Essential Motoring 101

Honda has been in the forefront in producing cars that are very fuel efficient and has never fail to give out the ‘wow’ factor to its customers. Their latest offering, the Stream MPV and the CR-V, are great examples of how Honda was committed in producing cars using utmost innovation and design sophistication. Soon, it will be worth rejoicing as Honda’s most renowned and best-selling car model, the Accord, will be gracing our local showrooms. Are you excited yet??

Straight, boxy lines are definitely here to stay!

Better shaped butt this time, unlike the previous ones

Honda Malaysia MD and CEO, Mr Atsushi Fujimoto, stressed that the 8th-generation Accord will feature VCM (Variable Cylinder Management System), VGR (Variable Gear Ratio) steering, Shift Hold System and other improved safety features.

The monstrous heart of the 3.5L i-VTEC

It is determined that the Accord will be available in 3 variants - the 2.0-liter and the 2.4-liter i-VTEC engines, and the most promising 3.5-liter i-VTEC V6 engine. These engines meet the Euro 4 standard in terms of emissions. All engine versions are mated with 5-speed automatic tranny.

The new 3.5-liter engine deserves special attention here. It comes with the VCM (Variable Cylinder Management System) where, the cylinders in the engine are manipulated to work on demand according to driving needs and situations. The system enables the cylinders to be shut down partially for better fuel efficiency.

To illustrate how the VCM works - for uphill climbing, high output is required thus the engine will operate on all six cylinders to feed the needed power. For moderate or high speed, the engine will activate only four cylinders, while the rest are shut down. For cruising or low engine speeds, the system will only put three cylinders to work. All these does not hamper the driving performance of the Accord! Now, why didnt the engineers thought of this 10-20 years ago huh??

 

 

Now that the Accord is much bigger size, handling the car could be a big question to answer. The existence of the Variable Gear Ratio (VGR) steering is in store to provide better comfort and safety. The Accord has a smaller turning radius; ease of parking on tight spots for such a big car.

The Shift Hold System helps to prevent unwanted up-shifts while driving on winding roads. This reduces disturbance on the chassis and ensures strong power is still at hand without having to down shift while cornering. The driver will find the Accord to be smoother and comfortable on winding roads.

The eighth generation model will integrate sophisticated safety technology including G-Force Control Technology, the revolutionary Advanced Compatibility Engineering (ACE) body structure, Pedestrian Safety features, Advanced Airbags System and Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA).

When the going gets tough, the bags matter.

The new Accord will be fitted with even more safety features, like an advanced 6 airbag system (dual front, dual side curtain, and two side airbags with Occupant Position Detection System (OPDS) in the 3.5-liter V6 model. Both 3.5-liter and 2.4-liter will have Vehicle Stability Assist for enhanced active safety.

Keep yourself tuned to this site because come April 2008, the roads will have a new breed of Accords roaming around.