Honda Presents A Grown-Up Jazz/Fit, The Freed Minivan

[Polish_Kris]

http://www.worldcarfans.com/9080530.017/ho...e-freed-minivan

I think this should be a better Fit for N/A

[CARBIZ]

Yeah, I can't wait: 1.5 litres and 8 people on the way to Dairy Queen. Great. Finally something to make the SmartCar look peppy.

[daves87rs]

Hmmm...

[PONTIAC06]

hmm...ya...awesome?

[!!!TED!!!]

It looks somewhat Mercedes B-Class-ish.

[Polish_Kris]

Yeah, I can't wait: 1.5 litres and 8 people on the way to Dairy Queen. Great. Finally something to make the SmartCar look peppy.

Have you seen the gas pump pricing?

[CARBIZ]

That doesn't negate the fact that a 1.5 litre engine, pushing a 2,800 lb car and 1500 lbs of people would be a sight to behold! What would it get? 12 mpg? That's the beauty of the Japanese Myth: throw tiny engines in cars and, voila, you have impressive numbers on paper and the Masses eat it up.

Now put the 2.0 litre ecotec engine in that minivan - then you're talking!

[siegen]

That doesn't negate the fact that a 1.5 litre engine, pushing a 2,800 lb car and 1500 lbs of people would be a sight to behold! What would it get? 12 mpg? That's the beauty of the Japanese Myth: throw tiny engines in cars and, voila, you have impressive numbers on paper and the Masses eat it up.

Now put the 2.0 litre ecotec engine in that minivan - then you're talking!

The car would weigh less than that. I figure it if came to the US it would weigh around 2,600 lbs, perhaps 2,550 in base trim. This is essentially a slightly longer Fit with another row of seats. In Japan it might weigh less if it is less feature-laden or with less safety equipment. 8 average Japanese people would likely add around 1,000 lbs, if you figure 50% male/female. So around 3,500 lbs loaded with people. It is a bit on the heavy side, but with proper gearing (also remember it has electric P/S and A/C pumps) it is sufficient for their streets.

Now if it came to US shores, it probably wouldn't be configured as an 8 seater. It may be a 7 seater with the back row reserved for children. Figure 900 lbs or less for occupants. Would a 120~hp 1.5L be sufficient to power a 3400-3500 lbs car? I don't think so. Now if they swapped the 1.8L Civic or 2.0L Stream R-series engine into it, that would work quite well I think.

[daves87rs]

I would wonder just how good the gas milage would be with a full load of people..

[Brougham-Holiday]

Somehow Honda manages to make its cars look worse every year, maybe next year they can add a cheep black plastic grille to the Accord, o wait, they did that already.

[Polish_Kris]

That doesn't negate the fact that a 1.5 litre engine, pushing a 2,800 lb car and 1500 lbs of people would be a sight to behold! What would it get? 12 mpg? That's the beauty of the Japanese Myth: throw tiny engines in cars and, voila, you have impressive numbers on paper and the Masses eat it up.

Now put the 2.0 litre ecotec engine in that minivan - then you're talking!

Man, you and your ecotec, ecotec this, ecotec that, why wont u just marry ecotec already!

[Duncan]

Let's rework the headline a touch, shall we?

Japanese Manufacturer Introduces Yet Another Wagon-Van-Crossover Thing - World Yawns, Stretches

[cire]

The Mazda5 only seats six and is less fuel efficient, but I would definitely choose it over this awkward looking box.

Honda makes well engineered, competent vehicles; I just wish they would work on their styling a little more. If they would create something that looked as good as it performed, I could be easily persuaded to be a big Honda fan. Based on the sales perfromance of the Accord, Civic, Fit, and CR-V, I suppose I am in the minority on this issue. I admire the company for their engineering prowess and quality reputation, but their styling simply turns me off. As long as they are successful (and they definitely are), then I guess they shouldn't worry about it and stay the course.

[CSpec]

The Mazda5 only seats six and is less fuel efficient, but I would definitely choose it over this awkward looking box.

Honda makes well engineered, competent vehicles; I just wish they would work on their styling a little more. If they would create something that looked as good as it performed, I could be easily persuaded to be a big Honda fan. Based on the sales perfromance of the Accord, Civic, Fit, and CR-V, I suppose I am in the minority on this issue. I admire the company for their engineering prowess and quality reputation, but their styling simply turns me off. As long as they are successful (and they definitely are), then I guess they shouldn't worry about it and stay the course.

Yes, Honda is certainly "out there" nowadays. I do quite like the Accord coupe, and the sedan is OK, but the Civic, CR-V, and now Pilot are all very odd and polarizing.

[regfootball]

new honda styling is a disaster.

mazda 5 third row....not suitable for humans

[Satty]

new honda styling is a disaster.

mazda 5 third row....not suitable for Americans

Fixed, since the 3rd row would be fine for kids if American kids weren't so fat. If people didn't give their tubby-tubby-fat-fat children so many empty calories, they wouldn't need Suburbans to haul 3 children.

[Duncan]

Fixed, since the 3rd row would be fine for kids if American kids weren't so fat. If people didn't give their tubby-tubby-fat-fat children so many empty calories, they wouldn't need Suburbans to haul 3 children.

My parents used to haul me and my brother and sister around in an '88 Dodge Colt Vista, which was about the same size as a Mazda 5 but had 4WD to boot. That was a neat little wagon. Got better mileage than the Caravans and Aerostars everyone else was driving, too.

[Satty]

In the late 80's/early 90's, we had a Nissan wagon (I think it was a Sentra, wasn't a Stanza) and a Nissan pickup. The pickup was traded for a Sentra coupe, the wagon for an SL2. Thats 2 compact cars for a household of 4. We only "upgraded" to a midsizer when my oldest sister (who hadn't been living with us) needed a car, so she got my dad's Sentra and he bought the Century. Reg argues that Americans dont want small cars, the truth is that Americans dont want to watch what they eat, which necessitates larger cars.

[thegriffon]

It's Japanese name is actually Free-do, which explains why they say it is a compound of Free+Do.

[Satty]

One ring to rule them all

Wait, that was Frodo