2014 Honda Cr-v Ex-l on 2040-cars

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Latest Honda promo film is a Never Ending Race against emissions

A new Honda promotional video shows clips of a hazy, smog-choked Los Angeles in the 1960s and 1970s, and then gives the company credit for its lead role in cutting vehicle-emissions by a factor of one thousand since 1970. Self-serving? Sure. Then again, this LA-native reporter born in 1970 can't help but be somewhat appreciative. The nearly five-minute video takes a tour through Honda history, showing the Japanese automaker using its experience designing race cars to help develop smaller engines such as its four-cylinder CVCC. An early proponent of California's Clean Air Act, Honda recounts its low-emissions history with the first production low-emission vehicle (the 1996 Civic) and the first production ultra-low-emission vehicle (the 1998 Accord), and says it's approaching "near zero emissions" for its new cars. For anyone keeping track, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said late last year that Honda's 2013 model-year vehicles averaged an even 27 miles per gallon, and that's with a fairly limited number of hybrids and plug-ins sold. That number was up from its 26.6 mpg in 2012 and second only to Mazda's 27.5 mpg among the major automakers. The overall 2013 average was 24.0 mpg. Read Honda's press release here and check out the Honda video below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Honda's "Never Ending Race" Documents its Four-Decade Battle Against Air Pollution Third film in award-winning Environmental Short Film Series explores Honda's voluntary efforts to reduce vehicle emissions over forty-year period Honda's successful demonstration of low-emissions vehicle technology led state of California to adopt new, more stringent emissions regulations New-vehicle emissions are 1/1000th of 1970 levels Next environmental "race" is against global climate change TORRANCE, Calif., Feb. 13, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- As unprecedented levels of pollution choked the nation's largest cities in the early 1970's, a group of automobile engineers secretly toiled to develop an engine technology that would significantly reduce pollution from automobiles.

Editors' Choice: Top Five 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show Debuts

Consider the 2015-16 auto show season officially kicked off. The Frankfurt Motor Show offered a great look at the newest crop of production cars and conceptual machines, and brought some old favorites back into the spotlight for a closer look. (The Alfa Romeo Giulia, for example, debuted in June, but this was the first time most of us saw it.) Now that the dust has settled and we're all on flights back to the US, our editors cast their votes for their personal favorites from the Frankfurt show. These are the cars we truly loved seeing the most. But unlike other shows, there was no one runaway winner – all of the Top Five received positive praise from our team. We won't spoil the results, though. Scroll down to see what we liked most from this year's Frankfurt expo. 5th Place – MERCEDES-BENZ IAA CONCEPT View 12 Photos MIKE AUSTIN: The clean lines on this concept have me excited for a more elegant beauty to future Mercedes-Benz vehicles. Next to the Concept IAA, the lovely S-Class Coupe looks like an overstyled barge. DAVID GLUCKMAN: Yeah, the extendable rear is neat and all, but I'm more interested in the front-end styling of this one. It looks like the Tron version of a 300SL, in a good way. I'm hopeful it portends the future of Mercedes design. STEVEN EWING: I was super impressed when Mercedes said that, with the rear end extended, this concept has a drag coefficient of just 0.19. That's crazy aerodynamic. I'm not head-over-heels about the styling, but I think the lessons learned from this concept are really important, and will play a huge role in the future of Mercedes' products. 4th Place – ALFA ROMEO GIULIA View 15 Photos SEYTH MIERSMA: I can hardly express how in love with this car I am. The styling feels creative, modern, and evocative, without going over the top. The proposed performance is spectacular. And the Alfa badge speaks to a legacy of romantic motoring. DAVID GLUCKMAN: Pretty Italian car makes big promises and will probably deliver on about three quarters of them. I think that will still be enough for me. JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: I'm really intrigued by the Giulia. It looks great, sounds awesome, and I'm expecting it to have a load more character than its German rivals. I hope I'm not disappointed. 3rd Place – JAGUAR F-PACE View 15 Photos GREG MIGLIORE: It's the first SUV for Jaguar, and I think they nailed the design, capability, and electronics. It's the right car at the right time.

Honda readying Veloster-rivaling concept for Beijing?

Maybe the rumors of the CR-Z's death have been exaggerated. Honda has just released the first teaser of a new concept that it plans to debut at the Beijing Motor Show at the end of April. It shows off a sporty looking coupe that looks like the child of a CR-Z and Hyundai Veloster. However, the concept looks to be for the Chinese market, as it's a joint proposal with one of its domestic partners there, Guangqi Honda Automobile.
Unfortunately, we don't have any other details about the concept yet - not even a name. The teaser also doesn't give a very good indication of the car's size. It appears to be roughly the size of a small coupe, and if Honda hadn't already tried the idea with the CR-Z, you could almost see it as a modern CRX, but it could be a little bit larger, too.
In addition to the coupe concept at the Beijing show, Dongfeng Honda will premiere the concept for the next Spirior, which is the foreign version of the Accord. Guangqi Honda will also bring a mid-size SUV and the third-generation Fit. Acura will also be there and will have both the NSX Concept and a model of its powertrain. Scroll down for the full release about everything Honda will show in China.