Honda Concerto

This article incorporates information from the equivalent article on the Japanese Wikipedia.

Honda Concerto

Also called	Rover 416 Rover 216 Rover 220
Production	1988 - 1994
Predecessor	Honda Ballade (sedan) Honda Quint (liftback )
Successor	Honda Domani
Body style	4-door sedan 5-door liftback
Layout	FF layout/AWD
Engine	1.5 L D15B2 SOHC I4 1.6 L ZC SOHC I4
Transmission	4 speed automatic 5 speed manual
Wheelbase	2,550 mm (100.4 in)
Length	4,415 mm (173.8 in)
Width	1,690 mm (66.5 in))
Height	1,415 mm (55.7 in)
Curb weight	1,200 kg (2,600 lb)
Related	Honda Civic Honda Integra

The Honda Concerto was an automobile produced by Honda from 1988 to 1994. Like its predecessors, the Honda Quint (hatchback) and Honda Ballade sedan (the Ballade itself being an upscale version of the Honda Civic), it shared its platform with a Rover product, namely the Rover 200 and Rover 400. The Concerto was also manufactured and sold in Japan, and sold at Honda Clio dealership sales channels, as a more upscale version of the Quint hatchback, and the Honda Ballade sedan. The Concerto was sold in both liftback and sedan form.

The name of the car comes from the Italian word "concerto", meaning a type of music where a single instrument is accompanied by an orchestra. The previous vehicles, the Ballade and the Quint[et], had a musical theme with their names. Due to the fact that both the four-door Ballade sedan, and the five-door hatchback Quintet were both high luxury content vehicles derived from the Honda Civic, the Ballade represented a type of music, and the Quintet represented a musical group. It appears that the names Ballade and the Quintet were replaced by the single name Concerto, while keeping the musical naming theme.

Honda Concerto hatchback rear view

In most European countries, and Australia, it was sold as the five-door liftback version only. It acted as replacement for the disappointing Honda Integra five-door liftback in some markets. The sedan version lasted until 1993 for most nations, especially in the United Kingdom where sales were lower compared to the Rover 200 and Rover 400 Series, which was considered the more upmarket of the two vehicles.

Engine choices were:

• 1.4 L (SOHC carb) with 88 hp DIN (65 kW)
• 1.5 L (SOHC SPI) with 90 hp DIN (66 kW)
• 1.6 L (SOHC MPI) with 115 hp DIN (85 kW)
• 1.6 L (DOHC MPI) with 130 hp DIN (96 kW)
• 1.6 L (DOHC carb) with 106 hp DIN (80 kW)
• 1.8 TD turbodiesel, Peugeot-engined, sold in France, Italy and Portugal only (as a badge engineered Rover 200 diesel)

In Japan and other Asian/Australasian countries, the Concerto was also available with an SOHC 1.6 L dual carb engine. Four-wheel drive was also an option in Japan, borrowed from the Civic-based compact SUV, the Honda CR-V.

The Concerto was sold internationally on a platform which was shared with the popular Civic. Just like the 5-door Integra it replaced, it offered more features than the Civic and was more prestige market. The styling of the Concerto reflected an influence from the Honda Ascot, most notably the greenhouse six-light window treatment.

One difference between the British built and Japanese built Concertos was that the front suspension - versions built in Longbridge had MacPherson struts unlike their Japanese counterparts which had double wishbones.

Honda stopped manufacturing the Concerto in Great Britain when its partner, Rover, was taken over by BMW in 1994.

Up until that point the two companies had been merged up to 20% equally with each other and had collaborated with this model and many others in both companies ranges. The Concerto's replacement in Japan was the Honda Domani, which also formed the basis for the succeeding Rover 400 and 45. In Europe, the five-door hatchback and estate variants of the Domani were sold as a Civic, in order to avoid having two different nameplates in the lower midsize segment.