Fit Club Thailand

So, you need a new car, do you? Have you considered Honda? Not too long ago your choices were the Civic, Accord, or Prelude. Today, Honda has expanded their line up to cover just about every segment going. Let’s take a look at their current line up and see how Honda stacks up against the competition.

Accord - Soon after the Civic entered the North American market, the Accord was introduced. The car has been so well received that it routinely battles with the Toyota Camry for the top spot in the American market. Every few years the Accord receives a complete makeover; today’s Accord is available in three models: coupe, sedan, and hybrid

Civic - When Honda entered the US market in the early 1970s, it was the Civic that led the way. The reason? High fuel economy. At that time, Detroit was primarily building gas guzzling behemoths and the American market was ripe for an affordable and economical compact car. Despite being derided by some - pregnant roller skate was one of the terms given to the Civic - the car proved to be the toehold Honda needed to get established in the North American market. Today’s Civic bears no resemblance to the original and it is available in three models: coupe, sedan, and hybrid.

CR-V - Available in either FWD or 4WD, the CR-V is Honda’s compact SUV with seating for as many as five adults.

Element - The Element defies easy characterization. Some call it a bread box on wheels. Available as a FWD or 4WD vehicle, the Element is targeted to the youth set and is an alternative to Toyota’s Scion brand.

Insight - The first gasoline-electric hybrid sold in the US was the Insight. Five years later it still commands an important part of the Honda line up.

Odyssey - The new benchmark for minivans is the Honda Odyssey. In just a few short years, Honda transformed a Plain Jane people mover into a van with pizzazz. The Odyssey routinely competes with the Toyota Sienna for top honors in the North American market.

Pilot - A 7 passenger SUV, the Pilot is Honda’s first large SUV. Competing against the Ford Explorer, Chevrolet TrailBlazer, GMC Envoy, and Toyota 4Runner, the Pilot has performed well and has gained respect in the tough, competitive American market.

Ridgeline - A four door AWD truck, the Ridgeline goes where no Honda has gone before: off the road. Sure, other Hondas come equipped with AWD or 4WD, but the Ridgeline was built expressly to handle hill as well as highway. The unique five foot long bed has a trunk built into it; certainly the Ridgeline defies easy comparison.

S2000 Roadster - Honda’s race car capabilities are displayed with the S2000 Roadster a two seat coupe that compares favorably with the BMW Z4 Roadster. Ranked as one of the best wanted car by consumers with several leading automobile magazines and web sites including Edmunds.com.

Honda’s top competitor is Toyota and both now have luxury brands from which motorists can purchase more upscale versions of their vehicles. Toyota’s Lexus division and Honda’s Acura division offer to consumers vehicles that go beyond their standard brands. Still, you can’t go wrong if you buy a Honda, an automotive line which continues to expand and grow because of high quality and consumer loyalty.

Copyright 2005 — Matt Keegan is a contributing writer for the Auto Parts Warehouse, a wholesaler of fine discounted Honda parts and Honda accessories.

Share This

While parent company Honda continues to bestow all of its hybrid technology on its Honda division vehicles, Acura is doing without any alternate engine sources to power their cars and SUVs. Instead, the division is relying on newer gasoline engines to promote fuel efficiency as well as to lower greenhouse gas emissions. Is Acura doing enough or is Honda’s luxury division missing the boat? Big changes are headed Acura’s way, changes that could enormously overhaul the brand and bring to the market vehicles powered by a variety of alternate fuel sources. Let’s examine exactly what might be Acura’s alternate powerplant offerings at the beginning of the next decade.

Diesel, Biodiesel - Honda got into the diesel market late, but the company’s first offerings are considered to be exceptionally good. Four cylinder powered diesel engines are being developed that will initially appear in select Honda model cars within the next two years. These new engines meet current EPA guidelines and raise the typical fuel mileage of each car by about 30%. Importantly, each engine will be able to run on biodiesel a renewable resource made of ingredients such as soybeans. Acura may get its own diesel aspirated engine soon after the launch of the first diesel powered Honda hits the market.

Ethanol - Unlike American based automakers, Honda has no plans to offer vehicles that can run on E85 technology. E85, consisting of 85% ethanol [usually corn] and 15% straight gasoline has been getting a lot of press attention lately. However, the extreme lack of service stations offering the fuel has kept demand low. Honda has decided to concentrate on next generation hybrid technology instead of branching out to E85.

Hydrogen - Claiming that the first hydrogen powered car will be ready for production within the next 3 or 4 years, some are doubting that Honda will be prepared to make such a move until well after then. Look for Acura to only get a hydrogen powered car several years after the first Honda hydrogen vehicle has been successfully tested in Japan.

Pluggable Hybrid - To extend hybrid fuel economy even further, pluggable hybrid powered vehicles are currently being developed. Acura’s first hybrid may include this technology once Honda readies it for the market. Toyota is readying a similar model and Ford is doing likewise. 100 mpg may be a realistic figure once these vehicles are rolled out.

Natural Gas - A natural gas powered Acura isn’t likely to be produced, simply because Honda is investing in hybrid, diesel, and hydrogen technology above all else. Still, natural gas could be used in future fuel cell vehicles to make hydrogen. Thus, in an indirect way natural gas could power an Acura vehicle of the not-too-distant future.

So, although it would appear that Acura isn’t getting the same alternate fuel technology as the Honda division is at the moment, it would appear that all of that will change in the very near future. This is good news for people who enjoy the Acura brand, but want to see it expand to include options that are environmentally friendly and promote fuel efficiency.

Copyright 2006 - Matt Keegan is an article writer covering a wide variety of automotive topics including all of the luxury brands. Your Acura TL is among the very best vehicles produced today; get high quality Acura Parts and Acura Accessory products by shopping online.

Share This

Most of car owners today, specially the young ones, always look for updates on exterior components to enhance their car’s appearance.

Probably one of the most significant yet most ignored external part of your car is the spoiler. Other people consider spoilers as devices exclusively made and utilized by sports car. This is because of the fact that spoilers are generally used by high-powered sports car to maintain balance when traveling at great speed. Spoilers are not really intended to be utilized only by sports cars. Other car fanatics can also equip their conventional vehicles with spoilers to have a nice and sporty look on the exterior.

A spoiler is an aerodynamic device optionally attached to a vehicle that is designed to literally ’spoil’ air movement across the body of a moving vehicle. As a result, the vehicle will have an enhanced stability by decreasing the lift and decreasing drag caused by accelerating at high speeds. The main purpose of the spoiler is to interrupt the air flow going over the car’s body thus reducing the amount of lift generated naturally by the shape of the car. The result is an increased amount of force pushing between the tires to the road surface that provides greater traction. The increased traction enables the moving vehicle to effectively turn, brake, and accelerate with increased stability and control.

There are different types of spoilers depending on their use, location in a vehicle, and the vehicle type. One common type of spoiler is the wing. Usually, wing spoilers are firmly mounted at the rear of a vehicle. The purpose of the wing spoiler is to create down force that provides the car an increased stability when accelerating at high speeds. Another type is the front spoiler, also called the air dam, which is located at the underside of the front bumper. Other spoiler types include tailgate spoilers, truck cap spoilers, and cab spoilers.

Spoilers became more popular nowadays because it provides vehicles a unique and stylish appearance. There are lot of high quality spoilers out in the market today such as Ford spoilers, Toyota spoilers, and Honda spoilers.

Ford spoilers

Tracy is a 29 year old researcher and writer from Dallas, Texas with extensive experience in writing auto-related articles and covering automotive related events. She is currently a contributing writer for a leading automotive e-zine.

Share This