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2016 Honda Pilot is brand's first non-hybrid with stop-start

Honda has gotten rid of the boxy styling of the outgoing Pilot for a more aerodynamic look that mimics its smaller sibling, the popular CR-V. The 2016 Honda Pilot – which goes on sale this summer – has a larger, eight-inch display screen, an improved navigation system and up to five USB ports to power the family's devices. The new Pilot was introduced at the 2015 Chicago Auto Show this week. New amenities include an optional heated steering wheel and heated second-row seats. Under the hood is a new 3.5-liter, direct injected V-6 engine with start-stop technology – Honda calls it " Idle Stop technology" – to save on fuel. Buyers can choose one of two new transmissions, a six-speed or a nine-speed, and front-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive configurations. Green Car Congress notes that this is the first time Honda has put stop-start technology into a non-hybrid vehicle. Fuel economy wasn't announced, but increased use of lighter materials has dropped 300 pounds of weight, so the new Pilot should beat the old model's 25 mpg on the highway. New safety features include LED high beams that automatically dim for oncoming traffic and Honda's first road departure mitigation system - borrowed from Acura - which monitors the vehicle's road position and can correct the steering or brake if it senses an imminent collision. Related Video: The AP contributed to this report. Featured Gallery 2016 Honda Pilot: Chicago 2015 View 19 Photos News Source: Honda, Green Car Congress Green Chicago Auto Show Honda mpg stop start

Race Recap: 2013 Indianapolis 500 better than Bollywood; all the emotion, none of the music [spoilers]

If the 2013 Indy 500 were a movie it would be the one expected to win all the little statues come awards season, and if it were an athlete it would have made spectators watch in awe as it broke record after record. And this kind of talk comes after last year's race was considered one of the best ever - the last lap hijinks in 2012 and Takuma Sato's crash leading to a podium ceremony straight out of a Golden Globes tearjerker.
But this year's race delivered more than anyone expected, from the 250,000 fans to the commentators to the IndyCar series itself and, finally, to the guy who hopped through a two-mile window on Lap 197 to take the lead and keep it until the end.

Why Honda of America won't fit 2014 Fit models with start/stop

One of the most recent yet notable additions to the modern vehicle's growing suite of fuel-saving technologies is the humble start-stop system. It's rather simple - when the vehicle is stopped, the engine shuts off. It then fires back up when the driver starts to take his foot off the brake or step on the clutch. For one of the most important fuel sippers of the year, though, start-stop tech is a no-go.
Honda will not be offering the system on the North American-spec, non-hybrid Fit despite it being a standard item on both the hybrid (pictured above) and gas-only Japanese domestic models. According to Honda, it's ostensibly due to the momentary lag, that occurs when the gas engine re-fires and power is available. The start-stop-equipped Fits "will lose at stoplights to V6s," Nobuhiko Shishido, the lead powertrain engineer for the Fit, told Automotive News. This is just an observation on our part, but unless the new Fit turns up with dramatically more than the current car's 117 horsepower, it'll "lose at stoplights" regardless of whatever fuel-saving features are fitted.
The other issue Honda sees is more realistic. In the world of the EPA, stop-start systems are not taken into account in fuel economy testing. That makes the cost-adding technology a tough sell for US consumers who are forced to take a dealer's word on real-world economy gains over the milage numbers on the window sticker. That said, wouldn't it at least make sense to offer start-stop as an option? Have your say in the Comments below.