Honda Cars : 2009 Honda Pilot's First Drive at Autoblog | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

Well here it is, the first write up on the new 2009 Honda Pilot. I must admit, I haven't been as excited about this full model change up as I thought I would be, but having seen these photo's, I am starting to become a believer. Anyway, here is the write up from Autoblog;

Written by: Sam AbuelsamidYpsilanti,

MI - http://sam.abuelsamid.com/

When the new 2009 Honda Pilot turned up as a concept at the Detroit Auto Show in January, most observers were decidedly underwhelmed. Unlike many other recent crossovers, notably the GM Lambdas, Honda chose to go with a decidedly more utilitarian look for the second-generation Pilot. As Honda officials explained when we gathered for a preview drive of the 2009 Pilot, they wanted to retain the "Utility" in CUV and a big part of that involved maximizing the useful interior volume within the Pilot's relatively modest exterior dimensions. That means a boxy shape that provides room for up to eight (at least as defined by the seat-belts) inside.

While the Pilot won't be challenging the Buick Enclave or Mazda CX-9 for style points, it isn't too painful on the eyes. It's more a case of being almost invisible. The greenhouse is actually strongly reminiscent of the first generation Jeep Liberty, only longer. In spite of the rather barn like shape, it's actually more aerodynamic than the original Pilot, resulting in substantially less wind noise. In fact, the Pilot has a whole range of improvements that reduce noise, which we'll explore a bit later. There are also some things that might be considered a step backwards.Let's cut to the chase. Setting aside the Pilot's appearance, the new unit is generally a much better vehicle than the 2008 model. Under the hood, propulsion still comes from a 3.5-liter V6 with a slew of upgrades. The new engine spins out 250 hp and 253 pound-feet of torque, increases of 6 hp and 13 lb.-ft. respectively. Fuel economy picks up 1 mpg across the board, thanks in part to a new version of Honda's variable cylinder management (VCM) deactivation system. Previously, VCM would simply shut off one bank of cylinders. The new version can run on three, four or six cylinders, with four-cylinder mode available by disabling one cylinder on each bank. The unibody has seen one of the most significant upgrades, with high strength steels growing from 13-percent of the body structure to 52-percent, resulting in seriously improved rigidity. Honda has also implemented what it calls Advanced Compatibility Engineering (ACE) into the structure. According to Honda, ACE provides better protection for occupants in the event of a crash involving vehicles with different bumper heights. The extra inch of body width on the new model also meant that Honda was able to fit a third LATCH position in the middle row for mounting child seats. A fourth kid seat can be mounted in the third row. The second row seats are split 60/40 and each can slide forward independently to provide some extra leg room for those relegated to the back forty. Speaking of that rear-most row, hip room in the back-back is only 48.4 inches. With the middle seat pulled forward, there's a reasonable amount of leg room, but using all three nominal seating positions will require either super model-thin passengers or some extreme coziness. The seat is mounted high off the floor, so passengers won't be sitting "knees up" like they do in the much larger Chevy Tahoe SUV. However, if you go back to the 48.4-inch hip dimension for a moment, you'll notice that is slightly more than four feet. That means if you fold the second and third rows of seats, you can lay the proverbial 4'x8' sheet of plywood flat.

As always, the prime seats are up front and here Honda shines. Just like the Accord, the Pilot's seats are wonderfully comfortable and supportive. The instrument cluster has an interesting new look. The gauges have transparent front faces and the needles are reminiscent of a vintage radio dial. The shift lever has moved from the steering column to the center stack, below and to the left of the audio system. Where the new Pilot falls down is the materials and assembly of the dashboard. The plastics are hard and the textures look cheaper than those in a Honda Fit. Perhaps worst of all is the fit and placement of some the seams. Compared to the current version, the new model looks distinctly cost reduced.
Fortunately, that's really the only area that feels cheaper. The driving experience is vastly improved, beginning with engine noise. The new Pilot has both active engine mounts and active noise cancellation. Combined with the much improved structure, the interior environment of the Pilot is downright serene in everything from the base model up to the new, top-end Touring model. Another advantage of a stiff structure is that it allows the suspension to work more efficiently. The Pilot feels more compliant, soaking up the heavily patched pavement in a controlled and compliant manner. In transient maneuvers, the 4,500-pound Pilot feels lighter and more responsive than the GM Lambda crossovers. That's because, in spite of increased dimensions and equipment, all that previously mentioned high strength steel allowed the weight of the body to be reduced and the overall heft held about even with the old model.

Acceleration feels adequate for the type of vehicle this is, but it certainly won't be confused with some of the more sporting crossovers like Audi Q7 TDI 4.2. On the other hand, the Pilot is skewed more toward the utility side of the equation and those looking for better performance might want to check out the Acura MDX that shares a platform with the Pilot. Still, even a family-oriented utility vehicle needs to be able stop quickly, and the new 13-inch brake rotors front and rear provide a claimed 11-percent reduction in stopping distance. The stability control on the Pilot also compares favorably with other Hondas we've tried. An informal lane change maneuver on a gravel road just off the official test loop showed the stability control to be extremely smooth and effective. The only dynamic issue we found with the Pilot was some torque steer on the front-wheel-drive model.

The test route we drove didn't provide an opportunity to try out the new hill assist system, so we'll have to wait for a longer evaluation period to play with it. Hill assist uses a longitudinal accelerometer to detect when the vehicle is on a hill. If you apply the brakes while the Pilot is stopped on an incline and then release the brakes, the traction control system will hold the pressure in the brakes until you hit the gas pedal. As soon as the throttle opens up the brakes are released.

Overall, the 2009 Honda Pilot isn't likely to set anyone's heart aflutter. It's designed for function, i.e. hauling a bunch of people and/or stuff around in relative comfort. For what this vehicle is supposed to be, it seems very capable. It's smoother, quieter and apparently more fuel efficient than its predecessor, and if you choose the new Touring trim level, equipped to be almost on par with its more expensive Acura sibling, the new Pilot is quite a bargain. If Honda would just take another look at the dashboard materials and the upright face, we'd probably be good to go.

Here's a link to the article with a few more pic's:

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/04/15/first-drive-2009-honda-pilot/

Honda Cars : 2009 Honda Pilot Interior pic | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

The shifter is now located on the dash as opposed to on the steering column which is just more of an update than anything. I am glad that Honda didn't put the shifter in the middle console like alot of other vehicles, this leaves the Pilot with a full middle console. The Pilot also finally gets dual zone climate control and a auto day/night mirror.

I wonder if the Pilot will get the same rear view mirror with the backup camera as the odyssey like below.

The interior looks great so far.

Honda Cars : More Shots of the 2009 Honda Pilot from Autoblog.com | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

One this last photo, it's nice to see dual exhaust finally make it's way to the Pilot.

Link;
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/04/09/spy-shots-2009-honda-pilot/

Honda Cars : Car & Driver Snags First Photo's of the Production 2009 Honda Pilot | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

Here's a pic comparing the 2008 bodystyle (Right) to the new 2009 (left).

"BY ALISA PRIDDLE, PHOTOGRAPHY BY ADAM KOLINTROV April 2008

As Honda prepares to sell the second-generation of its eight-passenger workhorse this spring, we capture the crossover running around a suburb of Detroit and we like what we see.
The original Pilot offers burst onto the scene in 2002 as a 2003 model, and quickly won over buyers. But there are many more competitors this time around. To that end, the new Pilot was designed to offer more versatility and cabin configurability.
Under the hood is Honda’s refined V-6 engine with the same updated Variable Cylinder Management as found on the Accord's 265-hp, 3.5-liter V-6, enabling it to run on six, four, or three cylinders depending on conditions. Not only will the SUV be more fuel efficient, but we expect a bump in towing capability, as well.
The 2009 Pilot is the latest to be designed in accordance with Honda's Advanced Compatibility Engineering mandate, intended to facilitate better crash compatibility with automobiles large and small. In fact, Honda claims that the new Pilot will be nothing short of the best in class in the safety department but, once again, offered few details about exactly what it will offer.
As for the design, the production model doesn’t appear to have changed much from the concept. The beveled, bolt-upright windows add appreciable depth and intrigue, and the 3-D rear end is classy and simple. The front end is the only area of controversy, although it's suitably macho and flies in the face of the softer designs we've been seeing emerge on such crossovers as the Nissan Murano and Toyota Highlander. "

Here's the link;
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/car_shopping/suvs_family_haulers/2009_honda_pilot_spied

Honda Cars : El Civico, The Honda Civic CarTruck | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

Uh, yeah. Looks like a motorcycle landed through the roof of a Honda Civic - but NO!, it's a 1999 Honda Civic converted to carry what you see above.

Here's a link to the whole story and more pic's:
http://jalopnik.com/377144/wrecked-civic-%252B-drag-bike--el-civico

Honda Cars : Why Automakers Don't Sell a Car that is 50(US)mpg | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

So gas just hit another miserable milestone. Unleaded regular is averaging a record $3.30 a gallon and seems likely to blast past $4 by Memorial Day. Wouldn't it be great if you could drive a car that gets 50 miles per gallon? Well, you can. Just hop on a plane and fly to Europe, where all new cars average 43mpg, or Japan, where the average hits 50mpg. Here in the United States, we're stuck at 25mpg in our considerably larger and more powerful cars, trucks and SUVs. So why can't we do better? Here's the dirty little secret: we can. "If you want better fuel economy, it's just a question of when auto companies want to do it and when consumers decide they want to buy it," says Don Hillebrand, a former Chrysler engineer who is now director of transportation research for Argonne National Labs. "Auto companies can deliver it within a year."

A 50mpg car would certainly put a tiger in the tank of the moribund U.S. auto industry. But don't get your checkbook out quite yet. The reality is that you won't see a car on a showroom floor in America with 50mpg on the window sticker for at least three years and maybe longer. Sure, all auto companies are focusing on jacking up fuel economy, especially since Congress just mandated that all new autos sold by 2020 must average 35mpg. The new mileage mantra also is motivated by the fact that car sales are weak, partially because of panic at the pump. But putting out a 50mpg car any time soon is daunting even to the maker of America's mileage champ, the 48mpg Toyota Prius. "We're close enough to spit at that now," says Bill Reinert, Toyota's national manager of advanced technologies. "It's not an incredible stretch, but it's an incredible stretch to do it on a mass-market basis."

It might seem ludicrous to you that there isn't a mass market right here and now for a 50mpg car. For crying out loud, we've entered the age of the $128 fill-up. (The cost of topping off a Chevy Suburban). But here's the problem: to get to 50mpg in the near future, consumers would have to trade off at least one of three very important things—cost, drive quality or safety. That's because the quickest way to make a car more fuel-efficient is to make it smaller, lighter and equip it with some high-tech (a.k.a. costly) propulsion system like a plug-in gas-electric system. Consider the exercise Ford just went through. It ran a computer simulation on what would happen to the mileage of a Ford Focus small car if you built it entirely out of lightweight aluminum. Losing the steel allowed the Focus to drop 1,000 pounds—30 percent of its body weight. That enabled Ford to outfit it with a tiny one-liter engine, half the size of its old engine, but far more fuel efficient because of new technology. Best of all, the small motor goes just as fast as the big one because the car is so much lighter. The result: fuel economy on this fabulous Focus went from 35mpg to 50mpg. What's stopping Ford from moving this car from pixels to pavement? The cost of an all-aluminum car could top $50,000—not a sum the typical economy-car buyer is willing to pay. "What's going to be the cost acceptance for this much improvement in fuel economy?" asks Dan Kapp, director of Ford's advanced engines and transmissions. "We don't know yet."

Still, all the major automakers are putting their cars on a crash diet. Ford wants to drop 250 to 750 pounds in all its models by 2012. Toyota and Nissan want to cut the fat by 10 to 15 percent. But this slim-fast campaign is running into the drive for more safety features in automobiles. Back in the 1980s, the Honda CRX-HF and the Geo Metro each got more than 50mpg, but they didn't have airbags or steel beams in their doors to protect occupants in a crash. These days, cars are equipped with six air bags, steel safety cages and electronic stability control to prevent spinouts. That makes cars much safer—but a lot fatter. "We are working in two directions," says Toyota's Reinert. "One is to make cars as safe as possible, and that generally makes them heavier. And the other is to make cars as fuel efficient as possible."

Downsizing also has its drawbacks. For starters, U.S. highway statistics show the smallest cars have death rates 2.5 times higher than the biggest. What's more, wimpy engines often (under) power small cars and that's a drawback many Americans won't abide. I recently drove the diminutive Smart car for a week. While it's certainly cute, its puny 70-horsepower engine and slow-shifting transmissions made me feel like Fred Flintstone could outrun me. That might be enough power for twisty Old World roads, but here in America, we have a need for speed. "Going zero to 60 in 15 seconds doesn't fit the average American consumers idea of mobility today," says Reinert. "That's too doggy."

Another quick way to improve fuel economy—and chase away customers—is to strip out stuff that makes the ride comfortable. For example, engineers could remove the soundproofing material that keeps road and engine noise out of the cockpit. Back in the '90s, when Detroit was fond of noting that gasoline was cheaper than bottled water, Hillebrand worked on the popular Chrysler minivan. They were having problems making the cabin quiet, so they sacrificed mileage to add sound insulation. "We just sprayed penny a pound asphalt into it to quiet it down because that was what the customer wanted," recalls Hillebrand. "Another mile per gallon would not make Car and Driver headlines. But having no wind noise did."

These days, though, more mpg makes news. And GM has certainly been getting plenty of mileage out of the Chevy Volt plug-in electric car it hopes to have on the market by 2010. On Thursday, they took reporters inside their Volt lab for another in a series of updates--unusual for a work in progress. And next week, GM will conduct a global online discussion with journalists to address the question: "Why don't automakers produce a 100mpg car?"

So when I called to ask why there are no 50mpg cars, Volt chief engineer Frank Weber practically scoffed at me. "Fifty miles per gallon is not the target," he said in his German accent. "We are working in the three-digit range." All hype aside, analysts say GM just might be the first to achieve 50mpg with the Volt, which Weber assured me will get well over 100mpg. Crackling with confidence, he "guaranteed" the car's advanced lithium-ion battery is ready for the road. Many automakers are racing to develop lithium-ion batteries (like those used in laptops), which juice up faster and go farther on a charge. But only GM is claiming to have cracked the code. Weber also said there is "no doubt" the Volt will deliver on GM's promise of driving for the first 40 miles on pure electric power. After that, a tiny engine kicks in, but only to recharge the battery, not to turn the wheels like conventional hybrids. "Our goal," says Weber, "is to avoid the usage of gasoline completely."

Wouldn't that be nice? But at what price? Analysts predict the Volt will top $30,000, and consumers might have to pay an additional $100 to $200 a month to lease that advanced, but unproven, battery pack. Weber dismissed battery leasing as "an old idea," but declined to divulge pricing on the Volt so far from its launch. Any new technology like this, though, comes with a hefty premium, which takes years to pay off in savings at the gas pump. So taking the high-tech road to high mileage comes down to a question of pay now or pay later. (In the case of some high-priced hybrids, like the late and not-so-great Honda Accord hybrid, the payoff never came.)

In the end, what I found most fascinating about raising this 50mpg question is just how nervous its made Honda and Toyota. Honda wouldn't even speak to me about it. Perhaps that's because Honda has a Prius competitor in the works that it has promised will have better mileage when it hits the road next year. Let's see, what's better than 48mpg? And Toyota is in the midst of creating an entire lineup of Prius models, which will include a wagon, a family car and a tiny urban runabout beginning in 2010. So if you take the Prius power plant and put it into a Smart-size car, what do you get? Toyota isn't saying, but there could be a hint in Reinert's assessment of Mercedes's mighty mite. "The Smart is incredibly attractively packaged," he says. "It could be the iPhone version 1 of cars." Version 2.0 could roll into a Toyota showroom in a few years—with a window sticker well above 50mpg.

And not a moment too soon.

Source: http://www.newsweek.com/id/130439/output/print

Honda Cars : Russian BMW Billboard is Out of This World! | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

"Yes, those are real cars!"
Found this on autoblog;
In terms of sheer size, Russia is the largest country in the world. That must have something to do with this gargantuan advertisement found in Russia... According to the caption, the surface area measures more than 1.5 acres (billboard haters should stop complaining right about now, as it appears we have it pretty good over here).

More interesting than the sheer massiveness of the super-colossal ad are the full-sized BMWs, lights ablaze, mounted sideways as if zooming across the surface. Those aren't base model Bimmers, either -- sharp eyed readers will recognize them as the Z4 M Coupe, M3, M5, and M6. Now, that is what we call an advertising budget! Thanks for the tip, Hank!

Link to the article and more great pics;
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/04/01/bmw-builds-big-ad-in-moscow/