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Car Club USA: CleanMPG Northwest Rally

Car Club USA heads to Los Angeles for the CleanMPG Northwest Rally, where a group of like-minded hypermiling enthusiasts led by Wayne Gerdes attempts to drive from Los Angeles, CA, to Bend, OR, on one tank of fuel. For this challenge, Wayne tapped some of the most accomplished hypermilers in the world, including Guinness World Record holder Bob Winger and Mike Sefton, "the most fuel efficient driver in all of Canada." It doesn't take long for the competition to get heated. "They're not aggressive enough, and it's not going to save them anything by being soft right now," says Gerdes as the group attempts to navigate the Interstate traffic. "Driving in Los Angeles is a hyper miler's nightmare," says Winger. The trip will challenge both car and driver, while putting the latest fuel-efficient tech to the test. Wayne is piloting the Volkswagen Golf Sportwagen TDI, Sefton drives the Audi A3 TDI, and Winger attempts the trek in a Honda Accord Hybrid. It's diesel versus hybrid tech on this fuel-efficient trip of a lifetime. Each Car Club USA episode features a different car club or event from across the US, where passionate owner communities gather to share automotive experiences and embark on incredible adventures. From Main Street cruises to off-road trails, catch all the latest car club activity on Autoblog. Green Audi Honda Volkswagen Alternative Fuels Fuel Efficiency Green Culture Green Driving Driving Diesel Vehicles Hybrid Car Club USA Videos Original Video cleanmpg

Honda underreported 1,729 claims of injuries or deaths since 2003

Among these underreported cases were eight Takata airbag inflator ruptures not submitted. Following an independent audit of its safety reporting procedures, Honda has found massive holes in its methodology and practices that resulted in 1,729 claims of injuries or deaths going unreported to federal authorities dating back to July 2003. The cases should have been submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as part of its quarterly Early Warning Reports (EWRs) under the TREAD Act, but they fell through the cracks for a variety of reasons. Honda blames the underreporting on three factors: data entry errors, computer coding problems and "an overly narrow interpretation of what constituted a 'written notice' under the TREAD Act." The first two issues were related to the computer program that collected the claims. If employees didn't enter a date in the "written claim received" field, then they were omitted from the EWRs. Also, the company's internal component codes didn't always match those used by NHTSA, and only the ones that were the same were disclosed. Finally, third-party documents, including police reports, were not considered. Honda says the computer error is now corrected, and the company is updating its data entry training. In the future, written and oral claims will be included in EWRs, as well. Among these underreported cases were eight Takata airbag inflator ruptures not submitted in Honda's EWRs, including one death and seven injuries. However, the automaker claims NHTSA was already aware of all of these incidents either from the agency's own records or from the company's notification outside of the EWR process. Unfortunately, this problem could have been stopped much sooner. The issue was first brought to light in 2011 but didn't result in a followup. NHTSA advised the automaker of discrepancies in January 2012, and it still did nothing. This third-party audit wasn't commissioned until September 2014. "Honda acknowledges that it lacked the urgency needed to correct its problems on a timely basis," it says in the announcement. Separately, the Japanese government is starting an investigation, as well. According to Reuters, the Japanese Transport Minister has created a task force to look into the Takata recalls and find out whether Honda under-reported incidents there. Scroll down to read the company's entire statement on the third-party investigation.

eBay Find of the Day: 1985 Honda City Turbo II is JDM forbidden fruit you can own

It's always fun to cruise different global eBay Motors sites and check out the cars that we never got here. Thankfully, America's 25-year import limit on cars means that some of the rarities from the 80s are finally legal on these shores. This 1985 Honda City Turbo II is a great example of a fun, little car that we never got new but can be made legal here now.
The City was basically the Japanese company's '80s equivalent of today's Fit, albeit significantly smaller. The little urban runabout was so popular in its basic form that Honda decided to take things up a notch and turbocharge it. That car sold enough to warrant an even higher performance version called the Turbo II, which added an intercooler and the flared fenders you see here. The latter helped it earn the nickname "bulldog" for its boxy, aggressive appearance.
Honda claimed at the time that its little 1.2-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder produced 109 horsepower and 118 pound-feet of torque with a five-speed manual. In a car that weight just 1,620 pounds, you can imagine it was a very entertaining little package.