2005 Honda Element Ex Sport Utility 4-door 2.4l on 2040-cars

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Honda may recall up to 1M vehicles for airbag issue, following Toyota's lead

It seems Toyota won't be the only one recalling the faulty Takata airbag inflators for long. Honda insiders in Japan claim that the company is getting close to announcing its own worldwide campaign that would begin before the end of June.
Unnamed sources close to Honda in Japan tell Automotive News that the company is pursuing an internal investigation into possibly affected models and is working with Takata to gather more information. They claim that it could involve even more than the 1.14 million cars worldwide that the automaker covered under the first recall for the problem in April 2013, including 561,000 vehicles in the US.
Toyota jumpstarted this process last week when it recalled over 2 million cars worldwide, including 844,277 in the US. Soon after, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began a preliminary evaluation into the issue following six reported incidents, and started assembling data about potentially affected models from Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Chrysler. NHTSA also began investigating Takata itself.

Reveling in the reveals: BRZ, Civic, Wrangler, QX55

It’s almost like there should have been an auto show this week. If youÂ’re an enthusiast, you know the week before Thanksgiving is when the Los Angeles Auto Show kicks off. This year, thereÂ’s no L.A. show, at least until next May. But Subaru, Honda, Jeep and Infiniti rolled out significant new products this week, making us almost nostalgic for auto shows. Serendipity, or more likely previously allocated marketing budgets, gave us a familiar feel of new products, even though we couldnÂ’t feel or touch them under the bright lights of the Los Angeles Convention Center. LetÂ’s break them down: 2022 Subaru BRZ 2022 Subaru BRZ View 62 Photos Subaru stuck to basic formula here: The 2022 BRZ remains a rear-wheel drive sports coupe thatÂ’s supremely lightweight, adequately powered and attractive. Subaru debuts its new boxer four-cylinder in the BRZ. ItÂ’s rated at 223 hp and you need to rev all the way to 7,000 rpm to achieve that output. I'd prefer a bit more than the 184 lb-ft of torque the powerplant offers (reasonably low in the band at 3,700 rpm), for some more off-the-line grunt. Say 200 lb-ft, though itÂ’s almost a cliche to argue the BRZ is underpowered.  The outgoing BRZ is one of the purest cars IÂ’ve driven, so rather than harp on the power, which will ultimately be fine, give Subaru props for focusing on chassis improvements to improve rigidity by 60 percent and aid turn-in. Admirably, the curb weight is less than 2,900 pounds, and the manual in Premium trim checks in at the lowest, just 2,815 pounds.  Aesthetically, I like it. ItÂ’s busier than before, and thereÂ’s a lot more going on with the front fascia, wheel arches and fenders. ThereÂ’s a bit of a Porsche vibe up front, which is good, and a bit of a Honda Civic vibe in back (think 2010) thatÂ’s not.  ItÂ’s impressive that Subaru resisted the urge to gratuitously power up the BRZ and remained focused on the essence of its goodness and appeal to enthusiasts. 2021 Jeep Wrangler 392 2021 Jeep? Wrangler Rubicon 392 View 75 Photos What effect will the 2021 Ford Bronco have on the Jeep Wrangler? One school of thought is that it will actually make the Jeep better, and the 2021 Wrangler 392 is proof positive that will be the case. With the Bronco attracting spectacular levels of attention, Jeep could not sit idly by and remain focused on incremental changes. It needed to make a splash.

Takata airbag victim looked like she had been stabbed

We generally take certain principals for granted. The more water you drink, for example, the healthier you'll be. The more time you spend reading car news on Autoblog, the better informed you'll be. And the more airbags your car has, the safer you'll be. Because airbags equal safety. But that's not what some unfortunate drivers of vehicles equipped with Takata airbags are finding, and tragically finding out the hard way.
In what could be the most startling incident resulting from the airbag debacle so far, a woman named Hien Tran of Orlando, FL, was killed by what looked at first like stab wounds on her neck. It later emerged that the fatal injuries could have been inflicted by the faulty airbag on her Honda Accord. Tran bought her Honda secondhand, and may not have been aware that the airbag issue had not been addressed by its previous owner in a previous recall in 2009.
The Orange County Sheriff's Department is investigating the death, but it wouldn't be the only injury resulting from the malfunctioning Takata airbags. The units, employed particularly by Japanese automakers like Honda (which owns part of Takata) and Toyota, are the subject of a massive recall involving some 14 million vehicles from 11 different automakers.