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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.

Honda Civic Type R caught naked and frisky

Honda's upcoming Civic Type R is one of our most anticipated models of the next year - and we probably won't even get it in North America. And yet, each time we see it, the five-door just seems so menacing and purposeful. An all-but-undisguised version has just been spotted by our photographers testing on the back roads in Germany. If this signals what to expect, then the project appears to be coming along nicely.
Compared to the concept shown at the Geneva Motor Show, this prototype looks even meaner. Check out those big, blistered front fender extensions, taller wing, deeply sculpted front air dam and 10-spoke gold wheels. The Type R certainly certainly isn't hiding its performance intentions, and it has no reason to. Under the hood, we know it packs Honda's new 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder pumping out 276 horsepower, which is likely connected to a six-speed manual.
Now, if only Honda could find some way to get this machine across The Pond and into the our hot little hands. There has already been an online petition begging the Japanese automaker to find a way, and after recently enjoying an all-too-brief prototype drive, we're ready to sign up.

Honda Fit loses Recommended rating from Consumer Reports

Thanks to its poor performance in the most recent round of Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crash testing, where it received the lowest overall score in the small-overlap test, Consumer Reports has bumped the Honda Fit from its "Recommended" list. When a car gets bumped from the magazine's coveted ranks, it's usually cause for concern. This is not one of those times.
As there is a new Fit barreling towards dealerships for an on-sale date this spring, we wouldn't pay too much credence to the current car's demotion. It's expected that the next-generation Fit should pass the test with flying colors, as CR is quick to point out that newer Hondas have traditionally done very well in the tricky small-overlap crash testing.
Of the subcompact cars tested by the IIHS, only the Kia Rio, which netted a "Marginal" score overall, is a Consumer Reports "Recommended" vehicle.