2011 Honda Accord Sdn on 2040-cars

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2014 Honda Civic Coupe

Honda lifted the covers off its refreshed Civic Coupe at SEMA earlier this month, showing off its updated styling and redesigned 18-inch wheels, but didn't unveil its interior or mechanical upgrades until today at the LA Auto Show. Eager to show off its latest arrival, Honda allowed me to check out and drive the new coupe a few weeks ago.
The interior, which was hidden beneath heavily tinted glass at SEMA, features new colors, upgraded seating materials and new technology. The interior themes are now more color coordinated and feature upgraded Tricot soft weave. Black is the standard interior color, with a choice of black or gray seats. A new display audio system is also found on the EX/EX-L trims. The seven-inch capacitive-touch screen, with a matte finish to reduce the annoyance of greasy fingerprint marks, allows users to not only tap once for a function, but to double-tap, slide, flick and pinch - as if they are using a familiar smartphone or tablet. The new infotainment interface not only accepts USB and Bluetooth data exchange, but has also been configured with HDMI for future upgrades. Some of you may have also noticed the exterior mirrors on the SEMA car, as they were fitted with cameras for Honda's blind spot minimizing Lanewatch system. It is now offered on the Civic Coupe for EX trims and above.
Mechanically, the new Civic Coupe rides on an upgraded suspension system that features revised spring rates (front up by four percent, rear up by three percent), a stiffer rear stabilizer (up by 25 percent) and larger 16-inch wheels (wearing 205/55R16 tires). The engineering objective was to improve handling and responsiveness while flattening cornering. According to Honda, the tweaks should give the Civic Coupe better linear steering feel than either the Hyundai Elantra or the Ford Focus.

Honda China struggling with high-end Accord because Chinese covet German cars, too

It's not particularly unusual to see cheap cars in China, or those with designs stolen from foreign competitors, but increasingly the best-selling vehicles there would be very recognizable to just about any auto enthusiast. There appears to be one fact of life whether looking at car buyers in Sacramento, Stuttgart or Shanghai: People who can afford to buy premium cars often look first at the Germans.
Honda recently thought that it could challenge this perceived wisdom by including a premium Accord in the ninth-generation sedan's Chinese launch last year. The market-exclusive version was priced against the Audi A4. The venture failed, miserably.
According to Automotive News China, sales for the new Accord in China are down 37 percent through May of this year. Honda's overall sales are actually up by about 11 percent there on the strength of smaller, less profitable models. However, the company is still off its forecast 19-percent rise.

Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha to make swappable motorcycle batteries

Just as electric cars are becoming ever more common, the alternative propulsion system is starting to make headway in the motorcycle sphere. Companies such as Harley-Davidson and Zero already have electric models on sale, but other established brands are preparing for the electric future. Among them are the four big Japanese bike builders (Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha) who have a plan to improve electric bike adoption, and make their bikes very appealing. The four companies created an organization back in April 2019 for this sort of purpose called the Swappable Battery Consortium for Electric Motorcycles. And the group has now announced that the manufacturers have agreed on the specifications for motorcycle batteries that can be interchanged among each company's motorcycles. So if you have a Suzuki, you can use a Honda battery, or vice versa. This idea presents quite a few interesting possibilities. The manufacturers could sell bikes with or without batteries, since you might already have a battery from your previous bike, or just another one you own, so you wouldn't have to shell out to buy an entirely new battery. If, for whatever reason, you needed a replacement battery, it should be easy to get one, since the same type would support bikes from a variety of manufacturers. The pipe dream of battery swapping stations might even be feasible because of the standardization and support. And having the batteries relatively easy to remove could be good for apartment dwellers, since they might be able to bring a battery inside to charge. The manufacturers haven't said exactly what the specifications are for these interchangeable batteries, nor when they'll be implemented. But we'll be eagerly awaiting more information in the future. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.