its sticker, rather than reducing it, the $44,900 asking price for the CR-Z looks decent.

You see the CR-Z is effectively what the Prelude was a prelude to. It's a 1.5-litre sports coupe that uses Honda's Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) electric hybrid system to give it some extra urge. Honda calls it a two plus two, but between friends it's really no more than a two plus laptop bag and dog, which was no more than the Prelude offered in the old days anyway.

The conventional oily bit of the CR-Z's power train is a version of Honda's trusty Jazz engine, which employs the latest rendering of the company's now nearly 30 years old V-Tec variable valve timing system to boost performance in the upper rev-range.

All told, the CR-Z can make use of up to 84kW from its petrol unit and another 10kW from the light, compact electric motor, which also adds 145Nm to top up the Jazz block's already useful 78.4Nm. With differing peaks for the electric and petrol power units' maximae, the top combined outputs at any one time are 91kW and 167Nm (manual) and 174Nm (automatic) respectively.

The best part of this is that the IMA's torque contribution occurs effectively from the moment it starts to turn, imbuing the wee 1.5-litre conventional motor with uncommonly lusty urge from implausibly low revolutions.

Thus the CR-Z feels much bigger than it is, with off the mark urgency and mid-range urge that belie its size totally. In fact, this is not exactly how the car's mid-80s predecessor, the original CR-X used to feel. This is because you don't need frantic engine revs to enjoy yourself. You can dial them in if you wish and the car will indeed deliver crisp performance when you do, but the IMA powertrain's flexibility means that it doesn't NEED to be driven hard all the time.

You can change the powertrain's character to suit, by prodding one of three buttons. There's Sport, Normal and Eco, and the nice thing is even if you forget to move out of the Eco mode, the car still gets a hurry on.

It feels so much more grown up, and while I thought that judging by the car's firm ride quality and tyre roar that it would skip around a bit on road imperfections (which is, of course, likely anywhere you drive in New Zealand) the CR-Z was a surprisingly well-mannered wee beastie, even when pressing-on a bit.

The CR-Z's Jazz-related lightweight engine and IMA unit and under the front seats fuel tank position conspire with an under the rear floor NiMH battery to provide a delightfully well- balanced weight distribution, which is made even better by the fact that the heaviest bits of the car are near the centre of the plot. Thus everything literally revolves around the driver, which means the car's seat-of-the pants heft is perfect for backroad driving. The steering is electric, but Honda's been working with such systems since the 90s and has given the CR- Z one of the most communicative set-ups of this type that I've had in a front-drive car, and while its resistance and weighting alters with the drive mode you select, it's always satisfying in the way it responds and a delight for a sporting driver. Ride quality is a little firm on some surfaces though never harsh.

Driving normally you achieve 5L/100km or therebouts with the CR-Z, which is nice and green in anyone's language. In terms of emissions that's about 115g/km CO2, which may not be quite as green as some hybrids are, but hang-it-all, they don't deliver anywhere near the fun on hand with the Honda.It's better to forget the electromechanical details of what is happening under the bonnet when you're driving. The V-Tec system lets the car breathe effectively but economically at low revs through half of its four valves per cylinder, and only chimes in with all four valves when it needs to, or when you push the Normal and Sport buttons and exercise the engine in the higher revolution bands, whereupon it demonstrates impressive snap and crackle, ideal for that favourite backroad.

The wee CR-Z has "street-cred by stealth". I was driving in California last month, and was followed by a white CR-Z right into a parking lay-by. The owner was keen to see the new 991 Porsche I was driving and pulled alongside, only then did I realise that with the deep trapezoid centre grille and running-light accented headlights, what I thought had been a near $300,000 Audi R8 turned out to be a white Honda CR-Z. Such mistaken identity is priceless, especially when what you're driving is actually affordable.

From most other angles, the CR-Z is inextricably linked to the pretty and wedgy CR-X design, only more so. The slick, chiselled profile is however unmistakably from the current decade, without the cluttered detailing and naff graphics of the 80s and 90s. However, the thick C-pillars present quite a blind spot when you need to ease into traffic, either from the side of the road or from a motorway on-ramp.

I have driven so-called performance hybrids before, but none delivers the fun factor quite as well as this wee Honda, which as a bonus can offer fuel economy that will drop jaws over dinner, even in the company of pious Prius owners.

AT A GLANCE

Drivetrain: Transverse FWD 1.5-litre 16 valve V-tec four with IMA, with six-step CVT or six-speed automatic.

Performance: Max combined 91kW at 6000rpm and 167-174Nm at 1000-1500rpm, max 200kmh, 0-100kmh 9 secs, 4.9-5.0L/100km, 115g/km CO2.

Chassis: MacPherson strut front, torsion beam rear suspension. Electric power steering. 16X6J alloy wheels, space-saver spare.

Safety: Front vented rear solid disc brakes, front, side and curtain airbags, VSA Stability Control, ABS, EBA and EBD, collision compatibility, 5-star safety rating.

Dimensions: L 4080mm, W 1740mm, H 1395mm, W/base 2435mm, Weight 1155-1190kg, Fuel 40L.

Price: CR-Z from $44,900. Honda also offers SR, Sport and Mugen trimmed models.

Hot: Flexible powertrain; whacky faux-R8 styling; nimble chassis; big car feel; price.

Not: No pure electric mode or plug-in facility; could handle lots more power and torque.

Verdict: If you've grown up but still hanker for a modern Integra or Prelude, this is your baby!

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/motoring/road-tests/6198302/Hybrid-Honda-CR-Z-is-wired-for-fun

Honda Reveals All-New ASIMO Humanoid Robot

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 13:13:14 +1300

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. has further cemented its position as a world leader in advanced robotics, with the unveiling of an all-new ASIMO humanoid robot. The latest ASIMO is equipped with the world's first* autonomous behaviour control technology, making it the most advanced humanoid robot ever.

With this further development in autonomy, the all-new ASIMO can now continue moving independently without being operator-controlled. Its significantly improved intelligence and physical ability to adapt to situations, means ASIMO has taken another step closer to practical use in an office or public space.

All-new ASIMO stands at 130cm, enabling good eye contact with those sitting down, and weighs 48kg. It can walk, run, run backward, hop on one leg or on two legs continuously. Its advanced intelligence capability means it can even respond to the movements of others to avoid potential collisions. Face and voice recognition has also been incorporated and ASIMO can recognise the voices of multiple people speaking simultaneously. ASIMO can even pick up a glass bottle and unscrew the cap as well as make sign language expressions.

ASIMO is the culmination of decades of humanoid robotics research by Honda engineers, who embarked on their ambitious plans in 1986, with a dream of creating a walking robot. Years of research and several prototypes later, the original ASIMO was unveiled in 2000. Driven to create the ultimate humanoid robot, Honda engineers have worked continuously behind the scenes to improve their design with the introduction of an improved ASIMO in 2005 and now the latest all-new ASIMO.

With a long-standing programme of research and development in robotics and human mobility, Honda’s goal is to develop a robot that will help people in their everyday lives and potentially assist those with mobility issues. Ultimately, the leading edge technologies developed for ASIMO will provide a springboard for new Honda products and so shape the future of human mobility.

Honda New Zealand welcomes the new ASIMO, which Managing Director, Graeme Seymour sees as an opportunity to celebrate the great strides Honda has made in robotic innovation.

“With its autonomous behaviour control technology, the latest all-new ASIMO is a triumph for Honda in the domain of robotic development. It opens up immense possibilities for future use and applications in all walks of life,” says Graeme.

“The unveiling of the all-new ASIMO is also timely, given that we’ve just celebrated the eleventh birthday of the original ASIMO, which upon its debut eleven years ago was also heralded as a pioneering breakthrough in robotics. It’s an amazing achievement for Honda to still be leading the way in technological advancement,” adds Graeme.

Honda has also announced a collective name, Honda Robotics, which will represent all of its robotics technologies and product applications created through its research and development of humanoid robots. While continuing the research and development of humanoid robots, Honda will also focus on applying robotics technologies to mass-produced products and putting product applications into practical use.

Based on this concept of Honda Robotics, Honda also introduced an experimental model of a task-performing robot arm that was developed while applying multi-joint simultaneous orbit control and posture control technologies amassed through the research and development of ASIMO.

This robot arm can be remotely controlled to perform tasks in unstable places which are difficult for people to access.

*	Honda internal research (as of November 8, 2011)