Personally, I'd like to see a new Honda Hybrid lawnmower or personal watercraft.

Howard

Hi AZCivic:

___It will but … The Ody, Pilot, and MDX almost need the 3.5L to keep up in the performance arena. I wouldn’t mind the AH’s modded J30 minus its tranny in the X but a K24? That is a great ICE but there are not enough ponies available to push a 4,400 # + Minivan/SUV around at what some would consider reasonable acceleration rates here in the states. I know this is all BS given what the Europeans live with but you have to design for a market, not what is enough to get by when charging $29 - $45K +. The Ody’s 3.5L V6 w/ VCM is allowing it another 3 mpg over the non-VCM version and hybridization isn’t going to help much in the highway FE front with that ICE. If Honda hybridized a K24 with a 50 + HP MGSet including the mandatory, much larger pack, then they might be able to get away with it as it should have both a 0 - 60 and ¼ mile performance acceptable to the American public as well as OK FE out on the highway? Even though the K24 can do wonders for those of us that push it, the average consumer and the EPA won’t get much more out of one vs. the I4 based non-hybrid Accord on the highway even when beefed up the way I described. I have no idea how a VCM’ed K24 (running on 2 or 3-cylinders) would perform but I have a feeling it either vibrated like a pogo-stick or it had the performance of a Smart Diesel at WOT

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

I wold bet on the Pilot.The HH has stolen a bit of Honda's -Acura thunder.The Odyssey-20-28- already has respectable numbers,and they are still selling well.The Pilot's 17-22 doesn't look so good compared to the HH's 31-28.Real world in heavy city driving the Pilot is a bit of a pig-14 mpg.I would bet Honda could get an honest 18 mpg city with it-an Epa number of maybe 25mpg.
The Pilot-MDX are-were- big sellers and more versatile(a lot more interior room) vehicles than the Highlander in any of it;s iterations.Heck,it is even cheaper than a AWD V-6 Highlander with full airbag protection.The Pilot-MDX -because of their width- are close to minivans in interior room.The minivans are roughly 12" longer than the Pilot,but the HH is a good 17" less interior room lengthwise,and about 6" less width.
The MDX is Acura's only real sales winner.They need a Homerun Hybrid.Acura won't sell Minivans,so a combo vehicle-Pilot-MDX-that matches the HH in performance(they claim 7.3 0-60),but beats it in interior room will be a winner.
A Pilot Hybrid would also save more gas than a Odyssey hybrid.Well,maybe not,but the EPA numbers would imply that it would save more gas.
I have checked an Odyssey forum.I haven't seem any reports of 28 mpg fillups with the 2005 Odyssey with CYL shutdown(-of over 600+ entries-)I bet there is someone here with the new Cyl shutdown Odyssey??Any info on that.
There are plenty of Pilot-MDX reports of better tha HY EPA.Exel-granted he isn't your average MDX-Pilot driver-produced some tanks in the 30 mpg range.More average drivers-me-have gotten 24-28 mpg hy tanks with the Pilot-MDX.
I vote for the MDX-Pilot-it is a two for one-and an excellent vehicle that can replace a minivan without being a minivan(awd capability for the folks in the northern snow states).Thanks
PS I'm not knocking Acura-they are great cars-they just don't market as well as Lexus does.Maybe the V-8's that give Lexus such an edge will be seen as poison by some potential buyers-and Acura will reap a windfall???

AZCivic makes very reasonable points, but I think the CRV would be a better market success, mostly because it has already staked out a niche in the small suv-happy with 4 cyl crowd.

I thought one of the advantages of IMA is that it is relatively easy to tack on to just about anything ?

R2-E2, 2G Prius.
Highway/City/Husband/Wife MPG: 56.5, as of 12/2005, 26K miles

Jac Nasser, Ford President: "We are planning to launch a hybrid version of
this car [P2000] within this year [1998]. We will also make FCEV available in
2004."

Hi Phoebeisis:

___There were rumors of an Acura RDX being hybridized which may be based off the CRV platform but with Acura’s std. lux appointments thrown in to the mix. That could easily be driven off a hybridized K24 and maybe even the IMA based J30 given it is a complete redesign. I doubt it would receive the FE of the AH but it would be a fast SOB and get maybe 32 - 33 on the highway if designed like the AH is? 32 - 33 does not trip my trigger but it may for someone looking for a smaller, more performance oriented, semi-lux Sport Ute?

http://www.acurardx.org/

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

I agree that a minivan seems like the logical next step. The V6 cylinder-management technology in the HAH was already in the 2005 Honda Odyssey (source: Consumer Reports blurb) so I think it's likely to be made a hybrid. But I expect a real-world FE of perhaps 30mpg, not more, and quite possibly lower. That's still excellent for a minivan.

hmm, didn't know about the pilot/mdx rumor. That does give them a 2fer1.

It boils down to whether they think a more efficient minivan is a better ROI than a more efficient SUV platform, given the new negativity towards SUVs. Is that sentiment enough to actually register as justification to swing development away? Honda's PMs will decide, and we'll find out soon enough.

Or, given Honda's now proven ability to integrate IMA pretty easily with their standard platforms, maybe they'll surprise us and cover all market segments. Why not?

My local dealer rep who I'm friendly with tells me he's been told through channels that it's going to be the Ody - in full trim. His shock was the price - over 40K base (no Navi / Res), as stated.

I've seen rumours that Acura's 'thinking' about hybridization - if they do, I'll bet they go the 'performance' route a la Lexus vs. Toyota.

Look for a hybrid version of TSX (easy, given the Euro Accord heritage, and would juice up the K24 inside) or the new RDX (not sure if this is based on the CR-V or not; I'll have to research).

Finally, the other Honda vehicle I've heard rumours of getting IMA (but not from a Honda associate) is the Ridgeline. Supposedly, they paid attention to it during the design phase (probably a behind-the-rear-seat treatment - the one in the Ridge folds down now, I believe).

Finally, I'd guess nothing that currently 'requires' the 3.5L V6 (Pilot, MDX) would get hybridized right now, based on how Honda did the HAH (V6 vs. I4). Too much weight for VCM to function seamlessly in those vehicles, vs. the way it does in the HAH.

Actually, Reynolds, the Odyssey weighs 100 pounds more than the Pilot. Specifically, it weighs about 4600 pounds, versus about 4500 for the Pilot.

Since I own a HCH and an Ody, I would vote for the Ody. The last road trip in our non-VCM ody I got 28 MPG so I think mid-30's wouldn't be to big a stretch and 40 might be possible.

Billy