Help Me, Honda!

So, you need a new car, do you? Have you considered Honda? Not too long ago your choices were the Civic, Accord, or Prelude. Today, Honda has expanded their line up to cover just about every segment going. Lets take a look at their current line up and see how Honda stacks up against the competition.

Accord Soon after the Civic entered the North American market, the Accord was introduced. The car has been so well received that it routinely battles with the Toyota Camry for the top spot in the American market. Every few years the Accord receives a complete makeover; todays Accord is available in three models: coupe, sedan, and hybrid

Civic When Honda entered the US market in the early 1970s, it was the Civic that led the way. The reason? High fuel economy. At that time, Detroit was primarily building gas guzzling behemoths and the American market was ripe for an affordable and economical compact car. Despite being derided by some pregnant roller skate was one of the terms given to the Civic the car proved to be the toehold Honda needed to get established in the North American market. Todays Civic bears no resemblance to the original and it is available in three models: coupe, sedan, and hybrid.

CR-V Available in either FWD or 4WD, the CR-V is Hondas compact SUV with seating for as many as five adults.

Element The Element defies easy characterization. Some call it a bread box on wheels. Available as a FWD or 4WD vehicle, the Element is targeted to the youth set and is an alternative to Toyotas Scion brand.

Insight The first gasoline-electric hybrid sold in the US was the Insight. Five years later it still commands an important part of the Honda line up.

Odyssey The new benchmark for minivans is the Honda Odyssey. In just a few short years, Honda transformed a Plain Jane people mover into a van with pizzazz. The Odyssey routinely competes with the Toyota Sienna for top honors in the North American market.

Pilot A 7 passenger SUV, the Pilot is Hondas first large SUV. Competing against the Ford Explorer, Chevrolet TrailBlazer, GMC Envoy, and Toyota 4Runner, the Pilot has performed well and has gained respect in the tough, competitive American market.

Ridgeline A four door AWD truck, the Ridgeline goes where no Honda has gone before: off the road. Sure, other Hondas come equipped with AWD or 4WD, but the Ridgeline was built expressly to handle hill as well as highway. The unique five foot long bed has a trunk built into it; certainly the Ridgeline defies easy comparison.

S2000 Roadster Hondas race car capabilities are displayed with the S2000 Roadster a two seat coupe that compares favorably with the BMW Z4 Roadster. Ranked as one of the best wanted car by consumers with several leading automobile magazines and web sites including Edmunds.com.

Hondas top competitor is Toyota and both now have luxury brands from which motorists can purchase more upscale versions of their vehicles. Toyotas Lexus division and Hondas Acura division offer to consumers vehicles that go beyond their standard brands. Still, you cant go wrong if you buy a Honda, an automotive line which continues to expand and grow because of high quality and consumer loyalty.

 


Air Intake Systems allow for more engine power: quick tips

Air Intake Systems allow for more engine power: quick tips for performance

Want to squeeze every bit of power out of your vehicle’s engine? Grabbing a high-performance air intake is the quick and easy route to several benefits, including:

An instant increase in horsepower

A noticeable boost to your throttle response

Improved fuel economy

A long-life, washable performance air filter

Specialized engineering that’s fine-tuned to your specific vehicle

Straightforward, simple installation virtually anyone can complete

Horsepower increase from a performance air intake

As your new performance intake draws in a higher volume of air which may be much cooler, your engine can breathe easier than with a limiting stock system. With your combustion chamber filled by cooler, oxygen-rich air, fuel burns at a more efficient mixture. You get more power out of every drop of fuel when it’s combined with the right amount of air.

With more air in the chamber, you can also burn more fuel than before. That’s how a performance intake puts power at the pedal for you: reducing air temperatures, balancing fuel mixtures and providing more air for combustion.

Performance air intakes and boosted throttle response

With more air and cooler air ready and waiting for combustion, your engine’s response at stoplights and freeway onramps quickens. Stock intakes often deliver warmer, fuel-rich combustion mixtures that cause your engine to lose power and responsiveness while running hotter and more sluggishly.

The difference in responsiveness isn’t just noticeable; you can literally feel it in the seat of your pants. With a free-breathing intake system attached to your throttle body, your engine is literally inviting you to punch it.

Fuel economy with a performance air intake

You’re probably guessing that extra power, cooler temperatures and improved gas mileage can’t all come from the same product. Guess again! Performance air intakes can help your fuel economy in this wallet-gouging, price-per-gallon era by helping your air to fuel ratio get in line. Because you’re getting more power from every drop by burning more efficiently, your engine uses less fuel at all times – city or highway. On average, drivers will see a 1-2mpg improvement.

There’s a catch, though. Many drivers trade their limiting air intake for a performance air intake and can’t resist using every bit of the horsepower and throttle gains. They’ll drive like mad to the grocery store. They might peel-out at stoplights. Or even race the cops. It’s called hard driving, and it’s the fastest way to burn-up the gas mileage improvements provided by a performance air intake. Your best bet is to keep your driving habits relatively unchanged, enjoy the extra power at the pedal, and collect on the gas mileage savings.

Expert engineering of an air intake system

This isn’t a piece of drainage pipe with a filter on the end. Air intake systems employ specially-shaped intake tubes designed to straighten airflow as much as possible while looking great in your engine compartment. These pipes are typically mandrel-bent, a process that doesn’t crimp the pipe diameter at the bend.

Special care is given to locating the intake tube, air box and filter in the position that best fosters maximum performance. The materials used are also selected with optimum engine conditions in mind.

The fundamentals of installing a performance air intake on your vehicle
Not only is a performance air intake one of the most essential upgrades to your vehicle, it happens to be one of the easiest additions to install. With little more than a common socket set, a couple of screwdrivers and half an hour’s time, you can have your new air intake in place and ready to roar.

Detailed instructions are included with every intake kit. These instructions go through the simple process of removing your stock intake system (including the tube and air box), and installing the new air intake in just a few minutes to stock mounting positions. No cutting, drilling or other modifications are required. What you do with your limiting stock intake next is, well, up to you.