The Honda Logo is a supermini car (B-segment) which was made by Honda from 1996 to 2001. It is a three- or five-door hatchback that replaced the second-generation City and was then superseded by the Fit/Jazz. It slotted between the smaller kei-class Life and the larger Civic in Honda's range of the era. The Honda Capa and Honda HR-V were developed from the Logo's platform.

The Logo was manufactured in Japan and assembled at Honda's factory in Suzuka, Mie. It was marketed in Japan through dealerships of Honda Clio from 1996 to 2001, and briefly in Europe between 1999 and 2001.

Mechanicals

The Logo uses the D13B, a single-cam inline-four engine. The Logo's fuel injected engine has two valves per cylinder, aside from the later, sporting TS version and its derivatives which have four valves per cylinder. A CVT transmission was offered. The engine provided . Using lessons learned on the CRX HF economy models, the engine was designed to be fuel efficient and to provide maximum torque low in the range, with maximum torque coming in at 2,500 rpm. 90 percent of the torque was available at 1,300 rpm, just above idling speed. The TS also received various sporting additions such as a leather, three-spoke steering wheel, suspension lowered by , and front and rear stabilizer bars. In November 1998, the CVT system was renamed the Multimatic S to reflect the addition of Honda's Grade Logic Control system ("Prosmatec"), which senses when the car is travelling up or down a hill and keeps it in the according, correct ratio. In just under five years, cumulative sales in the Japanese domestic market totalled 202,601 examples. Sales in left-hand drive continental European markets started after the facelift, in September 1999. The somewhat dated model was only available in a three-door variant with a version of the 1.3-litre engine. In the United Kingdom, the Logo went on sale in the latter half of 2000 and was available for the very short period of nine months. The RAC found the Logo to be well equipped, but noted that it was already out of date compared to other supermini-class cars by the time it went on sale in the UK. Parker's Car Guides found the interior to be "cheap and nasty" and criticised the noise, vibration, and harshness, but noted the "good forward visibility".

Japanese and German reviewers also criticized the car for being outdated and of an anodyne design.

Safety

Euro NCAP crash tested a left-hand-drive three-door Logo in 2000, giving it three-out-of-five stars for adult occupant safety, with an overall score of 17 (six in the frontal impact test and 11 in the side impact test). It received two-out-of-four stars in Euro NCAP's pedestrian impact test, with a score of 14. It was marketed in Japan with the slogan "human sizing".

  • 4 January 1998: The "Lachic", a special edition model with body-coloured bumpers, ABS, and a passenger-side airbag went on sale.
  • 19 March 1998: Another adapted variant was released, with a swiveling passenger seat and a mount for carrying wheelchairs.
  • 23 April 1998: The Honda Capa, developed from the Logo, was launched.
  • 22 September 1998: The three-door Honda HR-V was launched, which was derived from the Logo.
  • 12 November 1998: A minor change was made to the model to comply with new automobile exhaust gas regulations. The model code added a leading "GF" to reflect the changes.
  • Sales started in Continental Europe; only a single, three-door version was available.
  • 16 December 1999: The Coloris, a special-edition model based on the G-type model was introduced. This was fully body-coloured, including bumpers, grille, door handles, etcetera. All colors were available, with the addition of the special colour Crystal Silver Metallic.
  • 14 April 2000: The Logo received a second, minor facelift and changes were made to the interior. An additional series of lower-cost Sportic models based on the G-type were added to the Japanese model line; the earlier Sportic became the Sportic TS as a result.
  • 12 May 2000: The refreshed "Logo Almas" line of motability and nursing cars went on sale.
  • June 2001: The Logo is discontinued and its successor, the Honda Fit, is launched.

See also

  • Honda Capa

References