Honda Gets Super Busy for 2013 Tokyo Auto Salon with a Barrage of Concepts and Tuned Models

Honda will be unleashing a host of new production and prototype vehicles and motorcycles at Japan's largest aftermarket event, the Tokyo Auto Salon 2013 that runs from January 11 to Sunday, January 13, 2013.

The first car that caught our attention is the S2000 Modulo Climax study of Honda's roadster model that ceased production in 2009.

It's featured in a Candy Red paint and sports a newly designed front end with a chrome brace-like strip, a new rear bumper and a series of other customizations both inside and out.

As one of its newest model series, the "N" family of mini cars that includes the tall, van-like N BOX and N BOX + models and the retro-inspired N ONE hatch, will be under the spotlight, with Honda to display the cars dressed in both production and concept parts from the likes of its in-house tuners, Modulo and Mugen.

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Honda Confirms UK Pricing for Updated and Slightly More Powerful 2013 CR-Z

The revised Honda CR-Z, which was seen in Europe for the first time at the Paris auto show in September, will arrive in UK dealerships in January with on-the-road prices starting from £20,550 for the Sport variant and £23,050 for the range-topping GT. Read more »

Honda Presents 2013 CR-Z with New Li-ion Battery and Improved Output in the USA

Following the world premiere of the refreshed and slightly more powerful 2013 CR-Z at the Indonesia auto show in September before it headed to the Paris Motor Show later in the same month, Honda has brought the updated model to the U.S. market with sales to begin on November 21, 2012.

For the new model year, the CR-Z gains an all-new Lithium-Ion battery that improves performance, and at the same time, mpg ratings, along with styling upgrades to the exterior and interior.

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Honda Announces New Lightweight and Compact 1.5-liter Petrol-Electric Hybrid Powertrain

Honda today introduced a new hybrid powertrain that will eventually replace its Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) hybrid system used on small vehicles such as the Civic sedan, Insight, Fit / Jazz hatchback and CR-Z coupe.

The new system is named Sport Hybrid i-DCD, which is an acronym for 'Intelligent Dual Clutch Drive', and it comprises a newly developed 1.5-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine that runs on the more fuel-efficient Atkinson cycle and an electric motor that also acts as a generator connected to a 7-speed dual clutch transmission (DCT).

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Honda Goes Into High Speed Mode with New Supercharged CR-Z Concept

From day one, we all knew what was missing from the Honda CR-Z – feel free to say it out loud with us: Power, Power and Power. With the exception of some limited-run production models prepared by Honda's in-house tuner Mugen for Japan and Britain, the automaker has not addressed this problem.

At the 2012 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, Honda is displaying yet another concept model for a faster and more focused version of the CR-Z, which it describes as, "a further exploration of the performance potential of the CR-Z Sport Hybrid", but does not say if it has any plans for production.

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Honda's Worldwide Hybrid Sales Break the 1 Million Mark after 13 Years

While not as near as successful as rivaling brand Toyota that sold its 4 millionth hybrid in May, 2012, Honda is a respectable foe in the hybrid car market with the automaker announcing today that its cumulative worldwide sales of hybrid vehicles surpassed the 1 million mark at the end of September 2012.

The Japanese carmaker reached the 1 million milestone almost 13 years after it launched its first ever production hybrid model, the Insight Mk1 in Japan in November of 1999.

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Mugen Launches Production Version of Supercharged Honda CR-Z RZ [19 Photos]

Something tells us that what Mugen has prepared is what Honda fans wanted the CR-Z to be from the beginning.

Over the past year or so, Honda's official tuning arm presented several concepts of a faster CR-Z and this is the final production model.

The car's official moniker is the 'Honda CR-Z MUGEN RZ' of which only 300 examples will be built and sold by Mugen exclusively in Japan, starting from November 26, with prices to be announced.

At the heart of the RZ lies a modified version of the stock model's IMA Hybrid powerplant that places a supercharger to the 1.5-liter i-VTEC engine to lift its output to 154hp (156PS) and 185Nm (136 lb-ft).

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2013 Honda CR-Z Comes to Paris with Better Performance Numbers and New Lithium-ion Battery

Compact, sporty coupes are a fast-growing segment right now. Honda returned to the segment in 2010 with the CR-Z, a front-wheel drive coupe with distinctive styling and a hybrid powertrain.

At the Paris Auto Show, Honda displayed the updated version of the CR-Z, which had already made a surprise debut in Indonesia and will go on sale in January 2013. It sports subtle cosmetic revisions, including a revised front grille and rear diffuser, plus two new exterior colors.

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Refreshed 2013 Honda CR-Z with Some Extra Ponies Makes Surprise Debut at the Indonesia Motor Show

Despite Honda's recent announcement that the facelifted version of the CR-Z compact sports hybrid would make its premiere at the Paris Auto Show, the Japanese automaker pulled a fast one by unveiling the new car at the Indonesia International Motor Show in Jakarta today.

External changes include a redesigned front grille, which loses its vertical bars, revised front bumper, HID headlamps with LED daytime running lights, new fog lamps, reshaped door mirrors and rear diffuser, LED rear lights and new 17-inch alloy wheels.

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2013 Honda CR-Z Facelift Gains Minor Cosmetic Updates and More Powerful Engine

We were right to suspect that the presentation date of the updated CR-Z on Honda's Japanese website was related to the Paris Motor Show as the automaker confirmed the news today while also releasing a full front picture and some initial details surrounding the facelift.

Honda tells us that the refreshed CR-Z hybrid coupe features revisions to the exterior and interior but does not provide additional information.

From the photo, the only change we see is the simplified front grille that drops the three razor-like plastic slabs on the upper half for a more streamlined appearance.

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Honda Teases "Second Generation" CR-Z Hybrid Coupe in Japan

Longtime Carscoop reader Leopaul R. tipped us off about a teaser for a "second generation" CR-Z that appeared on Honda's Japanese website today.

We couldn't translate most of the words seen in the flash movie (any help from our Japanese readers would be appreciated) but the site did give a date for the presentation: September 27, 2012, which also happens to be the first press day of the Paris Motor Show, though we cannot say for sure if the two events are related.

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Honda Mugen CR-Z GT with Twin-Turbo V6 is the One You'd Like but Can't Have

Truth to be said, the lukewarm reception of the reborn CR-Z has much to do with its puny 122hp hybrid powertrain – in comparison, the second-generation CR-X from the late 1980s came with 150 ponies that also had to move a lot less weight.

In stark contrast to the production CR-Z that employs the use of a 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine and Honda's Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) hybrid-electric system, Honda and its racing partner Mugen have come up with a far more interesting powertrain for the competition model that will run in the GT300 class of Japan's SUPER GT Series.

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