Motor-racing boosts Honda’s reputation

Press, 12 April 1984, Page 28

Motor-racing boosts Honda’s reputation

BEHIND the WHEEL with

Peter Greenslade

The Honda Motor Company, besides being Japan’s fourth largest carmaker, has enjoyed for some time a reputation of being one of the more technically advanced automotive manufacturers. It is a reputation that probably stems from successful involvement in motor-cycle racing, particularly in the earlier days and to a lesser extent its involvement in car rac-

ing. Back in 1968, Jack Brabham and Denny Hulme, of New Zealand, used Honda’s racing engines to make mincemeat of high-class European opposition with their Brabham-Honda BTIB Formula 2 racers. The Japanese company was also involved in a Formula 1 racing programme in those days and an American, Ritchie Ginther, won the Mexican Grand Prix in 1965 in a car powered by a 1.5-litre quad-cam Vl2 Honda engine and, subsequently, the former English world motor-cycle champion, John Surtees, gained a number of places in world championship races with Hondapowered cars. After Jo Schlesser, of France, was killed in a crash in the 1968 French Grand Prix at Rouen, Honda withdrew from Formula 1.

More recently it has made a comeback, supplying turbocharged Formula 1 engines to the Spirit Grand Prix team last year and this year a new Honda V 6 turbo is being used by Williams Grand Prix Engineering in its Formula 1 racers, which are being driven by a former world champion, Keke Rosberg, and Jacques Laffite. At his first Formula 1 outing this season, the Brazilian Grand Prix, Rosberg finished second to establish himself on the championship points table. Obviously Honda’s progress in world championship motor racing will be followed with immense interest by millions of viewers in up to 32 countries who will watch the Formula 1 races on television this year. Prior to the South African Grand Prix at Kyalami, the Formula 1 Constructors’ Association had estimated that more than 61 million people in 27 countries would see the race on television.

Under the circumstances, it was not entirely surprising that Honda took the unprecedented step of launching its completely new range of Civics right in

the heart of motor-racing country at the Frankfurt international motor show last year. Until then, Japanese car manufacturers had always unveiled their latest offerings on their own pitch at the Tokyo motor show. Also, not surprisingly, the new Civics that did appear at Frankfurt were innovative cars that could be expected to appeal to European taste which, in the main, have tended towards practicality and engineering rather than appearance, although it must be admitted that the first of the new Civics to go on the New Zealand market, the LX two-dobr hatchback, is a good looking little car.

This is a 1342 cu cm model and it will soon be followed by another LX version, but this time a fourdoor saloon which, I suspect, will be more to the taste |of regular Civic owners. N.Z.M.C., Ltd, the Honda assembler and distributor, has embarked upon quite an ambitious programme with the new Civic. Unlike most models, which are built on a standard floor plan, New Zealand assembled Civics will be of two wheelbases. The LX two-door hatchback will also be marketed in 1488 cu cm Sport form. These cars share a 2380 mm wheelbase. However, the other models in the range, the 1.3 LX and 1.5 EX saloon, plus the 1.5-litre Shuttle which promises to be the forerunner of a new breed of high four-door hatchbacks, are all built on a 2450 mm wheelbase.

Honda also produces the sporty CR/X and Ballade coupes on a 2200 mm wheelbase, but these diminutive

high-performance versions will be imported in completely built-up form, if they reach New Zealand at all. With its sharply sloping bonnet and windscreen and rather long passenger cabin, with exceptionally wide doors and vast side windows, the LX two-door hatchback has a decidedly sporty look about it. The rear-end treatment borders on the vertical and this ensures that there is plenty of headroom for rear-seat passengers. Traditionally, Japanese cars have tended to be narrow-tracked, but this is a low, squat car, the front and rear tracks being 1400 mm and 1415 mm (55.1 in and 55.8 in) respectively. Considering that this is a car that is not much more than 12ft in length, it is exceptionally wide. It can carry four adults quite comfortably with enough room remaining for a child in the centre of the rear seat. The rear seat back is split, each half folding down. This is just as well, because carrying space behind the seat is minimal. One would be hard-pressed to carry a set of golf clubs and there would probably be insufficient depth there to enable the carriage of a carton of beer with the rear shelf in place. Honda designed this car to have a skinny “get-you-home” spare wheel and tyre. Unfortunately archlyconservative New Zealand powers-that-be will not have a bar of them, so the normal spare wheel takes a considerable amount of depth out of the carrying space. In the somewhat unlikely event of a puncture, it would be necessary to fold down the rear seat to extricate the wheel from its resting place.

Having said all that, I will go one step further and forecast that this is a car that will be snapped up by the younger set or at least the young at heart. In that regard, it is unlike any other Civic I have known.

But, let me hasten to add, its furnishings are in Honda’s good taste and the controls are almost featherlight The gearbox is a joy to use and the rack and pinion steering is precise and responsive although, like all of this type, tends to be a little heavy at low speeds. The steering wheel is of small diameter, more of the size one would expect to find in a racing saloon or rally car, but it has a very

pleasant feel about it and its rim does not mask the instruments and warning lights neatly and logically arranged in a compact and clear layout.

The pedals are well spaced and leave plenty of room for one’s feet. This is a department in which many front-drive cars do not show up to advantage. However, in the course of a non-stop run of around 100 kilometres an ache developed in my accelerator leg and foot and as I became conscious of it I began to realise there was nowhere I could rest my left leg and foot. Maybe a treadle-type accelerator and a footrest would help in my case, which may well not be that of other drivers.

The only other feature worthy of note is that the driving position is good, although vaguely reminiscent of that in a forward-control van because people of not more than average height will not see the sharply sloping bonnet unless they sit uncomfortably close to the steering wheel. This probably will not concern most drivers and those who would feel more confident if they could better judge the Civic’s extremities would probably be happier sitting on a cushion. Certainly there should still be plenty of headroom.

This is an extremely pleasant car to drive. Honda is now employing its single overhead camshaft, 12-valve aluminium crossflow head with three valves per cylinder engine, originally launched in the Prelude, in all its cars.

Three-valve engines are not new. Ettore Bugatti used them in some of his famous cars. In a small four-cylinder engine, the configuration should deliver the power output of a typical twin-cam four valves per cylinder engine from a lighter and smaller power unit.

The 1.3-litre LX engine develops 51kW (68 b.h.p.J at 6000 r.p.m. Probably more importantly, it develops 10.2

kilomgrams/metre maximum torque at 4000 r.p.m. This shows up on the road; this car is a strong puller and particularly flexible. I found that it would run in untroubled fashion at as low as 1000 r.p.m. in fifth gear. On the regular test route its performance characteristics were remarkably similar to those of the 1.3-litre Toyota Corolla DX saloon. So, too, was the handling, although I must add that the enthusiasts would probably score the Toyota, with its Chris Amon-tuned suspension, a little higher. MacPherson strut suspension is used on the front of the Civic but, to reduce the bonnet height, torsion bars have been employed instead of coil springs. At the rear there is a dead axle on trailing arms, laterally located by a Panhard rod. The current fashion is to use the beam axle as a torsion bar, but Honda has gone its own way and added an extra bearing to break it torsionally. The set-up works admirably and owners how like to exploit the handling characteristics and performance of the LX Civic will be delighted with the way it moves, although others could consider the ride rather firmer than they have come to expect in Civics.

When pressed, the car tends to run wide, or understeer, in corners, but not to an intolerable extent. Perhaps one of the most noticeable features about this new Honda is the almost complete absence of front-drive feedback or torque steer. The earlier Civics and Accords could be quite illmannered if fed a measure

of throttle when the front wheels were other than straight, the steering wheel displaying a tendency to whip through one’s hands, sometimes quite viciously, unless held firmly. That is a trait that a car can do without and, happily, it is no longer very evident although only the most imperceptive driver would not be aware that this is yet another front-wheel-drive car.

A week ago, having studied the specification of the LX Civic on paper, I would have said that on the basis of power output, torque and engine size there was a basis for drawing a comparison with the new 1.3-litre Corolla. Now, having driven both cars, I believe they are entirely different and, in fact, will attract buyers with very different lifestyles.

At $13,850 the Honda LX hatchback is $6OO more expensive than the Corolla and after appraising both cars most Corolla owners would pronouce themselves satisfied with their comfortably spacious four-door saloons. Younger and perhaps less E radical people will most kely find it hard to look beyond the Honda even with its higher price tag. When the 1.3-litre Civic LX four-door saloon comes on the scene there should be all the ingredients for a worthwhile back-to-back companion, although one cannot help but feel price could tip the scales in favour of the Corolla.

For my part, having sampled the delightful little LX hatchback, I cannot wait to get my hands on the 1.5-litre Sport version, which I am led to believe will accel-

erate from rest to 100 km h in less than 10s and is capable of more than 160 km/h.

It seems to me that N.Z.M.C. is reshuffling its cards with Honda. Players who bought Accords in’the past could be dealt Civics from now on, while players with Civics — and particularly the two-door versions — could find themselves driving the odd-looking but allegedly übiquitous Honda City as from July or August. It, too, is slated for New Zealand assembly. And what of the Accords, facelifted versions of which should probably go on show before April ends? As people inevitably grow older, cars just as inevitably grow more expensive. New Accord buyers may get change from $21,000 rather than $20,000 as has been the case. It is a sad and inescapable fact of life that even from Japan there is not going to be much offering in the mid-size car range for anything under $20,000 from now on. That is why people like Honda and Toyota are going to some pains to produce much more civilised and appealing cars in the 1300 to 1600 cu cm class these days. Make no mistake, they are doing the job very well indeed.