As an independently owned Company Honda is a useful indicator on the industry overall. With an ability to react and respond and with an R&D budget set at a fixed proportion of profit (5%), Honda's vision reflects the needs of the industry in response to the need for change. At the heart of that vision at Honda is the desire to be 'A Company that Society wants to exist'. Powerful initiatives such as zero landfill at production sites sets this privately held company apart against the backdrop of globalisation.

At Honda City in Japan the fuel cell initiative has been fully exploited to generate actual hydrogen gas inside homes as part of domestic systems powered by solar and other renewables. The Hydrogen gas is then used to power domestic fuel cell stacks and fuel cell engines in Honda cars parked on drives. Whilst the electrical output of each fuel cell is small the summation over all of the cells in a hydrogen fuel stack is enough to generate drive sufficient to generate speeds in excess of 100mph. A small number of Honda's Hydrogen fuel cell cars are on trial world-wide. One of the cars is in normal everyday use by a family there this is significant as it reflects Honda's confidence in the technology for it to be loaned out in this way. Hydrogen is an interesting addition to the portfolio of environmental technologies available to the industry in the future, whilst COx emissions will be low, NOx remains an issue as does the stability of hydrogen as a fuel.
Undeterred, Honda has pursued a sensible policy which will succeed, hybrids will become the norm rather an option in their range of cars. This and other initiatives will bring Honda into compliance with new CAFÉ Regulations which provides a Corporate Average Fuel Emissions target which translates to around 120g/km CO2 across an individual Company's fleet. This target maybe achievable for producers of small cars but presents a real technological challenge to manufacturers of larger vehicles. Honda's Hybrid vehicles will make a real difference to achieving this environmental target as will the fitting of Diesel particulate filters to all new Diesel Cars to meet Euro V legislation. Only 5 years after introducing the first Diesel engine (visit http://www.honda.co.uk/change/) the achievements of which include designing a unique casting process available only at Honda in Japan to cast small enough Aluminium engine blocks capable of withstanding the extra compression required for Diesel ignition whilst maintaining a lighter engine for superior fuel efficiencies. Euro V required a reconfiguring of this engine's layout to fit the particulate filter near the warmest parts of the engine to aid in the filter's regeneration. Euro V diesel particulate filtered engines across the board are characterised by the need for a 15-20km driving cycle at 50plus km/h to deal with the particulates generated by Diesel. One attribute of all these vehicles are these critical temperatures required for the processing of the particulates in the engine itself this was the driver for the reconfiguration of the original Honda diesel engine.
Now comes with a Hybrid engine as standard. This generation of Honda Hybrid is now capable of operating in electric mode only for short periods. Retaining the earlier in-series engine design
provides drive directly without the consumption of fuel under certain cruising conditions. Other hybrid features are the inclusion of a compressor which draws charge from the substantial hybrid battery to provide air conditioning even when the petrol engine counterpart is not in use. This resolves a minor irritation to owners of earlier Honda hybrids of which the author has personal experience.
Arriving this day in the UK, the newest Honda Accord at £20,000 comes with automatic transmission and optional manual gear change panels at the steering wheel. Other features you may expect only to find in more expensive cars include: a large flat screen on the dashboard which clearly shows via a camera at the rear where the limits are during the reverse parking manoeuvre. Also the extensive navigation and sound system utilise multiple displays, where the latter supports various codecs including MP3 discs and a USB for the obligatory Apple accessories.
The second car we trialled was the Honda Legend, a higher specification vehicle which includes all wheel drive (AWD) with the accompanying traction control - a useful addition in a car with this acceleration. This is not a standard all wheel drive vehicle, the Legend is comfortable, smooth and packed with the latest technology. The in-chair air conditioning funnels chilled air directly through perforations in the seat. The temperature of the air is controlled on the driver and pass-
enger sides of the car independently by the main air conditioning unit, but the extent to which the air flows through the seat is governed by separate controls at the centre console. Another clever aspect of this feature is that the independent controls allow heated air and not just chilled air to flow through the seats. In the Legend we were fortunate enough to be given a display of Honda's Driver Assist technology by Raj Johal, European Programmes Development Manager. The three systems we were shown were: Advanced Driver Assist Support (ADAS), Adaptive Cruising and Lane Keeping Technology. Controlled at the wheel, Lane Keeping shows up on the dashboard where markings can be detected to assist the driver. In-built radar forms the basis of ADAS which provides three stages of alarms: firstly, an audio alarm sounds when too close to the car in front, secondly seats belts tug and light braking is automatically applied and immediately before impact - substantial braking is applied as is the tightening of seat belts. Honda's philosophy with Driver Assist is to supplement and inform the driver not to replace them. In all of the new models we tested the steering wheel controls were generous to say the least permitting hands-free operation of mobile phones, stereo and even voice recognition for the satellite navigation system.
Finally we tested out the new Honda Civic Type R. Whilst retaining the new shape of the Honda Civic, the similarities end there. The new Type R dashboard is dominated by the rev clock, although a digital readout of speed is provided presumably for use around cameras. The reason for this design of layout becomes readily understood. The new Type R is about performance without sacrificing efficiencies. Even after our reasonably thorough testing MPG was a respectable 31.
 
With a stiff suspension, bucket seats and an especially rapid pick-up the new Type R is an aggressive driving experience. Like those pictured, slippering the accelerator only stalls the engine and along with it the joy of driving the type R. This car invites a more proactive driving style. Clearly the enhanced VTec is perfectly suited to the smaller overall proportions of the car resulting in epic acceleration and driving experiences to match.
 
Therein lies the strength of Honda, this is one of the truly great technology companies that have at its heart the art of power generation. At last year's International Automotive Conference, Honda announced sales in excess of 22million units with the ambition to achieve 30million units worldwide by 2010. Honda's breadth of activity is similar to that of SAE's. Honda are masters not only of vehicle engines but also maritime and with the introduction of the jet engines series to Europe they are all well placed to compete in Aerospace. One third of the UK's All Terrain Vehicles (ATV) are manufactured by Honda with extensive lines in
Quad bikes, Jet Skis and outboard motors. Our thanks on behalf of SAE-UK to Honda and specifically to Raj Johal European Programmes Development Manager for our welcome to the Honda Institute, his time and the use of their vehicles.