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Honda stretches new Shuttle to Fit the Japanese market

While the Honda Odyssey that we get here in North America may be getting bigger with each passing generation, the minivans Honda offers in its home market are still pretty small. Like the new Shuttle. Set to be unveiled in full next month, the new Shuttle is a compact minivan that looks like a longer version of the Fit hatchback we get over here. In fact previous versions were marketed as the Fit Shuttle, but the little hatchback's handle seems to have been dropped from this latest model. It's still a five-seater, but with extra cargo capacity including under-floor storage, all in a compact, Tokyo-friendly form. It's not as small as a Kei car – the miniature vehicle segment which Honda covers with its N series – but would likely be far too small to suit the typical American family. Technical details are still forthcoming, but the new Shuttle will be available with a 1.5-liter direct-injection inline-four or a hybrid powertrain, just like the Fit. But unlike the little hatchback we know, it will also be available with all-wheel drive.

Honda has finally killed the unloved CR-Z hybrid hatch

Last week we told you that the CR-Z would bow out in Japan with a Final Edition, a typical limited-run job with some badging and unique cosmetic elements. Now Honda has announced that the CR-Z is going away in the US, according to Car and Driver. But there won't be any fond farewell for the two-seat hybrid hatch here. It won't return for the 2017 model year. We expected this – a long time ago, frankly. It's not so much that the CR-Z was a bad idea, or that the car itself wasn't fun to drive on some level. It's more about the promise it failed to fulfill. The car's predecessor, the first-generation Insight hybrid, was more fun to drive in spite of having no pretension of sportiness. And although Honda tried to claim a spiritual connection, the CR-Z had very little to do with the pulse-raising CRXs of yore, which in sportier trims were a flat-out riot to drive. Instead, the CR-Z paired lukewarm driving dynamics with some appalling styling and ergonomic choices. It was heavy and not terribly powerful or efficient. Its only real enthusiast calling card was an available manual transmission, something no other hybrid offers, sporty or otherwise. Given that it was unloved by Americans from the start, the most surprising thing about the CR-Z is how long it lingered on the market. Not every car works; that's the nature of things. Whatever was wrong with the CR-Z could have been addressed with the sort of emergency refresh that the last-generation Civic got in response to being widely panned by critics and consumers. Instead, the CR-Z rotted on the vine rather than getting an investment to fulfill its original promise. In the meantime, the highest-zoot supercars and Honda's own Acura NSX have made hybridization cool again. There's no reason a small hatch couldn't benefit from some on-demand electric torque. In many respects, the CR-Z's time is now. It wasn't quite the right thing and arrived at definitely the wrong time. That's a shame, but don't cry over the CR-Z. It's gone to a better place. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. News Source: Car and Driver Green Honda Coupe Hatchback Hybrid Performance

Honda revamps F1 engine for McLaren

Things haven't been going smoothly for Honda since returning to Formula One, and the Japanese automaker says the challenge has been greater than it anticipated. But after a stronger showing at the recent Hungarian Grand Prix, Honda says its reliability issues are behind it and is working on introducing a revamped engine for the second half of the season. "I am confident our reliability problems are now behind us, which means we can turn our attention to increasing power," Honda racing chief Yasuhisa Arai told Autosport. "After the summer shutdown our plan is to apply a new-spec engine using some of our remaining seven tokens." The "tokens" to which Arai refers are a way for the FIA to limit engine development. The power units are broken down into 66 such tokens in the regulations, and each engine supplier can change up to 32 of them throughout the season. The allowance was at first afforded only to returning suppliers Mercedes, Ferrari, and Renault, but Honda succeeded in convincing the FIA to allow it the same leeway. Honda has been spending its development tokens on fixing reliability issues, but will shift its focus to improving performance. The McLaren team that Honda powers has only gotten both of its cars to the finish line at two out of 10 races this season. Most of those problems came down to the new engine package. That's compared to only two retirements the team suffered last season, when it was still under Mercedes power, and none the year before. In Hungary, however, the team not only got both cars to the finish line, but placed both in the points for the first time this season. "The sport has changed immensely since the McLaren-Honda 'glory days'," said Arai. "The current technology is much more sophisticated, and it is tough to make a good racing car. We knew it wouldn't be easy, but perhaps we didn't imagine it would be this hard." The Japanese manufacturer is now spending the summer break developing its power unit. Many of those changes are expected to be rolled out in time for the Belgian Grand Prix later this month, with the rest to follow in the ensuing races. Beyond reliability, engine performance is particularly important for the high-speed races at Spa and Monza, where the subsequent Italian Grand Prix will be held early next month. Related Video: