Honda Future Cars

The latest chapter of the Bronco vs Wrangler story has a new twist. A rather unfamiliar automaker in this segment has decided to step up and challenge these two Americans.

According to CarBuzz, Honda has filed for the “Trailsport” trademark that suggests the automaker wants a share of this ever-growing pie. The trademark doesn’t explicitly specify that it’s for off-road purposes, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out its intended use. Will this serve as a ‘passport’ for Honda to fly into the off-road segment?

The redesigned 2020 Honda Type R is still a fresh addition to the Japanese brand’s lineup but rumors about the next-gen Type R have been swirling on the interwebs for quite some time now.

Those familiar with what’s been written and predicted about the new generation Honda Type R know that the hot hatch has been touted with every possible powertrain: a hybrid one, an all-electric setup, and a pure-ICE configuration.

Basically, we know nothing about what’s going to motivate the new Type R yet a rumor from Japan takes the cake in terms of outrageousness.

Right now, we know that GM is working on a Hummer EV, and we know that, for some reason, the company thinks the Cadillac brand can sell a six-figure car, known as the Celestiq. I have downright critisized the brand on a number of occasions for not taking EVs seriously enough and, more recently, for the whole Celestiq situation. To me, it seems like GM just doesn’t know what it’s doing, and I always assumed it was because of poor leadership. Now, word has surfaced that Honda and GM are teaming up on EVs. To be more specific, GM is going to help Honda develop it’s next two EVs, and at first I thought this was a very bad move, but then I saw the bigger picture.

Honda is testing an all-new Jazz subcompact hatchback, also known as the Fit in some markets. It’s the fourth generation for the nameplate and it looks like it will retain the wedge-nosed one-box design of its predecessors, albeit with a slightly sportier design twist.

The camouflaged prototype spotted by our spies reveals quite a lot about the car, which is slated for a reveal no earlier than 2020, since the refreshed version of the current model only came out last year. Aside from the completely new and slightly more rakish-looking body, changes will be made to its powerplant lineup and interior. The hybrid version may share its powertrain with the new Insight.

Update 04/4/2019: The 2021 Honda Jazz was caught out in the wild again and, while it hasn’t dropped a lot of camo, we can make out a few subtle differences. Check out what we know in the Spy Shots section below!

Honda has not been doing well in the European market and has made some big plans to boost its sales. By 2025, the Japanese giant will electrify all of its models in Europe. And, this is where the Civic Type-R comes into the picture. Based on the comments made by a senior Honda executive at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, the next-gen Honda Civic Type-R will be electrified alongside a drastic change in design direction from the sharp and angular image of recent generations. Will the Civic Type-R’s performance remain the same even then?

Honda is testing camouflaged prototypes for the production version of its Urban EV concept, and even with the camo, we can pretty much make out the entire shape of the car and most of its details. Unlike the motor show design study, the production version will have five instead of three doors and several additional detail changes.

It turns out the rumors that Honda was eventually going to put its Urban EV Concept from the 2017 Frankfurt motor show into production were true. Our spies have caught what is, evidently, a camouflaged production prototype of that study and, while it does do away with some of the concept’s craziness, it’s still an interesting and unexpected model.

Back at its motor show debut, the Urban EV concept caused quite a stir with its retro-futuristic styling and all-electric powertrain, although it was probably the former that made it unique. Honda seems to have left the overall design mostly unchanged for the production version, the big difference being that it has grown from a three-door into a five-door.

The concept also had rear-hinged (so-called “suicide”) doors, but this production interpretation seems to have regular doors. Another change over the concept has to do with the shape of the rear lights that are now round as opposed to square, mirroring the shape of the front clusters.

It’s also going to be Honda’s first all-electric vehicle for the European market, but aside from that, it’s also apparently going to be a sold as a kind of premium vehicle (according to some rumors), so it probably won’t necessarily be an affordable supermini/subcompact.

The latest Honda Civic Type R was introduced just a year ago, but the Japanese firm is already working on a facelift. A revised prototype with mild camouflage over its front and rear fascias was spotted testing on public roads, and it seems that Honda is planning to replace the hatchback with an updated version in 2019.

The Honda Pilot entered its third generation for the 2016 model year, and with it came a completely redesigned vehicle that dropped its boxy look, shed a few pounds, and inches closer to the premium segment as far as interior materials and overall fit and finish. On the outside, the front end is now sportier with thinner wraparound headlight units, a stylish front fascia, muscular hood, sculpted side profile, new taillight units, and a rear end that is far less boxy compared to the outgoing model. Inside, the cabin has been redesigned to provide a more premium feel, despite still be packed full of hard plastic trim. There is a new digital instrument cluster, and eight-inch touch screen display and extra passenger and cargo room compared to the previous model. Honda didn’t do too much to alter the Pilot’s drivetrain for the third-gen model, but it did update the 3.5-liter to include cylinder deactivation, a stop/start function, and a six-speed automatic transmission.

More importantly, however, is the fact that the 2016 Honda Pilot should be safer than the outgoing model, earning “good” ratings for moderate overlap frontal offset, small overlap frontal offset, side impact, and roof strength, which was an improvement over the previous gen model, which received a “poor” rating for small overlap frontal offset and a “marginal” rating for roof strength for the 2009 to 2011 model years. With models like the Toyota Highlander and Chevy Traverse already sporting a more modern design, the new Pilot finally has what it takes to compete in the Large SUV segment once again. With that said, take a look at our detailed review of the new 2016 Honda Pilot below.

Updated 06/28/2018: Honda has updated the 2019 Pilot with a revised exterior look, a revised nine-speed automatic transmission, Honda Safety Sense, and a decent list of optional equipment for the taking. Check out the details in our updated section below.

One of the first automakers to launch a production hybrid — the Insight arrive in late 2000 — Honda still has a lot of catching up to do in the all-electric market. Having focused on hydrogen tech and hybrids in recent years, the Japanese firm has only two EVs on offer: the brand-new Clarity Electric and the really old Fit EV, based on the second-gen hatchback that was discontinued in 2014. But Honda wants to change that really soon. It has already signed a global partnership with CATL, China’s biggest battery maker, and more recently one with Nikkei, which will spawn a new all-electric Fit.

Honda has big EV plans, and the first big step is bringing the Urban EV Concept to the market, in production form, by 2019. That much we know. And, if that’s any indication, that means the Sports EV Concept will be the next in line. And, that’s exactly why we’ve taken the liberty render up what the production model will look like. Naturally, it will maintain that sleek hatchback look but will, of course, get more production-friendly features. Range should be somewhere about the 250-mile mark and performance will likely come in somewhere around 300 to 350 horsepower. But, let’s talk more about that, and what it will take to morph the concept into a production model, in my speculative review below.

Acura has renewed its U.S. patent for the CDX name – one that belongs to a China-only crossover based on the Honda CR-V. While Acura has sold the compact CDX crossover in China since 2016, no official talk has emerged about Honda bringing the luxury-branded vehicle to the United States. Unfortunately, that remains the case despite the patent filing.

See, Honda originally patented the CDX name back in 2015 ahead of the crossover’s debut for the Chinese market. Since then, Acura’s U.S. branch has made do without an entry-level crossover below the RDX. In fact, the mid-size RDX and full-size MDX remain Acura’s only two crossovers. Now, especially more than ever, seems to be the right time for a third member in Acura’s crossover lineup.

The segment is getting increasingly more competitive with new entries and refreshed versions of existing vehicles. Both Lexus and Cadillac have new vehicles on the horizon for the segment with the UX and XT4, and vehicles like the Audi Q3, Volvo XC60, Jaguar E-Pace, Alfa Romeo Stelvio, Lincoln Nautilus, Range Rover Evoque, and even the Buick Encore all enjoy strong sales.

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Honda’s OG SUV is making a comeback. The once proud Pilot badge is reportedly getting a new shot in life, this time in a form of a two-row crossover that will slot between the CR-V and Pilot SUV. The new Passport is expected to to be shown at a Honda dealership meeting in November before going on sale sometime in the early part of 2019. Before that, a date with the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show is also on the calendar.

Recently published patent images show that Honda has a new, simplified air dam design that increases strength and rigidity, while simultaneously improving air flow as well. The patents also show what appears to be the new air dam attached to a second-generation NSX, spurring rumors that the H Badge could be cooking up a go-faster Type R iteration of its hybrid supercar.

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Compared to a lot of automakers, Honda has remained largely mute about its EV goals for the future. Be that as it may, the brand recently released two EV concepts and is now aiming for 15-minute charging by 2022, effectively tackling the largest hurdle in the mission of EVs moving into the mainstream category. The goal is to provide at least 240 km on a single, 15-minute charge, or at least 80-percent capacity – the industry standard at this point. The company will get an assist in this mission, however, as most of Europe and Japan should have a full network of 350 kW charging stations by 2020, and infrastructure that is a necessity for this type of fast charging to even be feasible let alone become a reality. To put that timeline into perspective, Honda is expecting to have production EVs on the road by 2019 and this high-speed charging in play just three years later. But, there’s a bit more to it – keep reading to learn more.

When Honda debuted the Urban EV Concept at the 2017 Frankfurt Auto Show, I was quick to scrutinize the brand for building something so weird, but as I looked at it more, it began to grow on me. And, it’s a good thing it did because that thing is slated for production for the European market sometime in 2019. And, to really top it off, Honda showed up to the 2017 Tokyo Auto Show with a sports car that looks quite familiar – the Honda Sports EV Concept. Following suit with the previous concept, it carries the same general styling cues in a futuristic but feasible package. Of course, it’s a sports car, so it doesn’t have that love seat up front, but it is quite sporty for what it is, and it could just as easily shift into production thanks to being built upon the same platform used for the last concept.

Unlike the last concept, however, we have next to no information. And, Honda didn’t even take the time to release interior shots of the concept either. We can tell that it has that massive display screen and that it’s missing the couch, but outside of that, we can’t see much. But, that doesn’t mean that this little battery-powered sports car should be overlooked. Out of all the EV sports car concepts we’ve seen, this is the one we really want to see become a reality, so let’s take a good look and see what’s crackalackin.

Honda waited years before bringing the Civic Type R to the U.S., but now that it’s here, our lusting and longing for performance variants of Hondas is left lonely. That got us thinking what else Honda could “Type R-ify.” Considering high-performance pickups are all the rage these days (though more for the off-road set), we figured the Ridgeline is a perfect candidate for a hotter engine, upgraded suspension, and some heavily bolstered racing seats. Why not?

Alright, we know – Elon Musk has a better chance of landing a Tesla-branded rover on Mars than we have of convincing Honda to build a Type R version of the Ridgeline. Honda purists would shout sacrilege at a Ridgeline Type R and haters of Honda’s pickup would laugh even harder at this “non-pickup.” That doesn’t matter, though; we’d still love to see a high-performance version of the second-generation Ridgeline. Perhaps it could even reignite the sport truck niche, twisting Ford’s arm to bring back the F-150 Lightning, Chevy the Silverado SS, and GMC the Syclone. How cool would that be? So what might a Honda Ridgeline Type R include? Read on for the speculation.

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There’s no harder transition in the world than for a car guy to move away from his prized bachelor car to daily drive a mom-mobile, aka the dreaded minivan. So, what happens when you want the best of both worlds? Well, you convince Honda to build you a Honda Odyssey Type R. Is it crazy? Sure. But are you going to tell me you would pass up an Odyssey Type R to drive a Chrysler Pacifica, Toyota Sienna, Kia Sedona, or a Mercedes Metris? I doubt it, and you know why? Because this thing is intense in all the right ways. You get all of the Type R goodies, including things like the Championship White paint, Type R wheels and body kit, and even the classic Type R red accents inside. But, what will power a beast like this? Well, we’ll discuss that in a bit.

So here we are, talking about something as crazy as an Odyssey Type R. All the goodness of the ultimate people hauler paired with the aggressiveness, style, and clout of the Type R badge, plus more than enough power to keep you from sacrificing your manhood on days when you have to tote the family around. So with that said, let’s dive in and speculate a bit about the Honda Odyssey Type R and why Honda should greenlight a project like this. You know it will appeal to the tuner and gearhead in all of us.

As the SUV and crossover body style continues to grip European markets with a surge in popularity, automakers are rushing to fill any and all gaps left in their tall-bodied lineup. Honda is no different, and without a green alternative in its compact crossover offerings, competitors like Kia and Toyota are scooping up sales left right. Basically, it boils down to missed opportunities for the H badge, but now, that’s about to change as Honda previews its upcoming hybrid CR-V. It’s called the CR-V Hybrid Prototype, and quite frankly, that “Prototype” in the name is probably completely unnecessary – this thing looks almost totally production ready. Not only is this the first time Honda has brought hybrid tech to a European-market SUV, but it’s also rumored the model could come stateside some time in the future. Either way, expect sharper styling, a 2.0-liter gas engine, and two electric motors.

The prototype will get its big public reveal later this month at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show, following in the footsteps of an earlier, China-bound hybrid CR-V revealed at the Shanghai Motor Show in April. So then – what does the prototype bring to the table, and what can we expect when the finalized production variant makes its appearance? Read on for all the details.

Continue reading to learn more about the Honda CR-V Hybrid Prototype.