Car and Driver Reviews the 2013 Honda Accord Coupe Concept

We like our Honda Accords around here, having awarded the car no fewer than 26 10Best awards, including in all five model years of the current generation. And so it was with keen interest that we watched Honda preview the ninth generation of the Accord at the 2012 Detroit auto show in the form of this coupe concept. Rendered in a gorgeous deep satin red with lots of glitzy chrome, the Accord coupe concept was not driven on stage but rather hurled like a curling stone toward the audience on a rotating platform, providing a 360-degree look at the car that will go on sale by the end of the calendar year.

Based on this show car, the 2013 Accord will be instantly familiar to anyone who’s seen the car we have today. But the sharp creases of the current model look to be augmented with a few more curves, most notably in the line that rises over the rear wheel and the kick-up from the rocker panel. Also, apparently the front and rear ends will look exactly the same. The next Accord coupe will be roughly the same size as now, but Honda says that the sedan will be shorter in length and lighter. The latter will face some of its stiffest—and best-looking—competition yet in the form of the 2013 Ford Fusion, the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu, and the 2012 VW Passat, to name a few, so to stand relatively still in the styling department places even more importance on what is found under the Accord’s skin.

Two All-New Gasoline Engines
What we’ll find between the doors remains purely hypothetical at this point, as we weren’t allowed a peek inside the concept. But somewhat surprisingly—or perhaps not, for a company eager to prove it can still produce world-class powertrains—Honda revealed some information on what to expect under the hood. Big H says that the 2013 Accord will offer two all-new gas engines, including the first U.S. application of its direct-injected 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine with 181 hp and 177 lb-ft of torque. (The current base four-pot makes 177 hp and 161 lb-ft of torque.) It will come paired with either a six-speed manual or a CVT that Honda promises will be “fun,” which, if true, would be a minor miracle.

While key competitors are abandoning larger engines in favor of fully four-cylinder lineups, the next Accord will again offer a naturally aspirated V-6. We’ll note here that only four-cylinder Accord models were awarded a 10Best prize this year, so our narcissistic side says that Honda is trying to get back into our good graces with a re-engineered version of its 3.5-liter V-6—and by offering it with a choice of six-speed automatic and manual (hooray!) transmissions. Honda added that V-6 models equipped with the six-speed automatic will feature cylinder deactivation. As for efficiency, the automaker says that all four-cylinder and V-6/automatic models will deliver best-in-class fuel economy.

Return of the Accord Hybrid—This Time as a Plug-In
The next-gen Accord also will offer a plug-in hybrid option starting next winter, with a 2.0-liter Atkinson cycle four-cylinder paired to a 120-kW electric motor and a 6-kWh lithium-ion battery. There will be three distinct driving modes: fully electric, hybrid, and “direct drive,” which will allow the driver to remove electricity from the propulsion equation. The Accord is said to be able to drive 10 to 15 miles on electricity alone so long as speeds don’t climb beyond 62 mph and, we presume, you don’t do much more than breathe on the accelerator. In addition to the usual on-the-fly power regeneration, charging of the battery should take less than 1.5 hours on a 240-volt charger, according to Honda.

All models, regardless of cylinder count or battery assist, will feature “Eco Assist” driving modes with an “Eco” button providing more efficient operation as well as visual indicators to encourage a kinder, gentler driving style. The next Accord also will offer safety features such as lane-departure and collision warning systems. Finally, Honda promises a new full-color “intelligent” multi-information display by which owners will be able to control their smartphones and apps such as Pandora.

We’re looking forward to seeing the final product, but it won’t be until we slide behind the wheel that we’ll have an idea whether the next Accord is good enough to capture a 27th 10Best trophy.

Source;
http://www.caranddriver.com/news/2013-honda-accord-coupe-concept-photos-and-info-news

Car and Driver: Ford Evos Concept - Auto Shows

Wow....

Good genes: Ford’s Frankfurt debutant defines a new design language for its global products.

BY STEVE SILER



At the 2005 Frankfurt auto show, Ford’s stunning Iosis concept car debuted the company’s “Kinetic” design language, which shortly thereafter debuted on non-U.S. models like the Mondeo, European Focus, C-Max, and Kuga. Our first taste of Kinetic design came more recently with the 2011 Fiesta and 2012 Focus models. But now Ford’s look is evolving, with another Frankfurt concept—the 2011 show’s gorgeous and aptly named Evos—previewing the next evolution (get it?) of Blue Oval design.



Sadly, the company won’t go so far as to adapt the Evos’s quad butterfly doors for production. But this fastback four-seater, which is shorter than a Focus sedan but wider than a Porsche Panamera, does embody a half dozen newly defined pillars of Ford global design—which will drop the Kinetic moniker. The Evos will provide the template for future Fords, and so we took a virtual tour of the car with Ford design chief J Mays, who explained those design pillars.



Ford’s New Global Design Language, Explained

The first two pillars of Ford’s new design language are “silhouette innovation” and “perceived efficiency.” The former, according to Mays, represents a profile “that defines your automobile and looks different than most of the other cars in a particular class on the road,” while the latter equates to visual lightness and sleekness. “We’d like to have lightweight pillars [and] a teardrop cabin [where] the lines on the side disappear at a vanishing point somewhere around 100 yards behind the car.” The gist? Think less ‘traditional three-box sedan’ and more ‘four-door coupe.’



“Refined surface language” refers to a smoothing out of Kinetically sculpted body surfaces, among them the architectural fenders, creased door skins, and sculpted hoods. This directive also appears to be a reaction to other manufacturers that Mays claims have “annexed” and subsequently exaggerated Ford’s Kinetic motifs. Ford is going in “exactly the opposite direction” now, he said, keeping what he called the “excitement” of Kinetic design but rendered in “beautiful shapes you’d love to run your hands over.”



An emphasis on the fourth pillar, “technical graphics,” basically refers to the lamps and lower body addenda. “Headlamps seem to be growing to absurd proportions,” said Mays. “They’ve become less about technology and more about design flourish and style. And we think that’s reached its complete evolution. So we’re going to the minimal height for the headlamps and the taillamps and we’re going to let the technology speak for the graphics rather than overt style.” The headlamps on the Evos are rendered in LEDs “designed in such a way that you probably haven’t seen before.” Will every future Ford model get “razor-cut” headlamps such as these? Yes, and Mays told us that he is committed to LED headlamps on every new Ford, although we’ll have to see if those make it past the accountants.



The final two newly defined design-isms are the “new face of Ford,” which involves pulling the trapezoid grille way up to the leading edge of the hood (it gives the Evos a sort of Mustang-esque shark nose), and a “visual sense of premium quality,” which—besides being less catchy than the others—basically means creating the sort of designs people associate with higher-end cars. “We’ve tried to eliminate one of the grilles on the vehicle, and focus on the other. And what that does is allow us to have a smaller inlet, gives us better aerodynamics, and also, I think, looks much more premium.”



If roadgoing Fords end up looking like the Evos, we say “mission accomplished” to the premium bit. Indeed, more than a few of us think that the “new face of Ford” looks a lot like the current face of Aston Martin, particularly, the slim, six-sided grille and Rapide-esque roofline. Could Ford be suffering from a case of “seller’s remorse” after getting rid of Aston Martin during the great fire sale of 2008? Mays didn’t admit any such—to borrow his own term—annexation of Aston’s designs, but when asked about the similarities, he seemed rather comfortable with the comparison.



Head in the “Cloud”

However Aston-y the Evos looks, it wouldn’t be a show car if it didn’t contain a boatload of future tech. Cloud-based connectivity supposedly helps the Evos identify and pre-arrange its various systems to match the preferences of the upcoming drive, thus promising “seamless connectivity” from home to car to office, which may or may not be a good thing. It also gauges the skills of the driver and, reconciling them with weather and road conditions, adjusts the powertrain and chassis to maintain “optimum safety”—which sounds a bit Hal 9000 to us. Then there are the “driver wellness” features, too, which include a heart-rate monitor; the car is able to use current and previous data via the cloud to monitor “the physical state and workload of the driver and adjusts the driving experience accordingly.” To the good, if you start driving aggressively, the Evos will also simplify the gauge cluster to provide only necessary info and switch the driver’s phone to “do not disturb mode.”



The Evos is powered by—what else?—the cloud. Just kidding. It features a lithium-ion-based, plug-in gas/electric powertrain that’s said to be able to deliver extended-range or parallel-hybrid propulsion, ultimately delivering the same sort of fuel economy as the Ford C-Max Energi that’s scheduled to arrive stateside next year. Ford gave no more details on the powertrain beyond this: The cloud would theoretically be heavily involved, directing the car when to make various on-the-fly powertrain adjustments, such as switching to electric mode when driving into a city center that may have emissions restrictions.



We won’t have to wait long to see the look previewed here on a saleable Ford product. The 2013 Fusion will be the first Ford to wear the new design language; we expect to see that car next January at the Detroit show. In the meantime, if you can make it to Frankfurt, check out the Evos—it’s a stunner.



Source;

http://www.caranddriver.com/news/car/11q3/ford_evos_concept-auto_shows