2013 Honda Accord and CR-V Earn Best Value Awards from Kiplinger's Personal Finance

The 2013 Honda Accord and 2013 Honda C-RV earned Best Value Awards from Kiplinger's Personal Finance. The Accord was named 'Best New Model' in the Cars $30,000-$40,000 category and CR-V was rated 'Best in Class' in the Small Crossover category. Kiplinger's selects the winners based on a number of qualifications including price, performance, value, safety, roominess and driving impressions.

"The Accord and CR-V remain segment standouts for their efficiency, packaging, performance and value," said Michael Accavitti, vice president of marketing operations, American Honda Motor Co., Inc. "The strength of the Honda lineup is clearly resonating in the marketplace and we are proud to be recognized for offering true value to customers."

The magazine applauded the Accord for upscale styling, efficient packaging and ample standard feature content.  For the second consecutive year, the CR-V was named a Best Value, with Kiplinger's noting the model's outstanding cargo capacity and technology features.

"With the 2013 redesign, Accord keeps its essential ingredients - a solid driver-to-road connection, comfy interior and high resale values - and spices things up with new technology and a more modern exterior," said Jessica Anderson, associate editor, Kiplinger's Personal Finance. "Additionally, in an increasingly crowded segment, CR-V is the ideal others aspire to."

In addition to being named a 'Best Value' by Kiplinger's Personal Finance, the all-new 2013 Honda Accord is among the first vehicles awarded the TOP SAFETY PICK+ designation from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and was named to Car and Driver Magazine's '10Best Cars' list for a record 27th time. Both the 2013 Accord 4-cylinder and V-6 powertrains were named to the Ward's 10 Best Engines. Additionally, the Honda-exclusive LaneWatch™ blind spot display, which debuted on the Accord, won Good Housekeeping Magazine's 'Very Innovative Product' award for 2013.

The CR-V finished 2012 as the best-selling SUV in the U.S and was also named a TOP SAFETY PICK by the IIHS.

Courtesy of hondanews.com

Help out your Honda by reading this quick auto care tip!

Here's our quick tip, courtesy of the Reader's Digest: Your cooling system needs both coolant-antifreeze and water, so don’t pour undiluted coolant into your cooling system. Dilute it with water to the commonly recommended 50-50 ratio.

Honda Trio Among America’s Greenest

Honda once again offers some of the greenest vehicle in the country—according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), which recently named three Honda products to its Greenest Vehicles of 2013 list:

• Honda Fit EV—With an EPA-certified all-electric driving range of 82 miles, the Fit EV delivers efficiency grades of 132 MPGe city/105 MPGe highway/118 MPGe combined. And remember, since it runs solely on electricity, Honda’s high-efficiency hatchback delivers all those advantages without producing any tailpipe emissions at all.
• Honda Civic Hybrid—The hybrid version of Honda’s award-winning compact already was capable of 44 mpg in all phases of the EPA testing regimen as an all-new 2012 model, and now it will get significantly upgraded to match the rest of the Civic lineup for 2013.
• Honda Insight—The least expensive hybrid in America—with an MSRP that opens at $18,500—is capable of posting an EPA line of 41 mpg city/44 mpg highway/42 mpg combined.

In addition to this tree-friendly trio, the Honda Odyssey and conventionally powered Honda Fit also were lauded by the ACEEE as “greener choices” in their individual segments. The former is the most fuel-efficient minivan in America, with EPA marks as high as 19 mpg city/28 mpg highway/22 mpg combined, while the latter rings up a fuel-economy score of up to 28 mpg city/35 mpg highway/31 combined.

“The recognition by ACEEE of Honda’s alternative fuel and fuel-efficient vehicles over the past 15 years further validates our commitment to create and deliver more energy-efficient, low emissions mobility solutions for society,” said Steven Center, vice president of the Environmental Business Development Office at American Honda Motor Co., Inc. “Honda’s vision for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which is reflected in our environmental slogan of “Blue Skies for our Children,” inspires us to lead and innovate in every aspect of our operations, from our product engineering and manufacturing practices to our upstream sales and service activities.”

Courtesy of Honda in the News 

Honda’s New SUV Concept Shows a Good Fit for American Buyers

Already proud producers of the best-selling crossover in America—the record-setting CR-V—Honda is looking to go big once again in a U.S. crossover segment—by going small. As revealed recently at the 2013 North American International Auto Show, the automaker is working on a new compact SUV that will go on sale in Japan this year, then reach this country the next.
The vehicle is so new, in fact, that it still doesn’t have a name; when it was premiered at the show in Detroit, it was introduced as the “Urban SUV Concept.”
But as one look at the vehicle will make clear, that rather mundane moniker can’t disguise the concept’s chiseled good looks, athletic stance and tautly designed sheet metal. Similarly, the cabin of the crossover is downright magical—since it will feature the same “Magic Seat” versatility that’s offered in the Honda Fit. As a result, and as in the Fit, owners will be able to arrange the interior of the Urban SUV Concept in numerous different configurations for optimum cargo-carrying capabilities.
Of course, speaking of the Fit, Honda’s latest crossover entry also will be riding on the same new platform that will underpin the next generation of that popular subcompact, as well as offer the latest in Honda telematics technology and a high-efficiency Earth Dreams powertrain.

Photo: Charles Krome

“No one has had greater success with small cars than Honda, and this Urban SUV Concept will create new value in the growing small-SUV segment,” said John Mendel, executive vice president of sales at American Honda. “With the continued expansion of our North American manufacturing operations, we expect fuel-efficient and fun-to-drive ‘small’ cars to play a key role in meeting the needs of our customers in the U.S.”

Courtesy of Honda in the News 

View our selection of the 2013 Pilot

The 2013 Honda Pilot is better than ever, and we have offers on this Honda model that you can't afford to miss. View our inventory online, and come in for a test drive: http://bit.ly/SKKIyO

Honda Relaunches 1986 Civic Si

It’s true, Honda is about to re-release one of the icons of the sport-compact segment, the original 1986 Civic Si. The only hitch? You’ll only be able to drive it online, as part of the Honda Challenge Car Pack for Forza Horizon on Xbox LIVE. And that, in turn, is part of a new effort to support the launch of the new 2013 Civic Si, which is due at dealerships in the near-term future and also will be featured in the Forza upgrade, along with the Honda Performance Development B-Spec Rally Fit.
“Gaming is a huge passion of our Honda Civic customer and integrating with the latest installment of the popular Forza franchise allows us to interact with our customers where they naturally are,” said Mike Accavitti, vice president of national marketing operations at American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
Honda will be backing the redesigned 2013 Civic family in other ways, too, in coming weeks, with a particular highlight being a national TV campaign—also featuring the Civic Si—that will emphasize Honda’s ongoing commitment to continuous improvement. The first spots began breaking during this month, and audiences can expect to see two fresh 30-second Civic ads during the Grammy Awards broadcast in February. As for the Civic lineup itself, the first members of the team, including the refreshed 2013 Civic Si Coupe, are at dealerships now.
“Our belief is that there are always new ways to improve, create and imagine which can be seen in the refreshed Civic, America’s best-selling compact car. The 2013 Civic is poised to beat customers’ expectations,” added Accavitti. “The 2013 Civic features extensive interior and exterior design upgrades, enhanced dynamics and new technology.”

Courtesy of Honda in the News

Tim Mings discovers the #FirstHonda ever made for the U.S.

We love hearing from our customers! Check out this excellent review on Google + Local.

"Honda Service has always been excellent. Recently had Civic Hybrid battery replaced, work was completed ahead of schedule and their shuttle service driver promptly picked me up and got me to the dealership. We purchased our Odyssey there, and was very happy with the purchase experience as well." -- Google User

Click here to read more reviews

Honda Civic Gets Back to Where It Once Belonged

The moment of public shaming came when Consumer Reports announced last year that for the first time in a generation, it could not recommend the new Civic. If it had been a samurai movie, it would have been raining.

Twenty months later, we are looking at a very different automobile, not so much redesigned as given a deep-skin laser ablation. Typically, revisions this significant would be reserved for a midmodel refresh, which most companies execute every three years or so; Honda has pulled that refresh forward by a year and a half.

The Civic's cabin has been mightily upgraded, with better seats and upholstery; richer, faux-stitched material on the upper dash and doors, in a dark charcoal color; a more elegant center-stack controller with brushed alloy-like fascia and brightwork bezels. The upper instrument panel in the Civic's split-level dash features a 5-inch LCD display with standard backup camera view. Bluetooth, Pandora and other infotainment features are rolled in as standard equipment.

Artful polished-chrome accents around the upper and lower grille and at the taillights have lifted the dreariness from the Civic's exterior. The car now seems to abide with forward-situated purpose, the brightwork sharpening and quickening the form.

Generally speaking, car makers would rather not change any of a model's exterior after only 20 months in production. Changes in the big tooling cost real money. Honda execs have estimated that the changes to 2013 Civic add up to about $500 per unit. Given that the 2013 model-year effective price increase is only $160, the arithmetic suggests American Honda has elected to take smaller margins on the new Civic in order to remain competitive.

Historical note: Chrysler attempted the same thing in the 1950s, accelerating Virgil Exner's Forward Look designs, scheduled for 1958, to the 1957 model year. But the changes were so hasty and production so haphazard that the company sent some cars to dealerships partially assembled, with instructions on how to attach parts workers might find in the trunk, in the glove box or even in the mail.

Mechanically, the most notable upgrade is the Civic's reinforced front-chassis section, designed to cope with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's new 40-miles-per-hour narrow-offset front crash test (which is quite a wallop, by the way). Honda's internal studies suggest the new Civic will ace the institute's narrow-offset test.

The revamped car's added chassis rigidity gave the ride-and-handling department more room to firm up the Civic's suspension without compromising ride compliance. Upgraded springs, struts and antiroll bars, as well as bigger brakes and lighter alloy wheels, round out the road-holding package.

Out on a nice country two-lane, the new Civic definitely feels more centered, more settled in its sneakers than the previous car, with less body lean in corners and more composed transitional behavior over uneven pavement. The electrically assisted power-steering ratio is a tick quicker, and the self-centering feel is more affirmative.

The Civic's powertrain remains unchanged: a 1.8-liter port-injected four cylinder with 140 horsepower and 128 pound-feet of torque, buttoned to a five-speed automatic and front-wheel drive. The redesigned car weighs 50 to 100 pounds more than the previous addition, depending on trim level, so the performance penalty is negligible. Figure on a 0-60 mph acceleration of about 9 seconds. EPA fuel economy comes in at 28/39 miles per gallon, city/highway.

In terms of the ownership experience, the single best change to the Civic has to be the improved aural quality of the cabin and the refinement of the powertrain notes. The previous car was surprisingly shouty, especially at full throttle, and a distracting amount of wind and tire noise droned inside the car at highway speeds.

The hurry-up redesign adds an acoustically laminated windshield and side-front windows, as well as hunks of sound-dampening material around the front wheel wells, floor and firewall. All this has eliminated a lot of acoustic hot spots around the windshield. The noise abatement throws a muffling blanket over the exertions of the hardworking little four-banger, making it feel less stressed and more refined.

It's not that the Civic has been transformed so much as awakened. And in point of fact, the pulled-forward redesign merely restores the Civic to its accustomed place near the head of the compact-sedan pack. The 2012 model-year Civic is destined for the memory hole. The more instructive part of the story is Honda's willingness to respond so quickly, to take a hit in unit cost to protect the brand's good name.

In this season of resolutions, it's nice to see the capacity to change.

 

Courtesy of The Wall Street Journal

Time Lapse: 2013 Honda Tournament of Roses Parade Float

Accord’s Earth Dreams Engines Join Ward’s ‘10 Best’ List

The powerplants that help motivate the all-new 2013 Accord have recently been accorded one of the industry’s top honors. Both the 2.4-liter I4 of the Accord Sport model and the Accord’s up-level V6—each featuring Honda’s high-efficiency Earth Dreams technology—were picked for the 2013 Ward’s 10 Best Engines team.

According to Tom Murphy, writing for Ward’s: “The clean-sheet I4 is stunningly efficient. Over the course of a 537-mile (864-km) test drive, two editors exceeded 33 mpg (7.1 L/100 km) in this generously proportioned sedan that gets up to speed with no problem thanks to 189 hp, ample low-end torque and a wonderful mid-range punch.”

Ward’s editors were equally impressed with the car’s new V6, which had some fairly strong family traditions to uphold; after all, its predecessor had been named to the Ward’s 10 Best list three times. The verdict on the re-engineered replacement: “WardsAuto editors say this engine ‘positively storms’ and ‘pulls like a freight train at hard throttle,’” wrote Murphy, who also noted that: “In our real-world evaluations, the Accord V6 topped 29 mpg (8.1 L/100 km) for several editors, unheard of for most any six-cylinder engine.”

“Honda is first and foremost a motor company, and the new Earth Dreams Technology engines once again assert Honda’s desire to lead the industry in powertrain efficiency while providing responsive power and fun for drivers,” added Art St. Cyr, vice president of product planning and logistics at American Honda. “Having both the 4-cylinder and the V6 from the 2013 Accord honored on Ward’s 10 Best Engines list shows that world-class powertrain technology doesn’t have to come at a premium price.”

 

Courtesy of Honda