Honda Amaze compact sedan to get engine noise reduced

Honda Amaze compact sedan

Honda’s 1.5 liter iDtec diesel engine has allowed the company to make a big comeback in the Indian market. Both cars using this engine, the Amaze and the City, have done very well. The main reason for the good sales of the Amaze and the City has been the fuel efficient 1.5 liter diesel engine.

The engine suffers from a slight issue. The issue we’re talking about is the noisy clatter that it makes. Since the 1.5 liter Honda iDtec engine is built of aluminium, it is noisier than diesel engines found on other cars. The diesel engines on most cars are made of cast iron and this material absorbs noise better than aluminium, resulting in a quieter engine.

To solve this, Honda should have added a lot of sound deadening in the Amaze. It didn’t happen and the Amaze Diesel continues to be a noisy car. Honda made some corrections in the City and gave the car more noise insulation. The result is that the City is much quieter than the Amaze.

The upcoming Mobilio will get even more insulation and become quieter than the City as well. The same approach will be followed on the Jazz too. All four cars mentioned above will use the 1.5 liter iDtec diesel engine. Honda plans to make the Amaze quieter next year. The compact sedan will get a facelift next year end when Honda will also add extra sound deadening on the diesel models.

It’s good that Honda is taking car buyer feedback seriously and making the required changes. The Indian car buyer is no longer in the Ambassador-Premier Padmini era when noisy engines were tolerated as normal. Modern day cars, even diesels, are very refined and Hyundai’s latest diesel cars are good examples of great refinement. Since Honda is quickly addressing the issue, more buyers are expected to queue up for diesel cars bearing the straight H logo.

Honda CR-V Diesel with attractive look

Honda launched the new generation CR-V recently in India and the vehicle comes with two petrol engines on offer – a 2.0-litre engine producing 154 BHP of power and a 2.4-litre engine which makes 187 BHP of power. The petrol CR-V gives a very low fuel efficiency figure, sometimes as low as 7 km/l, because of its weight and size and it is one of the major reasons for the vehicle’s modest sales in the Indian market. However, the global version of the CR-V has a completely different story to tell. Last year, the Honda CR-V was the highest selling SUV in the world.

Honda already had a 2.2-litre diesel engine powering some of its vehicles globally. However, many countries levy an additional tax on vehicles with bigger engines and hence Honda developed a new 1.6-litre diesel unit to power the Civic, Civic Tourer and the CR-V. This new diesel engine gives out a mind-numbing fuel efficiency as proved in the recent “MPG Marathon” test in the UK. The diesel CR-V was taken on a 819 km long drive through various types of road and weather conditions and even after this rigorous test, the vehicle was able to give a really great efficiency of 27.77 km/l, as shown in the Multi Information Display. Honda had used a front-wheel-drive CR-V with an MT for this test as the diesel model is only available in this configuration.

It is great to know that the 1.6-litre diesel power plant from Honda gives such amazing fuel efficiency. It would be a very wise move for Honda to launch the diesel CR-V in India since the vehicle is loved by many and usually the poor mileage of the petrol engines is the deal-breaker for prospective customers. Even if the diesel CR-V gives 13-14 km/l in India, it would still mean a low running cost of Rs. 4.3 to Rs. 4.6 per km considering the current price of diesel at Rs. 60 per litre. Right now the Honda CR-V petrol costs Rs. 21.80 lakhs to Rs. 26.17 lakhs (ex-showroom, Mumbai).

Honda CR-V - Front view Photos

Honda CR-V - Boot Space Photos

Honda Brio automatic - INR 5.74 lacs

Honda India has launched the automatic variant of its hatch, the Brio in two trims – S(O) at Rs 5.74 lakh and V at Rs 5.99 lakh (both prices ex-showroom, Delhi), approximately Rs 60,000 more than the equivalent manual trim. The Brio AT is the first car in its segment to feature a 5-speed automatic transmission. The company has also introduced a new manual transmission version called as Brio EX , that takes the total variant number to 7; 5 manual transmission and 2 automatic.

The Automatic variant of Honda Brio will be powered by same a 1.2 liter i-VTEC engine which will generate 88 PS max power at 6000 rpm while peak torque is slated to be at 109 Nm at 4500 rpm mated to a five speed automatic transmission. The Brio AT gets similar auto ’box to the one doing duty in the Honda City but there are no paddle shifters behind the steering wheel.

Honda City CNG Prices announced

Honda Cars India has launched the City CNG in the Indian car market. The CNG-Petrol dual fuel version of the City sedan will be available only on the top end V MT variant. Honda will ship out CNG kit ready cars with all the necessary modifications to dealerships, who will install the CNG kits into the cars. The modifications that will be made at the factory level includes a modified 1.5 Liter i-VTEC naturally aspirated petrol engine, beefed up suspension to handle the additional weight of the CNG kit and a modified fuel filling inlet, which will have separate inlets for CNG and petrol.

 2012 Honda City C-Segment Sedan

Honda Plans to launch Compact SUV in Brazil

The compact SUV market isn’t just hot in India, it is the segment to be in, in Brazil as well. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that every major car maker, from Volkswagen to Nissan, it busy showing off compact SUVs or crossovers in Brazil, at the ongoing 2012 Sau Paulo Motor Show. While Volkswagen just pulled the wraps off the Taigun compact SUV based on the Up! platform, Honda will follow suit come 2014, when the Jazz based compact SUV will be launched in the Brazilian car market. The Honda Jazz based compact SUV is already under development.

2013 Honda Fit Twist Hatchback used as an illustration

Rumor of Honda Jazz based crossover

Japanese automaker Honda could be the latest amongst the increasing crop of car makers wanting a pie of the fast expanding compact SUV and crossover range. The Honda Jazz hatchback, a spacious and practical car that has been a big seller for Honda across the globe could be the base for the crossover.This is pretty much what WhatCar has managed to glean from sources in the know about this project. For now though, it remains to be seen when the Jazz based crossover will debut in markets across the world as there has been no time frame revealed just as yet.

2012 Honda Jazz Hatchback used as an illustration

2012 Honda Civic Sedan

The new 2012 Honda Civic that was launched in markets globally many months ago is apparently a no-show for the Indian car market. According to AutocarIndia Editor Hormazd Sorabjee, the Japanese automaker is not planning to launch the new Civic to replace the older model, that has been around in India for quite a while now. Honda’s reluctance to launch the new 2012 Civic sedan in India stems from the lack of a diesel engine in its portfolio. Also, the car has been a dud in many markets across the world, with critics vociferously panning the car for being a damp squib in terms of the update.

2012 Honda Civic Sedan

Honda Brio diesel Snap

Honda's diesel engine Brio is expected to launch in 2013

Illustration of Honda Brio Diesel

Honda Dream Yuga 110 Launch at a price of Rs 47,087 (Bangalore ex-showroom)

Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India has now launched the Dream Yuga 110 commuter motorcycle in the two metros of the country, Delhi and Mumbai. The motorcycle is a very important launch for the Japanese two wheeler maker, as it seeks to make inroads into the high volume commuter motorcycle segment in India, a segment dominated by the likes of Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto.

Honda Dream Yuga 110

Launch of 2012 Honda Dream Yuga 110 in Mumbai with an ex-showroom price starting @ INR 48,028

Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India in its bid to become the world’s largest two wheeler maker by volumes, by displacing Hero MotoCorp, before 2020, launched a very important volumes pulling model in the form of the 2012 Dream Yuga commuter motorcycle. The 2012 Honda Dream Yuga 110 is powered by a four stroke 110cc engine good for 8.5 Bhp-8.91 Nm, very similar to the one found on the much sportier CB Twister. Honda with the Dream Yuga 110, aims to displace the largest selling two wheeler in India, the Hero Splendor, and this will be no easy task considering that the Splendor is much more cheaper. Honda claims a fuel economy figure of 72 Kmpl for the Dream Yuga.

2012 Honda Dream Yuga 110

Hero MotoCorp's rebranding exercise on motorcycles by September 2012

By September 2012, the Hero Honda Dawn will read Hero HF Dawn and the Hero Honda Splendor will read Hero HF Splendor. This, as Hero has quit its long time joint venture with Japanese automaker Honda a year ago and ever since, has been promoting its new brand name, Hero MotoCorp across the country. While the rebranding effort of Hero MotoCorp has been effected across Hero dealerships in India, the brand is yet to re-brand its range of motorcycles, which still continue to carry the Honda moniker alongside the Hero name. This too, will change in the coming months.

2012 Hero Ignitor 125cc Motorcycle

Anushka Sharma signs in as the brand ambassador of TVS Scooty

When two strokes still reigned supreme in India and wih the likes of the Honda Activa and the Dio not yet on the horizon, the Kinetic Honda scooter and the TVS Scooty scooterette were the two products that the college crowd of India commuted on. The Scooty was most favored by the fairer sex as it was much smaller and lighter than the Kinetic Honda. Ever since, the Scooty has evolved into electric variants and the more powerful, four stroke Pep variant. With competition increasing in the form of Mahindra Two Wheelers and Hero MotoCorp upping the marketing ante, the South Indian company has now appointed Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma as the brand ambassador for the Scooty range.

Anushka Sharma

2012 Honda Car Discounts

As they say, what goes around comes around. Once upon a time, Honda cars and discounts were as far apart as chalk is to cheese, but time changes everything. Back then, petrol power ruled in India while diesel cars were largely relegated to the cabbie business. diesel power has fought back with high technology common rail diesel injection and now we have petrol engines facing the brunt of lower economy and higher emissions, not to mention the cost of petrol being significantly higher than diesel, in India at least. And petrol engines cars are being clobbered at the hustings what with even market leader Maruti Suzuki cutting production.

2012 Honda Car Discounts