Lehigh Valley Auto Dealers

Honda cars have long been known for their fuel economy and their reasonable pricing. In recent years, however, it is technology that has begun to set Honda apart from its competition.

Take Honda’s newest navigation system, for example. The navigation system, like most other navigation systems, will provide the driver with maps of the quickest route to a destination, using traffic data to avoid traffic jams. Now, with the latest incarnation of Honda’s navigation system, drivers can even get information about things like earthquakes and heavy rainfalls.

This new navigation system is currently only available in Japan, but it is likely to cross the Pacific in the next few years. The system works by offering exclamation mark icons on the navigation screen, indicating an inclement weather situation or an earthquake.

If you’re interested in finding out more about what Honda has to offer here, come see us. We’re your Lehigh Valley Honda dealer, and we’re ready to serve you.

If you’ve recently purchased a new or used car from your local Toyota dealer, one of the best ways to get more enjoyment out of it is to add a GPS device. But with so many on the market, how do you choose the best one? According to the reviewers at CNet.com, these are the five best GPS devices available today.

Garmin Nuvi 880
Although expensive, the Garmin Nuvi 880 has a number of features that make driving much easier. Text-to-speech, Bluetooth and MSN Direct services are ideal for looking up streets and traffic conditions along your route. It also has some of the best speech recognition capabilities of all the devices on the market.

HP iPaq rx5900 Travel Companion
This particular GPS device is ideal for traveling. It has a number of travel tools and it’s also equipped with Bluetooth and wireless capabilities in a sleek device.

Magellan Maestro 4250
You can operate this device simply by speaking, making it safe for driving. It also has text-to-speech capabilities with Bluetooth technology and traffic monitoring devices.

Mio C520
The sleek design for this GPS device also offers a large touch-screen for easy navigation. For even easier use, it has text-to-speech functionality and multimedia capabilities. For all of the features that it offers, it is one of the more affordable options on the market today.

TomTom GO 930
With this sophisticated device, you can simply speak an address and it will give directions. In addition, it offers 3D graphics of intersections for extra safety. A wide-screen also makes this particular device easy to use.

One of the best ways to show off your new car from your local Toyota dealer is to get a portable GPS device. But with the number of options on the market today, it can be overwhelming to shop for one. Luckily, though, you can find the ideal one for you if you know what you’re looking for.

Screen Size
Do you want a screen that’s larger than normal or do you prefer a smaller screen? A larger screen is not only easier to read, but it’s also easier to input data if it’s a touch-screen.

Text-to-Speech
If you want to pay a little extra, you can get a GPS device that speaks the directions to you instead of just displaying them on the screen.

Traffic Information
Some GPS devices offer free traffic information in real time. That means if you’re on one route where traffic is backed up a few miles up ahead, the device can help you find a less congested route to get you to your destination quicker.

Reality View
Many of the new devices offer a graphic illustration of upcoming intersections and areas of the road so you can plan ahead and know what to expect.

Speed Limit Alert
Have you ever been driving through a strange area and exceeded the speed limit because you didn’t know what it was? If so, some devices can help you avoid that by alerting you of the limit where you’re at.

Speed of Use
When buying a GPS device, consider its working speed. You don’t want a device that responds slowly or takes awhile to process a request.

Use these suggestions and you should be able to find the best GPS device for your next road trip or just for everyday use.

Honda Motors announced earlier this year that they will launch clean diesel cars in the United States in 2009. These clean diesel cars will differ from European clean diesel cars in that they won’t need a urea tank. The first Honda vehicle to get this engine will be the Acura four-cylinder. In 2010 or beyond, Honda will make V6 engines fueled by diesel.

In addition, Honda will be selling more low-cost hybrid cars in the United States in 2009. In fact, half of their planned 200,000 units of hybrids are set to be sold in North America. Honda hopes to limit the extra cost on hybrid vehicles so as to encourage consumers to purchase hybrids.

Honda indicated that it will likely begin local production of hybrid vehicles in 2011 or in 2011. currently, all of Honda’s hybrid cars are produced in Japan.

If you want to find out more about Honda’s fuel efficient and environmentally friendly vehicles, come see us at your local Lehigh Valley Honda dealer today.

On Friday, July 25, 2008, Ron Yerxa and Annette Ballester became the first Honda FCX Clarity customers in the entire world. They took delivery of the FCX Clarity, the hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicle, at a dealership in Southern California. The two will be the first of 200 customers in the U.S. and in Japan that will lease the Honda FCX Clarity over the next three years. These vehicles will, primarily, lease in Southern California.

The release and delivery of the FCX Clarity is an important event. It represents the move toward more and more commercialization, convenience and satisfaction when it comes to fuel efficient vehicles. Honda estimates the FCX Clarity will get the equivalent of 74 miles per gallon of gasoline. Of course, the FCX Clarity runs on an electric fuel cell. The fuel cell powers an electric motor, and the only emission of the fuel cell is water.

Fuel cell vehicles are roughly three times as efficient as a vehicle powered by a gas engine. The FCX clarity can go 280 miles before it needs to be refilled.

While the FCX Clarity won’t be widely available for a few more years, you can still save money on gas today. Come by our local Lehigh Valley Honda dealer and check out our line of fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles today.

After testing on human cadavers, human volunteers and animals didn’t work out so well, the automotive industry saw the need for something else. That’s when Samuel Alderson created “Sierra Sam” in 1949. This first “dummy” was able to withstand accelerations and other tests that previous test subjects couldn’t endure.

The success of “Sierra Sam” led Alderson to produce a series of crash test dummies exclusively for two major car companies. He also built another dummy – “Sierra Stan” – but once company started building its own dummies by then.

Since those days in the early 1970s, companies have created more sophisticated and realistic dummies. The current line of models is called the Hybrid III and made its first appearance in 1976. It represents that average American male at 5′6″ tall with a weight of about 170 pounds. He is always in the driver’s seat for the crash tests. There are also dummies that represent typical female passengers, child passengers and other passengers of all sizes. The best thing about the Hybrid III model is that they are designed in such a way to give researchers data about how the neck and head respond in a collision.

As you can see, the crash test dummy has been a vital part of automotive safety. You can see many of them safety features that they have helped create at your local Toyota dealer. Why not visit one today and see how safe these vehicles make you and your family feel on the roads?

In May of this year, Honda announced that they’d be releasing a new small hybrid in early 2009. This new hybrid will feature a significant reduction in weight over other hybrids and a reduction in cost of the Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) components. The new hybrid will be the most affordable hybrid on the market, at least compared to anything that’s on the market today.

This new vehicle is expected to have around 100,000 models in the North American market. Once this vehicle, which has yet to be named, is launched, Honda is going to release another small hybrid that is based on the Honda CR-Z that was displayed at the 2007 Motor Show in Tokyo. Altogether, when the Civic Hybrid and Honda Fit are added in, it’s expected that over half a million hybrid Honda units will be sold each year.

The new hybrid will fit five passengers. It makes full use of the smaller batter and processing unit, providing a hatchback with enough cargo needs for a family. In addition, the new vehicle will feature additional technologies to improve fuel efficiency.

It will be produced at Honda’s Suzuka factory, which also produces the Civic Hybrid.

If you’re interested in an Honda hybrid, come see us. We’re your Lehigh Valley Honda dealer, and we’ve got a wide selection of vehicles to meet your needs.

On Monday, we left off talking about human cadavers being the earliest form of crash test dummies. But when people began raising questions about its ethics, researchers needed to find another solution.

The next logical step was to use real live humans. Of course, these were volunteers who participated in the studies. The most popular of these volunteers was Colonel John Paul Stapp of the United States Air Force. He was most known for propelling himself more than 1000 km/hour on a rocket sled. He then stopped in 1.4 seconds. Researchers studied every movement along the way. A professor at Wayne State University – Lawrence Patrick – also volunteered for a similar study. He had more than 400 rocket sled rides at high speeds and rapid decelerations to test the effects on the human body.

Unfortunately, human subjects simply couldn’t endure some of the tests the automotive companies needed to get accurate data. Crashing head first into a brick wall at 80 mph simply didn’t sound fun to anybody. That’s when researchers turned to animal testing. That was in the 1950s and surprisingly lasted until 1993. I won’t go into any details about that simply because that’s a bit sad.

Finally, the crash test dummy was created. That’s where we’ll pick up at on Friday.

Until then, why not visit a local Toyota dealer and see what types of safety features that the crash test dummies helped to develop. Where would we be without seatbelts, airbags and other safety features? There would probably be a lot fewer people in this world – that’s for sure!

Brand loyalty is a funny thing.  Sometimes, people might swear by a particular brand of cola, for example. They might love Pepsi, and can’t stand the taste of Coke. However, the chances that they then prefer PepsiCo’s Slice over Coke’s Sprite isn’t necessarily any higher than it is with any other beverage.

The same holds true for brand loyalty between cars and motorcycles. Just because a consumer enjoys driving a Honda motorcycle doesn’t mean they’ll want to drive Honda cars.

For many manufacturers, this isn’t an issue. Harley Davidson, for example, doesn’t make automobiles. BMW does make both cars and motorcycles, and they’re the one exception where brand loyalty does seem to often make the transition from two wheels to four.

Things are changing, however. According to a recent study, more and more Honda motorcycle enthusiasts are starting to drive Honda cars. They recognize the quality, style and performance that they have had on two wheels all of these years holds true for when they have four wheels.

Interested in four Honda wheels instead of two? Come see us at your Lehigh Valley Honda Dealer today.

With gas well over $4 a gallon, it’s no wonder.

Honda dealers are finding that they just can’t get enough Honda Civic Hybrids on their lots to meet customer demand. While this has been a problem for Toyota across the board for a while now, problems at Honda Dealers appear to be regional and often temporary.

One dealership in Texas, however, recently had a waiting list of over 30 people waiting to buy a 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid. It took nearly two months for the dealership to get its hands on enough Honda Civic Hybrids to meet the demand.

The good news for Honda dealers, however, is that customers seem to be willing to make the wait. For that particular dealership, every one of the 30 people on the list, plus ten that were added to the list during the wait, bought a new Honda Civic Hybrid.

Of all the hybrid vehicles, the Honda Civic seems to be the most available in many locations. In addition to availability, the Honda Civic Hybrid beats out much of the competition in areas like style, performance and comfort.

If you’re interested in a Honda Civic Hybrid, give us a visit. We’re your local Lehigh Valley Honda dealer and we’ll do what we can to get you into the car you want.