Thursday, November 17, 2011

Honda Civic Natural Gas wins 2012 Green Car of the Year Award

Green Car of the Year

DCH Honda Of Lemon Grove

The Honda Civic Natural Gas won the 2012 Green Car of the Year award at the L.A. Auto Show Thursday. The car is the cleanest-running internal combustion vehicle certified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, with a 48 MPGe highway fuel economy rating.

"There is no other vehicle like the Civic Natural Gas on American highways, and this recognition has been a long time coming for Honda," said Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of the Green Car Journal, which issues the annual award. "The new-generation Civic Natural Gas features greater fuel efficiency, a handsome and roomier new design and tailpipe emissions levels untouchable by any other internal combustion production vehicle."

According to the Green Car Journal, natural gas is a clean fuel that is almost exclusively domestically sourced and is typically priced 30% less than gasoline. It also fast fills in about five minutes at the fueling stations that offer natural gas dispensers.

The Civic Natural Gas is the only natural gas passenger vehicle to be mass produced. First introduced as a fleet vehicle in 1998, the 2012 Honda Civic Natural Gas is in its fifth generation. Priced at $26,155, it's available at 200 Honda dealers in 36 states.

The six-judge panel on the Green Car of the Year jury selected the Civic Natural Gas from a field of five contenders,  including the Ford Focus Electric, Mitsubishi i, Toyota Prius V and Volkswagen Passat TDI. Jury members included Carl Pope, chairman of the Sierra Club; Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council; and Jean-Michel Cousteau, president of the Ocean Futures Society, among others.

"This year's Green Car of the Year finalists underscore that there is no single solution to our transportation challenges," Cogan said. "Virtually every automotive manufacturer is exploring green technology in several forms."

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Wednesday, November 2, 2011

2012 Honda Civic Si Coupe

2012 Honda Civic Si Coupe HFP tunes in with limited edition kit

Honda Civic Si Coupe HFP
 
 
written by Noah Joseph
Few model lines have had as big an impact on the import tuner scene as the Honda Civic. The letters "S" and "i" have come to embody what the model's sporting potential, and with the revamped 2012 model already at dealers, Honda has brought a specially equipped Civic Si Coupe to SEMA fitted with all manner of Honda Factory Performance extras.

This limited edition Civic Si Coupe HFP packs an upgraded suspension (including new springs that drop the ride height by 15 millimeters and high-performance dampers), special 18-inch alloys, full body kit, the requisite special badging and some interior enhancements, all from the Honda Factory Performance catalog. Honda won't offer a complete turn-key HFP model, but dealers will be happy to sell you the kits already color-matched to the paint on your 2012 Si, and we bet they'll even fit the parts for you if you ask nicely and open your wallet.

Just 500 examples of the coupe-only kit will be offered at dealers (sorry, Si sedan owners) , but pricing has not been released yet. In the meantime, you can check it out live from the SEMA show floor in Vegas with our high-res images, a quartet of stock photos and the press release after the jump.

Honda Reveals 2012 CR-V Concept


Honda Motor Co.
2012 Honda CR-V concept.
Honda Motor Co. unveiled its 2012 CR-V concept at the Orange County International Auto Show in Anaheim, Calif. The concept is a thinly disguised version of the coming production CR-V compact sport-utility vehicle that is set to go on sale by the end of this year.
The new vehicle will be the fourth generation of the CR-V, which entered the U.S. market for the 1997 model year and has essentially defined the small-SUV segment ever since. The 2012 model has a more aggressive look compared with past CR-Vs and represents a bolder styling language the company plans to increasingly adopt.
“The 2012 CR-V concept strongly hints at the more dynamic and refined look of the upcoming model,” said John Mendel, executive vice president of sales for American Honda. The new SUV will come with a more fuel-efficient engine and lower weight. Inside the new vehicle will be more spacious than previous versions.
The new CR-V will make its official debut at the Los Angeles auto show in November and is set to go on sale in the United States by the end of the year.