Honda has unveiled a concept car that has been designed very much with cyclists in mind – it can even double as a mobile maintenance centre, with a retractable workstand.
Appearing at next week’s Frankfurt Motor Show, the Honda Civic Tourer Active Life Concept can transport two road bikes without the need for racks on the roof or the tailgate.
Instead, there’s what the car manufacturer, sponsor of the Wiggle-Honda team, terms a “smart loading rack” which, with the rear seats down and the front wheels of the bikes removed, stows them inside the vehicle.
Inside the lining of the boot, you’ll find a toolbox, bottle holder, water tank and holders for the front wheels of the bike.
Other cyclist-friendly features include an air pump built into the vehicle, a large light to the rear and an extended shade are as well as a retractable bench.
There’s also an aero roof box specifically designed to hold items such as cycling shoes and helmets.
Away from cycle-specific aspects, the car’s appearance is designed to reflect “the sporty and active lifestyle of the customer,” says Honda.
There’s no word of if or when the car may make it into production, but to underline its environment-friendly credentials, Honda will also be displaying its Honda Civic Tourer 1.6 i-DTEC, which shares the same engine.
That car now hold the Guinness World Record for fuel efficiency, in June averaging 100.31 miles per gallon in a 25-day, 13,498 kilometre drive through 24 EU countries.
18 thoughts on “Honda unveils cyclist-friendly concept car (+ picture gallery)”
Cool.
Cool. B-)
Quote:a “smart loading rack”
So boot, like on any other car then? Surely you can put a couple of bikes, wheel off, in the back of most cars?
Two bikes great but no spare
Two bikes great but no spare tyre for the car…?
broomie wrote:Two bikes great
I challenge you to find a modern car which DOES have a spare tyre. They all come with a slime kit and pump to save weight for EU fuel efficiency regulations.
I’ll get excited when I can fit three or four bikes in a a car and four passengers. Even my old Saxo took two bikes with the back seats down.
Next up: a wheelchair which
Next up: a wheelchair which carries up to 4 pogo sticks in comfort.
Ush wrote:Next up: a
If you would care to mosey on over to Kickstarter and send me your dosh… 😀
Think there are some ideas
Think there are some ideas there that could be incorporated quite easy, like the fork mountings.
This is really dangerous, if
This is really dangerous, if you watch those bikes in the back of the car, those could easily swing you of your bike
Whats new? Passed an old
Whats new? Passed an old Honda Shuttle yesterday – reckon you could get 3 or 4 bikes standing up in the back of that! Why the current fashion for estates that look as if the back has been stamped on?
BTW recently bought a Peugeot 5008 and I can easily carry a bike using fork mounts in the back, with just one of the 2nd row seats folded.
Weird super flat roof box.
Weird super flat roof box. Looks a bit too low to be versatile beyond flat packing one bike. I have one of those long but low Thule boxes that looks like a cruise missile. Fits the bike and all the family wetsuits with room to spare.
LMAO! Who do they think
LMAO! =)) Who do they think they are kidding? Any whease to try and sell more cars. I can easily get two bikes in the back of my car, two sets of panniers and tool box. My car is 20 years old.
Comments above seem to miss
Comments above seem to miss the main points.
There are no back seats in this civic, so carrying two people, and a load (fact it’s bikes is nice but it’s a load) mean this is basically just a van with windows. Windows that allow thieves to look in at all those really expensive bikes.
Only reason to maybe consider something like this over a van would be the mpg, but I bet the price of the car would be so high compard to a van that you would actually save money with a van.
I love the slew of whiney
I love the slew of whiney comments that follow any post on Road.CC Honda would have sunk thousands in to this as a concept and, as a car manufacturer that has spent a great deal on cyclist friendly innovations over the last few years. If anything, this kind of thing should show that cycling as a hobby is being taken more seriously than ever, and not just by cyclist and cycling companies.
Personally, I’d love the simplicity of internal bike racks. I’ve used my fathers van to cart bikes here and there on many occasion and also used a rear rack on my MPV. Both of which work just fine in the same way jeans and a t-shirt work just fine. But sometimes a bit of ‘comfort’ and style is nice and I for one would consider something like this.
There’s also the point that concept cars are the catwalk fashion shows of the automotive world. This car will almost certainly never see the light of day but some features will be carried across in to future options.
BC1973 wrote:I love the slew
You can get some pretty cool and stylish vans, and they’d be more practical than this.
If you want an internal rack, make one. My van has an internal rack to carry four bikes, plus it has four seats, and can take all the bags under a false floor under the bikes, so it’s easy to get stuff.
Civic looks great, and maybe it suits you fine, but experience has taught me to value function over form when it comes to riding trip transport.
Not really a ‘cyclist
Not really a ‘cyclist friendly car’ though is it – that would be one with external airbags, a mobile blocker, and with significant warnings triggered by close approaches.
It had me until I realised
It had me until I realised it’s only ever two seats.
looking at the headtube
looking at the headtube height, I recon the bikes used in picture #1 are a small size?
Quote:Civic looks great, and
Which is why I’d never have a van, there are so many places a van can’t go that my 4×4 can. I simply can’t understand why anyone would have a van, they’re not versatile enough. I can sleep in my truck, carry my bike in a truck, camp in a stealthy way and I can go to wilds, etc…