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2016 Honda HR-V First Drive [w/video]

Compact crossovers are all the rage right now, and the 2016 Honda HR-V enters the marketplace at a crucial time. This class only had three or four entries just a year or two ago, and the number of players should double this year. That equates to an estimated 236,000 sales of B-segment CUVs in 2015, more than twice last year's sales, according to AutoPacific data. Honda joins a growing list of automakers looking to cash in on expanding sales. Fiat-Chrysler has its adorably Italian Fiat 500X and tiny-tough Jeep Renegade siblings. Chevy brought its small Trax to the US market from abroad. The Nissan Juke carries on with oddball styling and zippy dynamics. And the small-boxy class sales king Kia Soul could add all-wheel drive model to further increase its appeal. The HR-V doesn't break any new ground here. It starts with the Swiss Army Knife packaging of the Fit hatchback, then adds a more powerful engine, increased ground clearance, and all-wheel drive. It's nothing revolutionary, but that's not a bad thing. In typical Honda style, the beauty lies in the execution. What we have here is an attractive, compact crossover. It looks like a puffed-up Fit, or Honda Fat if you will. At 169.1 inches in length, the HR-V is more than a foot longer than the Fit (and almost nine inches shorter than the original CR-V). But with clean, taut lines that sculpt the body sides the HR-V is anything but bloated. We particularly like the integration of the rear door handles into the C-pillar. This thing is cute, especially with the rounded nose and chiseled rear end. And the chunky, five-spoke, 17-inch alloy wheels we like so much are standard even on the base model. There are a couple of weird bits to the styling. Like the way the hood cutline spills over to the front quarter panel and the oversized, fang-shaped taillamps. But overall the HR-V looks great. It has more modern appeal than the Trax, and while the 500X and Renegade are more interesting to our eyes, the HR-V has plenty of pizzazz for folks afraid of flamboyance. That reserved charm carries on in the interior. Like the exterior, the cabin is a safe kind of stylish. Materials include a mix of fabrics and plastics on the doors, plus obligatory soft-touch surfaces abound because, you know, we're all in the habit of squeezing dashboards these days. The row of three vents in front of the passenger seat looks nice, and there's added storage underneath the center console.

Brand new cars are being sold with defective Takata airbags

If you just bought a 2016 Audi TT, 2017 Audi R8, 2016–17 Mitsubishi i-MiEV, or 2016 Volkswagen CC, we have some unsettling news for you. A report provided to a US Senate committee that oversees the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and reported on by Automotive News claims these vehicles were sold with defective Takata airbags. And it gets worse. Toyota and FCA are called out in the report for continuing to build vehicles that will need to be recalled down the line for the same issue. That's not all. The report also states that of the airbags that have been replaced already in the Takata recall campaign, 2.1 million will need to eventually be replaced again. They don't have the drying agent that prevents the degradation of the ammonium nitrate, which can lead to explosions that can destroy the airbag housing and propel metal fragments at occupants. So these airbags are out there already. We're not done yet. There's also a stockpile of about 580,000 airbags waiting to be installed in cars coming in to have their defective airbags replaced. These 580k airbags also don't have the drying agent. They'll need to be replaced down the road, too. A new vehicle with a defective Takata airbag should be safe to drive, but that margin of safety decreases with time. If all this has you spinning around in a frustrated, agitated mess, there's a silver lining that is better than it sounds. So take a breath, run your fingers through your hair, and read on. Our best evidence right now demonstrates that defective Takata airbags – those without the drying agent that prevents humidity from degrading the ammonium nitrate propellant – aren't dangerous yet. It takes a long period of time combined with high humidity for them to reach the point where they can rupture their housing and cause serious injury. It's a matter of years, not days. So a new vehicle with a defective Takata airbag should be safe to drive, but that margin of safety decreases with time – and six years seems to be about as early as the degradation happens in the worst possible scenario. All this is small comfort for the millions of people who just realized their brand-new car has a time bomb installed in the wheel or dashboard, or the owners who waited patiently to have their airbags replaced only to discover that the new airbag is probably defective in the same way (although newer and safer!) as the old one.

Honda reveals more with Civic Type R concept bound for Paris

The reveal of the next-generation Honda Civic Type R has been a gradual one. First Honda showed us a camouflaged prototype, then let us drive one at its Japanese proving ground and followed up with a concept at the Geneva Motor Show. Now with the Paris Motor Show looming on the horizon, it has revealed yet another concept to keep hot-hatch enthusiasts on their toes.
The second Civic Type R concept appears almost identical to the first one - right down to the aggressive aero kit, quad exhaust tips, oversized wheels and ultra-low-profile rubber - but wears a new coat of Superman blue with go-fast decals. With its release, however, Honda has confirmed some of the salient details set for the production version.
In the nose sits a 2.0-liter turbo four with 276 horsepower and a 7,000-rpm redline, mated to a six-speed manual transmission. Adaptive dampers and a "steer axis" system promise to keep the power under control, while a push of the +R button tightens up the suspension, steering and torque mapping.