2008 Honda Civic Dx Sedan 4-door 1.8l on 2040-cars

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Watch this perfect parody of Ken Block's Gymkhana videos

Every one of Ken Block's Gymkhana videos is bigger and more ridiculous than the last. The goal at this point seems to top the previous production, be it with a custom AWD Mustang ripping through the streets of Los Angeles or a rally-prepped Ford Fiesta drifting around Dubai. Well, the YouTube channel Car Bros decided that the format was ripe for parody and have produced their own short video. It's called "Gympkhana: A #Viral Car #Action Video" and it captures everything that is overwrought and fun about the Gymkhana series. While the scale of Block's videos has increased and the productions are still entertaining, every new Gymkhana seems to rehash the same sights and sounds without really trying anything new. Rev the engine here, drift around there, spin 10 times inside this box, and then circle around that object. Rinse and repeat and repeat and repeat. Car Bros have produced a number of parody videos and the group seems to really get the finer details of the subjects they're spoofing. Everything you would expect from a Block video is here. Gympkhana features shaky title cards, gratuitous slow-motion camera work, and multiple drone shots with helicopter sounds dubbed in. It's obvious that the group took their time to plan out and capture the perfect low-budget Gymkhana. These guys prove that you don't need big, expensive productions with exotic vehicles in exotic locations to have some fun with a few cameras and a car.Related video: Auto News Humor Honda Wagon gymkhana

Honda ditching Takata for next Accord's airbags

Today brings unsurprising news that Honda will move away from Takata and source airbags for the next-generation Accord, among other models, from one of the embattled company's competitors. Both companies have been in headlines of late after the former recalled millions of vehicles that were fitted with the latter's airbag inflators, which had the unpleasant tendency to spew shrapnel at consumers. The move, as Reuters explains it, is particularly devastating for Takata. Honda is the company's largest customer, and the Accord represents its biggest product, accounting for over a quarter of the company's sales last year. It gets worse, though, as a confidential source with knowledge of the situation is reporting to Reuters that both the 2016 CR-V and Odyssey will source their airbags from Toyoda Gosei. If true, that'd mean that Takata will be losing out on more than half the cars Honda sells in the US market. At this point, Takata, Honda and Toyoda Gosei have all passed on opportunities to comment to Reuters.

Honda HR-V Prototype looks awfully familiar

Is there anything quite so exciting as seeing a brand-new vehicle for the very first time? Part of the allure of auto shows is the chance to see new ideas, just before they're fully baked and ready for public consumption. "Prototypes" you might say, of production models that are just around the corner. Or, in the case of the Honda HR-V, already down the block a ways.
Here in Paris, Honda has unveiled its HR-V Prototype, a nearly production-ready version of a "new SUV for Europe." Before we take umbrage with that SUV designation - as far as we can tell the Fit-based crossover isn't much of a mudder - we should address the fact that at this year's New York Auto Show in April, Honda handed over just a few images and specs of the actually production-read HR-V for the US. Presumably this is a "prototype" for Europe, where the NYC car is US-specific, but we're still scratching our heads a bit.
No matter! Here in France, Honda tells us that the utile little hatch will be available powered by both a 1.5-liter gasoline engine (the one American customers will see), and a 1.6-liter diesel unit, both wearing the company's Earth Dreams Technology label and presumably running cleaner and more frugally than ever. In Europe, a standard six-speed manual will come with both mills, while the 1.5-liter will offer the option of a continuously variable transmission.