Issue 52

Transcription

Issue 52

PRINT POST NO: 340400/0001
Car of the
Year judge
Samantha Reid
takes a second
look at CR-Z
The guitar
maker’s craft
5
2
52
/
WINTER
2012
WELCOME BACK Editor: Stuart Sykes, ScotSport
Executive Editor: Kevin Lillee
Art Director: Chris Payne
Account Director: Stuart Wilson
Design, Art & Print Production:
mightyworld.com.au
02
H EADLI NES 04
Keep in touch at the touch
of a button: for all the latest
on model changes, media
releases, and all that’s new
in the world of Honda, go to
honda.com.au
You can also find us on
facebook and follow us
on twitter.
P ERFECT MATCH New Honda Civic Hatch
06
MU SI C TO THE EARS New Honda Civic Sedan
10
SNAKE WAY Travel
14
CHANGE PEOPLE’S PERCEPTION Honda CR-Z
18
NO ORDINARY RAIL JOURNEY
Australia
22
CU RV Y, RACY, VI VACI O US Honda CR-V
Honda Magazine Editorial Office:
Suite 101 34 Queens Road
Melbourne VIC 3004.
[email protected]
Neither Honda Australia nor the
magazine’s editorial staff accept
responsibility for unsolicited
manuscripts, photographs or
illustrations. They will not be
returned unless accompanied by a
self-addressed, stamped envelope.
We reserve the right to edit all
correspondence for publication.
The views expressed in this
magazine are not necessarily those
of Honda Australia.
28
FIGH TING TO W I N Honda Foundation 30
TH E SI MP LE THI N GS Travel
34
GU I TAR MAN Profile
40
NSXY! HondaNSX
44
EARTH DREAMS Honda Technology
47
SIMP LE JOY Honda Ambassador
48
MAKING A STATEMEN T Honda Rally
52
GOLDWING STILL THE KING Honda Motorcycles
56
GO ODBYE TO AL L THAT
Honda MotoGP
58
For general enquiries regarding
Honda motor vehicle products or
services, contact Honda Australia
on 1800 804 954
Average Net Distribution
1 April to 30 September 2011
162,071
SH OWRO OM The complete Honda Range
62
LET TERS 64
Greenhouse emissions
associated with the
production and delivery
of this magazine have
been offset.
H ond a M aga zi ne • ho nd a. co m.a u
ISSUE
01
H
onda Australia is
delighted to be back.
Not that we’ve been
away – but Honda is
just getting back on a
proper production footing once more after
enduring a difficult time in the wake of
natural disasters in Japan and Thailand.
Not as difficult for us, of course, as it has
been for the human victims of earthquake,
tsunami and flood, and our thoughts are
with them and those closest to them. Losing
a large part of a production schedule is not
the same as losing everything you had...
02
performance and efficiency
across the range of engine
sizes – without compromising
Honda’s fun-to-drive
philosophy which lies at the
heart of everything we do,
and with a watchful eye on
the environment as well.
While we welcome back our
normalised production, we
hope you will welcome back
the Honda Magazine.
As you will see, the
publication has taken on a
new look of its own as we
strive to keep you informed
and entertained. In its pages
you will find a familiar mix
of product updates, features
on new Honda vehicles and
technologies, and lifestyle
articles that take us well
beyond the confines of the
automotive world.
We firmly believe in the
future, and in Honda’s
contribution to it, and we
hope the magazine will
continue to be your window
into Honda’s world. 
Honda believes there is much to look
forward to for all its customers around the
world, and Australia is no exception
Left: the first car rolls off Honda’s
Ayutthaya, Thailand production line
after the factory reopening in March.
Below: submerged vehicles after the
flooding in October 2011.
welcome back
A year later, as life took on a
semblance of normality once
more, it was with great relief
that all Honda associates
welcomed the first car off
the Ayutthaya production line
on 26 March, 2012.
The facility is one of Honda’s
most important production
operations in this region and
had suspended production on
4 October, 2011. A huge
operation to carry out
draining, cleaning, repairing
and replacing lost or
damaged equipment and
installations was completed,
allowing Honda’s 4000-strong
workforce to resume
something like normal service.
As cars come back on-stream,
Honda believes there is much
to look forward to for all its
customers around the world,
and Australia is no exception.
Good news is once again
the rule rather than the
exception: the epoch-making
CR-Z picked up the
prestigious Wheels Car of
the Year award, the all-new
Civic Sedan and Hatch are
here, the next-generation
CR-V is on its way, and
Honda has returned to its
racing roots as it heralds the
NSX Concept, the 21stcentury edition of its groundbreaking supercar.
Honda is proud of its
reputation as the world’s
biggest and best enginemaker, and delighted to
announce the revolutionary
Earth Dreams Technology.
The technology brings
the promise of radical
improvements to engine
03
H E A D L I N ES
nothing but blue skies
I
t’s not just an empty melody, at least not where Honda is concerned. Honda has created
a new environmental symbol to be used in its communications on matters relating to
the environment and the company’s passion for its protection. While ‘The Power of
Dreams’ remains the global Honda brand slogan, you will see this symbol more and more
frequently as the company underlines its commitment to minimising the environmental
impact of vehicle manufacture and use.
The circle represents the Earth and Sun, with blue skies, clean water and green land.
While the curved line at its centre symbolises the freedom of mobility on the open road, the heart at
bottom left reminds us of Honda’s passion for the idea of leaving ‘Blue skies for our children’.
The company says this was the rallying cry for Honda’s original efforts to meet environmental challenges
head-on – with the epoch-making Civic – and the philosophy still underpins its activities. 
‘One small step for...’
04
City slicker
H
onda Australia has announced keen new pricing for its City models as well as a range
of upgrades to both the VTi and VTi-L models. The City VTi now comes in at $18,490
(drive-away $19,990) to further underline its superb value-for-money package. The
automatic version is priced at $20,490 (drive-away $21,990) and the VTi-L is set at
$22,990 (with drive-away prices varying by state – go to honda.com.au for pricing
for your specific postcode). Both models benefit from redesigned front and rear bumpers for a more
aerodynamically streamlined look, while other touches include a new chrome grille and new rear lights.
Add in a revised, more modernistic dash display, aluminium trim on interior fittings and more luxurious
seat fabric and the City is even slicker than ever. 
Honda’s most decorated
car just became even
better for value. The fourcylinder Honda Accord
VTi is now a remarkable
$4300 cheaper with
a starting price of
$28.190 ($29,990 driveaway). Honda has also
announced a $2800
reduction in the price
of the Accord VTi-L and
$2700 off the top-ofthe-range V6. Accord
was the first Japanese
car to earn the Wheels
Car of the Year Award in
1977 and remains one of
the brand’s most iconic
global vehicles. 
more insightful than ever
The house that
Honda built
I
f you think ASIMO is pretty clever, wait till you see
this little piece of real estate. It’s not likely to come
under the hammer any time soon, but Honda’s test
house in the Japanese city of Saitama is bringing
the future ever closer. Using the Honda Smart House
System (HSHS) it can control energy supply and
demand throughout the household, make the occupants
self-sufficient in energy needs during an emergency, and
generally manage and optimise the consumption and
generation of energy.
The home uses a combination of solar cell panels,
a home rechargeable battery unit and a gas/engine
cogeneration unit all governed by a technology called
Smart e Mix. Linked to the greater use of electric
vehicles, it is also clever enough to regulate the home’s
total CO2 emissions. Buy one of these and hire ASIMO
and there will be nothing left for you to do! 
H
onda has always
thought of
driving as an
activity that
should be fun
for the person behind the wheel.
No car embodies that spirit
more than the Insight – and the
new-release Insight means good
driving can be a great game
as Honda’s Eco Assist system
brings your personal driving style
to vivid life. You can literally
watch the flowers grow as you
drive: an in-dash display tells
you if your foot is so heavy
that the flowers won’t grow, but
rewards you with new blooms
if you temper your spirited
driving enough to look after the
fuel economy as well. Insight’s
combination of a 1.3-litre
i-VTEC engine and electric
motor already delivers 37%
better fuel economy than the
average small car anyway. Honda
claims pocket-pleasing figures of
4.3L/100km! That doesn’t mean
you can’t enjoy yourself: with
maximum torque low down,
Insight pulls away, accelerates
and cruises beautifully, and its
aerodynamic profile merely
enhances the sensation of
spirited driving.
With its wide track, low-to-theground look and sporty touches
like the split-level rear window,
Insight means business as
well as pleasure. It now has
daytime running lights, while
the VTi-L still offers up-to-date
communications with Bluetooth
and a DVD player. It’s a clever
character all round: if you
thought battery space was the
bugbear with hybrid cars you’d
be right, but Insight keeps its
battery pack out of sight under
the flat floor beneath the cargo
area and with the seats flat you
can have up to 584 litres of
space to play – or work with.
It’s a very thoughtful car, and if
you are thoughtful enough to
take passengers in your Insight,
you – and they – can enjoy
plush comfort, superb audio and
climate control. For the driver,
a dual-zone dash and Honda’s
incomparable raft of safety
features all enhance the feeling
of well-being at the wheel. 
N
o, not mankind
– but a kind
of ‘man’ that
Honda’s men
and women have built. And
it’s not such a small step,
either: Honda’s tireless
research and development on
its humanoid robot, ASIMO,
has led to the creation of the
latest and much-improved
model. With world-leading
‘autonomous behaviour
control technology’ the little
fellow – 130 cm tall, 48 kilos
– can now make decisions
based on its prediction,
for example, of people’s
movement around it. It can
also distinguish between
the voices of as many
as three people speaking
simultaneously, while a new
multi-fingered hand permits
sophisticated movements
like sign language, or twisting
the top off a bottle, which
could be handy next time he
hits these shores. All of the
R&D involved now comes
under the heading of Honda
Robotics, through which
the company will continue
to refine ASIMO and his
successors while starting to
apply robotics technology to
mass-produced items. 
STOP PRESS
05
The good news starts
here: Honda’s Civic – a
worldwide best-seller since
its introduction four decades
ago – is now available in its
newest guise.
There are some things we
care to forget. In 1972, for
example, Australia’s bestselling single was by Donny
Osmond... Others are more
pleasant to remember, like
Shane Gould’s Olympic gold
medals, or Ken Rosewall
winning the Australian Open.
As far as we are concerned,
however, it was also the year
of the Honda Civic.
Now the car that has sold
20 million units around the
globe and nearly 200,000
in our country is entering
its ninth generation. Civic
is available in a sleek new
Hatch or sophisticated
Sedan form; whichever you
choose, it’s sure to provide
you with nothing but happy
memories...
06
1972: the original Civic
‘A thoughtful evolution’ is how Honda sums up its latest Civic iteration.
After all, why change a formula that’s been a winner for 40 years?
W
hen form and
function go
together, the
end result
is usually something beautiful
but eminently practical. That’s
exactly the way we would
describe the new Civic Hatch.
‘Be bold’, was Honda’s approach,
and it has paid off handsomely.
“If you thought the previous
Honda Civic Hatch had striking
good looks, just wait until you
see the new one.” That’s not
Honda talking, it’s motoring
critic Ewan Kennedy writing
online in carsguide. First
impressions, after all, are what
matter most, and the new
five-door Civic Hatch, built at
Honda’s Swindon plant in the
UK, is an instantly appealing car.
“It embodies style as well as
substance,” observed Honda
Australia Spokesperson
Lindsay Smalley when the car
was announced, pointing to
the Hatch’s flowing lines and
improved aerodynamic qualities.
perfect
match
Civic:
Honda’s
generation
game
07
“if you thought the previous Honda
Civic Hatch had striking good looks, just
wait until you see the new one”
08
The two go together
perfectly in new
touches like the rear
light combination
which actually works
Ewan Kennedy, carsguide.com.au
like an integrated
spoiler and helps reduce the car’s
drag coefficient dramatically.
Overall, Civic Hatch has a more
determined stance on the road,
helped by the monoform flow
of its lines. It looks for all the
world like yet another three-door
small car until those artfully
concealed handles reveal the
truth – it’s a five-door hatch with
heaps of space inside.
Kennedy again: “While other
companies come up with cars
that are identical except for
their rear end treatment, Honda
chooses to build two quite
different models to significantly
broaden buyer choice.”
But while beauty is in the
eye of the beholder, Honda’s
philosophy has always been
to combine it with solid
performance. Honda’s new Civic
Hatch comes in two models,
VTi-S and VTi-L, both with a
revised version of the 1.8-litre
four-cylinder i-VTEC power unit
delivering 104kW and 174Nm of
(Bluetooth in the VTi-L) are
standard and you can even
personalise the ‘wallpaper’
on the car’s display. Colour,
convenience and clever
functionality are the keys to the
new Hatch’s dashboard layout,
with everything tailored to the
driver’s needs. That includes
a new tilt/telescopic steeringwheel adjustment system,
and the wheel itself brings all
operating controls within the
stretch of a finger.
It comes with Advanced
Compatibility Engineering to
manage impact, Honda’s
GCON engineering technology,
a tyre deflation warning system
and (in the VTi-L) a reversing
camera. And for those inside, six
airbags add to the feeling of a
secure as well as a spirited drive.
Did we mention the five-star
ANCAP rating?
There’s a strong case for saying
that a hatchback – combining
the virtues of convenience,
versatility and a rock-solid
work ethic – is part and parcel
of a modern family. As such,
Civic Hatch – putting the fun
in functional – is the perfect
embodiment of the modern
family car. 
torque. All this and the promise
of a further addition to the Civic
line-up in 2013, when Honda
Australia plans to introduce a
diesel version.
Potential Civic Hatch owners
will be pleased to read figures
of 6.1L/100km for the manual
version and 6.5L/100km for the
auto. This is where Honda’s Eco
Assist system and ECON mode
button come into play, meaning
practical motoring doesn’t come
at an impractical price.
Inside, the spacious cabin has a
more comfortable feel about it,
the now-famous Honda ‘magic
seats’ are a key feature and the
car’s intelligence comes from the
same i-MID (intelligent Multi
Information Display) technology
as featured in its sedan cousins.
USB and iPod connectivity
09
music
to the
•
M IC H AE L
W E AR N E
10
If you’d rather hatch
a different plot,
Honda also offers
five sedan variants
in its new Civic
range: VTi, VTi-L,
VTi-LN, Sport and
Hybrid. Something
for everyone, then, in
what carsales.com.au
calls ‘one of its best
small cars to date’...
I
n case you haven’t
picked up on it,
Honda’s catch-cry
for the latest Civic is
‘Symphony in Motion’.
Like a musical score
– or indeed the
orchestra that plays it – the car is
much more than the mere sum
of its parts. Everything simply
works in harmony and the end
result is outstanding.
Of the Civic virtues Honda
wants to emphasise in the
latest incarnation of its bestselling sedan, there are five in
particular to consider – and
they demonstrate that balance
between what’s been there from
the start and the way the car has
changed over the years. They are,
in no particular order, its exterior
design, the interior amenities,
its fuel economy, the safety built
into the car and, last but not
least, the connectivity it comes
with in 2012.
PICS
ears
11
Like the Hatch, Civic Sedan
owes a lot to its looks. It’s taken
an athletic turn, with a much
more sculpted silhouette and
body shape and a pleasingly
purposeful rake. It’s not all about
style, of course: a better ride and
improved fuel efficiency are part
and parcel of the new look.
The VTI and VTi-L come with
a 1.8-litre i-VTEC engine and
five-speed manual transmission.
With 104kW at 6500 revs it’s no
slouch, but if you need more
from the percussion section
Civic Sport offers a two-litre
i-VTEC tapping out a lively
114kW. As carsales.com.au
put it, ‘Civic Sport delivers an
involving drive thanks to the
engine’s free-revving nature.’
The Civic’s fuel efficiency has
improved by as much as 7%,
which is not all that surprising
when you consider the uniqueto-class Eco Assist technology
built into the car – a kind of incar, in-drive tutorial that reminds
you when the right foot is getting
a tad leaden and uses display
colours to encourage better
behaviour on the fuel front.
To help further, Honda includes
an ECON button to ensure that
you are always operating within
fuel-friendly parameters. Not only
in the engine department, either:
ECON affects power use,
transmission, heating and cooling.
Blue skies are a Honda priority,
and nothing exemplifies that
stance better than the new Civic
Hybrid. Honda has decided to use
12
a larger (1.5-litre) petrol engine
in conjunction with its improved
electric motor. Working in
harmony they produce 82kW at
5500 revs and 172Nm of torque
between 1000 and 3500. That adds
up to crisp performance in town
and gutsier behaviour out on the
open road. Pair the power unit
with CVT for seamless shifting,
throw in a staggering fuel
economy statistic of 4.4L/100km
and you really are in tune with
the rhythms of modern living.
But it’s inside that Civic really
words of the
carsales.com.
au reviewer, ‘a
real contender
in the small car
marketplace
in terms of fit and finish, cabin
ambiance, spaciousness and
standard features’.
Road users – especially here
in Australia – can never turn
a blind eye to the benefits of
safety-enhancing features, and
ninth-generation Civic positively
bristles with those. Honda’s
very clever Motion Adaptive
Electronic Power Steering
(MAEPS) keeps a keen eye on
the car’s movement and helps
the driver stay on the straight
and narrow.
surprises. Tactile and welcoming
– and with seductive leather seats
in the Civic Sport – the interior
is an agreeable, engaging space
but still manages to impress with
the wraparound nearness of
everything the driver needs.
To coin a paradoxical phrase,
this is a large ‘small’ car.
The uncompromising
combination of comfort and
control makes Civic, in the
MAEPS literally senses the
amount of power assist required
for the speed you are driving at;
low speeds mean higher input,
higher speeds bring a much more
driver-pleasing directness to the
way the car feels in your hands.
We mentioned the five-star
safety rating when we were
discussing the Civic Hatch. But
here too Honda, always aware
that engineering is for people,
has built safety-first GCON
and Advanced Compatibility
Engineering (ACE) into the car.
How ACE helps is by dispersing
the energy caused in a crash
through the vehicle’s up-front
body structure to reduce its
effect on those seated inside.
There’s VSA (Vehicle Stability
Assist) working with EBD
(Electronic Brakeforce
Distribution) to provide extra
braking in a crisis and to send
that force to each wheel in a
way that helps get the driver out
of trouble.
While Honda’s Lindsay Smalley
rightly emphasised these safety
features when this remarkable
new Civic was launched, he also
knew there was much more to
the car than that. “Not only
will the Civic help to keep you
safe on the road,” he pointed
out, “its great driving dynamics,
improved handling and classleading fuel efficiency make it
the best buy in the small car
segment.” Couldn’t have put it
better ourselves... 
For prices and more info on
the full Civic range please go
to honda.com.au/cars
it’s not all about style, of course: a better
ride and improved fuel efficiency are part
and parcel of the new look
13
FAT TO R E
M ARK
•
14
Now this was a
motorcycle pre-ride
briefing that cut
straight to the chase:
“Tomorrow, we make
snake way.” That was a
common refrain from
Thon, the head guide on
an eight-day motorcycle
tour Mark Fattore
recently embarked
on with eleven mates
through the north of
Vietnam.
THRO UG H VIETN AM O N AN XR2 5 0
H on da M ag az ine • h on da. co m. au
STORY
&
P ICS
snake
way
15
Dong Van
Ha Jiang
Vu Linh
Meo Vac
Lang Son
Ha no i
V I ETN A M
16
adjacent to the beautiful and
tranquil Thac Ba Lake. That’s
not a huge number of kilometres
by Aussie standards, but in
Vietnam the sheer volume of
traffic – motorised, pedestrians
and animals – isn’t conducive to
setting land speed records.
After a swim in Thac Ba
Lake, we ventured inside the
bamboo stilt house for a superb
smorgasbord dinner. We also
enjoyed copious amounts of rice
wine after a countdown in the
local dialect, followed by hearty
handshakes.
We began to meander on day
two, and the weather cooled
off as the elevation rose. The
constant on-off braking and
shunting through the twisties
quickly showed up the ‘softer’
side of the XR suspension. But
the beauty of the XR is that
it’s such an easy bike to ride,
beautifully mannered and just so
compliant.
A nice – or should I say brutal
– contrast to the soft XRs were
the beds at our hotel stopover
in Ha Jiang on day two. Lonely
Planet says the beds are ‘firm’,
but that assessment is way off
the mark: it was torture. Great
pillows, though...
A few days later we gazed over
at the communist behemoth of
China, separated from Vietnam
by a massive array of waterfalls.
The border is quite a permeable
one for Vietnamese and Chinese,
and they can cross the river to
indulge in duty-free goods.
Leaving Ha Jiang, we took the
Ma Pi Leng pass to Dong Van,
an absolute corker of a road, if
fairly narrow, with
great scenery to
boot. Now we were
really starting to
climb, which meant
that we had to pay
particular attention
to passing vehicles, especially on
some bends that put the ‘hairy’
into hairpins.
But although we ascended,
that didn’t mean the end of
civilisation. We continued to pass
through villages and occasionally
we stopped for an extended
period of time while the guides
mended yet another flat tyre.
Vietnam was simply brilliant. I’m
now hooked on this foreign riding
caper – but where to next?
is approaching, rather than
an act of ill-temper. But hit
the footpaths and inform an
enterprising Vietnamese hawker
that your new rubber thongs
don’t require ‘retreads’ and it
raises their immediate ire.
On day one, we travelled about
180km before terminating at
Vu Linh, a little farming village
OFFROAD
VIETNAM
XR250 AND
XR250 BAJA
At one village, the vendor of a
small shop brought out scales
for a weigh-in ‘challenge’, and
they were amazed when one
of our group measured in at a
svelte 110kg. There were equal
doses of shock and awe from
by-standers.
The larger villages were amazing,
especially at market time when
all sorts of food and general
supplies were put up as bait. If
a pig’s head is your thing, you
won’t be disappointed.
Dong Van was a memorable
stopover, primarily for a plate
of dog meat we devoured at
a local night club. And the
damage: 100,000 dong, or a little
less than $5.00.
Next up was the most
spectacular road on tour – the
ride to Meo Vac. This road’s
just about king in Vietnam, and
for good reason as the bends
are relentless and call for rapid
changes of direction. That day
also included a fair chunk of
dirt riding, akin to fire trails
in Australia. The little XR was
bouncing from one rock to
another. Brilliant fun.
After Meo Vac the roads took
on gentler qualities, and by the
time we had reached our final
overnight destination of Lang
Son, via Bao Lac, Cao Bang and
Quang Uyen, the twisty roads
had all but disappeared.
The ‘damage’ to that point
had only been a few crash
bruises, but the golden run
soon evaporated when one
of our group came to grief
after colliding with a local on
– what else? – a scooter. Our
bloke was a little stirred, but
the unfortunate local broke
his shoulder. The district
police came up with a $US500
restitution figure. The money
was paid to the police, not the
rider...
We arrived back in Hanoi during
the afternoon peak, but this time
we sliced through the traffic
with battle-hardened precision,
our horns always on high
alert. It was all rather routine,
and a couple of young punks
being silly on a scooter kept us
entertained.
Vietnam was simply brilliant. I’m
now hooked on this foreign riding
caper – but where to next? 
Mention XR250 to anyone
and terms like ‘tough as
old boots’ and ‘reliable
and capable’ come to
the fore. At the time of
writing, Offroad Vietnam
has 12 XRs on fleet, which
are a mix of the standard
XR250 and the XR250
Baja, which is the bike that
I rode. The Baja, originally
a Japanese domestic
model, has a 14-litre steel
tank, big twin headlights
and a more comfortable
seat than the XR250, but
that’s about the extent of
the differences. Offroad
Vietnam sourced most of
the XRs from Cambodia,
but when it’s time to
replace engines the
company will be knocking
on China’s door. All the
bikes are getting on, and
they aren’t without their
flaws – little bits and
pieces fall off, they are a
little stubborn to start
on occasions, the discs
require machining, and
the suspension has seen
better days. But they are
indefatigable, a classic
XR trait.
There are a number
of motorcycle tour
operators in Vietnam,
and Offroad Vietnam
is lauded as one of the
best. There’s a wide
selection of tours to
choose from, and the
company can even
tailor an itinerary just
for you. Prices vary
according to the size
of the group and the
bikes you use – the XRs
are at the top of the
pecking order. Inflation
is hitting Vietnam hard,
but you’ll be looking
at around $155 a day
for an all-inclusive
tour, which includes
accommodation, bike
hire, fuel, guides and
three meals. For more
information, visit
offroadvietnam.com
S
nake way? The
phrase didn’t
really resonate
at first, but it all
made complete
sense once our
fleet of Honda
XR250s began threading their
way through some of the
most challenging roads I’ve
encountered in my 35 years of
riding powered two-wheelers.
The journey also reaffirmed that
there’s no better way to tap into
the inner workings of a country
than behind the bars of a
motorcycle. And it doesn’t have
to be on the latest and greatest
machinery either, as our flock of
long-serving XRs attested to.
We flew into the hot and
steamy Vietnamese capital of
Hanoi to begin the tour. Put
simply, the city is a blizzard of
scooters. They dominate the
landscape and are the classic
utilitarian vehicles. And they
don’t discriminate on cargo
either, carrying everything from
building materials to fresh meat,
live animals and electrical goods.
Even toddlers head off to
kinder on scooters, a makeshift
seat wedged in between mum’s
or dad’s legs for the short
commute.
So the general rule of thumb in
Vietnam appears to be that if
you’re not tripling the suggested
payload and shamelessly
mistreating your scooter, you’re
not doing it justice.
The Vietnamese are tolerant
souls too – the constant beeping
of horns you hear on the roads
is a warning that another vehicle
17
CHANGE
PEOPLE’S
A C AR T H AT C OUL D A N D S H OUL D
P I CS
18
•
M IC H AE L
W E AR N E
The literature says
things like ‘Three
letters that spell
fun’... ‘a piece of
kinetic sculpture
with dynamic driving
at its core’... or ‘the
alphabet of acronyms
in the CR-Z feel like
a warm blanket’. But
you can read that
elsewhere: we asked
someone who has
actually driven the
car for a genuinely
personal response.
PERCEPTION
19
safely are two parallel passions in
her life – and they stand her in
good stead when she serves on the
judging panel for such coveted
accolades as the Wheels Car of
the Year award. Sam has been
a judge on several occasions,
and this year – when the CR-Z
carried off the prize – she was in
a hands-on, back-up role.
“I drove the CR-Z a fair bit for
Car of the Year,” she told us,
“and then we did three days
with dealers giving them an
experience of what the car was
and showing them that a hybrid
car could actually be enjoyable!
I did all the tests that the Wheels
judges did in it and drove it to
and from different locations. To
plan the day for the dealers we
Over the week of judging people began
to fight over who should drive it between
the sections because it was so much fun
20
spent a fair bit of
time with it as well
to work out what the
car’s strengths and
weaknesses were.”
Sam waxed lyrical
about the car but focused on a
few specific areas. One of them
was the whole perception of
a hybrid car – something the
CR-Z is designed to counteract.
“It was very easy to forget it
was a hybrid,” she says. “Easy
to forget – except there’s a few
things that keep reminding you,
which is what I think was so
good about it. The dashboard,
for one – there doesn’t even
have to be a dash on a hybrid,
but the 3D display is superb:
you have this instant tell-tale
of how heavy your right foot
is, and whether you’re doing
the right thing, which means
you are part of the experience
from the moment you get in
till the moment you pull up. I
didn’t find myself wandering off
thinking about other things, I
actually enjoyed the drive.
“So you are constantly reminded,
but then surprised by the fact
that it handled and performed
well and felt like a real car!
It sounds silly, but the other
hybrids... they’re NOT. They
don’t feel like real cars, they feel
like this space-age thing.”
Another strength: the CR-Z
actually does what it claims to
do, as Samantha discovered
when switching between the
car’s three driving modes, Eco,
Normal and Sport. “What struck
me was the steering adjustment:
the fact that from Normal to
Sport the steering response
changed. There are a lot of cars
on the market that claim to do
those things, but it goes from
pretty bad to a little bit better
to almost not noticeable at all!
In the CR-Z you had a choice
as to what you did and it made
a big difference, it wasn’t just a
marketing thing on a button.
Whereas it was so easy with
the CR-Z to demonstrate the
difference: it went from an easyto-manage car that sat so well
on the road but if you wanted
to use it a bit more sportingly it
would make the steering more
responsive. I personally would
drive with that on all the time
because I love it, but it probably
requires a little more attention.”
Honda makes much of the car’s
‘One Motion Wedge’ concept,
its balance and the feeling for
the road created by a low centre
of gravity, wide track, short
wheelbase and a rigid chassis.
Sam translates that into a
personal response. “Ask anyone
what they want to do to the car
and they’ll say, ‘Oh, I just need
more engine!’ But the reason
they say that is that the chassis’s
just so good – it fits its market
perfectly, I think, because if it
has a lot more power then it isn’t
really what we think of as a hybrid,
it’s going to use more fuel.”
Putting it another way, we
suggested, the car wouldn’t
be true to its own principles.
“Exactly!” said Sam. “I think
the fact that everything about
it was so sporty made you want
to say it needed more engine, if
that makes sense? In fact it had
plenty, it was very comfortable.
The gearshift in particular, the
manual shifter, was just so nice,
and you wonder why every car
on the market isn’t like that. It
was short, precise, easy to use –
and it felt sporty, it really made
you feel part of the car.”
Digging further, we asked what
one of the Wheels judges had
meant when he said the CR-Z’s
that you’re pointing the steering
wheel: if you put too much
steering on, which is essentially
what we are doing, how does
the stability control actually
intervene?
“Does it intervene is often the
first question, because some of
them don’t! Some of them catch
you very late, some very early,
so you often hear people talking
about removing any fun factor.
And when it does intervene,
does it do so in such a way that
you still feel you are part of it, or
does it completely take over and
decide what you’re doing and
in some ways actually make you
feel unsafe as a result?”
Which brings us back to the
basic truth that it’s all a question
judging, so with the others it
was a case of, ‘Oh well, another
hybrid, ho-hum, what’s this one
going to be like?’ But over the
week of judging people began
to fight over who should drive it
between the sections because it
was so much fun.
“To convince those judges, who
have seen every hybrid under the
sun, to say that this is Car of the
Year is a big statement. That’s
what surprised me more, rather
than the simple fact that they
were impressed with it, because I
knew how good it was.
“It’s a very rewarding and
interactive car to drive, because
it’s not just a driving tool. First
of all, I certainly don’t see it as
‘the car that gets you from A to
VSA (Vehicle Stability Assist)
was among the best out there.
How does a ‘real’ driver tell that?
“To try and make the calibration
kick in you have to do something
pretty stupid!” Sam confessed.
“The standard judging test is on
dirt: we travel too fast for the
corners, we imagine that someone
has perhaps under-estimated
the road conditions, so their
speed’s too high for the scenario.
They’ve tried to turn a corner
where physics says you’ve got
too much speed for the situation
we’re in: how is the VSA actually
going to manage that?
“Obviously the idea of stability
control is to make sure the car is
travelling in the same direction
of balance. “Another way to put
it is how balanced it keeps the
car. Sometimes you find it affects
the front or rear so much that
you feel the car has now lost its
balance but with the CR-Z it was
very smooth.”
So much for first impressions:
how did Sam react when she
learned the CR-Z had actually
won one of Australia’s most
sought-after awards? She doesn’t
hold back: “I think it’s certainly
got to have been the most
surprising Car of the Year! Was
I personally surprised it won?
No – for me it was nice to finally
have a hybrid that drives! I had
the luxury of having actually
driven it before the Wheels
B’; it gives you so much more
than that, you are a part of it.
There are so few cars that you
actually get in and feel part of
the experience: the car’s not
taking control, and you don’t feel
like you have to work too hard,
but it’s reacting the way you want
it to, when you want it to and it
always feels safe and balanced
and therefore enjoyable. The
chassis in it is just amazing.
All very well for a budding
race driver to say that, but will
‘ordinary’ drivers experience the
same reaction? “To be honest I
wondered that, but then I saw
the dealers for the three days:
myself and the Honda trainer
were telling them what a good
car this was to drive, and you
could see them thinking, ‘Yeah,
yeah,’ but it only took two
minutes – the first part of the
first exercise they did – and they
all had a big smile on their faces.
And like them, anyone who gets
in and drives the car will be very
pleasantly surprised.
“I do hope there are people out
there who will trust Honda’s
reputation for producing a
driver’s car and will take the time
to go out and drive the CR-Z
because it SO deserves that. It’s
a good car to make people stop
and listen, about hybrids but also
about that size of car. It’s a car
that could and should change
people’s perception – if you can
get people to give it the time.” 
A
delaide-born
Samantha
Reid, now
24, lives
and works
in Victoria.
She divides her time between
being a test driver for the everexpanding Kelly brothers’ V8
Supercar business and doing
important work in road safety
and driver training at CAMS,
the Confederation of Australian
Motor Sport, in Melbourne.
The GFC put Sam’s promising
single-seater driving career on
hold, and 2012 is a testing year
for her as she prepares to launch
an assault on the V8 Supercar
development series in 2013.
Driving cars fast and driving cars
21
Southern Spirit pulls into Dubbo
Station where passengers take
a whistle stop tour of Taronga
Western Plains Zoo
No ordinary rail
journey, this: for a
start there are serious
rail buffs aboard,
many of whom have
travelled on some
of the world’s iconic
trains, including
Australia’s other ‘Big
Two’, The Ghan and
The Indian Pacific.
no ordinary
22
As lucky Fiona
Harper found out, the
luxurious Southern
Spirit means six days
of quality rail touring
between Brisbane
and Adelaide.
STO RY & PI CS • FIO NA H ARP E R
AD D IT IO NAL P ICS: G R EAT S OU T H E RN RA IL
RA
I
L
JOURNEY
23
24
the Southern Spirit is a leisurely journey
through four Australian states – a little like a
cruise, without all that pesky salt-laden air
Clockwise from right:
Historic Dubbo Station;
Southern Spirit snaking through
the countryside;
War Memorial on Monument Hill
at Albury Wodonga;
Hunter Valley whistle stop
includes wine tasting at Tempus
Two Winery;
Grapes on the vine;
Grampians National Park;
Cabin interior
is available in either direction.
Day three and our visit to the
Hunter Valley, with around 120
wineries and cellar doors dotted
across the rolling hills, coincides
with harvest season. The region
is known mostly for semillon
and shiraz; we call into Tempus
Two Winery, working our way
through eight tastings from
sparkling chardonnay through to
a botrytis semillon accompanied
by a generous cheese platter. Our
20-year-old host Madi is a fount
of knowledge about wine styles
as she sniffs, swirls, swishes
and spits her way through the
selection.
Next door in the Smelly Cheese
Shop, stocked to the ceiling with
delectable goodies, the chilled
fromagerie is wall-to-wall with
cheeses begging to be taken
home. Hungry day-trippers are
three deep at the deli counter,
where delectable baguettes,
gourmet picnic morsels and
gelati are being snapped up. For
our intrepid group though, yet
another three-course dinner
onboard Southern Spirit
beckons, so most of us leave
empty-handed.
With little to do between whistle
stops but kick back and relax,
passengers easily slip into a
regular pattern, much of which
revolves around eating, drinking
and socialising. After dinner
there’s usually a tightly-contested
game of Scrabble under way in
the lounge, while others retreat
to their private cabins.
Accommodation is in either
luxurious Platinum Service or
not quite so opulent (though
perfectly comfortable) Gold
Service. The main differences
between the two are mostly to
do with cabin size and amenities,
plus the inclusion of special
luxuries for Platinum travellers
(think turndown nightcap and
chocolates, Natio bathroom
products, fluffy bathrobes, and
tea or coffee served in bed each
morning). Naturally limited
by carriage width, both are
somewhat compact, though
making exceptional use of
limited space.
All cabins have en-suite
bathrooms, and this is where
the real difference lies between
the two. Platinum guests have
swanky, spacious showers with
glass screens along with a regular
vanity basin and toilet. For Gold
Service guests, well, bathrooms
are rather compact. Clever
almost, given that both the toilet
and hand basin fold down from
the wall. Concealed when not
in use, the floor space is then
utilised as a shower stall with
wraparound shower curtain.
Not for the bibulous, to be sure,
O
perating for
a limited
season from
November
to February,
the
Southern Spirit is a leisurely
journey through four Australian
states – a little like a cruise,
without all that pesky salt-laden
air. Byron Bay, the Hunter Valley,
the Grampians National Park
and all points (or at least a great
many) in between, punctuated
by relaxing spells in Platinum or
Gold Service cabins...
During the day, cabins are
set up for lounging; at night
cabin stewards transform each
cabin into a cosy sleeper while
panoramic windows in all of
them bring the great outdoors
up close and personal, whether
lounging on your sofa or
reclining in bed.
‘Gunzels’ (that’s train-spotters
to you and me) are a frequentlyobserved species themselves,
their intensity matched by online
forums which reveal just how
much passion trains generate
amongst their followers.
Wildlife of a different kind gets
up close and personal in the
Grampians, where Eastern Grey
kangaroos abound and significant
rock art sites bear witness to
ages-old human occupation,
some of which are accessible to
visitors. See what we mean? No
ordinary rail trip, this...
Oozing an alluring mix of
beachside funk blended with
well-heeled style, we call into
coastal Byron Bay for our first
whistle stop after de-training
from the Southern Spirit. While
families gather on the beach,
a melodic tune wafts across
the breeze as a young surfer
dude strums his acoustic guitar
beneath the pandanus palm.
The sun dips towards the
horizon casting a burnt orange
hue across the sand. I’ve just
enough time for poking around
the flotsam and jetsam of
boutiques and produce stores
before joining fellow-passengers
for dinner at trendy Why Not.
Later, retreating to our train
and the Outback Explorer
Lounge for after-dinner drinks
and conversation, I come
across the aforementioned train
buffs. In my cabin, Damian,
my affable 30-something cabin
steward, has left me a Bailey’s
miniature alongside a handful
of chocolates to send me off
to sleep. Not that I need much
help, as the train gently lulls
me into a semi-conscious state,
encased in crisply starched linen.
Different from a regular longdistance train which keeps to a
strict point-topoint schedule,
rail touring
allows plenty
of time to
disembark in
order to see,
smell, taste and touch each new
destination. After Byron Bay, our
route takes us southwards via
Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie
and the Hunter Valley wine
region before heading westwards
into the heart of south-east
Australia. Adelaide is our final
destination, though the journey
25
Brisbane
Byron Bay
Port Macquarie
Dubbo
Adelaide
Hunter Valley
Albury/Wodonga
The Grampians
26
Melbourne
ascertains the level of threat.
Mesmerised, I resist the urge
to reach out and touch her,
reluctant to break the spell.
Eventually, she rises and bounds
away slowly, surefooted and
graceful. From the panoramic
windows of the Southern Spirit,
kangaroos are spotted at dusk
trackside, though none of those
sightings is quite so delightful as
this close-up encounter. 
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Fill in the coupon on this
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MORE
INFORMATION
Great Southern Rail
www.gsr.com.au
The Southern Spirit
operates between
Adelaide and Brisbane
between November and
February each year.
Honda Competition
Locked Bag 95
Tullamarine VIC 3043
We think it’s a very sound
idea – and we hope all our
readers like the sound of it
as well! 
Bose Wave® music system in graphite grey (comes with free iPod/iPhone connect kit valued at $169.)
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AU ST RALIA
but perfectly adequate. And let’s
face it, how much time do you
really spend in the bathroom?
An added luxury for couples in
Platinum Service is the option
of a dreamy double bed to
stretch out in. I spend endless
hours gazing out the window
from a supine position. As we
roll through small country towns
I regularly spot binocular-toting
gunzels, train timetables in
hand, cameras poised to secure
photographic bragging rights.
Online forums carry intense
discussions about which trains
have been spotted and where,
inciting speculation about train
schedules and whether trains are
running on time. Train-spotting
is a serious business. Indeed,
as we depart Melbourne’s
Southern Cross Station, gunzel
George, who is known to many
of the onboard crew, waves
enthusiastically, almost as though
he is waving off his loved ones.
Trains incite some passion
amongst their followers.
Day six, our last day onboard
before disembarking in Adelaide,
and we pull into Ararat Station
for a whistle stop tour of the
Grampians National Park.
Aboriginal occupation of the
Grampians dating back 20,000
years is evident in the significant
rock art sites scattered through
the park, some of which are
accessible to visitors. Most come
to hike the walking trails through
sweet-smelling eucalypts or to
enjoy the waterfalls and creeks
that cascade down the dramatic
cliffs. Me? I’ve come to see the
wildlife...
Wandering along the trails that
branch out from Brambuk
National Park Cultural Centre,
I find myself surrounded by a
mob of Eastern Grey kangaroos.
Grazing on the verdant grass,
aware of my presence, yet
seemingly unperturbed, many of
them are females, their pouches
bulging with concealed joeys.
Crouching low beside a young
female, I’m close enough to
count her eyelashes as I stare
into her dark eyes. Alerted, her
ears twitch and rotate as she
27
C
The fourth-generation
CR-V is due later
this year and as our
pictures show, it’s
forever young.
28
Sold in 160 countries, the CR-V
is one of the company’s most
enduringly popular models. 
Curvy, Racy, Vivacious
onfidence
grows with
the passage
of time – and
it shows in
the fourthgeneration CR-V, which was due
for its European release at the
Paris Salon de l’Auto and will
reach Australia later this year.
The new car has a deliberately
more aggressive stance, with a
lower front bumper upswept
to suggest its SUV capabilities
as part of an overall sculpted,
purposeful appearance.
Better aerodynamics will
complement what Honda
promises will be more efficient
engines with enhanced fuel
economy.
29
P I CS
30
•
MA R K
C H EW
“W
hat’s for
dinner
tonight?”
The
question is asked each evening in
millions of households around
Australia. But what if it were a
different question? What if the
kids asked: “Is there anything
for dinner tonight?” Unpalatable
as it may be, food insecurity
– uncertainty about where the
next meal’s coming from, if
it’s coming at all – is a real and
growing problem in our country.
That’s where organisations like
FareShare come in. Actually,
there are no organisations like
FareShare: while several bodies
exist to rescue food and make
sure it gets to those who need
it most, FareShare’s modus
operandi is unique. So, in many
ways, is its CEO.
fighting to
WIN
‘Far from being a daunting task, food security’s one that we can easily
take on and win.’ Fighting words from a man who has a big battle on
his hands – and loves it. We caught up with FareShare CEO Marcus
Godinho, whose organisation welcomed a $20,000 donation from
The Honda Foundation to galvanise its food kitchen with a new oven.
Marcus Godinho, as the name
suggests, was born in Portugal
and spent the first year of his
life there before the family came
to Australia in the Seventies.
But he’s a dyed-in-the-wool
Aussie. “Given that I spare every
moment that I can in the bush
with an Akubra,” he jokes, “I
think I can claim to be pretty
dinky-di!”
A love of the outdoors is no
great surprise in a man whose
career embraced a six-year
term in charge of Environment
Victoria, the State’s peak
environmental lobby group, as
well as spells with the Australian
Conservation Foundation and
the Wilderness Society.
As was the way of things back
then, Godinho encountered
FareShare... while sharing food
with his peers. “I heard about
the concept at a lunch and it
really spoke to me, I guess for a
couple of reasons: one, because
I knew of the environmental
issues associated with food –
the amount of water we use
in its production, the diesel
that’s used to bring it to market,
the electricity that’s used in its
manufacturing and processing.
So when food goes to waste I
realised the resources that we in
turn were wasting.
“The other thing was, being of
European extraction and being
in Melbourne, where we love our
food, and being quite partial to
spending time in the kitchen, the
idea of working with others on
a regular basis to take this food
that would otherwise be thrown
out and use it to prepare meals
really resonated with me.”
That’s what’s unique about
FareShare: they don’t ‘only’
rescue food and take it
elsewhere, they use what they
have rescued to cook nutritious
meals in their own kitchen in
Melbourne’s Abbotsford suburb,
as Marcus Godinho explains.
31
“The penny dropped for me
and I was very keen to take
the skills that I’d developed in
the corporate sector and apply
them to work on environmental
issues. Those corporate affairs
skills were quite transferable
to lobbying – and we’re not
talking chaining ourselves to
trees, scaling fences and locking
ourselves onto equipment,
God bless those on the front
line that do that work – but
more the behind-the-scenes
policy development, advocacy,
getting into government and
lobbying for change, building
a groundswell of community
support on those issues to try
and pave the way for action.”
It may surprise some readers to
learn just where action is needed
in Australia these days. Think
‘hunger’ and you think of the
homeless, the chronically poor,
those who are disadvantaged
in some extreme way that
makes them unable to fend for
themselves. But that’s
not the whole picture.
Marcus Godinho
sketched a number
of startling scenarios
which are well within
the range of his own
recent experience.
“If you look in Australia,
you’ve got one in three
households throwing out at least
$1,500-worth of food a year. Yet
you’ve got a growing number of
households where, for example,
Mum and Dad both have jobs.
They might have a mortgage
or be paying rent, however the
household budget isn’t sufficient
to cover the cost of rent/
mortgage, water, gas, electricity,
fuel, phone. So what can give if
Mum loses one of her two parttime jobs? The answer is – food.
“So those parents actually
cut back on food. The way it
manifests itself in Australia in
the case of families that are
struggling with food security is
that they might start skipping
meals: kids go to school without
breakfast, Dad doesn’t have
lunch at work... Also what’s
being compromised is the
food which is being purchased:
families are less likely to buy
fresh fruit and vegetables, lean
meat – the kids might have a
peanut butter sandwich for
dinner rather than a healthy,
lean stir-fry, and that’s why there
is this surprising association
between food insecurity and
obesity. Families are basically
buying food to fill themselves up
so they’re not hungry.
“People think it’s the homeless,
if we can provide free nutritious food to the agencies
that are supporting homeless people, then that frees up
resources within those agencies to do other things
32
“FareShare’s a community
organisation – in fact FareShare’s
a community of people who
work to take food that would
otherwise be thrown out, work
with businesses that have surplus
quality nutritious food, which we
pull into a kitchen. Then, over
three shifts a day with around
40 volunteers a day, we cook
nutritious meals that we in turn
give out to around 300, 350
charities in Victoria every year.”
FareShare specialises in two
types of meals: ‘wet’ meals,
largely using tomato-based
sauces, which are vacuum-sealed
in 1.2-kilo packs and frozen,
and savoury pastries, collecting
offcuts from large firms like
Boscastle and Goodman Fielder
and combining the pastry with
mince from Woolworths, eggs
from an egg farm and vegetables
from wholesale markets. The
grateful as I am for my time
in the corporate sector,” says
Godinho, “it didn’t float my
boat. I didn’t spring out of bed
in the morning really jazzed
about going to work. I was
doing an MBA at Monash
University and we had a subject
called ‘Managing for Sustainable
Development’ or something like
that. We had a guest speaker
come out from the Australian
Conservation Foundation, Peter
Kinrade who I later worked
with, and Peter talked about
climate change, international
treaties and the necessity for
action on climate change – and
this was back in 1997, so before
the drought, before the Stern
Report [the Stern Review on
the Economics of Climate
Change prepared for the UK
government and published in
2006] and so forth.
it’s the elderly, it’s newly-arriveds,
refugees. Sure, those people
will struggle with food security.
But it’s also the 35-year-old
bloke who’s married and has a
three-year-old daughter and a
great career in IT and a lovely
house down at Brighton,
who gets clipped by a truck
while he’s training for his next
triathlon. Life’s great until that
one instant where he becomes
a quadriplegic: he can no longer
work, his wife has to stay at
home and support him, they’ve
got a big mortgage and a threeyear-old daughter – the world
changes in a flash.
“Or it’s the landscape gardener
who’s got a business with 20
employees; his business is
affected by the drought but he
wants to do the right thing, keep
his employees on and support
them. He has a wife at home,
two boys, mortgage – and on
two occasions a week he has to
go down to the local church and
get food parcels to bring home.
Is he a bludger? Is he homeless?
Does he suffer with mental health
issues? No, it’s just somebody
who’s going through a difficult
period. We’re seeing more and
more people going through a hard
time who are turning to charities,
often just on a couple of
occasions, to get them through.”
Going into long-term
consequences, or the underlying
problems rather than their
obvious symptoms, is not for the
pragmatic Godinho, who says
universities, governments and
others are already investigating
that. “In our simple way, if
we can provide free nutritious
food to the agencies that are
supporting homeless people,
then that frees up resources
within those agencies to do
other things. That’s what we see
our role as being – to work with
businesses, take food and get
it to agencies to help them help
those in need. It’s pretty simple:
we’re not trying to solve all the
problems of the world.”
Nor is he at all defeatist in the
face of all the unfortunate
situations he has outlined. “Far
from being a daunting task,”
he insists, “food security’s one
that we can easily take on and
win. The issue that I have is
that there is so much more food
waste, so much more surplus
food available to charities like
FareShare than there is need
for food relief. The need for
food relief in our community
is growing, however there is so
much more food than we need.”
But, like so much in life, it all
comes back to the kitchen. In
March of this year FareShare
prepared no fewer than 46,200
meals at a cost of 50 cents per
meal – 3000 more than they
had ever previously achieved.
Soon, with luck, FareShare
will move to larger premises
and have two kitchens in use,
one of which will be used
as part of an initiative to
open schoolchildren’s eyes to
hunger and food waste in their
community and perhaps even
alert them to the possibility and
value of community service.
“To me,” Marcus Godinho
concludes, “the big question
which we’ll be asking ourselves
in about three or four years
when agencies have got as much
food as they need to support
people knocking on their doors
is: what do we do with the
surplus food now?
“I think that’s the next big
question for FareShare: once we
have moved to a new property,
once we’ve put in two kitchens
under that new roof, once we’ve
built up to a million meals a year
– what do we do then? We’re
proudly a Victorian charity,
the agencies we support are in
Victoria. It costs us 50 cents to
rescue food, cook a meal and
get it out there, so a $100
donation equates to 200 meals.
What makes FareShare so
attractive is the tangible nature
of what we do.” 
For more information go to
fareshare.net.au
D O N AT I O N U P D AT E
ROAM Communities
MacArthur Honda
NSW Loan car
St. Lucy’s School
Hornsby Honda
NSW
$9,300
Down Syndrome NSW Trivett Classic Honda NSW $10,068
Children’s Nutrition Research Centre
School of Medicine
QLD University
Austral Honda
QLD
$10,000
Focal Extend Inc.
Blue Ribbon Honda QLD
$5,000
Youngcare Ltd.
Westpoint Honda
QLD
$11,746
Sydney Cochlear Implant Centre
Capital Honda
ACT
$10,000
TAD (ACT)
Capital Honda
ACT
$9,000
Cystic Fibrosis Victoria Brighton Honda VIC
$10,000
Caulfield Hospital
Astoria Honda
VIC
$10,000
Northern Health Foundation
Northway Honda
VIC
Loan car
Australian Kidney Foundation (Kidney
Health Australia)
Yarra Honda
VIC
$7,803
advantage of the pastry-based
food is that it’s ‘portable’:
agencies can take it straight onto
the street, whereas wet meals
require a fork to sit down and
eat them. Horses for courses...
At first, in 2004, Marcus joined
FareShare as a volunteer in
the kitchen. “I was asked as a
volunteer to help out on the
board, then when FareShare was
looking to appoint somebody to
really take what was a concept
with a great deal of potential and
grow it, I put my hand up, threw
the aforementioned Akubra in
the ring – and that was five
years ago.”
It wasn’t quite a ‘road to
Damascus’ moment, but it was a
radical change for Godinho. He
had also been in the corporate
world, dealing with issues of
management and government
lobbying for large companies
like Mobil and National
Australia Bank.
“As much as I learnt and as
33
The Salento’s medieval town of
Gallipoli, named by the Greeks as
‘pretty town’, offers a gentler welcome
than the one most Australians know
the
34
&
P I CS
•
JA N E
B U RTO N
TAY LO R
are often
the best
Peak hour and the
passeggiatta… pizza
in the piazza… palazzi
and life’s simplest
pleasures: Puglia, the
easternmost corner
of Italy, has them
all, and Jane Burton
Taylor is the lucky
traveller who
discovered them
for us
STO RY
simple
things
35
Quiet beaches, local meeting places,
al fresco eating, Baroque buildings,
wildlife: Lecce and the Puglia region
have them all
36
This comparatively new
popularity is a mixed blessing.
Many of the old monasteries and
masserie, fortified farmhouses,
have now been reinvented for
agriturismo, mainly by young
locals wanting to retain the
region’s history. Similarly, many
of the charming historic centres
are restored, although this
updating does not yet extend to
their infrastructure.
The end result is that the Salento
remains a relatively peaceful part
of the world, particularly in the
spring and autumn, when you
generally share it only with the
locals.
‘the
florence
of the
south’
A logical starting point for
exploring the region is Lecce.
Here, you don’t have the
immediate challenge of driving,
and can acclimatise in a walled
historic centre with little traffic
and a fairytale backdrop of
well-preserved 16th and 17thcentury public buildings, piazzas
and churches.
Billed as the Florence of the
South, Lecce does indeed have
the human proportions of the
great northern Renaissance city,
but architecturally it is dominated
by pale theatrical Baroque.
The style, seen throughout the
Salento, is even named ‘Leccese
Baroque’ after the city.
Lecce reputedly grew rich when
favoured under Spanish rule; also
from its worldwide trade of
highly prized lamp oil, made from
local olives. With this wealth,
the city’s nobles commissioned
local architects like Antonio
and Giuseppe Zimbalo to
design their private and public
buildings, including churches to
keep them in divine favour.
To savour this aristocratic
lifestyle, you can rent an
apartment in the historic quarter.
Palazzo Bernardini, for example,
has been in the family for
generations and they rent out the
top and ground floors. Another
is B&B Prestige, housed in an
elegant palazzo on Via Libertini,
and run by Renata Merola,
whose family have owned it for
hundreds of years.
Lecce has much history to explore,
including a Roman amphitheatre
uncovered in Piazza Sant’ Oranzo
in 1901, and it is a vibrant city
for shopping and eating.
A university town, it seems
forever full of students,
particularly on hot summer
evenings when they wander in
from the new part of town to dine
al fresco in the paved piazzas
of the old quarter, sharing huge
plates of antipasto and equally
well-filled glasses of local wine.
I
n Italy, it is often
the simple things
that bring the
most pleasure.
Like sipping a
lemon granita at
the local bar in
southern Puglia.
Keeping company
with the men
who mull about the main piazza,
you can watch the small-town
flurry of peak hour and, at the
same time, locals drifting into
the church opposite for evening
prayer.
Alternatively, you can join the
informal evening passeggiata in
the old part of town behind the
bar. The narrow winding streets
are paved with a pale limestone
and many of the medieval
palazzi are restored. The locals
are warm, nodding ‘Buona Sera’,
good evening, or simply ‘Sera’. It
is typical of the Salento.
The newsagent on the piazza
tells how some of the homes in
the historic centre have recently
been bought by foreigners.
He says Puglia, in particular
the Salento, its southernmost
peninsula, was discovered by
outsiders after its white sand
beaches were first used as a film
location about ten years ago.
Now, it is a seriously popular
summer holiday spot for Italians
and a few celebrities, like actors
Meryl Streep and Leonardo di
Caprio, who have bought old
farmhouses here.
37
Autumn is olive-harvesting time,
holiday villas echo Moorish style in
San Cesarea Terme, and the waterside
at Porta Serra near Tricase on the
Aegean coast
38
Heading south from Lecce you
quickly see the source of the
region’s historic wealth in the olive
groves that cover the hot, flat
interior. There will be more
evidence too of where it was
spent in the many Baroque
historic towns (albeit often
surrounded by not such pretty
modernity) that dot the peninsula,
both inland and on the coast.
The Salento, of course, has two
coastlines: the rocky Adriatic and
the Ionian with its long white
sand beaches, which bloom with
umbrellas and sand-dune cafés in
the summer months.
The town of Otranto is one
of the prettiest on the Adriatic.
We spent a few days at B&B
Due Tori, a restored palazzo
overlooking the boat harbour,
and found it magical. The town
too is charming and has two
extraordinary buildings: the
Castle which once protected it
from the Turks, and the
Duomo, where there is brutal
evidence that its old enemy
succeeded anyway.
Dating from the 12th century,
the Duomo has a chapel lined
by the skulls of locals killed
by Turks in a famous attack
in the late 1400s. (Strangely
schoolchildren
and visiting
teenagers seem to
love it.) Luckily
for the rest of us
the beauty of the
mosaics in the
nave of the church, designed in
the shape of a giant tree of life,
restores balance.
From Otranto you can head
across the peninsula or due
south. We chose the quieter
route and experienced one of
those classically stunning coastal
drives, like the east coast of
whatever the season, watching the
world go by in this part of the world is
still one of those simple joys
Scotland or the Amalfi.
The coast is initially wild, a
little forlorn and beautiful.
Further on, it gives way to towns
that have grown up around
swimming holes and hot springs.
This route is a favourite
haunt of motorbike riders on
weekends. On other days it is
more likely local drivers and
cyclists who keep you company
on a road dotted with the towers
and forts that were built to
warn of approaching Turks.
(When the Turks were spotted,
someone in a tower would light
a fire and so the warning would
travel up and down the coast.)
The road south culminates
in Santa Maria di Leuca.
Historically it was a favoured
holiday destination of noble
families, and the 18th and 19th
century villas – no two alike
– that line the waterfront are
testimony to their competitive
eccentricity.
In these southern reaches, the
humble traveller can find his
own palace. In towns there are
often restored palazzi converted
into B&Bs or residenze, while
in the countryside, there are
restored masserie.
Not far from Santa Maria di
Leuca are two such farmhouses.
Both have been renovated
around the traditional walled
courtyard. Masseria Uccio, just
outside Tricase on the Adriatic
coast, is run by young newly-wed
locals, who inherited and then
restored the property. The other
is Bio Masseria Santa Lucia on
the outskirts of Alessano.
Santa Lucia provides the
extra treat of home-cooked
dinners. At night, the courtyard
transforms with candlelight
and Pizzica music (similar to
the Tarantella) and the owner
Luciana serves a menu of
delicious local dishes prepared
by her Salento-born husband
Danillo.
It is easy to use such a place as
a base for touring, and there is
much to see close by. One town
‘da vedere’, to see, is Gallipoli.
ITA LY
GETTING
THERE
Cathay Pacific has
daily flights from every
Australian capital direct
to Rome, via Hong
Kong. It is one of the
shortest and quickest
routes up to Italy. For
more details visit www.
cathaypacific.com.au or
call 131 747. From Rome,
there are local flights
down to Bridisi and
then transfer to Lecce,
or you can catch a train
direct from Rome to
Lecce, it takes around
5 hours.
PU
GL
IA
Lecce
The historic town centre of
Gallipoli (obviously not the
Turkish city, but similarly named
by Greeks meaning ‘pretty town
or spot’) is on an island.
It is little changed from
medieval and Renaissance
days and most of its homes
are still whitewashed annually
by the fishermen and their
families, who have lived here
continuously. The fishermen
still work the seas here and can
be seen each morning repairing
nets in the sun on the western
side of the island.
Driving across country,
WHERE TO
STAY
There is a wide choice
of accommodation in
Puglia, particularly in
budget. You need to
check if places are open
in shoulder seasons, as
not all are. In towns,
there are usually hotels
or, for more character,
converted palazzi and,
in the country, restored
monasteries and
farmhouses.
Fresh fish guaranteed in Gallipoli,
St George slays the dragon in
a Giotto-school fresco in Santa
Catarina, Galatina, and an original
wall niche in the 12th-century tower
of Masseria Gianferrante
the inland counterparts of
fishermen’s homes are small
stone cottages made for farm
workers who cared for the olive
groves. They are called pajare,
or further north they are ‘trulli’
and have steeply sloped roofs to
handle snow; here in the south
they have external stairs up to
a flat roof which was used for
drying figs and tomatoes.
There are many towns to explore
in the interior. Nardo, described
by our host as ‘a miniature rundown version of Lecce’ is otherworldly; Ugento has a fascinating
museum; Galatina in the Greek
region has Santa Catarina and
its sumptuous Giotto-school
frescoes; and many others like
Presicce, Specchia and Tricase,
have lovely old quarters with
good local restaurants.
For those with a yen for more
off-the-beaten-track culture,
there is more. In the countryside
curious evidence of the distant
past endures in surviving
dolmens and menhirs; in cave
paintings from Neolithic times
and in underground structures
dating from the Crusades,
when the peninsula was on the
pilgrimage trail to Jerusalem.
Sometimes if you just ask locals,
you find you don’t have to go
far. One day Luciana takes us
literally across the road to show
us a series of underground caves
where monks once lived. There
is one enormous cave, partially
man-made, with a massive
grinding stone. This is where the
monks used to make olive oil.
And at the end of the day, the
trip into the local bar at Alessano
is a perfect bridge to the evening.
When we first visited in June, the
proprietor served granita with
lemons picked from his own
tree. The next year, in October,
it was fresh pomegranate
juice. So whatever the season,
watching the world go by in this
part of the world is still one of
those simple joys. 
heading
south
39
It is the most intimate
and arguably the
most beautiful
of instruments.
Centuries old, it
like world dominance
in the 20th century.
And Australia
produces some of the
finest examples to
be found. We met a
gifted Australian who
not only plays them,
but makes them…
40
g u i ta r man
STORY
P ICS
•
•
J U L IE
M ICH AE L
E L L E RAY
WE ARNE
“C
hoose a
job you
love and
you’ll
never
have to work a day in your life.”
Inspiring words, written
around 500BC by the Chinese
philosopher and scholar
Confucius. An ancient and
simple maxim that makes perfect
sense… in principle.
Fast-forward two and a halfthousand years to a post-digital
world unimagined by Confucius
and the whole job/work/lifebalance thing just isn’t as simple
as it was back in the day. For the
majority of Australians, having
a dream job is more myth than
reality, with the results of a
global survey released last year
by corporate research giant
Gallop revealing that only 18%
of us love our jobs.
As one of the 18 percenters,
Nick Carpenter is living the
dream. A self-taught luthier
(a maker of stringed musical
instruments), he turned his
hobby into a job and now has
his own business – Wildwood
Instruments – making and
selling beautifully hand-crafted
instruments including acoustic
guitars, travel guitars, mandolins,
dulcimers, ukuleles and fiddles,
as well as xylophones, drums,
shakers, sticks. If you can strum
it, pluck it, bang it, tap it or
shake it, and it’s made of wood,
then chances are it’ll be
at Wildwood.
achieved something
41
42
his business was furniture and
kitchen cabinet work; not exactly
what he’d planned, but he
persevered and managed to keep
his guitar work simmering away
nicely on a back burner. Always
striving to perfect his craft,
he continued researching and
improving his instruments, and
kept his profile up with regular
Wildwood stalls at most of WA’s
myriad music festivals.
We often find ourselves looking
for something that’s been right
in front of us the whole time
but we haven’t been able to see
it. Usually it’s a little thing, like a
shopping list or a pen, but it can
just as easily be something that,
once recognised, can change
your life. Which is exactly what
happened to Nick. After years
of going to festivals all over WA,
he realised there was a market
for quality instruments amongst
festival goers and travellers –
laughs. “It didn’t turn out too
well. Without a truss rod in the
neck it eventually bent up and
I eventually converted it into a
great little slide guitar.”
Filled with the glorious
optimism of youth but without a
workshop or proper tools, Nick
made one guitar after another,
inspired by mistakes and guided
by a collection of well-thumbed
books and a whole lot of trial
and error. “An incredible amount
of trial and error – years!” he
says. “The nature
of the industry
makes it virtually
impossible to land
an apprenticeship
as a luthier, so it’s
a common way to
enter the trade.”
Studying for a Bachelor of
Science degree in environmental
science while teaching himself
a trade in his spare time – often
the other way around – didn’t
overly phase him, although
he knew all along his future
was in music and not science.
He graduated nonetheless,
and followed that up with
I’ve developed a strong belief over the
years that everyone should be able to
make some kind of music, and it’s nice to
think I can help make that happen
a traditional boat-building
course and work at an antique
restoration company.
As the only capital city on
Australia’s west coast, Perth is
regularly left off the touring
schedules of visiting overseas
artists. A happy consequence
of this relative isolation though
has been the development of
a strong local arts and music
scene which spawned bands like
The Triffids, Eurogliders and
The Blackeyed Susans in the late
1980s/early 90s and continues
today with Eskimo Joe, The
Drones, and Little Birdy, to
name a mere few.
A galvanising moment for
Nick came when he sold his
first guitar at an exhibition
of his instruments at the
1998 Fremantle Festival and
after first completing a Small
Business Management course
he registered Wildwood
Instruments in 1999, in time for
the new millennium.
The first few years were a
struggle. It was impossible
to make a living from guitars
alone and soon the majority of
many of whom were one and
the same. He’d found his niche,
and in 2003 began building
a range of smaller, more
affordable instruments.
They were a hit, and Wildwood
Instruments changed direction.
Small, basic, beautiful and
inexpensive was the theme, and
the response – particularly from
musicians performing at the
festivals – was terrific. It wasn’t
all beer and skittles; getting to
anywhere from Perth by road
is difficult – and Nick would
regularly head off on eightweek road trips.
He didn’t mind too much. His
festival success had by now
allowed him to become a fulltime luthier, and life was good.
Then, in 2006, disaster – or
destiny – struck, when his van
rolled three times in an accident
on the way to the Port Fairy
Folk Festival. He was lucky,
his injuries healed, but not
before he’d made the decision
to relocate himself and the
business to Melbourne.
He set up shop in downtown
Brunswick in 2007 and hasn’t
looked back. Operating a little
differently to most luthiers,
he avoids taking on too much
custom work and caters
primarily to a folk, blues, world
and roots music market. His
most popular pieces are the
travel guitars and mandolins,
made in batches of anywhere
between 12 to 20 at a time and
taking around 6 weeks to make
from start-to-finish.
He uses only sustainable timber
– Australian hardwoods mostly
– particularly those from his
home state. “WA has some truly
beautiful timbers,” he says. “I
use a lot of Jarrah, which is
an exquisite wood. It’s dense
and strong – very stable – and
has a beautiful dark, reddish
colour. Sheoak, too, a lovely
figured orange timber, great for
guitar backs and sides. There
are so many amazing timbers in
Australia that there’s really little
need for me to look elsewhere,
although I have to say I do
import Sitka Spruce from Alaska
to use for the soundboards. 90%
of instrument soundboards
in the world are made out of
Spruce and it doesn’t grow
here. There’s no real equivalent
in Australia that suits my
instruments, so I do import that,
and some parts and accessories
from around the world as well.”
These days Nick makes on
average about 100 stringed
instruments a year, plus all the
percussion instruments on top
of that. “I’d make more if I
could. The demand is there,” he
says. “I sell everything I make,
and the more I make, the more
affordably I can make them. I’ve
developed a strong belief over
the years that everyone should
be able to make some kind of
music, and it’s nice to think I can
help make that happen.” 
For more information go to
wildwoodinstruments.com.au
Nick loves everything about his
chosen occupation, although
admits it’s unlikely to ever make
him wealthy. “It’s truly not about
the money,” he says. “I do it
more for love – it’s not really
work. It’s just me and the dog
and we get to be our own boss
and we get to do what we want,
which is creating an instrument;
building something out of
timber and making a beautiful
product at the end of the day.”
There’s a sense of destiny
floating around Nick Carpenter,
as if being a luthier is exactly
what he’s meant to be – and not
just because of his surname.
Growing up in Fremantle, WA
and later moving to Perth,
he’s been building things out
of wood for as long as he can
remember. Building and music
began to merge when he was 12
years old and started classical
guitar lessons, which in turn led
to a fascination for how musical
instruments were made.
With an innate talent for music,
it wasn’t too long before he’d
taught himself drums and
mandolin as well.
He built his first guitar when
he was 17, using bits and pieces
he found around the house and
some basic tools – a hammer,
a pair of pliers and a hacksaw.
“Fencing wire for the frets and
recycled wood from an old
tea-chest for the body – it was
a bit of an experiment,” he
43
44
Envy is an ugly thing. But Honda’s NSX was a beautiful creation,
and its successor is set to carry on that tradition. So we set aside our
feelings to speak to one proud Australian NSX owner.
NSXY!
“My red 1999 3.0-litre automatic
has been my daily drive for 10
years,” Paul told us. “I still smile
each morning when I get in it –
and how many people can say
they still love a car after 10 years
of daily driving? That prompted
me to buy the black 2002
3.2-litre 6-speed when it became
available five years ago. It’s the
pampered pooch.”
For those of us unaccustomed
to supercar travel, Paul makes
a surprising comparison. “The
NSX is as easy to drive as a Jazz.
The reliability is spectacular
compared with any other
‘supercar’, so they truly can be
used as a daily drive. I have a
friend who has a Lamborghini
Countach LP400S. He says he
has to prepare himself mentally
every time he takes it out; I just
get in the NSX and turn the key.
Some people say the NSX has
no soul; most are blinded by
European exotic-car snobbery.
Technically, the NSX can mix
it with any of its 1990
contemporaries. The balance and
poise of the car is breathtaking
– braking, handling and power,
all in perfect proportion and
harmony.”
Y
our humble
scribe owns
a Honda
Jazz. So does
Paul Philips.
There the
automotive resemblance ends.
Sydney businessman Paul, a ‘selfconfessed Honda nut’ whose
company supplies machinery
to the auto industry, knows a
bit about cars and is an NSX
owner. Now that’s about as far
from Your Humble Scribe as the
Milky Way – which is entirely
appropriate, as the engineers
who created the original NSX
came up with an ingenious
diagram which they nicknamed
‘Milky Way’ to plot the supercar’s
F1-inspired capabilities.
With a radical new NSX on
the horizon, we thought it
appropriate to speak to a local
owner about what made this
car such an important step in
Honda’s growth. Mr. Philips
owns not one, but two, so he
would seem to qualify.
45
weight ratio, emphasised by the
widespread use of aluminium
both for the body and under
the bonnet of the original car.
It represents the essence of
Honda’s new ‘Earth Dreams’
technology in engines and
transmissions. The powerful
V6 is in sync with a dual-clutch
transmission and a third electric
motor in the transmission housing
that provides the acceleration
you would expect of a ‘supercar’.
Already critics and reviewers
have seized on the NSX
Concept, with Top Gear
Australia calling it ‘a fascinating,
contemporary take on the
supercar genre’. Shorter, wider
and lower than its predecessor, it
has a slightly longer wheelbase,
and its lines are equally stunning.
Back in the day, Honda
engineers said: “To create a
sportscar for a new era we
should balance human feelings
and vehicle performance at
higher levels”. For the new
era the world of mobility is
entering, the philosophy is the
same, but the balance is between
human needs and those of the
environment, with engineering
efficiency the key to the car’s
responsible performance.
Shigera Uehara was a
development engineer when
the first NSX was conceived.
“A car,” he maintained, “is a
machine that functions through
a direct link with the driver and
passenger. The quality of that
car is determined by whether or
not the car can kindle excitement
in the person who drives it.”
There seems little doubt, on first
impressions, that the NSX for
the 21st century will be just as
much of an excitement machine
as the one that thrilled Paul
Philips and his fellow-owners at
the end of the 20th. 
Three key areas are affected:
engines, transmissions and
electric motors. The overarching
aim is to make Honda vehicles
the most fuel-efficient in every
category in three short years.
The company has also set 2020
as its target date for reducing
2000-level CO2 emission figures
by 30% – on all of its products
around the world.
Can you be down-toearth and a dreamer
too? Honda thinks
so – in fact Honda has
consistently proven it
over the years.
earth dreams
I think a supercar must respond
positively to environmental
responsibilities.” Destined to be
on sale in North America within
three years, the new NSX will
be developed at Honda R&D
Americas and built in Ohio.
Just as the first NSX embodied
Honda proprietary technologies
“a fascinating, contemporary take
on the supercar genre”
Top Gear Australia
46
and broke ground in so many
ways, its successor bristles with
the ideas that are carrying the
company into the vanguard of
contemporary automotive design.
With a midships-mounted VTEC
V6, it comes with Honda’s SportHybrid SH-AWD: that’s Super
Handling All Wheel Drive to you
and me. With two electric motor
drive units that instantly generate
torque (negative or positive) to
the front wheels in cornering, it
should take handling to a new
level altogether.
Like the first NSX, its
performance levels stem from
its race-bred (Honda was a giant
in F1 at the time) power-to-
N
NSX-pectation
You will have gathered that Paul Philips is passionate
about all things NSX. Subject to pricing and final spec,
his name will be on the waiting list for the new model.
In the meantime, Paul is involved in creating a special
event to celebrate Honda’s original ‘supercar’.
Inspired by a ‘20th Anniversary Fiesta’ staged in Japan
in 2010, Paul is on a committee set up by the Honda
Sports Car Club of NSW which is planning a one-week
celebration that will eventually cross to Tasmania to
retrace sections of the Targa Tasmania route on which
the NSX was so dominant in years gone by.
The event is scheduled to set off from Sydney on
February 17 next year and end in Hobart on February
24. Keenly aware that the NSX is a rare bird in Australia,
Paul and his fellow-members are opening the event up
to all Honda sportscars from the S600 through to the
S2000, but numbers are restricted so it would be wise to
make early contact.
Keen to find out more? This is the address to write to:
[email protected] 
Top: FIT EV electric vehicle
Above: Diesel Civic with i-DTEC
engine (right)
ow Honda’s
Earth
Dreams
Technology
takes the
paradox
even further. You may just have
read about the NSX Concept,
and that car is one of the
flagships for Honda’s latest
advances under the bonnet.
In essence Earth Dreams
Technology, announced at the
end of November 2011, will see
Honda ambitiously advancing
its environmental technologies
to bring better performance
along with improved fuel
efficiency. Honda will use Earth
Dreams to remain true to its
principle of creating cars that
are a joy to drive.
● Engine classes from
660cc all the way up to
3.5-litre capacity
will feature Earth Dreams
Technology, which builds
on VTEC to refine thermal efficiency, increase output
and reduce fuel
consumption.
● A lightweight 1.6-litre
diesel engine combines
compact size with excellent response.
● New CVT with a
coordinated control system called G-Design Shift
enhances driver feel and
vehicle response.
● Honda has developed a
new two-motor hybrid
system with plug-in
capacity, a range of
driving modes and outstanding environmental
performance.
● The all-new SH-AWD
hybrid system for larger
vehicles gives superior
acceleration with high fuel
efficiency as well as
breathtaking agility.
● A new electric powertrain
also gives increased travel
range, shorter charge times
and three drive modes.
See what we mean? It sounds
paradoxical – but it’s the Power
of Honda Dreams. 
Stand 4250 was the place to be at
this year’s Geneva Motor Show
in March. That’s where the NSX
Concept was revealed in all its
21st century glory and billed by
the company as ‘the next great
performance vehicle from Honda’.
One man who should know
is Takanabu Ito. Ito-san was
involved with the original car
and said: “We will again express
high performance through
engineering efficiency. In this
new era, even as we focus on the
fun-to-drive spirit of the NSX,
47
Like most of the world’s elite athletes in an Olympic year,
Rochelle Gilmore’s life revolves around her medal-winning ambitions.
But this is one cyclist who still loves every moment of the regime she
puts herself through in pursuit of her dream.
B
48
ox Hill,
Surrey may
not be the
world’s most
daunting
climb. But on
July 29, for
one young Australian, that green
spot west of London is the peak
she has to conquer. It may well
become the pinnacle of a racing
career that began in earnest in
her early teens.
Rochelle Gilmore is this
country’s outstanding woman
cyclist. Now 30, she is in
the prime of her racing life,
and in this Olympic year she
hopes to represent Australia
in the women’s road race – a
140km ordeal that will take
the field from the Mall outside
Buckingham Palace out into the
rolling Surrey countryside and
back again. In the middle, they
will complete two laps of a 9km
climb near Box Hill which, she
says, will be the key to her event.
simple joy
“I’ve seen the course,” she told
us in a telephone interview from
her temporary base in Belgium.
“It’s challenging, but it really suits
my strengths. That climb in the
middle will be really challenging:
you will have to be in the top 10
there to be in the game.”
In the game is exactly where
Rochelle Gilmore has been
pretty well ever since she first
started BMX racing at the tender
age of three, competing against
her older brothers in the boys’
under-five category. “I wanted to
do everything they were doing
and I also wanted to try and
beat them,” she recalls. “I was
definitely the most competitive:
my attraction to sport was to
win.”
Picked up at 13 as a potential
Olympian in rowing, mountain
bike, triathlon and cycling,
Honda Ambassador Rochelle
opted for the last one. “Looking
back on my options now,” she
says, “I’m so very content that
I chose cycling. It’s a wonderful
pastime, sport, lifestyle and
career. I’d rather be doing
nothing else.”
A professional rider for a decade
now, she is unfazed by what, to
outsiders, looks like the daily
grind of an elite athlete’s life.
“There are times,” she admits,
“when the workload of a
professional athlete gets a little
overwhelming and stressful, both
physically and mentally. The
only way to cope is to say ‘Stop’
sometimes, say ‘No’ sometimes
and, as simple as that sounds,
they are not two words that an
elite athlete can execute easily.”
49
50
My physio was staring at me like
a parent watching his or her
child – but something was
stopping me. That ‘something’
was the fear of failure. What if
I crumbled? What if the pain
was excruciating? In the end I
took a step and stopped, then
another, and another... and I was
walking again.”
From there to the exercise bike,
riding on rollers and getting back
on the road was another set of
hurdles. “The thing about the
type of fractures I had was that
they didn’t hurt on the bike but
were still painful when I tried to
walk. Even after I was able to
ride 90km pain-free I was still
on crutches out of the saddle.
The toughest thing about my
return to cycling was getting on
and off the bike! I was unable to
swing my leg over the saddle as
usual: it took a lot of thinking,
positioning and manoeuvring to
get on and off without pain.”
So now it’s all about Olympic
preparation, and that’s where a
lifetime in the saddle comes into
play. “Peaking at the right time
involves experience,” she says
firmly. “The race schedule needs
to be based on a performance on
the 29th of July: I respond well
to racing, so I have a heavy
schedule between now and
June 12, which is the date the
final team will be selected – I’ll
race 25 days during the next
nine weeks. How I train and
recover between these race
days is very important when
In pursuit of her Olympic
dream, Rochelle has set aside
some of the other roles she
normally plays – that of
businesswoman in particular.
“Normally I am heavily involved
in business activity,” she explains.
“I’m driven to succeed there
as well. For the last few years
I have been managing cycling
teams as well as competing – I’m
passionate about developing
women’s cycling. I’m keen
to help women in a proper
professional environment. I want
to get women onto bikes, help
them step up into a professional
career, create the infrastructure
around women’s cycling that
simply didn’t exist in Australia
until recently.”
Job offers come along regularly,
but there is no end in sight
yet to the challenges posed by
Rochelle’s cycling career. She
does concede that commentating
tempts her – she’s had a crack at
it under the watchful eye of the
man whose voice is synonymous
with the sport, Phil Liggett –
and she is developing her own
clothing line as a spin-off from
her success in the saddle.
For 2012, though, Gilmore the
businesswoman comes second
to Rochelle the cyclist, who’s
not accustomed to coming
second to many people. The
cyclist everyone has been
coming second to in recent
times, though, is a Dutch girl by
the name of Marianne Vos. An
Olympic gold medallist already,
a world champion
in both cyclocross and road
racing, Vos will
be a strong and
confident 25 going
to London.
“She’s won the first two World
Cups of the season, and to beat
Marianne at the moment I’d say
you’d have to be lucky – she’s
got to make a mistake for that
to happen,” her Australian
adversary concedes.
But if preparation and passion
as well as sheer talent count for
I don’t actually need to find motivation, it’s just
there. I just want to be stronger and faster so
every day I work towards that
considering a peak at the end
of July. I’ve based my next
three months’ training and race
program on the three-month
block I completed leading into
a winning performance at the
2010 Commonwealth Games –
with slightly more power climb
training!”
RG and Honda
“Professional athletes
can feel lonely,” says
Rochelle Gilmore. “But it
only takes a moment to
consider all the people
who follow and support
us to realise we’re not
alone.” Honda Australia
is among those followers
and supporters in a
relationship that began a
few years ago at Victoria’s
Herald Sun Tour.
Rochelle approached the
company with an idea
for sponsorship and the
‘Dream Team’ was born.
“Rochelle Gilmore is a
true Aussie role model
and an inspiration
to female cyclists
around the country,”
said Honda Australia’s
Lindsay Smalley when
he confirmed last year
that the company would
continue its backing
for the 2010 Elite Road
Cyclist of the Year and
Commonwealth Games
gold medallist.
“Cycling is a great fit
with Honda’s core values
of sustainability and road
safety. Our support for
Rochelle satisfies our
thirst for competition at
the highest level.”
“Since 2011 Honda
has supported me
individually as a Honda
Ambassador,” she
explains.
“Honda’s support has
helped me reach many
goals in the past and I
am thrilled to have their
support as I strive for
London.
“Honda Europe is also
title sponsor of my
European team. One
great thing about it is
that I get to drive any
Honda I want! At the
moment I have a CR-V
and it’s the perfect,
practical vehicle for
what I do.”
START / FINISH: The Mall
Fulham
Putney
Twickenham
Richmond
Kingston
Upon
Thames
Hampton
Court
Palace
Weybridge
Esher
London 2 0 1 2
O lympic Cycling
R oad R ace
Woking
Total Distance:
Women 140km approx
Men 250km approx
Leatherhead
Guildford
Box Hill
Dorking
anything, Rochelle Gilmore will
be in Olympic contention at
the end of July. “I don’t actually
need to find motivation,” she
says, “it’s just there. I just want
to be stronger and faster so
every day I work towards that.
This year there is that extra
motivation of representing
Australia in London, but
that doesn’t necessarily mean
motivation to train, it could
mean the exact opposite – to
stop or say ‘No’ when necessary.
Punishing sessions might be
hard to start but wow, the
feeling once you complete one is
amazing!”
That smacks of addiction
– which Rochelle readily
acknowledges. We reminded her
of a recent observation by that
fine sportswriter Simon Barnes
of The Times: “We first come
to sport in joy,” he wrote, “for
the sweet whiff of flight. But as
Olympians reach for the highest
level of achievement, the simple
joy of doing it gets lost.”
Not for this Olympian. “Daily
life without the escape of cycling
is The Grind. Training and
competition give me my ‘highs’
in life,” says Rochelle. “All the
other stuff that fills in the hours
and days is The Grind. Riding,
training and competing is, in those
two words, ‘simple joy’”. 
Top to bottom: focal point – the 2012
Olympic road race course; a moment’s
respite from the punishing regime;
and Dutch courage – Marianne Vos,
the young Netherlands cyclist they
will all have to beat in July.
Last year outside influences
helped Rochelle say both of those
small words. At the Giro d’Italia
she crashed on Stage five. Her
injuries, originally misdiagnosed,
included two breaks to the pelvis
that virtually immobilised her –
hell on earth, we imagined, for a
woman used to being among the
fastest in her sport?
“Not being able to move for a
few weeks was mentally tough,”
she concedes. “Not being able to
attempt a step was frustrating –
not knowing if I could take a step
was unbearable. I just wanted to
try – but I knew I had to wait.
After a month passed my big day
at the rehabilitation centre had
arrived.
“I was able to attempt a step in
the pool; like a baby anticipating
that first step, I had a serious
look of concentration on my
face, I wanted to lean forward
and lift my foot off the ground...
51
STO RY
•
M AT T H EW
C LAY TON
MAK IN G A
the G2 Honda Jazz in
this year’s Australian
Rally Championship –
and the new car didn’t
take long to deliver on
its promise
STATEMENT
Much was expected of
52
53
Above: Eli Evans and Glen Weston
Right: Claire Ryan and Mark Pedder
54
There was great anticipation
about the potential of the twocar Evans Motorsport team, with
Evans and regular co-driver Glen
Weston being joined in a second
Jazz entry by Mark Pedder and
Claire Ryan as Honda embarked
on its quest to annex the ARC
two-wheel drive title.
Expectations were high, but
in just three days, Evans and
Weston exceeded them. In the
type of changeable weather
only a Melbourne autumn could
throw at them, Evans and the
Jazz barely put a foot wrong,
sweeping all three heats in an
ominous display for the rest of
the field.
The Jazz came to Calder after
being put through its paces in
extensive pre-season testing in
Italy, but no-one was quite sure
how the car would perform
compared to its predecessor, the
Honda Civic Type R that Evans
and Weston used to tackle the
ARC over the last two years. Any
doubts about the new machinery
were answered in emphatic style,
and Evans admitted to being as
surprised as he was elated after
the victory.
“I didn’t know what to expect
when we were building the new
cars; I thought they’d be good,
but I didn’t know how good,”
Evans said.
“The Jazz just seems to do
everything I ask of it – the car
and I haven’t had any arguments
yet! In the rough stuff, you
wonder how it’s going to feel, but
the car just skims through it. It
doesn’t seem bothered by much
at all, and it’s such a tough little
package. It’s very driveable too,
which is good as front-wheel
drives can often be quite tricky.”
While Rally Calder, held in
and around the established
motorsport facility on the
outskirts of Melbourne, isn’t
your typical blast through the
forest one associates with
the sport, it’s a stern test of
driver concentration and the
adaptability of the machinery.
Bosch
Australian
Rally
Championship
2012
calendar
28-29 July Scouts Rally
SA
13-14 Oct
Coffs Coast
Forest Rally
NSW
16-17 Nov
Rally Victoria
Within the one stage, cars
encounter tarmac on a regular
closed race circuit along with
gravel and plenty of mud in
the surrounding paddocks, but
the Jazz handled the changing
conditions with aplomb. Like the
most balanced of soccer stars,
the car looked light on its feet
in the dirt, perfectly poised for
the next change of direction or
shifting surface. On the tarmac,
the Jazz came into its own,
carrying impressive entry speed
into the corners before leaping
out of them as Evans kept his
right foot buried in the footwell.
The pace of the victors was such
that their overall time was beaten
by just the top five cars in the fourwheel drive class, a result Weston
said confirmed his
impressions from
pre-season testing.
“There’s lots of
junctions and
corners close
together at Calder
and no real fast and flowing
stuff, so the fact we got it to
work well with no dramas and
finish the rally with a clean
sweep of the points… you
couldn’t ask for a better start.”
Pedder and Ryan had an
impressive opening of their own
on the first of the three days,
finishing behind only the sister
Jazz of Evans/Weston on the
Friday before being struck down
with a differential gremlin the
next day.
“We came through a fairly tight
right-hander, I put some power
on and heard a bang, and we lost
all drive,” Pedder explained.
“We’d done almost 800km
in this car in testing and the
events before we had a single
problem; that’s almost three full
rally distances, which is nearly
unheard of.”
Despite the incessant rain,
the Evans Motorsport team
managed to fix the problem in
record time to allow the second
Jazz to take second place in the
final heat.
Ryan feels the new car and driver
combination – she had never
worked with the team or Pedder
before the Calder weekend –
should be strong over the rest of
the season.
“I’ve never been in a car like
it – it’s the best-prepared car I’ve
ever seen,” she enthused.
“Everything has been well
thought out and done
intelligently.
Next to me are a whole array
of switches that give me access
to everything I need for Mark
without him having to do it.
“We had some mixed conditions
at Calder and the Jazz adapted
really well to the wet and the dry,
so that bodes really well for us.”
The mud and slush at Calder
STOP PRESS
Eli Evans and Glen Weston continued on their
winning ways when the Championship went north for
round three, the Brakes Direct International Rally of
Queensland, at the end of May.
Just to prove that you can’t keep a good man – or two
– down, they recovered from a Stage 1 spin and a Stage
2 flat to be handily placed in second by the end of the
opening day. Then they coped superbly with difficult
conditions on the second day to make it three wins out
of three in the two-wheel-drive category.
“Fortunately for us JAS has built an incredibly robust
car,” said Weston, “and the G2 Honda Jazz soaked up
everything that the rough roads threw at us.”
Team-mates Mark Pedder and Claire Ryan also had to
fight back after a day one fuel pump failure and
finished second to the leading Jazz on all but one of
the day two stages. 
I didn’t know what to expect when we were
building the new cars; I thought they’d
be good, but I didn’t know how good
was still drying out when Evans
allowed himself a moment to
consider the rest of the 2012
campaign. For a driver who
admits that he’s often “just
focused on getting to the next
corner”, the dazzling debut of the
Jazz made him wonder just where
the car could be even better.
“After this result, I can’t wait for
Rally SA (in July),” he said.
“It’s always one of my favourite
events anyway, because it’s on
hard-packed shire roads and it’s
always fast. There’s a lot of sixthgear work there, and this car just
feels so stable at high speed.
“The gap between the fourwheel drive cars and the twowheel drives really closes up
there. It’ll be great to compare
our times to some of the leading
four-wheel drive cars to see how
quick this little fire-breathing
dragon can really go.” 
T
here’s an old
saying that
you never
get a second
chance to
make a
first impression – and it’s that
adage that might have been
going through Eli Evans’ mind
when he debuted the all-new
G2 Honda Jazz in the opening
round of the 2012 Bosch
Australian Rally Championship
(ARC) at Calder Park.
55
Goldwing
still king
of the road
2012 Goldwing –
the most celebrated
two-up machine in
motorcycle history
– to Australia earlier
this year
D
ateline:
Cologne,
Germany,
1974. What
one writer
called
“the inspiration for a new
type of biking” was unveiled
then released in 1975. The big,
beautiful, flat-4, water-cooled
Honda Goldwing was born.
Diametrically opposed to the
company’s ‘pure’ racing heritage,
the Goldwing was built for
comfort and gran turismo –
and it still is.
56
But that’s where the similarity
ends. If you put the first
Goldwing alongside the 2012
version the original, unfaired
bike would look positively
spartan in comparison.
Nowadays you get a 1832cc,
liquid-cooled, four-stroke,
12-valve SOHC engine with
PGM-FI. The bike has a twin-spar
aluminium frame and a 1690mm
wheelbase; it has telescopic
anti-dive forks, dual hydraulic
front discs with ABS and a
revolutionary airbag system.
More than that, it’s built for
comfort and convenience,
with GPS, an outstanding
audio system, heated seat and
a great deal more. The spartan
appearance is gone, but big is
still beautiful.
The old cliché ‘mixed reaction’
would be a fair summary of the
press’s response to the original
Goldwing. Today’s is altogether
different. Writing on drive.com.
au Trevor Hedge described the
bike as “a deceptively agile and
reasonably fast motorcycle that
cossets the rider in luxury like
no other – the ultimate longdistance touring motorcycle for
those that put comfort above
anything else”.
Four decades on, Goldwing is
still king of the road... 
TOTAL CONTROL
At the opposite end of the Honda scale from Goldwing
sits the wonderfully named Fireblade. It’s not quite
as venerable – it was launched 20 years ago – but it
commands the same loyalty from lovers of super sports
machinery. And, like the Goldwing, it just got even better...
As race team principal Ronald ten Kate puts it, “We are
at the edge of things – and the CBR 1000RR is still the
icon, still the most advanced racing machine”. Some of
that edginess, but with confidence-inspiring levels of
technology, is available on the street-legal Fireblade, also
launched in Australia – at Phillip Island, aptly enough –
earlier this year.
The main upgrades affect the bike’s suspension and its
racy looks. The 2012 Fireblade boasts the world’s first
street-bike application of ‘balance-free’ rear suspension,
while up front Showa’s ‘Big Piston’ technology further
enhances the bike’s responsiveness.
As before, the liquid-cooled, four-stroke DOHC engine sits
in a compact, rigid four-piece frame and the bike’s 1410mm
wheelbase makes for outstanding agility, while Honda
again offers the world’s first electronically-controlled
combined ABS braking system on a sports bike.
The combination of fun riding and easy handling still
makes Fireblade Honda’s flagship super sports bike.
For all the goss and some great images go to Honda’s
dedicated site at www.cbr1000rr.com.au 
Honda welcomed the
57
G A V I N
E M M E tt
•
58
S T O R Y
to
all
that
O
ur brief to
Gavin was
straightforward:
tell us
something
about Stoner’s state of mind as
he approaches another season
at the pinnacle of two-wheeled
racing. A lot had changed, after
all: the move to a new 1000cc
formula, the influx of new riders
into the senior field, but most of
all the radical reworking of his
personal life after the birth of
his first child.
‘There’s a familiar old racing
adage that’s trotted out every
time any racer has a child: for
every newborn, you lose half a
second or more per lap,’ Gavin
began. ‘However, if you took
a quick glance at the results
of this year’s MotoGP World
Championship, with Casey
finishing third, first and first in
the opening three rounds, you
could be forgiven for thinking
that it was Valentino Rossi who
had spawned a whole litter!
Instead the daddy doing the
day-care was the reigning
world champ, who ironically
celebrated the birth of his and
wife Adriana’s first daughter
Alessandra on his Italian
adversary’s birthday.
“Alessandra’s been an absolute
dream child so far,” Stoner
proudly boasted at the start of
goodbye
Honda’s World
Champion Casey
Stoner surprised
the MotoGP world
– including our
correspondent,
regular television
race commentator
Gavin Emmett
– when he
announced his
imminent
retirement from
the sport.
the season. “She’s doing great
and making our lives really
quite easy at the moment, but
we know maybe parenthood
isn’t nearly always as good.
Adri’s staying back home in
Switzerland and she’s sending
me texts all the time from there
to keep me up to date. She
even sent me a video while she
was watching MotoGP live and
panned across to Aly and she
was just like, ‘This is boring!’ Ah,
she’s just great.”
A doting Dad indeed, but there
didn’t seem much reason for
race fans to worry. The familiar
combative Casey was still in
evidence when he launched a
tirade at fellow-Honda rider
Alvaro Bautista for blocking him
in practice in Qatar. “It’s really
frustrating that people who have
that much experience in grands
prix continue to do the same
things. If he wants to get a lap,
get out of the way and get in
behind, don’t get in the way.”
A similar incident at the French
GP last year earned Stoner a
€5000 fine and a rap on the
knuckles from Race Direction
when he punched Randy
de Puniet, and that fire was
clearly still burning bright as
he continued to rail against
the authorities this season.
He knows his voice carries
resonance in the paddock now,
and described a late 4kg addition
to the minimum weight limits for
the new 1000cc MotoGP bikes as
‘disappointing’ and ‘frustrating’
as well as insisting that the
constant modifications to the
sport’s regulations should halt.
Despite these criticisms he still
seemed upbeat about the new
format for MotoGP. “I think I can
speak for just about all the riders
when I say that we prefer the
1000cc machines. There’s more
torque, the engine character’s
a lot smoother and it’s just a
lot more fun to ride. In general
we’re happier on the 1000cc, it’s
a lot more fun to ride.”
59
8 April Qatar Doha/Losail
29 April Spain Jerez de la Frontera
6 May Portugal Estoril
20 May France Le Mans
3 June Catalunya Catalunya
17 June Great Britain Silverstone
30 June Netherlands Assen
8 July Germany Sachsenring
15 July Italy Mugello
29 July United States Laguna Seca
19 Aug Indianapolis Indianapolis
26 Aug Czech Republic Brno
16 Sept San Marino & Riviera di Rimini Misano
30 Sept Aragon Motorland
14 Oct Japan Motegi
21 Oct
Malaysia Sepang
28 Oct Australia Phillip Island
11 Nov Valencia Ricardo Tormo – Valencia
I will be finishing my career at the
end of this season in MotoGP, and go
forward in different things in my life
60
Less fun when Stoner suffered
from ‘chatter’, a mid-corner
vibration from the tyres so fierce
that Casey said his arms were left
numb after the first tests. “It was
chattering so much I thought my
teeth were going to drop out!
There were huge chatter issues
at Sepang, but not so much at
Jerez, and we managed to bring
it down to a more comfortable
level at Qatar.”
The Aussie took the lead on
the third lap in that opening
race and looked set to seal a
sixth victory in the desert as he
pulled away from Yamaha’s Jorge
Lorenzo and his own Honda
team-mate Dani Pedrosa. But
Stoner suddenly lost pace and
dropped behind the Spanish
duo to finish in a surprising
third place. Afterwards, the
New South Welshman revealed
an arm-pump issue in his
right-forearm, but insisted it
was completely unrelated to
the vibrations he had been
experiencing in cornering.
“We’re disappointed with what
happened,” he said, “but at
the same time we were very
competitive during the race. We
felt that we are able to do the
lap times without pushing to the
limits. The bike was working well
and I’m really happy with it and
its performance.”
That showed when Stoner swept
to victory in Spain and Portugal
– the only track where he had
not previously won – to race into
the Championship lead again. All
the signs and noises suggested
that all was as it had been: “After
watching Jorge’s season in 2010,
there was no way I thought
anyone could replicate that,
winning so many races and just
the consistency he kept throwing
out, but we managed to have
an amazing season last year. I’m
not sure if we can replicate it,
but we’re going to try and win as
many races as we can and we’ll
see what happens at the end of
the season.”
So, we thought, the birth of
Alessandra has helped Stoner
take a step back from the
racing and realise just what
he has achieved. There is an
inner calmness, and a sense
of fulfilment that seems to be
driving him to go quicker. But
that all changed at Le Mans,
when Stoner used the regular
pre-race press conference to
tell the watching world he was
in his final year as the leading
exponent of his craft.
“After a long time thinking, a lot
of time talking with my family
and my wife, at the end of this
2012 season I will be not racing
in the 2013 Championship. I will
be finishing my career at the end
of this season in MotoGP, and
go forward in different things in
my life,” he said.
That career was already over 20
years long: Stoner first raced at
the age of four, went overseas
just after turning 14 and has
been living the weekly grind
of the international racer’s life
ever since. Always a man who
knew his own mind, Stoner has
often seemed to be racing in
the wrong era, making frequent
references to the days when
racing was racing and there was
none of the attendant hype
and media scrutiny that attend
today’s MotoGP world.
“After so many years of doing
this sport which I love, and
which myself and my family
made so many sacrifices for,
after so many years of trying
to get to where we have gotten
to at this point, this sport
has changed a lot and it has
changed to the point where I
am not enjoying it,” he added
in his momentous Le Mans
announcement.
“There are a lot of things that
have disappointed me, and also a
lot of things I have loved about
this sport, but unfortunately the
balance has gone in the wrong
direction. And so, basically, we
won’t be continuing any more.”
Stoner has also given signs of
feeling unloved throughout his
career. In an interview after free
practice in Le Mans he said his
decision had been a long time in
the making. “It’s been coming
for a few years,” he said. “It
started back in 2009, when I had
the so-called ‘mystery illness’
[which saw him miss three
races]. That showed us what we
really meant to people – which
is nothing.
“I thought last year I might be
able to get my passion back, but
it didn’t happen. I don’t want to
lose what I’ve spent my whole
life doing, and enjoying, for
good.” A possible career change
to V8 Supercar racing beckons,
but Stoner still has unfinished
business – like successfully
defending the MotoGP world
crown he won so brilliantly with
Honda in 2011. 
Join the HondaONE Community
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WORLD MOTOGP Championship
2012 calendar
61
INSIGHT
People are the driving force behind Honda, so it’s no wonder Honda
has an array of vehicles to answer every driving need. For prices and
specifications, please go to honda.com.au/cars
CIVIC HATCH
ALL NEW
2012 Honda Civic Hatch
(see story on page 06)
VTi-S
1.8 litre SOHC i-VTEC 5 speed auto
6.5 L/100km
GLi 1.3 litre SOHC i-VTEC 5 speed manual
5 speed auto with
Grade Logic Control
5.8 L/100km manual
6.6 L/100km auto
VTi 1.8 litre SOHC i-VTEC
5 speed manual
5 speed auto with
Grade Logic Control
6.8 L/100km manual
6.7 L/100km auto
VTi 1.5 litre SOHC i-VTEC 5 speed manual
5 speed auto with
Grade Logic Control
6.4 L/100km manual
6.7 L/100km auto
VTi-L 1.8 litre SOHC i-VTEC
5 speed auto with
Grade Logic Control
6.7 L/100km
VTi-S
1.5 litre SOHC i-VTEC 5 speed auto with
Grade Logic Control
6.7 L/100km
CITY
VTi-L
VTi 1.5 litre SOHC i-VTEC 5 speed manual
5 speed auto with
Grade Logic Control
6.3 L/100km manual
6.6 L/100km auto
VTi-L
1.5 litre SOHC i-VTEC 5 speed auto with
Grade Logic Control
6.6 L/100km
VTi-LN 1.8 litre SOHC i-VTEC
5 speed auto with
Grade Logic Control
6.7 L/100km
Sport 2.0 litre SOHC i-VTEC
5 speed auto with
Grade Logic Control
7.5 L/100km
Hybrid 1.5 litre SOHC i-VTEC with electric Integrated
Motor Assist (IMA)
Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) with Grade Logic
Control
4.4 L/100km
VTi 1.3 litre SOHC i-VTEC
with electric Integrated Motor Assist (IMA)
Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) with
Grade Logic Control
4.3 L/100km
VTi-L 1.3 litre SOHC i-VTEC
Grade Logic Control
4.3 L/100km
Sport
1.5 litre SOHC i-VTEC
6 speed manual with
Hill Start Assist (HSA)
Grade Logic Control
5.0 L/100km manual
4.7 L/100km CVT
Luxury 1.5 litre SOHC i-VTEC
Grade Logic Control
4.7 L/100km
Odyssey 2.4 litre DOHC i-VTEC
5 speed auto with
Grade Logic Control
8.9 L/100km
CR-V
CR-V
2.4 litre DOHC i-VTEC
6 speed manual
5 speed auto with
Grade Logic Control
10 L/100km manual
10 L/100km auto
Sport
6 speed manual
5 speed auto with
Grade Logic Control
10 L/100km manual
10 L/100km auto
Luxury
5 speed auto with
Grade Logic Control
10 L/100km
Luxury
5 speed auto with
Grade Logic Control
8.9 L/100km
VTi 2.4 litre DOHC i-VTEC
5 speed auto with
Grade Logic Control
8.7 L/100km
VTi
Luxury
5 speed auto with
Grade Logic Control
8.7 L/100km
V6
Luxury
3.5 litre SOHC i-VTEC
5 speed auto with
Grade Logic Control
9.9 L/100km
Euro
6 speed manual
5 speed auto with
Grade Logic Control
8.7 L/100km manual
8.5 L/100km auto
Luxury
6 speed manual
5 speed auto with
Grade Logic Control
8.7 L/100km manual
8.5 L/100km auto
Luxury
Nav
5 speed auto with
Grade Logic Control
8.5 L/100km
ACCORD
CR-Z
CIVIC SEDAN
JAZZ
62
1.8 litre SOHC i-VTEC 6 speed manual
5 speed auto
6.1 L/100km manual
6.5 L/100km auto
ODYSSEY
ACCORD EURO
Fuel consumption figures quoted are based on ADR81/02 combined
test results. You may experience different results depending on
driving conditions and the condition of the vehicle.
S H OW RO O M
63
L ET T E RS
EASY
RIDER
I drove off proudly last week in my bright
yellow Jazz, quite delighted that I was
attracting admiring glances.
When I arrived home I found my bright red slippers sitting on
the roof of the car – how’s that for Honda’s smooth driving?
What poise and balance – no wonder we love Honda.
Pauline Stott
Twin Waters QLD
NO WORRIES
My 2007 CR-V recently took
me from Pambula to Cairns and
return – some 3500km each way.
I was 350km south of Charters
Towers when I thought “what if
my car breaks down?...” and then
I thought “no – it’s a Honda.
I’ve done the right thing and had
it serviced by a Honda Dealer
regularly”. Sure enough, it got
me there safely with no worries.
Through mud, heavy rain and
much traffic – it’s a great car for
our Australian conditions. I drive
25000km each year, and it still
drives like a new car!
David Freestone
Pambula NSW
64
HAIL HONDA
I love my Honda Civic. After
only having her for a few weeks
we took a trip to Brisbane. When
returning home the skies over
Brisbane were BLACK. We
decided to head west through
Kilcoy to Toowoomba, as the
Cunninghams Gap was closed.
Biggest mistake. We hit three
hailstorms on our way home.
First one, the hail was small,
but enough to have caused
damage. The second at Esk
was frightening. We sat in
the Honda and I had to hold
back tears as my car was being
pelted with large hailstones.
Trees were coming down and
there was nothing we could do.
The third storm was south of
Toowoomba, and once again no
cover to protect us. On arriving
home we put her in the garage
and to our surprise we found
only one minor dent in the
middle of the roof. I thought
she was going to Honda heaven,
but then I realised how tough
she was. Thanks Honda for
making a beautiful but tough car.
Barbara Wright
Warwick QLD
PHEW...
I fell asleep at the wheel and
woke on the wrong side of the
road facing oncoming traffic.
I did a full lock to the left
and my Honda Euro did not
oversteer but carefully turned on
to the correct side of the road.
It saved my life.
Philip Lindsay
East Killara NSW
Editor: Glad to hear it!
Readers may be interested to
know that Honda’s MAEPS
(Motion Adaptive Electric Power
Steering) is standard technology
on the Honda Accord Euro.
MAEPS works in conjunction
with Vehicle Stability Assist,
using speed and steering angle
sensors to assist the driver
to steer in the right direction
when dealing with difficult road
conditions.
A NEW RECORD?
We are the proud owners of
a new Honda Insight and we
love it. We have owned as a
family, seventeen Hondas. Is
this a record for one family? We
started out with a 1971 Honda
9 Coupe, then two Civics,
one Prelude, one Integra, six
Accords, two Legends, three
CR-Vs and now the Insight.
Loved them all!
Gary Backway
Midge Point QLD
Comments to make?
Questions to raise?
We value your input and
we would particularly like
to hear from you if you
have anecdotes about
your Honda you would like
to share with thousands
of readers around the
country.
Please write to:
Letters
Honda Magazine
Locked Bag 95
Tullamarine VIC 3043
or email
[email protected]
Honda Magazine reserves
the right to edit such
correspondence for
publication. Readers
whose comments are
selected for this page will
receive a gift courtesy of
Honda Australia

Issue 52

Transcription

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