FastMotoring Motor News In Speed

On the last day of March 2012, Honda Automobile (Thailand) officially reopened the Ayutthaya Plant that was forced to close for 6 months following last year’s massive floods.

In December, Honda destroyed 1,055 cars that were damaged in the floods at the plant. It is remarkable getting the devastated plant up and running months ahead of schedule.

As of now, the production at the assembly plant is expected to fully resume by middle of this month. The Honda’s Ayutthaya plant makes Brio, Jazz, City, Civic, Accord and CRV models for the Thailand market and 30 other countries.

As you can see from the photos, the new facelift Honda City is in new production line. This sparks me a question when the Honda City will be facelift in Malaysia?

Honda is also establishing a Honda Thailand Fund to support worthy causes. Under the project, the company will contribute 1,000 baht for every Honda car, 100 baht for every motorcycle and 10 baht for every engine product to the fund. The fund is expected to generate 300 million baht in the first year and will have a target of one billion baht.

Anyhow, check out the video of the New Honda City 2011 too.

Photo Gallery: Honda Ayutthaya Plant in Thailand is back

After the tragedy of massive flood in Thailand, Honda Automobile Thailand started to scrap 1,055 cars which were damaged by the recent floods in Thailand. The 1,055 unit of Honda cars (mostly Honda Brio and City) were destroyed in an action to assure to customers that the flood-damaged cars will not be repaired and sold.

For the rest assure, there will not be any reconditioned ‘new’ Honda cars to be export and circulating in the market (including the spare parts).

It is a bit painful to see the process of scrapping the cars. Anyhow, check out the video below.

The demand for low viscosity engine oil was projected to increase from last 2 years due to raising fuel price and green initiative. With today’s engine oil technology, the low viscosity formulation is aims to reduce friction effectively and most importantly, higher efficiency as it help the engine to use less fuel.

Lately, Honda Malaysia introduced a new Honda fully synthetic engine Oil SM 0W-20. It is available at all authorised Honda service centre in Malaysia. It is recommended to all Honda models except Civic Type R and Accord V6 3.5. Bear in mind, this oil is recommended for gentle light-footed drivers.

One of our journalists has tested the new Honda SM 0W-20 fully synthetic oil on his new Honda Insight @ first 5,000km service. The oil offers a better acceleration response instantly after the oil change. Since the hybrid vehicles like Honda Insight and Civic Hybrid are operate with stop-start, this oil able to offer extra protection against deposits for stop-and-start engine condition.

Anyway, all Individual driving behaviours could be different and traffic congestion is also one of the factors that burning our precious fuel unproductively. Based on the same daily driving route, the indicator now displays an average of 15.8km/litre instead of 14.9km/litre. After all, it looks like a great gain on fuel savings wise. Perhaps, you should try it on your precious Honda during your next service.

The current generation of Honda Jazz went through a mid life facelift as most of the car did. Recently, we took the latest Honda Jazz out for a weekend driving experience to pretend as an owner. 

Firstly, we will begin from the exterior. The all-new Honda Jazz features a bolder front fascia with sportier looking front lower bumper.  We’re not surprise that the new front bumper design also improves the aerodynamic of the car. The headlamp is insignificantly enhanced by giving it some matte black lining and the mesh grille is now in gunmetal colour. The fog lights are standard fitted in the Honda Jazz Grade V. 

Few more noticeable revisions from the rear of the new 2011 Honda Jazz would be the new rear bumper. Added the cut line of each side of the bumper gave the Honda Jazz more attitude, the rear lights has been simplify with a 3-tier transparent middle – allowing clearer indicator while braking and reversing or left/right signals. The Honda Jazz was personally my teenage dream car, given an opportunity to own one for a few days was a dream come true. Moreover, the signature colour of the new Jazz is in Brilliant Metallic Orange colour!

More Details On 2011 Honda Jazz 2011 Facelift Malaysia Test Drive with Detail Review Here !

Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd is recalling 21,956 units of the City 2009 and 1,680 units of the Jazz 2009 and 2010 models to replace lost motion springs and the retainers for all vehicles with countermeasure parts.

In a statement today, Honda said lost motion springs, which are compressed by rocker arms in normal engine use, may bend or break over time resulting in irregular engine noise and potentially causing engine stalls. Though, it said no crashes or injuries have been reported that related to this issue.

The newly appointed Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Honda Malaysia, Yoichiro Ueno said the company is in the midst of preparing the replacement parts. Necessary inspection and replacement will be carried out when the parts are ready and all the charges incurred in this regard, will be borne by the company, he added.

More to the point, the Honda vehicle recalls not only applied in Malaysia but also other Honda City and Jazz/Fit in other region. In total recalled are 167,000 vehicles in Japan, 156,000 in China, 233,000 in the rest of Asia and about 122,000 in North America. Total up to 700,000 units worldwide.