2011 Honda Crz Cr-z on 2040-cars

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'Car Wars' says Ford, Honda to pick up share, Fiat-Chrysler ambitions downplayed

Don't look for a tremendous shifts in automotive market share over the next three years because it might not be coming. That's at least according to the annual Car Wars report by John Murphy, from Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research.
In the report's analysis of automakers' market share from 2013 to 2017, it predicts only small changes among the major companies. Ford and Honda see the biggest positive effect with an estimated 0.5 percent increase in their shares over the next three years; to 16.2 percent and 10.3 percent respectively. On the flip side, European automakers and Nissan are expected to lose 0.2 percent each to fall to 8.3 percent and 7.8 percent each respectively. The rest of the industry is predicted to hold steady as it is now.
The biggest loser in that prediction might be Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles. The report certainly throws a wet blanket on its plan for significant gains in market share. Murphy told The Detroit News that the company's goal was "almost unattainable."

2015 Honda Civic Type R to sire next-gen CR-Z?

Salt shakers at the ready, boys and girls. There's a rumor out of Australia claiming the next Honda CR-Z will be based on the forthcoming 276-horsepower, turbocharged Civic Type R. Apparently Honda's research and development bigwigs have been unnerved by the reception of the Scion FR-S/Subaru BRZ twins and are eager to return fire.
Now, don't get too excited - Honda isn't following the Volkswagen model of offering virtually unchanged mechanicals in a different bodyshell (Beetle Turbo and GTI, for example). Instead, the report says the future CR-Z will retain its hybrid powertrain, albeit with a serious kick in the pants. A prototype is said to already be zipping around Japan with a turbocharged, direct-injected, 1.5-liter, four-cylinder engine and the current CR-Z's electric motor and battery pack. With a reported 221 horsepower mated up to a seven-speed, dual-clutch transmission (say buh-bye to the CVT and six-speed manual) and the next-gen Civic platform underneath, the rumored CR-Z has all the makings of a hot hatch riot.
Of course, this all sounds wonderful. This is also the point where you should be enjoying that salt. We really like the idea of a properly hot CR-Z that can compete with John Cooper Works Mini models and the new Ford Fiesta ST, but the three-door hybrid has been such a slow seller for Honda in the US that it might not field a second generation here, no matter how improved it might be. Let us know what you think of an amped-up CR-Z in the comments. Is it a good idea, or is this one Honda model that's just too far gone?

Glickenhaus's SCG 003 to pack twin-turbo Honda V6?

Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus has made (or commissioned) two vehicles to date - the P4/5 and the P4/5 Competizione - and is now hard at work on its third. The first was based on the Ferrari Enzo and the second on a Ferrari F430, but the third is being developed independently from the ground up. The question, then, is what engine will it use?
Well now we may have our answer as Jalopnik reports that the SCG 003 (as it's known at the moment) will be powered by a 3.5-liter V6 sourced from Honda, fitted with twin turbochargers and producing in excess of 500 horsepower.
Honda's J35Y engine produces 278 horsepower in the Accord, 290 hp in the Acura MDX and 310 hp in the RLX. It also forms the basis for the HR35TT racing engine which Honda Performance Development puts in its Daytona Prototype, so if the rumors turn out to be true, chances are that's probably the engine in question - with the possible addition of a hybrid electric assist - but we'll have to sit tight to find out for sure.