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New Honda ad has Senna, Type R, Asimo, and astronauts

Now that Honda is back into the guts-and-performance game, automotively speaking, the Japanese company has hit the throttle on hardcore imagery. Its latest is in an ad for the company itself highlighting a small selection of its ample range of products, from motorcycles to an airplane and the coming Acura NSX, branded Honda in other markets. Called "Ignition," Wieden+Kennedy created the 90-second spot for Honda Motor Europe, with the tagline "Dare to do what others only dream of." The theme is a space launch, to give that "feeling of daring and human endeavor," perfectly supported by the print artwork with Asimo the robot up front and fabulously complicated hybrid V6 power units spewing flames from the Formula 1 cars in back. Then there's the family in the HR-V in the middle, defying gravity and sipping from juice boxes, because space is for everyone. Ayrton Senna makes a cameo again, and a Stanley Kubrick aesthetic hangs all over the production. You can check out the ad in the video above.

Honda is first Japanese carmaker to be a net-exporter from US

Over the last decade or so, many foreign automakers have challenged the idea of what defines an "American car," but Honda took things a step further last year by exporting more cars out of the US than it imported in. Reuters is reporting that in 2013, a total of 108,705 Honda and Acura models were exported from the US with only 88,357 being shipped in. This gives Honda a net exporter status here, and makes it the first of such among the major Japanese automakers.
Honda's US imports have been dropping over the last five years while its exports have been steadily increasing. In 2008, the report indicates that Honda shipped 187,000 vehicles to the US and exported only 20,000, and even by 2012 Honda still favored imports with 136,000 imports and 74,000 exports. The article says that US-made Honda and Acura vehicles were exported to 50 countries with most ending up in Mexico, but the big news is that the Honda's US production set a record in 2013 with 1.3 million units built.

2020 Acura RDX Driveway Test | How does a stroller fit?

From the people who brought you the Luggage Test, it's the Stroller Test! I know, sequels, right?  However, as someone who was recently in the market for a stroller and didn't want to buy a new/gigantic family vehicle to accommodate it (not to mention needing to potentially store it in every vehicle currently sold), knowing how big strollers were and how they might fit in cars was important.  Now, I can't do much in terms of testing a variety of strollers. For that, I would direct you to Baby Gear Lab, which has quite the comprehensive stroller testing program (Wire Cutter is another good source). One of the things I appreciated about Baby Gear Lab was their independent measurements of each stroller, which through the magic of maths, they translate into more easily comparable cubic-inch measurements.  I ultimately chose the new Thule Spring, which is one of the most compact regular strollers on the market, with a folded volume of 5,402 cubic inches (my own independent measurement based on 30 inches long, 16.75 inches wide and 10.75 inches tall). By comparison, the comparable Baby Jogger City Mini 2 when folded is 8,300 cubic-inches according to Baby Gear Lab, while Thule's top-rated jogging stroller, the Urban Glide 2, is 15,388 cubic inches. In other words, if the Thule Spring takes up a lot of space in a trunk, virtually everything else apart from ultra-compact travel strollers will take up even more. This is essentially a best-case scenario.  First up, the 2020 Acura RDX, which is one of the most family friendly compact luxury crossovers. Actually, "compact" is almost a misnomer given how much passenger and cargo space is present. And don't you worry dear friends, that cargo space will be fully put to the test soon with good old-fashioned luggage. Since the RDX is first to be tested, we'll just have to consider it in a vacuum. Not many words to spill here. Now here's the Spring on its side. I already know that it can't fit like this in my Audi Allroad when the cargo cover and cargo net cartridges are in place. It would in the RDX with its cargo cover.  And that's all she wrote. Hopefully this series will prove helpful. Please let me know if there's anything else to be considered — I'm new to this.