Honda to Display 25 Passenger Cars in Tokyo

Honda Motor Co. Ltd. will show 25 passenger cars at its booth at the upcoming Tokyo Motor Show.

Honda has selected the theme “feel FINE!” for its automotive display at the show, which includes the new eighth-generation Civic and second-generation Civic Hybrid models and three concepts that will have their world premiere in Tokyo.

One of the concepts, a 4-door called Sports 4 Concept, is “designed to make sure everyone in the vehicle shares the exhilaration of the drive,” Honda says.

Also on hand will be the W.O.W. Concept, which is designed with man’s best friend in mind, the auto maker says of the dog-friendly 6-passenger van.

Built for families, the model features sliding side doors and a flexible interior that allows seats to be moved around and, when not in use, stored under the floor.

Honda’s dog-friendly W.O.W. concept

Honda wants to introduce the model in Japan in the next two years but first will measure the amount of positive feedback it gets at the show.

Honda’s next-generation FCX Concept fuel-cell vehicle also is being shown.

A futuristic fuel-cell car, it features a new vertical powertrain layout that enables the same sort of packaging one might expect in a standard sedan. However, unlike a basic sedan, it has high-tech features such as a face-recognition entry system and a floating instrument panel that changes in height according to vehicle speed.

Honda research executive Yozo Kami notes that the FCX Concept is still just an engineer’s dream, at least from a powertrain standpoint.

Nevertheless, the targets set by Kami’s team at Honda’s Tochigi R&D Center are impressive. Top of the list is to reduce the fuel cell to half the size of the current-generation FCX.

Other targets include increasing driving range to 350 miles (563 km) from 300 miles (483 km) for the current FCX and boosting top speed to 100 mph (161 km/h) from the FCX’s 94 mph (151 km/h).

The FCX concept also features an all-wheel-drive system built around three in-wheel motors, which Kami says are still years away from being commercialized. He notes that either an ultracapacitor or battery can be used as the vehicle’s secondary power source.

In Honda’s advanced technology zone, an “easy-to-understand presentation” of Super Handling All-Wheel-Drive system, available on the Acura RL/Honda Legend models, will be featured.

Intelligent Night VisionSystem and Collision Mitigation Brake System also are being demonstrated at Honda’s booth.

And, in a special needs vehicle zone, the auto maker will display its Step Wgn side lift-up-seat vehicle, as well as a specially equipped Fit model and Honda’s Techmatic barrier-free driving-assistance system.

– with Roger Schreffler