2003 Honda Pilot Lx Sport Utility 4-door 3.5l on 2040-cars

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Honda recalling 100k more vehicles to replace airbag inflators

Additional recalls surrounding Takata's faulty airbag inflators seemed to be at an end, and the major issue was getting all of the affected models promptly repaired. However, Honda is voluntarily expanding its safety recall to include another 100,000-plus vehicles. The automaker is adding 88,549 examples of the 2008 Pilot, 10,868 units of the 2004 Civic and 5,454 vehicles of the 2001 Accord to replace the driver's side front inflator. According to documents submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Honda found these vehicles through its process of matching Takata part numbers to individual VINs to make sure every potentially affected vehicle was found. Both model years of the Accord and Civic are already included in the campaign, but the 2008 Pilot is new to the list. The company is clear in its announcement that there are no reports of inflator ruptures in the crossover, though. This expansion takes Honda's airbag-related recall total to roughly 5.5 million vehicles in the US. When these airbags rupture, they can spray metal fragments with enough force to injure or even kill people. The automaker also has an advertising campaign to get the word out to owners that having this problem repaired is vital to their safety. Statement by American Honda Regarding Expansion of National Safety Improvement Campaign: Driver's Front Airbag Inflator Supplied by Takata Mar 19, 2015 - TORRANCE, Calif. 2008 Pilot and certain 2001 Accord and 2004 Civic vehicles added under new NHTSA campaign number 15V-153 Honda will voluntarily expand its December 2014 national Safety Improvement Campaign (NHTSA No. 14V-351) affecting certain 2001 through 2011 Honda and Acura vehicles in the United States to include 88,549 Pilot vehicles from the 2008 model year, 10,868 specific 2004 Civic vehicles and 5,454 specific 2001 Accord vehicles. While certain 2001 Accord and 2004 Civic vehicles were previously included in 14V-351, no 2008 Pilot models were included before this addition. Honda has not received any claims of airbag inflator rupture in 2008 Pilot models. Since this expansion of the national Safety Improvement Campaign is taking place in a new year, it will be identified separately by the NHTSA as No. 15V-153, but the same repair, replacement of the driver front airbag inflator, free of charge, will apply to these additional vehicles nationwide. With this expansion, a total of approximately 5.5 million vehicles will be covered by 14V-351 and 15V-153 combined.

2017 North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year entries announced

Over 40 vehicles will compete for the 2017 North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year awards. If that name looks a little strange, it's because the competition added a third category. In years past, pickup trucks, crossovers, SUVs, commercial vans, and minivans competed for the same award. That's why there were occasionally weird comparisons, like last year's competition between the Volvo XC90 and Nissan Titan XD. The new format separates pickups and commercial vans into the truck contest and CUVs, SUVs, and minivans into the utility competition. A complete list of eligible vehicles is below, but here are a few highlights. For one, the entire list of entries has a luxurious lean. Of the 43 vehicles, nearly half of them are from premium brands. There are two eligible Bentleys – the Bentayga and Mulsanne – the Rolls-Royce Dawn, Jaguar F-Pace, Audi Q7, and the Mercedes-Benz GLS-, E-, and S-Class Maybach. The performance ranks are lofty, too, with the Audi R8, Acura NSX, Alfa Romeo Giulia, Mercedes SL- and SLC-Class, Porsche 718, and F-150 Raptor. The mainstream entries are just as comprehensive. From the Chrysler Pacifica to the Chevrolet Cruze to the Fiat 124 Spider to the Mitsubishi Mirage, NACTOY has covered an enormous price range with this year's contestants. Of course, these are only the eligible vehicles. They'll need to run through three rounds of judging, starting in September at NACTOY's traditional Hell, MI, test drive. The Canadian and American journalists involved in the judging will announce this year's nine finalists – three in each category – on December 6. Cars Acura NSX Alfa Romeo Giulia Audi A4 Audi R8 Bentley Mulsanne Buick Cascada Buick LaCrosse Cadillac CT6 Chevrolet Bolt Chevrolet Cruze Fiat 124 Genesis G90 Hyundai Elantra Infiniti Q60 Jaguar XE Kia Cadenza Lincoln Continental Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan Mercedes-Benz S550 Maybach Mercedes-Benz SL-Class Mercedes-Benz SLC-Class Mini Clubman Mitsubishi Mirage/G4 Porsche 718 Boxster and Cayman Rolls-Royce Dawn Toyota Prius Prime Volvo S90 SUVs Audi Q7 Bentley Bentayga Buick Envision Cadillac XT5 Chrysler Pacifica GMC Acadia Infiniti QX30 Kia Sportage Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class Jaguar F-Pace Mazda CX-9 Nissan Armada Trucks Ford F-Series Super Duty pickups Ford F-150 Raptor Honda Ridgeline Nissan Titan half-ton Related Video: Featured Gallery Bentley Bentayga View 23 Photos News Source: Automotive News - sub.

Inside Honda's ghost town for testing autonomous cars

On the edge of the San Francisco suburb of Concord, California sits a ghost town. Dilapidated buildings and cracked roads are framed by overgrowth and slightly askew street signs. The decommissioned five acre portion of the Concord Naval Weapons Station that once housed military personnel and their families is now home to squirrels, jack rabbits, wild turkeys and Honda's mysterious testing lab for autonomous vehicles. This former town within a Naval base – now dubbed "GoMentum Station" – is the perfect testing ground for Honda's self-driving cars. An almost turn-key solution to the problem of finding somewhere to experiment with autonomous vehicle inside an urban area. Thanks to the GoMentum Station, the automaker has access to 20 miles of various road types, intersections and infrastructure exactly like those found in the real world. Just, you know, without all the people getting in the way. While the faded lane markers and cracked asphalt might initially make it difficult for the car to figure out what's going on around it, that's exactly what you want when training a self-driving system. Many roads in the real world are also in dire need of upkeep. Just because autonomous vehicles are hitting the streets doesn't mean the funding needed to fix all the potholes and faded lane markers will magically appear. The real world doesn't work that way and the robot cars that will eventually make our commutes less of a headache will need to be aware of that. Plus, it's tougher to train a car to drive downtown than to barrel down the highway at 80 miles per hour. A company is going to want to get as much practice as possible. While semi-autonomous driving on the everyone-going-the-same-way-at-a-constant-speed freeway is already a reality, navigating in an urban environment is far more complex. If you've driven on the streets of Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Chicago or Seattle you know that driving downtown takes far more concentration than cruising down the interstate. With all that in mind, Honda's tricked out Acura RLX did a good job during an (admittedly very controlled) hands-free demo. It didn't hit either of the pedestrians walking across its path. It stopped at stop signs and even maneuvered around a mannequin situated in the middle of the road. The reality is, watching a car drive around the block and safely avoid stuff is boring. Not to metion, Google has been doing this for a while in the real world.