All-New Honda Freed Seats Eight and is Shorter than a Civic

+1 and wonder if its gonna hit our shores

 

"Honda has no plans of bringing the small Freed to the US, but with gas prices the way they are maybe there could one day be a market for a vehicle like this here."

Mazda-5 is very similar. Three rows of seats.
http://mazda.sgpleasing.co.uk/images/big/mazda-5.jpg

http://blogs.edmunds.com/.ee94cca/cmd.233/embedded..ee94cc5

I wonder if it shares its platform with the Honda. Probably not, but maybe.

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that freed looks enormous but its shorter then a civic? anyone know the interior volume?

 

This is what my fiancee and I were talking about the other day. Were we once would have said "We're going to need a bigger car far [kids, dogs, junk, etc.]" the future of family hauling is "We're going to to need a better configured car." For years people have been duped into thinking that these SUVs actually have lots and lots of interior room. Reality is that you can have just as much usable space in a smaller and lighter vehicle. My old Volvo wagon (3100lb, 114hp) taught me that lesson well.

 

This is exactly what the US market needs. A smaller people/junk mover. My other car is a minivan that we like because we use the extra room on occasion. A vehicle like this would be an instant success. Especially if it is a hybrid.

 

uh i thought it seats 6 since its based on the fit platform...

 

Couldn't agree more. I bought a Mazda 5 and I like it a lot. Same footprint as the Prius, smaller turning radius, carries 6 people or a quarter-cord of firewood. The EPA mileage is lousy (22) but I get vastly better than the EPA mileage driving it gently with the 5-speed manual. With all that car on such a small platform, it definitely helps to use a ScanGuage to avoid overloading the engine.

 

So true. I have been in a couple of relatives full-size SUVs and was pretty disappointed with the lack of leg room even in the front and the general inefficient layout. The US greatly needs some more vehicles like this IMO. We have looked at something like the Mazda 5 as well.

I would be interested to see how it would do with a small v6 rather than the 4 cylinder. It might actually be just as efficient or with load even more efficient. I'm thinking the 4 cylinder might be a little too small with 7-8 people and some of the driving speeds/conditions in the US. Just some speculation though.

 

Make it a hybrid and call it a winner. The market wants hybrids.

 

The size of today's American child discourages this from happening.

... Brad

 

I could have been clearer -- mine's an '07, rated 19/25 22 overall. No idea why it was rated that low. The '08 is rated as you state. It has a lot of torque (at least by my standards), but more than any other car I've owned, driving it hard totally tanks the mileage, while driving it easy gives way over the EPA rating. No idea why. Averaged just under 30 mpg my first year. Moved my ScanGuage from the Prius to the Mazda this spring and I've been averaging low 30s ever since, mostly by keeping the engine load under 70%. (And overinflating the tires, coasting in neutral where possible, turning it off at stoplights, shifting early, etc.) Manual transmission helps a lot. Couldn't be happier with the mileage given the capacity of the car.

 

It may seat 8 in Japan, but I doubt 8 Americans will be comfortable in it!

 

My wife bought a 2008 RAV4 two months ago that has EPA 28mpg highway rating and seats 7. She is getting 26mpg combined for the last 3 tanks of fuel. She is getting 20 percent better mileage than her old Dodge Grand Caravan (piece of CRAP). The RAV4 has a 6 cylinder engine and goes 0-60 in the 6 second range. I think the engine is rated for 248hp. I'm glad I don't own the thing because I would loose my driver's license with all the tickets I would get from speeding.

 

The interior picture shows the 3rd seat is against the rear door. The raised rear roof line makes that arrangement work for this bodystyle. However a current hybrid would not fit in that small of a vehicle. The hybrid battery would not allow for the rear row leg room.

The batteries are going to have to become much smaller to allow such a small vehicle to be a hybrid and have 3 usable rows of seats. We have been asking for a Hybrid minivan for a long time.

 

LOL

agree on the car size being deceptive, my cousins 4runner has less passenger room than my bros xB pathetic

 

Hybrid or not, I'm most concerned about SAFETY. To make this vehicle work, they had to put the rear seat against the rear door. What happens to the passengers in the third row if you get rear-ended? I am surprised the govt. approved this vehicle. Most vehicles have a trunk or cargo area in the back as a crumble zone.