Mini-Honda to be made in Thailand
Honda has unveiled a new sub-Jazz sized
“Asia car” to go into simultaneous production in India and
Thailand from 2011.
This car was shown in concept form at its unveiling at the
New Delhi motor show in January, and it is expected that
much of the Thai production will be for export. Honda
already takes most of the volume sellers in its range from
the Thai plant, including CR-V, Civic, Accord and Jazz, as
well as City.
Mini
Honda
Although Honda has not spelled out which export markets it
will ultimately be sold in, the five-door, five-seat hatch
will be a direct competitor for the new Asian-made mini
cars, including the Indian-built Suzuki Alto and Hyundai
i20.
The styling of the New Small Concept shows a handsome hatch
with a wide stance and contemporary lines.
Although no mechanical details were revealed, the Indian
media speculates the car will have an engine of less than
1.2 liters to comply with local tax rules. However, a
Thai-built car would be free to edge that engine size up,
perhaps to 1.3 liters. This might put it in the ‘eco-car’
bracket for tax relief.
A petrol engine is a certainty to kick off production, but
an executive of Honda’s Indian partner, Honda Siel Cars
India Ltd, was quoted as saying a diesel engine was being
developed by Honda in Japan for the longer term.
To keep costs down, Honda has committed to sourcing many of
the parts from India, where the company has an R&D centre
focusing on developing such trade.
While the new hatchback is shorter than the Jazz, Honda
says, “A wide platform with a stable center of gravity was
adopted to create a highly efficient compact size with
seating for five people.”
Something for the bike
riders
Graham Knight at HighSide Tours sent in the
following article and I am very happy to include it in
Automania this week. Graham has promised me more of these
each month.
Riding Skills:
What’s this? Another Harley rider sharing his whimsical
theories on bike riding whilst negotiating the treacherous
two km straight line trip from home to pub? I hope not. The
purpose behind this series of articles is to give the daily
bike rider in Pattaya a bit more of a chance of getting
around without falling prey to some of the dangers prevalent
here.
Did she fall
off on the previous lap?
Why write them? Well the main reason is
to reduce my blood pressure as every day I see locals and
expats riding their bikes and scooters badly without
realizing how they are placing themselves and other road
users at risk. Hopefully by following these articles you
will find something in at least one of them that will make
your riding more confident, better and safer.
Why listen to me? I am the only full time professional track
and riding instructor in Thailand and have taught over 400
people over the last five years to ride at Bira Circuit. I
do this for a living. Now I’m not here to teach you how to
race round Pattaya or how to ride like Valentino Rossi, but
a lot of what we teach on the track can be applied to the
road as well.
That’s enough for the introduction, let’s get on with it.
1. Body Position
Let’s start with how you sit on the bike. This is important
because how you sit on the bikes directly affects how the
bike responds to your inputs. If this is true of a 70 kg
Valentino Rossi on a 145 kg MotoGP bike it is especially
true of a 90 kg rider on a 100 kg bike.
I’ll try and deal with the main types of two-wheelers I see
on the roads here.
1) Bikes; these have a tank between your knees and foot pegs
below your shoulders. CBRs, ER6ns, Enduros, etc.
2) Stepthroughs; no tank between your knees, with foot pegs
or footboards. Honda Wave, Airblade, Yamaha Mio, Fino, etc.
3) Choppers; tanks between knees but with pegs and bars
placed further forward. Honda Shadow, Kawasaki Boss, etc.
Your feet should be placed with the balls of the feet on the
pegs if you have pegs, if you have footboards position your
feet as far forward as they will comfortably go. If you have
chopper then again place the balls of your feet against the
pegs which you should be able to reach without over
stretching your leg. You want the balls of your feet on the
pegs so that you have the ability to transfer your body
weight through the pegs by simply lifting your heel on
either side.
You should sit on the seat so that your arms are not
stretching to reach the handle bars. Your elbows should be
bent about 45 degrees from straight. Sit centrally on the
seat (save the hanging off for the racetrack). Your knees
should be drawn in behind whatever fairing or protection you
have. If you have a tank then your knees should be used to
grip the tank firmly. Those of you with choppers will
probably not be able to do this, which is one reason why
these bikes handle so badly.
The basic purpose behind all of these adjustments is to
“lock” your bottom half into the bike and take the pressure
off your wrists and arms. You should hold yourself upright
with your back and leg muscles. One of the most common
mistakes is the tendency to use the handlebars to rest the
upper body weight on, or to hang on with a death grip. This
has a hugely negative impact on the handling of the bike and
its braking effectiveness.
Here is your proof. Find an approximately 90 degree corner
that you can see all the way round. Now ride the corner with
stiff arms and resting you upper body weight on the bars;
bike feels hard to turn. Now reposition yourself correctly
on the bike and ride the same corner. The bike will feel
much more willing to turn into the corner and hold a tighter
line.
So for this week practice getting used to riding with a
locked on lower body and with loose and relaxed arms.
Cheers, Graham.
(Graham Knight can be contacted at graham.knight
@highsidetours.com)
Autotrivia Quiz
Quiz bike
Last week I mentioned that a special
radiator ornament was used on some Hispano Suizas, Isotta
Fraschinis, Bugattis and Bentleys. I asked what was it made
from, and by who? It was glass from Lalique.
So to this week. We mentioned motorcycles. Which automaker
built this one?
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first correct
answer to email [email protected]
Good luck!
