2006 Honda Airwave Pics

The Honda Airwave is a subcompact car produced by the Japanese automaker Honda since 2005. It is a five-door station wagon version of the City / Fit Aria and Fit/ Jazz, which are a sedan and a hatchback respectively. The Airwave is built on the Global Small Car platform; however, unlike the City and Fit, the Airwave is unique to the Japanese market. Honda announced the debut of the Airwave on April 7, 2005.

The Airwave is sold in two trim lines, the basic "G" model, and the well-equipped "L" model. Each of the trim lines has an optional panoramic glass sunroof that covers a large part of the roof. Each version of the car is available in either front-wheel drive or four-wheel drive. The current version of the Honda Partner panel van introduced on March 10, 2006 is now based upon the Airwave. Essentially a decontented version of the Airwave, it utilizes the L15A i-DSI engine (unlike the VTEC engine in the Airwave) mated to a five-speed automatic transmission identical to that found in the North American market Fit.

The Airwave is powered by the largest version of Honda's L-series engine family, the 1496 cc 1.5L VTEC L15A gasoline engine. The engine produces a maximum output of 81kW (109hp) at 5800rpm and a maximum torque of 143Nm (105lb·ft) at 4800rpm. Two forms of a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT) are available on the Airwave. The "G" trim line has a standard CVT of five-speed, while the "L" sports a CVT with seven-speed mode. This allows the driver to choose between the smooth, shiftless acceleration of a standard CVT, or the added option of shifting through seven computer-controlled "gears".