Monthly Archives March 2015

Two days ago we have reported the news that the next Civic will use an all-new 1.5L turbocharged engine developed in-house by Honda. However, guess who will be the first one to use this new engine? To your surprise, it is not a sport oriented model; instead it will be a minivan: the 2016 Honda Stepwgn, a mid-size MPV currently sold in Asia markets only.

3 days ago Honda has announced the 5th-gen Stepwgn, which will be equipped with the all-new 1.5L turbocharged VTEC 4-cylinder engine. According to Honda, the turbo engine will provide an horsepower output equivalent to its current 2.0L naturally aspirated engine, and torque rating similar to the current 2.4L engine.

The n...

Today BMW announced one more member of the X5 SUV family: the 2016 X5 xDrive40e.

The X5 xDrive40e is a plug-in hybrid model with a 9kWh lithium-ion battery pack. It marks the first time that the X5 is using a 4-cylinder gasoline engine. Below are some highlights:

– 2.0L turbocharged 4-cylinder engine: 245hp, 258 lb-ft of torque; ZF-sourced 8-speed automatic transmission; xDrive AWD system
– Electric motor: 113hp, 184 lb-ft of torque
– Combined output: 313hp, 332 lb-ft of torque
– 0-62mph (0-100kmh) time: 6.8 seconds; top speed: 130mph (hybrid mode); 75mph (EV mode)
– Pure electric range: 19 miles

Enjoy the below gallery and see more details in the press release.

Turbocharging has been a common practice within many European auto makers. However this is not the case for Japanese companies. For example Toyota, currently it only has one model that is equipped with a turbocharged engine (the Lexus NX200t). Talking about Honda, it is better, since both of the new Acura NSX and Civic Type R are turbocharged.

This trend will finally come to Honda’s hot seller model: the Civic. From an interview with Automotive News, Yoshiharu Yamamoto, Honda’s head of global R&D department, has confirmed the below message:

– A 1.5L turbocharged 4-cylinder engine will be standard on the next generation Civic;
– Naturally aspirated engine is an upgrade op...

We have been covered the all-new 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata extensively in the past year, and you can see lots information from our articles here. Today Mazda finally released the curb weight spec for the US market model.

Here are the numbers:

2016 MX-5 Miata with manual transmission: 2,332 lbs
2016 MX-5 Miata with automatic transmission: 2,381 lbs

For your reference, the current 2015 Miata weights 2,480 lbs (manual transmission), and 2,542 lbs (automatic transmission). So the new model is looking at a 150 – 160 lbs weight saving from the current one.

We have reported the upcoming Cadillac CT6, a full-size flagship luxury sedan from GM last month (see report here and here). Today Cadillac officially announced the debut day will be Mar. 31, during the 2015 New York auto show. Together it also released one image of how the CT6’s body is constructed.

Information highlights:

– 64% of the CT6 body structure is made with aluminum alloy;
– All exterior body panels are made with aluminum too;
– Almost all structural components in front of the firewall are aluminum (this is similar to the BMW E60 5-series)
– Rear parcel is full aluminum

Please see the below press release for more details.

[expand title=”Click to view press re...