Latest news with #HondaMotors
Top Gear
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Top Gear
Honda is putting the Civic Type R's suspension into the new Prelude
Honda is putting the Civic Type R's suspension into the new Prelude Dual-axis setup – to reduce understeer – will feature in a non-Type R for the first time Skip 2 photos in the image carousel and continue reading Turn on Javascript to see all the available pictures. 1 / 2 Though Honda has thus far refused to fully confirm a Prelude Type R, today we learn the base car is already up to the challenge. That's because Honda has fully confirmed its new hybrid coupe – that's not a crossover, yay! – will deploy the Civic Type R's unique 'dual-axis' suspension setup. It will also inherit the Civic Type R's wider front and rear tracks, and Brembo front brake system. It's the first time a non-Type R Honda has been treated to Type R goodies, and – as we found out on a prototype drive – bodes well for the resurrected nameplate. Advertisement - Page continues below 'The suspension and brake systems will be tuned exclusively for the new Prelude to deliver a sporty yet comfortable grand touring driving experience,' said Honda. Dual-axis was first introduced in the 2017 FK8 Civic Type R – a car we awarded Hot Hatch of the Year – and was subsequently carried over to the FL5 Civic Type R – a car we awarded [cue Ali voice] The Greatest Of All Times. In short, it works to kill torque steer in powerful front-drive cars. To get technical, Honda added a damper fork to separate the knuckle from the damper, to shorten the centre offset. That's the key. 'With conventional strut suspension, centre offset is structurally difficult to reduce, and has been a problem for many years,' Honda explained. So killing that meant the Type R gets more stability during 'sudden take-off or acceleration'. And with 320 horsies to play with in the Civic Type R, there's plenty of 'sudden take-off or acceleration'. Better grip through corners, of course. Advertisement - Page continues below What does this mean for a harder, more track-focused Prelude? Honda has thus far refused to fully confirm a Prelude Type R, but slotting in its sibling's brilliant suspension means it's already up to the challenge… Top Gear Newsletter Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Look out for your regular round-up of news, reviews and offers in your inbox. Get all the latest news, reviews and exclusives, direct to your inbox. Success Your Email*
Edmunds
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Edmunds
Heck Yeah: 2026 Honda Prelude Will Combine Civic Hybrid Engine With Type R Chassis
Honda just released more details about the upcoming 2026 Prelude, and we're more excited than ever for this reborn coupe to hit the road later this year. Not only will the Prelude use the engine from the Edmunds Top Rated Best of the Best winning Civic Hybrid, it'll ride on architecture shared with another one of our favorite cars: the Civic Type R hot hatch. This should be an awesome combo. Final specs aren't yet available, but assuming the Civic Hybrid's engine carries over to the Prelude unchanged, we can expect output of around 200 horsepower and 232 lb-ft of torque. That's a bit less than what we were initially hoping for, but we love the smooth refinement and easy efficiency of this engine in the Civic. It should be totally fine in the Prelude.
National Observer
16-05-2025
- Automotive
- National Observer
Volkswagen's EV battery-maker charges ahead with $7 billion gigafactory as rivals' plans stall
Volkswagen-owned EV battery manufacturer PowerCo is 'confident' the state-of-the-art gigafactory it is building in southern Ontario will move into production in 2027, despite market headwinds that have led the province's five other auto majors to pull back from multi-billion-dollar sector investments over the past year. PowerCo, which has a $7 billion battery plant under construction in St, Thomas, credited a flexible technology manufacturing strategy with helping it weather regional sector uncertainties in Canada created by the combination of a slow-down in EV demand and the impact of US auto sector tariffs. Earlier this week, Honda Motors became the latest international automaker to pump the brakes on its EV supply chain development plans in Ontario, blaming "changing conditions' for the postponement of its $15 billion investment in the province. The decision adds to the mounting woes faced by Canada's EV manufacturing ambitions, which have already encountered setbacks with Ford, General Motors, Stellantis, and Toyota having paused or shelved factory construction plans, leaving the government's $100 billion strategy in limbo. 'Different companies will have different strategies for the markets and plants they serve. For PowerCo, Gigafactory St. Thomas is a strategic, long-term investment with strong fundamentals,' Tegan Versolatto, PowerCo's Canada spokesperson, told Canada's National Observer. She said the company remained 'on track' to start battery manufacturing in 2027, followed by a ramp-up of commercial production if there was market demand. Verolatto noted that key infrastructure work on the factory site, including a rail spur and substation, is 'well underway.' 'Technology agnostic' battery cell PowerCo's batteries are engineered around what the company calls a "unified cell' — a design that is not limited to current battery cell chemistries like lithium-ion — that would be produced in a standardized factory to reduce costs. 'Different companies will have different strategies for the markets and plants they serve. For PowerCo, Gigafactory St. Thomas is a strategic, long-term investment with strong fundamentals,' Tegan Versolatto, PowerCo's Canada spokesperson 'Our product and production is as simple as possible and at the same time highly flexible. This enables us to react to potential market changes and always have the right product in place,' Versolatto said. All PowerCo battery plants — along with St. Thomas, in Salzgitter, Germany, and Valencia, Spain — will produce the company's cell design, she added. 'That makes our global production network highly flexible and compatible to all scenarios. This enables us to react to potential market changes and always have the right product in place.' Between October 2021 and April 2024, a total of $46.1 billion in investments across the Canadian EV supply chain was announced by automakers including Honda, Volkswagen, GM and Ford, with a further $52.5 billion in support coming from federal and provincial coffers, according to Canada's Parliamentary Budget Officer, who is responsible for providing economic and financial analysis to the government. But dark clouds have gathered for months over the long-term future of auto manufacturing in Ontario as the Canada-US trade war has dragged on. Auto plant lay-offs and closures Stellantis sent home 3,000 workers after closing its Windsor, Ont. assembly plant where it manufactures Chrysler Pacifica minivans and electric Dodge Charger pony cars — and also temporarily laid off 900 employees at its US facilities, while General Motors shuttered its CAMI plant in Ingersoll, Ont., home to its Brightdrop Zevo electric delivery van, leaving 500 employees out of work. A high-profile EV battery gigafactory being built in Quebec by technology developer Northvolt was mothballed in March when its Swedish parent company filed for bankruptcy. More bad news came this week with data from StatsCan. in the last year, with 12,347 new zero emission vehicles sold in March 2025, compared to some 22,390 in the same month in 2024. During the federal election campaign, Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged a $2 billion fund to develop an 'all-in-Canada' auto supply chain. In 2023, Canada imported $2.3 billion in EVs and plug-in hybrids from China. The longer-term outlook for EVs in Canada looks brighter. Statista, a data provider, is forecasting the country's market will still expand to be worth over $11.5 billion in 2025 and grow at almost 10 per cent a year to $17 billion by 2029, by which time almost 250,000 EVs will be on Canadian roads. Newly appointed federal Minister of Industry Mélanie Joly said during a press scrum yesterday that she aimed to have 'good conversations with [all six automakers] before the end of the week' to discuss their future EV market plans in the country.
