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

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Toyota, Ford and Honda again top Consumer Reports Car-Brand Perception Survey

Consumer Reports has released its annual Car-Brand Perception Survey, and the list looks awfully familiar. The top six brands are identical to last year's results, with Toyota, Ford and Honda continuing to occupy the podium. All told, Toyota walked away with 133 points, putting it 15 ahead of second-place Ford. Honda jumped 26 points this year, narrowing Ford's lead to just four points in total.
Consumer Reports polls buyers from across the country on how they see multiple brands in seven categories, including quality, safety, value, performance, design/style, technology/innovation and environmentally friendly/green. Researchers then combine the findings to come up with the total brand score.
While value and performance remain important to buyers, CR found quality and safety are still on top when it comes to significance. Scion and Mitsubishi found themselves at the bottom of the pack with the worst score of all, tied at just six points. Ram, Fiat and Mini filled out the lowest five with scores of seven, eight and 10 points, respectively. You can read the full press release below for more information, or head over to the Consumer Reports site.

8 automakers, 15 utilities collaborate on open smart-charging for EVs

We're going to lead with General Motors here. GM is one of eight automakers working with 15 utilities and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) at developing a "smart" plug-in vehicle charging system. Why did we start with GM? Because it's the first automaker whose press release we read that mentioned the other seven automakers. Points for sharing. For the record, the collaboration also includes BMW, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Chrysler, Mitsubishi and Ford. The utilities include DTE Energy, Duke Energy, Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric. The idea is to develop a so-called "demand charging" system in which an integrated system lets the plug-ins and utilities communicate with each other so that vehicle charging is cut back at peak hours, when energy is most expensive, and ramped up when the rates drop. Such entities say there's a sense of urgency to develop such a system because the number of plug-in vehicles on US roads totals more than 225,000 today and is climbing steadily. There's a lot of technology involved, obviously, but the goal is to have an open platform that's compatible with virtually any automaker's plug-in vehicle. No timeframe was disclosed for when such a system could go live but you can find a press release from EPRI below. EPRI, Utilities, Auto Manufacturers to Create an Open Grid Integration Platform for Plug-in Electric Vehicles PALO ALTO, Calif. (July 29, 2014) – The Electric Power Research Institute, 8 automakers and 15 utilities are working to develop and demonstrate an open platform that would integrate plug-in electric vehicles (PEV) with smart grid technologies enabling utilities to support PEV charging regardless of location. The platform will allow manufacturers to offer a customer-friendly interface through which PEV drivers can more easily participate in utility PEV programs, such as rates for off-peak or nighttime charging. The portal for the system would be a utility's communications system and an electric vehicle's telematics system. As the electric grid evolves with smarter functionality, electric vehicles can serve as a distributed energy resource to support grid reliability, stability and efficiency. With more than 225,000 plug-in vehicles on U.S. roads -- and their numbers growing -- they are likely to play a significant role in electricity demand side management.

Junkyard Gem: 1995 Acura Integra SE Sport Coupe

When Honda introduced the Acura brand to North America for the 1986 model year, there were just two models we could buy here: the Legend luxury sedan (developed in partnership with Rover and sibling to the Sterling 825) and the Civic-based Integra. Most Integras we've seen on the street for the last couple of decades have been the third-generation models sold from the 1994 through 2001 model years, and — like their Civic counterparts — plenty of them have held together well enough to rack up impressive mileage totals. Here's a '95 Integra SE coupe that came close to the 350,000-mile mark during its 27 years on the road, found in a Northern California self-service yard a couple of weeks back. In 1995, the SE trim level was near the top of the American Integra hierarchy (just below the soon-to-be-famous GS-R), priced at $19,890 for the Sport Coupe three-door with five-speed manual transmission. That's about $35,895 in 2022 dollars. Hey, Emperor Akihito's daily-driver was a '91 Honda Integra sedan, so that's a lot of prestige for the price (yes, yes, the Emperor of Japan rides in the back of a Toyota for official duties, but we never could buy a new Toyota Century here). With the Special Edition, you got all the luxury features of the mid-grade LS (including power moonroof, air conditioning, cruise control, and anti-lock brakes) plus 15" alloy wheels, fat Michelin tires, a big decklid spoiler, and a six-speaker AM/FM/cassette audio system. The GS-R's 1.8-liter VTEC engine made 170 horsepower in 1995 (having swapped a '96 GS-R engine into a '92 Civic hatchback, I can tell you it's a pretty wild powerplant by middle-1990s standards), but the non-VTEC version that went into the saner Integras was rated at just 142 horses. The Civic Si that year had a mere 125 horsepower and far less luxury than its wealthier Integra brother, but it also cost just $13,450 (about $25,160 today). These cars were built very well and lasted for decade after decade if not abused, and this car benefited from owners that took good care of it. Unfortunately, the craze for hot-rodded Hondas really got rolling in the middle 1990s, and many of these cars met unhappy endings involving crashes and/or exploded engines. It wasn't many years ago that a car like this would have been stripped clean by junkyard vultures within hours of landing in a California self-serve car graveyard.