From AutoExpress -

Never mind the fast and the furious - two Japanese firms are set to enter the race to save fuel! According to our sources, Honda is secretly planning a new hybrid edition of the Civic Type R, using the firm's proven IMA system. The frugal newcomer should be available by 2007 and will have an all-new platform, but remain front-wheel drive.

However, Honda won't have things all its own way, because Toyota is developing a radical new hybrid concept, tipped to debut at October's Tokyo Motor Show. The two-seater coupé, which draws inspiration from the Fine-S concept unveiled at the Detroit Motor Show in January (bottom image), is the first high-performance hybrid the company has built. And it could lead to a new flagship for the forthcoming Celica range due in 2005.

Uniquely, the all-wheel-drive car has a 1.4-litre 100bhp engine to drive the front axle, and a 150bhp electric motor to power the wheels at the rear. The AWD system is inspired by the Hybrid Mild set-up, which first appeared on the Estima Hybrid. However, the unit has been miniaturised for the concept, and insiders believe it should be as quick as a Subaru Impreza.

The key challenge for engineers working on both projects will be reducing the scale and weight of the electric motors and batteries. Currently, the size of battery required to produce 150bhp from an electric motor is prohibitive. Meanwhile, as well as hybrid power, Honda is also lining the Civic up for its first major facelift. On sale from November, the restyle affects three and five-door editions. An even hotter Type R edition is in the pipeline, too. It will be built in Swindon, and is expected to cost the same as the current machine.

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Will it come here? It damn well better! Hopefully this shows that Honda will be spreading IMA over its model line.

Posted before TOV :chuckles:

 

um, its taking them long enough. i rather see something like a 200hp inline 4 and 100hp eletric motors, but whatever.

 

Sounds good so far...

 

Very interesting. 250HP-ish would be great for the Celica/CTR if they can keep the price down below 25k. Exciting news in deed. Power and gas economy at the same time. Especially w/ the gas prices right now, I think this would be a hot seller.

 

A way for them to fight the AWD/Turbo subaru and mitsu for a similar price. not to menton better mileage and emmisions. but ima does have its own downsides.

 

What are the downsides to IMA? I mean, I'm sure there are some, but I'm not too familiar with the system.

However this is very encouraging news indeed. With an IMA Civic Type-R putting out around 250hp, the next Integra/RSX Type-R should be at least 280hp. This will allow Honda to fight the flood of turbo domestic compacts, while retaining its image of being efficient and technologically advanced. The 25k price is pretty tight, as most of the domestics will undercut them by around 3-5k. And its a shame it will still be FWD...

 

well, its relative newness. which isnt good when it comes time to replace things, you dont know what to expect as far as what cost how much and how long it last.

and sure, the domestics might undercut them by a little, but thats never been a problem before as far as selling a good car.

also, they might still be fwd based, but these eletric motors provide tons of instand torque, and theyd be at the rear wheels, so that counts as an awd system to me. especially if the power to the front and rear varies.

 

Harder to modify is one downside.

 

Honda sure is takin a long enought time to get his IMA stuff here. I'm just a little ancy.

 

honda always takes forever on ish... meanwhile other companies spill out there stuff.. and honda doesnt get the props they deserve... like the insight.. as soon as it finally came out.. so did toyota's cept there's was just as efficient but with 4doors.... damnit honda