Autoblog

Click the photo above for fur friendly Honda images.

Many folks consult their best friend before making a big purchase. Since the dog is known as man's best friend, owners tend to cater towards their pets when buying a new car. In the United States, that means dog lovers often end up with trucks, SUVs or crossovers. However, in Japan, efficient use of space is a bit more of a priority. That is why Honda Japan developed the Honda Dog website. It all started with the Honda Vamos Dog Edition, but has since expanded to include other offerings. While the site features Honda's pet friendly accessories such as strap-in carriers and mats, it also shows how easily your Corgi will fit into your Fit.

Honda Dog touches upon all dog owner concerns. There are pictures showing how you can arrange pet crates in a variety of Honda vehicles. It even provides dimensions on the best entryway for your small to full-size tongue-wagger. Worried about all that pet hair or soggy dog odor? Honda Dog contains analysis on the ease of pet hair cleanup from vehicle interiors. It also indicates how Honda's advanced deodorization filter can reduce allergens and undesired smells. For some reason, the site even finds it necessary to point out how toys and water bottles fit nicely into the interior compartments such as the glove box, in case you couldn't figure it out for yourself. View the gallery to see a sampling of what Honda Dog has to offer.


[Source: Honda Dog]

Click the image above for high res images of the new Ford Fiesta

When it comes to the 2010 Fiesta, Ford has promised the buying public the moon and stars, with great fuel economy, expensive-looking sheet metal, quality interiors, and a rewarding driving experience. That formula is already a smash hit overseas, where customers are willing to pay a premium for a quality small car. Here in the States, however, we pay for our cars by the pound, and word on the street is that Ford will comply with a starting price under $15,000.

A lot of amenities that make a car exciting for the next generation of car buyers puts a dent in the MSRP, but Ford is working with suppliers to create great looking, high-quality materials that don't break the bank. The Blue Oval will also likely offer a full range of options that can push the price-point over $20,000 for those of us with a bigger budget and a strong desire to achieve 40 mpg on the highway.

Right now the B-segment isn't exactly bursting with great products, and only the sporty Honda Fit and more expensive Mini have stood out in the crowd. The Fiesta will surely add some soul to the competition, but even at a mere $15,000, it'll be priced at top of the segment. If Ford can deliver on everything it has been promising, however, we're sure there will be more than just 16-29 year-olds that will be more than happy to pay $15k and more.


[Source: Inside Line]

Click above for more high-res pics of the 2009 Honda Fit

The 2009 Honda Fit has landed, and done so with everything the previous Honda fit was lacking. Judging by the sales numbers of that previous Fit -- over 2,000,000 globally in six years -- it wasn't lacking too much. The car gets Honda's voice-recognizing satellite-linked navi; 3-mode, single-motion dive-down Magic Seats in back (parents, it's not what you think); a revised suspension and more rigidity. And with the addition of a USB port for MP3 players and another storage bin -- because there simply wasn't room for all your stuff before -- the new Fit comes with even more fun. The lone engine is an updated version of the current Fit's 1.5-liter i-VTEC 4-cylinder mated to a 5-speed manual transmission or a 5-speed automatic transmission. The Fit Sport model also includes paddle shifters on the steering wheel, though we doubt shifting will be as much fun as turning in this car. Check out the gallery of hi-res pics below, and you can read the official press release from Honda after the jump for more details.



[Source: Honda]

Click the image above for a gallery of live pics and a few high-res press shots.

The Honda Fit has established itself as a viable platform for tuners in Japan and with the apparently minimal amount of love being heaped upon the new Civic Type-R, aftermarket firms are focusing more attention on the Civic's younger brother.

Mugen's close ties to Honda have yielded yet another concept that takes the Fit to the next level. Typical for the Fit and Mugen, the F154SC has a supercharger slapped onto the L15A that boosts the power of the 1.5-liter four to 150 hp and 136 lb.-ft. of torque. Everything that could have been modified has, including a full coilover suspension, exhaust, intake and upgraded brakes, along with the prerequisite body modifications that widen the track and feed more air into the engine bay.

Autoblog Chinese grabbed some shots of the F154SC on the show floor and we've added a few press pics to the gallery, thanks to our friends at LeBlogAuto.

Honda has received a flood of orders for the newly redesigned Fit in the two weeks since its launch. That's a good thing for Honda in its home market, where its sales have been flagging. Instead of the projected 12,000 Fits per month, there have been 20,000 orders for the roomier and more efficient Fit since its announcement. The deluge of demand for the new Fit could help Honda take over the top spot as Japan's best-selling car, toppling the Toyota Corolla. It's important to note, however, that in Japan, new model announcements are routinely followed by initial order numbers that exceed expectations (which are then trumpeted by the automakers). In the United States, the clamor around the Fit remains hot, as well, so when the new one makes it here – reportedly within a year – it should equal further positive numbers for Honda.

[Source: Guardian Unlimited]

Click the image above for a gallery of live and press shots of the new Honda Fit.

Honda's redesigned Fit was on the floor for all and sundry to kick tires, snap photos and enjoy the economy-class interior provided by the Big-H's sub-compact offering. Although the Fit apes the styling of the Euro-Civic, much of what's aft of the A-pillar will look familiar, with a few subtle tweaks to differentiate it from its predecessor. Powertrain choices include a 1.3- or 1.5-liter four, with an all-wheel-drive option.

Our previous post has all the details and the gallery below has a selection of live and press images.

UPDATE: 60+ images added to the gallery.

Click the image above for more high-res images.

The second-generation Honda Fit drops in Japan on October 26th. The new Fit refines the basic recipe of the current car, marrying innovative packaging and a carved-out interior with efficient mechanicals. Honda has also added a sportier "Road Sailing" trim level that adds a larger engine. The A-pillar has moved forward and stretched the wheelbase two inches, utilizing that space to add four-mode "Ultra Seats" that flip and fold in a variety of ways to increase cargo capacity, or even create a bed when set to "Refresh mode." They've also found room for ten (!) cupholders in there somehow, but Honda swears that the interior volume is equivalent to one of its mid-size sedans.

Five new exterior colors bring the available hues to a total of 12, and the exterior design has evolved into something more handsome than the current Fit. It's still not terribly stylish, but for its homeliness, but we doubt that anyone would argue that the outgoing Fit looks better. A 1.3-liter i-VTEC engine is the base powerplant, upgradeable to a 1.5-liter unit, and both powerplants are available with an all-wheel-drive system when mated to a 5-speed automatic. There's also a CVT and a five-speed manual available to transmit twist to the road. Prices start at about $9,800 (1.14 million Yen) and go up to about $14,600 (1.7 million Yen).

Honda's full press release is posted after the jump.

[Source: Honda]

The Honda-obsessives over at the Temple of VTEC were able to get a number of pre-release images showing the redesigned Honda Fit, and according to the writer, we'll see a host of official images coming out of Japan at the end of the month.

The first shot (right) reveals a heavily redesigned front clip, with headlamps pulled steeply towards the A-pillar, along with a new bumper and hood that takes cues from the Euro-spec Civic.

Along with the front-end, the rear gets a revised hatch, new taillamps and bumper and a mildly tweaked D-pillar with more of an up kick, reducing the size of the hatch's rear window.

We'll be on the lookout for more images in the next few days, but in the meantime, you can check out all the shots TOV procured here.

Top tip, Bennet!

[Source: Temple of VTEC]

Autoblog regulars will remember the ongoing feud between Honda Canada and the Canadian government. The conflict centers around Ottawa's new budget that contains the ecoAuto program, which offers between $1,000 and $2,500 rebates on certain fuel efficient vehicles and up to a $4,000 penalty on gas guzzlers. The Honda Fit, which is very popular in Canada, missed the cutoff for being eligible for a rebate because it consumes 6.6L of fuel every 100 kilometers, just one tenth of a liter more than the federal criteria for the rebate. The Civic misses the mark, however, by one-third to a half liter every 100 kilometers.

Honda threw a fit at what it saw as a federal endorsement of fuel economy over safety, as well as the unfair advantage it gave to competitors like the Toyota Yaris, which did qualify for the rebate but performed less well in crash tests. Honda even went so far as to offer its own $1,000 rebate on the Fit in protest.

In the meantime, Honda engineers have been going over the Fit to eek out a few more miles per gallon, and they've done it on the Fit equipped with a manual transmission. While confirming that they did not reduce the vehicles weight by deleting safety options to achieve the fuel savings, Honda was mum on exactly how it was achieved except to say "internal tinkering" was involved.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look they'll be able to perform the same miracle with the Fit that's equipped with an automatic, though in Canada the manual Fit sells more anyway. The Civic, which is less fuel-efficient than either Fit, has pretty much no hope of ever meeting the governments criteria for the rebate.

Thanks for the tip, Steve!

[Source: The Star]

We've only had it here in the US since April of 2006, but the plucky little Honda Fit has been on sale in Japan and other markets since as far back as 2001. Suffice to say that the subcompact found an audience, as Honda has formally announced that as of the end of June, over 2 million Fits (including the name-engineered Jazz, which it's called in Europe and Asia/Oceana) have been sold worldwide. Unsurprisingly, Japan accounts for the lion's share, with almost half that number (962,000 to be exact) sold in the home market. Europe is next with 417,000. The US accounts for 77,000 cars since introduction last year. The next-generation Fit/Jazz is (finally) expected to bow at this year's Tokyo Motor Show.

[Source: Honda]