TOKYO — If Honda Ltd. decides to add a hybrid power plant to one of its U.S. light-truck models, then the company is more inclined to do so in one of its larger vehicles, a senior Honda official said. Honda may offer a hybrid sport utility vehicle powered by a V-6 gasoline engine and electric motor.
The Pilot is one of the SUVs to which Honda may add a hybrid power plant.

“We could probably go with (a V-6 engine) rather than a four-cylinder engine,” said Koichi Amemiya, Honda’s executive vice president who oversees North American operations.

Among models in Honda’s lineup, candidates for such a hybrid power train include the Pilot and Odyssey and Acura’s MDX. Smaller SUV models such as the Honda CR-V and Element would be less likely to get a hybrid power plant. The choice seems a bit odd in that Honda has a hybrid Civic on sale in the United States, and putting that power plant in the CR-V, which is based on the Civic, would be relatively easy.

But Amemiya pointed out that fuel savings from a hybrid V-6 would be significantly greater than a hybrid four-cylinder when compared with their conventional counterparts. Although he didn’t say so, a hybrid V-6 also could be Honda’s response to persistent calls from some of its dealers for a V-8 engine. Amemiya also hopes to add a hybrid car to a lineup that includes the Insight and Civic. “I want to get both” a hybrid car and a hybrid SUV, he told Automotive News.

Amemiya also said Honda will continue to place a high priority on improving the fuel economy of its gasoline models. He added that Honda has not decided whether to add a hybrid light truck to its offerings. Hybrids are expensive, and Honda wants to be sure that a hybrid SUV will appeal to American customers before giving the OK for its development.

Honda is seeing signs that rising gasoline prices are boosting hybrid sales. With war looming in Iraq and oil prices soaring, sales of the hybrid Civic totaled more than 2,200 in February, well above the monthly average of just more than 1,500 since its debut in March 2002.
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I can see this happening in the very near future. Lexus has a hybrid version of their new RX330 on it's way, and to see the Pilot/MDX with the same technology would make for interesting competition.

 

I take some pride in the fact that we posted this before a certain other site full of Communist jerks :thumbup:

I hope this is all pointing in the general direction of an NSX and an RL with Hybrid V-6's. A trio of Pilot/Ody/MDX hybrid V-6 cars would sure give them even more market dominance...275 horsepower and 30MPG from a 3.5 :thumbup:

 

I think hybrid is the way to go right now. The only negatives to the system are the high cost and the added weight. The sooner they produce more and more hyrbids the sooner the price will go down. As for the weight, a bigger engine such as a V8 would usually add some weight, thought usually not as much.


Anyways, i think that Honda should push this in the acura lineup. As in make it standard in the Rl and optional in everything else. Think about it, people would be more willing to blow more money to get more power in their Acura. A MDX with IMA could be sold for less that its competitors with V8's. And itl not only math or pass their hp, itll destroy their mileage. A consumer will see that he can get double the mileage in that Acura SUV, which is pretty nice anyways. I say we'll see it in the next gen MDX, just because itll be easier to enineer it with IMA in mind from the get go, as comapred to trying to add it to the current one.

Oe more thing, wasnt our accord design with IMA in mind?

 

I agree completely bro. The longer they wait to put IMA in all Acura models, the more time they waste and the more sales they lose...it's basically a win/win proposition for consumers and the manufacturers, if they have the technology. Certainly Honda does.