2012 Honda Pilot: The Tech-Speak Is A Real Treat

Somewhere around middle school (junior high, middle form or whatever your system calls it), if you are taking part or have taken part in any English literature class, you've probably run across the writer George Orwell and his surprising novel 1984 – written in the 1930s as a prediction of future life; a mix of science fantasy and fiction – where one of the author's favorite terms was tech-speak.

Put simply, it's Orwell's way – or his character's anyway – of saying that if you say something long and enough and loud enough and make it technical enough, people will believe it as a matter of course. It's not a hard concept to grasp and, truth to tell, it looks like some of the best practitioners of tech-speak right now are the PR guys at Honda.

Here's an example, right from their website! In describing the new Honda Pilot and its restyled front end (last year it took its styling cues from its upscale sibling Acura and made the Pilot perhaps the worst-looking SUV on the road – the front end was practically all brushed aluminum and it looked as if the Pilot had a weird, silly smile on its front end all the time. The smile was so silly, in fact, that many of us in the car world wondered if the Pilot had escaped its keepers and its meds when it was released. The 2011 Pilot had perhaps the lousiest front-end we've seen on an SUV in a long, long time; time that stretches back to the original Ford Bronco II and Jeep Grand Cherokee, neither of which set any any styling watersheds in the 1970s when they were introduced), the PR guys described it as a “sleek new grille for more upscale appearance.”

To translate the tech-speak, here it simply says that if the design team valued its continued employment they had better not only cook up a new front end (which they did and which turns what could have been quite the worse-looking SUV on the market into a real winner) and the PR guys picked up n the new front-end styling, which saved myriad jobs, and came out with that “sleek new … appearance” stuff.

To be sure, the 2012 Pilot is head and shoulder better looking that its predecessor. The design team actually had a chance to meet in one integrated conference room, apparently, instead of sitting in two or three or more competing shops, trying to find just the right lines to improve what had to be the drunken dreams of some designer (or maybe some other recreational pharmaceutical, who knows and who cares? The new styling is absolutely flawless.)

Here's what we mean – and no we're talking about the usual bunch of modern electronic goodies like streaming audio (true statement from expert author – author is also radio enthusiast and hobbyist with 30 years of experience on bandwidth and other radio issues and can speak with authority on this – wait until several Pilots are caught in the same traffic jam and then wait until they try to start streaming video from the same wireless Internet node – usually a cell tower – via 3/4G technology or WiFi;

(The result will be bunch of unhappy campers whose right to stream is being severely abridged by the people in the Pilot next door – no Congress can't do anything about it and neither can applications of technology. Technically, there is only so much bandwidth available for all devices on a frequency and there are only so many shared frequencies (there is a rather long and involved quadratic equation that will prove that the amount of bandwidth used is proportional to the amount demanded that will show this to be a true situation) available.

(The normal answer of the users would be to give them all the bandwidth at the expense of services that are already there – whether public safety, fixed, mobile or aeronautical mobile – so the demand for all bandwidth available is unlikely to occur. The result then will be unhappy kids in the back who are all complaining about buffering and slowdowns and dropouts. Really, there's nothing at all you can do about this, so you'll have to live with it. This is really a topic for another day, it's really about how tech-speak and real-speak have become accepted and have come together to produce a Honda Pilot.)

For example, where last year's Honda Pilot looked like the nightmare on Brushed Chrome street, this year's grille looks fantastic. Yes, there's still a portion of the grille that is chromed, but the bars are rather thin and the blacked-out grille in between looks just right. Indeed, the design team fared the headlight module, fenders and hood into an organic shape that seems to naturally sweep up from the valance below the bumper, through the grille and on through the narrowed, but sloping hood. The fenders are flared and work well with the overall front end design so that the Pilot now comes standard with 18-inch tires and wheels. The body is also subtly flared as it moves from a relatively wide A-pillar through the passenger section of the cabin to the nicely finished rear end.

This year, though, instead of just relying on the Odyssey as the eight-passenger vehicle, the Pilot offers an EX-L model with a third row of seats that disappears into the floor (ala the Odyssey) for carrying capacity.

Like all Hondas, the 3.5-liter V-6 iVTEC engine is at the cutting edge of technology delivering and average of 22 mpg city/highway. The engine, by the way, is one of the most flexible powerplants we have driven in a while. It will lug right down there in the lower gears of the five-speed automatic and the move out flawlessly when it comes time. The 250-horsepower/253-foot-pound of torque engine has a nice even – and flawlessly broad – powerband that enables the five-speed automatic to make the best use of the speed and power available.

Like all Honda Pilots – except the low-end LX – you have your choice of front-drive or SUV and most people choose the SUV model with its advanced traction control system and – now mandated – electronic stability system. This means you will be able to get through in conditions that would have other all-wheel-drive system slowly – or rapidly – spinning all four tires as they strive for traction. The Pilot uses an intelligent traction system that shifts power rapidly from the wheels losing traction to those with traction and brakes slightly at the same time time for control.

We found on a very wet highway recently that this is a nice feature. We also found that there are many features you can certainly live without, although they are offered in upper-end models such as Bluetooth device integration and real-time satellite display that you can easily do without. Well, maybe not the nav display as it doubles as the climate control and radio control interface, so you'd probably better order yours with the system and if you have kids the rear entertainment system is almost mandatory.

As you can tell, we liked the Honda, despite its now nearly $40,000 regular price. You'll probably lease yours for 48 months which isn't a bad idea, either.

However you choose to view it, it's time that tech-speak and real-speak come together as the “sleek new grille for ...” simply means a nicely designed front end. Actually, the way the PR crowd has put it together, it's rather nicely done.

Source;
http://www.auto-types.com/autonews/honda-the-tech-speak-is-a-real-treat-7858.html

2012 Honda CRV and Volvo XC60 Similarities

Nice read, and shocking how similar the CRV and the Volvo XC60 really are....
This, we are told, is the new 2012 model year Honda CR-V, known internally at Honda as the 2WS. Yes, that wedge shaped rear does remind us of a Volvo XC60. According to the folks at Autoblog, the elongated D-pillar suggests a third row seat. We think that's quite a possibility given that the CR-V's main rival, the Toyota RAV4, comes with a third row seat option in the US. Although it needs to be noted that US market RAV4 is slightly longer than their Japanese / European market equivalents.

On critics saying that the CR-V apes too much of a Volvo XC60 - give the same brief to two different designers working separately, to design a mid size urban soft-roader SUV that appeals to the masses, I reckon that both will still come to a similar solution. Being a mass volume product, cost is imperitive, so tail lamps stretching horizontally across the tailgate will be ruled out due to assembly and wiring harness cost. The only way left to go is for the tail lamps to be stacked vertically. Fuel economy concerns will dictate that a gradually slopping rear is favoured to reduce aero-drag. Plus the side windows profile and overall silhoutte needs has to project a youthful-sporty appeal. Hence that pronounced shoulder line that rises upwards to the rear to give the illusion of motion. Thus explains similarity. Sure there are other ways to achieve the same, but one needs to consider the complexity of the design which will then affect the steel stamping, logistics (flat body panels are favoured as they take up less space) and assembly take time.

On this side of the world, punitive taxes on imported vehicles coupled by the fact that the aside from China, Japan is the only source for right hand drive Toyota RAV 4 meant that Honda's hold on the passenger car based / unibody SUVs is uncontested. Nissan X-Trail is a bit more utilitarian, and the local distributors of Nissan Edaran Tan Chong Motor have sort of dropped the ball with the second generation X-Trail. In its heydays, Nissan used to shift almost 300 units of the first generation X-Trail a month. Now it registers just barely above 100 units a month. So by default, it is going to be another winner. Those in the know however, who are brave enough to break away from the herd mentality will opt for the Hyundai Tucson / ix35. Brilliant car in our opinion. It's cheaper and backed by a 5-years warranty.

Powertrain for the 2012 CR-V will be carried over from the current generation model, meaning a 2.0-liter 4-cylinder and in some markets, a 2.4-liter as well. European markets will receive a diesel option. Expected public launch will be in the coming 2011 Tokyo Motor Show this December. Local market launch should start sometime around Q2 2012. That is of course, assuming that the Mayans were wrong about the world collapsing by 2012.

Source;
http://www.theautoindustrieblog.com/2011/05/honda-cr-v-2012-spyshot.html

The Genius Behind Honda's Design Excellence

Here's an intersting read....

By Adil Jal Darukhanawala
On a recent visit to the Honda R & D facility in Wako, Japan, our Editor in Chief Adil Jal Darukhanawala was enlightened by one of the most creative minds at Honda's design stable, Mr Nobuki Ebisawa, General Manager, Honda R & D Co. Ltd. Here is the exclusive interview.

AJD: They say the visual aspect of the car is what turns on many motorists to go out, look at it, consider it and then buy it. One of the key elements in this strategy is in the realm of the designers. No one plays this better, emotionally, visually, physically, to convey every sense of the term where passion, dynamism, utility, and also practicality comes into the picture. I’m standing here in one very famous design studio at Honda's R&D Company at Wacko in Japan. This place did the first designs for two great Honda badges – the Civic and the Accord. Today it is churning out cars for the next generation. And we are going to speak to the person who heads it, runs it with a lot of skill, technology and passion going all the way back to the qualities endowed by Soichiro Honda, the company founder. I’m going to introduce to you Ebisawa-san, who is the heart and soul of Honda’s design studio.

Ebisawa-san, welcome to ZigWheels. Can you tell us about Honda design. What is the real Honda design philosophy, the DNA.

EB: Honda's DNA is represented by the two cars that we launched when we got into the automotive market, the S500 which is a very small sports car, and the other one is the T360 which is a small truck. The fact that those two cars were launched into the market almost simultaneously, this represents a key factor of the Honda DNA. The S500 is a sportscar which represents the dynamism and fun of cars. The other one is represented by the small truck which represents the mobility, the functionality of transporting people and goods. Dynamism and functionality – those form the core, the main axis of Honda’s DNA.

AJD: Very importantly, Honda came from motorcycles into cars. How much of the motorcycle rider do you still keep in mind when you think about evolving cars? Do you want to keep him in the same Honda family when he moves from motorcycles to cars?

EB: Of course, for motorcycles the first thing that comes to mind is the fun of riding, which connects to the dynamism of automobiles that we talked about earlier. At the same time, the motorcycle has the minimum and really efficient functionality in terms of mobility or moving people and goods. In that sense, even in motorcycles I believe that the combination of functionality and dynamism have been the key core in the design. IT is fair to say that we are developing motorcycles and automobiles based on the same DNA, with the same core.

AJD: Honda has moved across from a lot of different concepts - the sports car which you spoke about, the S500, and the truck as well. You were also the originator of the very small mini van, the Step Wagon. But I have never seen Honda pursue the Step Wagon concept outside Japan, whereas the other Japanese manufacturers took the small vans outside of Japan.

EB: It is true that we are not selling the Step Wagon outside Japan, however we are selling, for example, a model called Freed in Thailand and the Odyssey in the US as well. If you just look at the Step Wagon, we aimed it at the Japanese domestic market and we wanted to maximize the value of this car for the domestic market. That is how we stand right now.

AJD: This brings me to a very fundamental question. Many a times Japanese automakers have been accused of being very insular, looking only within Japan and not trying to take those concepts outside Japan. What you mention about the Step Wagon is very similar. This is different from what Maruti Suzuki has done with its Eeco and Omni, which are very similar in concept to the Step Wagon.

EB: I guess Suzuki has its own ideas, its own thinking. We are thinking of global cars, and when we say global cars, our four pillars are the Accord, the Civic, the CR-V and the Fit, or Jazz as it is known in India. Our strategy is to promote those four pillars all over the world and at the same time we try to come up with cars that are suited to the local needs of the different regions of the world and deploy some models there. That is our overall strategy. This is because even if you took the same car, depending on the market or the customers, depending on how they are accepted and how they are positioned is different from one market to another. So while we maintain those pillars very solidly, at the same time we try to tailor region dedicated cars that are finely suited to the needs of those markets.

AJD: Then you also have something like the City which we saw for Asia, and we also have the new small concept that is coming for the emerging markets. So that’s a change in your thought process, is it?

EB: The pillars remain unchanged. It is true that so far in the past when we talk about market-dedicated cars, we had cars targeted towards the Japan market or US market. We have many of those, that is true. Against that backdrop, it is true that the City was the first car that was targeted at the Asian market, and the small car here is the one that is targeted towards India, and to be deployed across Asia as well.

AJD: Very importantly, how much of a focus in design terms will come across the emerging market in the world which is Asia, because so far everything was focused etiher towards the US, Europe or Japan. How much will it now veer towards countries like India, China? Because they have very different sets of operating principles in play, and also local sensibilities are different from Europe and USA.

EB: First, we launched the City for Asia, next will be followed by the small car focusing on India first. We still don’t know what the acceptance will be for those cars yet. So what we would like to do first is to see how the market reacts to those models and how much acceptance those cars will see. And I believe that the proper sequence of events will be once we see how those cars are accepted in these markets and if necessary, come up with new models for those markets. Of course we do realize that Indian and other Asian nations are very critical, important to the future of this growth going forward.

For the rest of the article, follow this link;

http://www.zigwheels.com/news-features/auto-insight/the-genius-behind-hondas-design-excellence/7380/2