When it's time for Bruce Wayne to hang up the bat costume and settle down with a wife and kids, he'll need a car with more rear-seat leg room than the Tumbler. We suggest he take the Mugen Inspire for a test drive (with Morgan Freeman riding shotgun for good measure). With all the style and panache that the Dark Knight's daily driver should have, it's also got two more doors and some LATCH anchors for a baby seat.
In typical Mugen fashion, the standard Honda Accord has been gussied up with a number of aero add-ons, including a new grille, front spoiler, side sills, rear apron and a rear spoiler from which a 100 or so bats could hang. Yes, the look is way over the top, but it's fun in the way it comically exaggerates the Accord's ho-hum design. The Inspire also gets a sports exhaust to free a few more horsepower through better breathing, as well as upgraded brakes, a lowered sports suspension and new aluminum wheels. It's faster than a stock Accord for sure, but probably not by much. But hey, with the wife and little ones in tow, Mr. Wayne shouldn't be speeding anyhow.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Mugen Inspire based on 2008 Honda Accord Sedan
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
2008 Honda Ridgeline will be more expensive
Dollar gets cheaper and foreign manufacturers keep adjusting their prices in the northern direction when refreshing the model line-up. This time Honda has decided to increase the price of its 2008 Honda Ridgeline truck, sweetening the pill with a wheel upgrade choice offering machine finished alloys on the RTS and RTL trims.
The 2008 Honda Ridgeline RT and RTX models will get additional $200 to their price tag and will be sold at $28,000 and $28,500 respectively. The RTS trim's price will rise by $150 to $30,425; RTL's to $33,090; and the RTL's with navigation to $35,090.
Honda is also increasing the destination and handling charge by $40 to $635.
See also: 2007 Roush Nitemare Ford F-150 limited series pickup
Saturday, November 10, 2007
2007 Honda Stream MPV officially announced
The new Honda Stream MPV, which replaces the older homonymous model since July 14 in Japan, has been at last officially announced. The restyled version features much more aggressive and mature appearance and also makes some family resemblance with current Honda Odyssey JDM.
The new Honda Stream may be ordered in either FWD or 4WD configurations and may draw its power from one of a pair of i-VTEC four-cylinder motors.
The 1.8-liter engine's maximum power output reaches 140 hp and 128 lb-ft of torque. The power is being transferred to the wheels via a five-speed automatic gearbox. The 2.0-liter engine features up to 150 hp and maximum torque of 140 lb-ft and is mated to a CVT transmission with torque converter in FWD configuration, or a five-speed automatic on 4WD vehicles.
The most basic FWD Stream X 1.8 model will cost around $15,800.
For the foreseeable future the MPV will be available to Japanese customers only, but there is still a chance that the new Honda Stream will reach the other end of the pond someday.
See also: New Toyota Estima Hybrid MPV Set to Launch
Technorati tags: Honda Stream, Honda, Odyssey JDM, automotive, cars, news, MPV, Japan
Permalink: 2007 Honda Stream MPV officially announced
Honda calls its 2007 Civic Type R a 'superhatch'. They've got to be joking
The new Honda Civic Type R, set to come to the Asian and European markets, is referred to as a performance version of the original dull and uninteresting Honda Civic hatchback. The main problem of this car is that some guy at Honda really thinks that it takes only one horsepower to make a 'superhatch' out of a motorized wheelchair.
No, really. The 2007 Honda Civic Type R is equipped with a 2.0-liter DOHC i-VTEC with a maximum power output of only 201 hp reached at 8,000 rpm. That is exactly one horsepower more than is squeezed from the previous version of the Civic. The zero to 62 mph acceleration is still the same 6.6 seconds. Compare this with the 2007 Mazdaspeed3's 274 horsepower 2.3-liter MZR DISI engine and its sub-six-second 0-60 time. Honda will have to sell its Type R at a very competitive price to beat Mazda's little monster.
Leftlane News has some hi-res photos of the 2007 Honda Civic Type R.
See also: Honda Civic Hybrid wears the shield
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Honda CRZ Concept
These guys have shown us environmentally responsible sporty car concepts before, but the CR-Z looks the most likely of the bunch—style-wise, at least—to be ready for production. We know Honda wants to create a new halo hybrid car for the brand, and this may be it (though the company’s been mum on tech details so far).
