1991 Honda Crx Si on 2040-cars

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Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi will share EV components and AI research

TOKYO — Japanese automakers Nissan and Honda say they plan to share components for electric vehicles like batteries and jointly research software for autonomous driving. A third Japanese manufacturer, Mitsubishi Motors Corp., has joined the Nissan-Honda partnership, sharing the view that speed and size are crucial in responding to dramatic changes in the auto industry centered around electrification. A preliminary agreement between Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. was announced in March. After 100 days of talks, executives of the companies evinced a sense of urgency. Japanese automakers dominated the era of gasoline engines in recent decades but have fallen behind formidable new players in green cars like Tesla of the U.S. and ChinaÂ’s BYD. “Companies that donÂ’t adapt to the changes cannot survive,” said Honda Chief Executive Toshihiro Mibe. “If we try to do everything on our own, we cannot catch up.” Nissan and Honda will use the same batteries and adopt the same specifications for motors and inverters for EV axles, they said. By coming together in what Mibe and counterpart at Nissan, Makoto Uchida, repeatedly called “making friends” to achieve economies of scale, the companies plan more strategic investments in technology and aim to cut costs by boosting volume. Each company will continue to produce and offer its own model offerings. But they will share resources in areas like components and software development, where “making friends” will be a plus, Mibe and Uchida told reporters. They declined to say whether the friendship will extend to a mutual capital ownership, while noting that wasnÂ’t ruled out. The two companies also agreed to have their model lineups “mutually complement” each other in various global markets, including both internal combustion engine vehicles and EVs. Details on that are being worked out, the companies said. Honda and Nissan will also work together on energy services in Japan. Under ThursdayÂ’s announcements, Mitsubishi will join as a third member. Toyota Motor Corp., JapanÂ’s top automaker, is not part of the three-way collaboration. Although Honda and Nissan have very different corporate cultures, it became clear, as their discussions on working together continued, their engineers and other workers on the ground have a lot in common, Uchida said. “Speed is the most crucial element, considering our size,” he added.

1997 Acura Integra Type R auctioned for $63,800

The Acura Integra, also known as the Honda Integra, was a front-wheel-drive sport compact car that neatly slotted between the Honda Civic and the Honda Accord. The Integra's sportiness wasn't just in its design, as there were a number of quite powerful engine choices for it, and some handling improvements. The mid-to-late-1990s second-generation car was available as the nearly-200-horsepower Type R version, which made a lasting impression no matter if you were an Acura customer, a Honda customer, a British motoring journalist putting the car through its paces in Wales or a PlayStation Gran Turismo gamer driving a virtual Integra at a fictional race track. The bug-eyed, sharply detailed Integra Type R, complete with a strengthened chassis, lightened spec, white wheels and a sizable rear wing, was an instant classic, and two decades later their values are definitely on the rise. No wonder, as they've been called the best-handling front-wheel-drive cars made, and there's some strong competition for that title. However, while the Integra Type R was sold new in limited numbers (just 320 units for the U.S. market in 1997), it wasn't envisioned just how much they could be worth in 2018. The past weekend, a certain high point was reached, as a 1,200-mile, Championship White, Acura-badged example was sold at a Barrett-Jackson auction for an eye-watering $63,800 with fees included. That is roughly double what the car cost new, no matter how new-condition it is. Perhaps the $60K+ sale price for the Type R was foreboded by a particular Florida-based car selling for $40,750 in late June, on Bring a Trailer. That car wasn't even in as-new condition, as it had already accumulated almost 60,000 miles. While these prices might reflect in the values of other used Integra Type R cars and even the more regular-issue, 170-horsepower Integra GS-R models, it might turn out be a blessing for the existing examples not ravaged by road salt or modding in usual Honda fashion, or stolen and parted out: As the values for Type R's keep climbing, it provides even more of an incentive for Type R owners to keep their cars in good or excellent shape. We're just hoping for a sweet spot there, so that the Integras won't all be mollycoddled and cocooned for fear of depreciation — these cars need to be used, out on the road with the VTEC singing, nearing 8,500 rpm. That's what they were designed for.

Next Honda Civic to get 1.5L turbo

The low-displacement, turbocharged engine is all the rage these days throughout the auto industry, whether considering the 1.0-liter, three-cylinder EcoBoost from Ford or even Ferrari opting for a downsized turbo V8 in the latest 488 GTB. It looks like Honda might be the next one to follow this trend, and it could happen as soon as the next-gen Civic. "Downsized turbocharging will be the base, even for the Civic," Honda Research and Development boss Yoshiharu Yamamoto said to Automotive News. That included the US, he indicated. "Quite a bit will switch over to turbo, but there will still be some naturally aspirated ones remaining." The engine reportedly is a turbocharged 1.5-liter four-cylinder that offers better fuel economy, lower emissions and the power of a naturally aspirated mill of between 2.0- and 2.4-liters, according to AN. Since the current Civic gets 143 horsepower from its 1.8-liter four that suggests a healthy power bump for the future model. Making the news even more tantalizing, the new Civic with the 1.5-liter turbo could be revealed before the end of the year, according to Automotive News. Honda already confirmed a $340 million investment into its Anna, Ohio, plant to build the engines later this year. Honda first mentioned a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder in 2013 along with the 2.0-liter turbo now in the Civic Type R in Europe. At the time, the brand said these engines would appear in "a number of future global models." The HR-V in the US was also previously rumored to use the same powerplant.