Honda will introduce an all-new Fit for 2014, and expectations are running high—over two generations, the small hatchback has appeared on our 10Best Cars list every year since 2007. Although the company has yet to release many details about the next-generation version, we do know that production will switch next year from high-cost Japan to low-cost Mexico. And now we also know that Honda will officially introduce its City Brake Active automatic braking system via the redesigned 2014 Fit, although it hasn’t yet confirmed the system for the U.S. market.
But one key to increasing acceptance of subcompacts in America will be the trickle-down of safety technology, so it might be smart to offer it here. Honda’s accident-avoidance system is geared to urban environments, and is active at speeds up to 18 mph. As with similar systems announced by Volvo and Mazda, Honda’s City Brake Active system tracks traffic ahead with a windshield-mounted laser. If the system determines that a collision is imminent, it will flash visual and audible alerts to the driver. If the driver fails to take action to avoid an accident, the system automatically applies the brakes. Honda’s active brake system will also intervene if the driver inadvertently floors the accelerator while stopped or traveling at less than 6 mph if another car ahead is closer than four meters (about 13 feet or slightly less than the length of one Honda Fit), effectively denying the request to accelerate.
Honda brass previously confirmed two future Fit spinoffs, a subcompact crossover to compete with the Nissan Juke, Buick Encore, and Kia Soul—this was previewed by the Honda Urban SUV concept shown at the 2013 Detroit auto show—and a subcompact four-door sedan similar to the current Honda City. The latter car will battle the Ford Fiesta, Chevy Sonic, Toyota Yaris, Nissan Versa, and Hyundai Accent, and will be aimed at Americans who hate hatchbacks and love the gawky styling typical of puny sedans. The new Fit hatchback will go on sale in Japan later this year, and we expect our model to arrive at approximately the same time.
It seems that if we want to go further and improve the whole concept of the automobile, making it even more efficient, will require a radical rethink of tires, their size and look. According to Pirelli, the increasingly strict European Union regulations for tires will force them to try to find new ways of achieving the best ratings.
It’s actually quite funny to look at this from a broader perspective, and see how cars first started out with narrow tires, only for them to get excessively wide, and then thin again. Tires will be judged by their rolling resistance factor, as well as their wet braking performance, and the regulations governing them are only set to get stricter and stricter – first in 2016, then 2020.
It is also suggested that the diameter of regular tires will grow, from the average of around 16 inches today, to 21 inches in 2020, simply because of the new requirements. An example of what cars of the future will morph into is the Audi Urban Concept (or the Toyota i-Road), which looks like an ultra-modern interpretation of a very small 1920s car.
It will be interesting to observe which manufacturers adopt this trend first, in a production vehicle. Such tires would look out of place on a sports car. Will they use double pairs at the back for extra traction, like some trucks and commercial vehicles, or is the age of high-grip-in-corners cars set to end completely after 2020?
Note: Audi Urban Concept and Toyota i-Road pictured
So, we all know that cars pretty much rule our world, but honestly, have your ever thought about who’s behind the powerful auto industry? Well, we did, and came up with a TOP 20 list of the most influential people in the auto industry. We decided not set a particular order, just a random one between the 20 names, so you can contribute and let us know what your order would be and who else you think could be on that list. A little heads up… we couldn’t add a girl to it, but names like Danica Patrick and Sabine Schmitz could well be in there… maybe in a Top 30 list!
To illustrate this list we’ve also created an HD Infographics with a resume of each of the TOP 20 guys out there. Check it out and find a more complete text version at the end.
Download the HD version of the TOP 20 Infographics (~3 Mb)
The Paris motor show – Mondial de l’Automobile to the natives – is one of the most highly anticipated events on the global automotive calendar.
Alternating each year with the Frankfurt motor show in much the same way Melbourne and Sydney share the Australia international motor show, Paris is set to host a memorable show in 2012 as dozens of concept and production vehicles are presented to the public for the first time.
Highlights include a new-generation version of the world’s most famous hatchback (the Golf), a concept that previews a front-wheel-drive BMW (Concept Active Tourer), a supercar that is setting out to become the world’s best driver’s car (McLaren P1), concepts from Peugeot making the most of its home show that are both the stuff of fantasy and reality (Onyx and 2008), a new version of the world’s most iconic SUV (Range Rover), and the long-awaited, highly anticipated successor to Jaguar’s somewhat famous E-Type sports car of the 1960s (the F-Type).
CarAdvice will be on the floor at the Paris Expo building from September 27 to bring you all the news and major unveilings, as well as exclusive stories from behind the scenes.
To get you revved up for Paris 2012, we’ve compiled a comprehensive preview of show cars that will be drawing the crowds.
Russian car maker AvtoVaz has taken the wraps off the striking Lada XRAY concept at the Moscow motor show.
The dramatic SUV concept was designed by AvtoVaz’s new design chief, Steve Mattin, who previously worked for Mercedes-Benz and Volvo where he oversaw the design of the second-generation M-Class and the XC60 concept car, among many production cars.
With hints of Range Rover Evoque, Kia Sportage and Citroen DS4 in its design, the Lada XRAY concept debuts the brand’s new ‘X’ front-end – incorporating the headlights, foglights, grille and lower air intake – that is set to become a feature of future Lada vehicles.
Lada says the first production models showcasing the new design language should hit Russian showrooms by 2015.
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2012 Hyundai i-oniq concept
Every now and then, we allow our thoughts to drift here at GreenCarReports.
Naturally, we’re thinking forward rather than back, and often to the cars we might be driving around in five or ten years time.
We’ve compiled a list of five concept cars seen at auto shows over the last year or so. All are hybrids, and all showcase exciting new visions of styling and technology that could well hit the roads in the near future.
Given the meteoric rise of Korean brands Hyundai and Kia over the last few decades, it’s only right that they should play a part in our future too. The i-Oniq concept car, revealed at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show back in March, is a sleek, two-door range-extended hybrid.
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Kia is taking engine downsizing a step further, with the organization having designed a three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine set to offer you an substitute to 4-cylinder naturally-aspirated petrol engines.
Speaking to CarAdvice at the Geneva Motorshow final week, the Korean company’s head of powertrain engineering in Europe, Dr Joachim Hahn, stated that “we are not afraid of turbocharging technologies, we pushed it a lot and happy now to roll out”.
In Europe there is no V6 engine offered with any Kia, as a substitute the organization offers a assortment of 4-cylinder petrol and turbodiesel engines and has really recently introduced a three-cylinder 1.1-litre turbodiesel engine for the Kia Rio (which takes nearly 15 seconds to do the dash from -100km/h as it hugely unlikely for the Australian market place).
Dr Hahn mentioned the identical principle of downsizing from V6 petrol to turbocharged 4 cylinder (as is the situation in the Kia Optima for many markets with Australia likely to stick to in the close to future) could apply to naturally-aspirated four cylinder engines being replaced by turbocharged three cylinder engines.
“Once you attempt to decrease your complete displacement considerably, dependent on the place you started out you (then) have to lessen the range of cylinders” Mr Hahn said.
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