2002 Honda Insight on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Honda Civic Type R on track to smash 'Ring record, eclipse NSX

Honda has made some serious performance machinery over the course of its history, but few products have been as hotly anticipated as the upcoming new Civic Type R. Following a deep and proud history of Type R Hondas, the latest Japanese hot hatch is continuing its long striptease at the Paris Motor Show this week. But before it does, Honda has released this video clip featuring project leader Suehiro Hasshi - and he has some bold claims to make.
For one, he says it'll be the best Type R yet - and that's quite a statement considering some of its predecessors, including the almighty NSX Type R. Hasshi-san also reiterates Honda's aim of snatching the front-drive lap record at the Nürburgring away from the likes of Renault and Seat, and reports that the Honda team is on track to chew every bit it's biting off. In short, the new Civic Type R ought to be sensational.

2015 Fit Kit is the perfect DIY car from Honda

Ah... let the April Fools' Day automotive jokes begin. Honda is kicking things off, following up on last year's Honda Hair joke with a prank video featuring the 2015 Honda Fit.
It's called the Fit Kit, and as you might guess, it's a way to build your own version of the redesigned hatchback. There are 180,000 mechanical parts in the kit - some delivered by drone - but that doesn't seem at all daunting to the pair of obnoxious, self-described tinkerers that star in the Fit Kit ad.
Honestly, the video is pretty entertaining, with some biting satire of the DIY movement and its attendant cadre of mustachioed hipsters. Scroll down and have a look at both the video and the Fit Kit press release from Honda.

IIHS says these are the safest cars of 2013

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has revealed its annual list of Top Safety Picks, an award that highlights automobiles it says offer "superior crash protection." A new and still more significant award, the Top Safety Pick+ honor, is given to those vehicles that earn good ratings for occupant protection in four out of five areas of measure. And while some 117 vehicles were given the TSP seal of approval for 2013, just 13 passed muster for TSP+.
To be fair, IIHS only evaluated 29 vehicles with its new testing procedures for TSP+ (we'd expect that the number of qualified cars will rise substantially for 2014). Luxury and Near Luxury midsize cars were the first groups evaluated, followed by midsizers in the Moderately Priced Cars category - unsurprisingly, it's only midsize cars that you'll find among the class this year.
Only two luxury sedans made the list of 13 for 2013: the Acura TL and Volvo S60. The other 11 cars on the list included entries from domestic, Japanese and German car makers: Dodge Avenger, Chrysler 200, Ford Fusion, Honda Accord (sedan and coupe), Kia Optima (but not its close kin, the Hyundai Sonata, strangely), Nissan Altima, Subaru Legacy and Outback, Suzuki Kizashi and the Volkswagen Passat all made the grade.