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Tech Highlight: Honda's LaneWatch System

OpenRoad Auto Group on June 24, 2017

Some of the best technological innovations are those that are simple. When something integrates seamlessly into our lives and quickly become invaluable, we often wonder how we’ve been able to live without it for all these years.

With summer extended road trips, accidents rates tend to spike due to more people on the road. According to ICBC, more than 1,900 car crashes will occur across the province on average over the August long weekend.

The provincial insurer says that historically, an estimated five British Columbians will die in traffic collisions and more than 500 will be injured in the run up to that three-day weekend.

Thankfully one of Honda’s latest technological innovations will help to prevent you and your family from becoming one of these statistics.

It’s called the LaneWatch system and it enhances your view of passenger-side traffic.

The heart of LaneWatch is a tiny camera, much like a rearview camera, mounted on the base of the passenger-side mirror. It can be manually or automatically activated when you signal right.

A typical field of view for a passenger-side rearview mirror is 18 to 22 degrees. But with LaneWatch, a live video display on the i-MID (Intelligent Multi-Information Display) or GPS navigation screen provides the driver with a view nearly four times greater than using the passenger-side mirror alone.

This is an enhanced viewing angle of up to 80 degrees and helps you to see two lanes of traffic from as far as 50 metres behind the vehicle.

The award-winning system is simple and effective. It can also be used to assist in parallel parking manoeuvres. Spotting smaller objects like small children, bicycles, and motorcycles is easy, and guidelines super imposed onto the real-time video display help with judging how far away an object is.

Honda’s LaneWatch debuted on their all-new 2013 Honda Accord last year. But it is now also standard equipment on all EX and above trim lines on the Honda Civic, Crosstour, Odyssey, as well as the 2015 Honda Fit.

Redesigned 2018 Honda Odyssey: comfort, convenience and a little magic

Benjamin Yong on June 23, 2017

2018 Honda Odyssey front
The all-new 2018 Honda Odyssey features the company’s modern “flying wing” grille and a sportier-looking front bumper.

This month, the 2018 Honda Odyssey rolls into dealerships completely redesigned with a more powerful engine, nine and 10-speed transmissions and several interior innovations.

The front of the best-selling minivan receives an all-new face resembling the rest of the current Honda lineup featuring the chrome “flying wing” grille and sporty mesh elements in the bumper air intakes. Instead of the visually jarring sliding door tracks dominating the rear fender, they have been incorporated and effectively hidden in the bottom of the rear quarter panel windows. The C-shaped taillights now wrap around the chrome garnish located on the power tailgate.

2018 honda odyssey cabinwatch

Comfort and convenience are two areas the automaker has focused heavily on. The infotainment system, controlled by an eight-inch high-resolution Display Audio touchscreen, has built-in Android Auto and Apple CarPlay to make smartphone connectivity a breeze. The monitor is also paired to a camera mounted in the interior so drivers can see what passengers are up to. Front and rear occupants can even communicate with each other over the CabinTalk PA system.

2018 honda odyssey rear seat entertainment

People riding along in the back will likely be too busy to talk, however, thanks to the entertainment setup. A 10.2-inch screen is mounted on the ceiling that users can stream content to via a downloadable app for mobile devices. In-vehicle 4G LTE WiFi is optional.

2018 honda odyssey magic slide

The second row seating is where the magic really happens. Dubbed Magic Slide, they can be configured in multiple positions. These include Easy Access mode that slides the centre seat forward and out of the way, Super mode moving the driver’s side seat forward, and Wide mode removing the centre seat and pushing the flanking pair outwards, all in the name of making passenger transitions and cargo carrying a painless process.

The 3.5-litre V6 engine produces 280 horsepower, 32 more than the outgoing model, and is paired to a nine-speed gearbox for all trims except Touring. The top-of-the-line grade receives an ultra-efficient 10-speed transmission helping the vehicle achieve an estimated fuel economy rating of 12.6 L/100 km in the city and 8.5 L/100 km on the highway.

2018 honda odyssey rear

All Odysseys come standard with The Honda Sensing safety suite encompassing collision mitigation and driver assistance technology like lane keep assist, adaptive cruise control and more.

Prices range from $34,890 for LX to $50,290 for Touring. Visit your local store for a test drive.

Three big redesigns unveiled at North American International Auto Show 2017

Benjamin Yong on January 18, 2017

North American International Auto Show 2017 sign
The 2017 North American International Auto Show, held in downtown Detroit’s Cobo Center, runs from Jan. 8 to 22. Photos by Benjamin Yong.

This year at the Motor City’s premier automotive event, the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), aside from the usual assortment of concepts and future tech teasers, the big news was focused around the next generation of a group of well-established models from Honda, Toyota and Lexus. Let’s take a look.

2018 Honda Odyssey front

2018 Honda Odyssey

Making its world debut in Detroit, Honda’s best-selling minivan gets a complete redesign. Besides its obviously sleeker profile and addition of the “flying wing” front grille also found on siblings like the Civic and Ridgeline, there are a ton of new features. The Magic Slide second row seats can be configured in countless a ways to allow for different seating positions, easy access to the third row and increased storage capacity.

2018 Honda Odyssey cargo

Drivers no longer have to wonder what’s going on behind them — utilizing a camera, CabinWatch shows rear passenger activity on the eight-inch Display Audio screen, and CabinTalk allows two-way communication via the on-board speaker system and rear entertainment system headphones. And parents of messy children and/or pets can breathe easy, because the HondaVac built-in vacuum returns for 2018.

2018 toyota camry front

2018 Toyota Camry

Including the latest version that was just revealed in Detroit, there have now been eight generations of the Toyota Camry. And it shows no signs of slowing down. Based upon the Toyota New Global Architecture platform, the family sedan — offered in gasoline or hybrid form — takes on a, dare I say, sporty appearance, expressed through a two-piece grille, stylized front and rear bumpers and lower hood and roofline.

2018 Toyota Camry XSE

At the top of the five-grade lineup are the SE and XSE, both wearing even more aggressive front and rear fascias, larger wheels, lip spoilers and black accents. Inside, all Camrys are available with “futuristic” equipment such as three interlinked displays consisting of a 10-inch HUD, seven-inch multi-information instrument cluster display and an eight-inch screen responsible for audio, navigation and climate control readouts.

2018 lexus ls 500

2018 Lexus LS 500

When the Japanese luxury nameplate launched in North America nearly 28 years ago, everything was riding on one vehicle: the LS 400. It set all kinds of benchmarks in terms of comfort, value, quality, etc., and Lexus is hoping to do it all again with the 2018 LS 500. Like the original, this flagship is rear-wheel drive and embodies the latest signature Lexus design language.

2018 lexus ls 500 side

Resting under the hood is a powerplant developed using the company’s ties with F1 racing. Perfectly balancing performance and efficiency, a twin-turbo 3.5-litre V6 produces 415 horsepower and 442 lb-ft of torque, tuned to deliver quick acceleration and a throaty yet refined exhaust note. As a first for a premium passenger car, the engine is mated to an advanced electronically controlled 10-speed automatic transmission capable of anticipating driver input.

Top three cars from Paris Motor Show 2016

Benjamin Yong on October 12, 2016

Paris Motor Show 2016 entrance
The Mondial de l’Automobile Paris Motor Show 2016 runs now until Oct. 16. 

Sadly, in Canada, we won’t be seeing any of the Peugeots or Renaults making their debut at the Paris Motor Show on local roads anytime soon. But there were many brands, recognizable to any North American, also unveiling some really cool vehicles and concepts at the event, some which may even eventually make it to our shores. The following are three of our favourites.

Volkswagen I.D. concept front

Volkswagen I.D. electric concept

VW is showcasing its new MEB compact electric vehicle design language with the I.D. concept. Expected to become a reality by 2020, the highly automated, zero-emissions four-door is powered by a 168-horsepower electric motor boasting a range of up to 600 kilometres on a single battery charge.

Volkswagen I.D. concept sliding doors

Some interesting features include rear-swivelling backdoors, a trunklid that extends across the full-length of the car and LED headlights made to resemble a human eye, capable of responding to the environment. The interior is completely digitized, anchored by a retractable steering wheel. The wheel disappears when the driver touches the centre Volkswagen logo activating autonomous driving mode.

Audi RS 3 sedan front

Audi RS 3 sedan

For the first time in the brand’s history, the Audi RS emblem is attached to a compact sedan. Immediately recognizable by its signature 3-D honeycomb mesh grille bearing a Quattro logo on the bottom half, the RS 3 has a 20 millimetre-wider front track and rear wheels spaced 14 mm further apart than the standard A3.

Audi RS 3 sedan side

A new 2.5-litre TFSI (Turbocharged Fuel Stratified Injection) engine drives the car, and at 400 hp it makes 33 more than the outgoing model. Mated to a S tronic seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, the dash from 0 to 100 km/h takes only 4.1 seconds.

Honda Civic Type-R front

Honda Civic Type-R prototype

Fans of Honda, Japanese sports cars or just automobiles in general have been waiting for the ultra-high-performance Type-R version of the latest Civic with bated breath.

Honda Civic Type-R rear

Many details on the car that hint at its racy heritage, like bulging body panels, winged splitter mounted underneath the front bumper, red accents and badging, smoked headlamp housings, piano-black 20-inch wheels and a towering rear trunk spoiler. More information should be available when the CTR makes its North American debut at the SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) show in Las Vegas next month.