1998 Honda Accord Lx - Eibach, Magnaflow, Aem V2, Dc Sports, Kenwood, Hankook on 2040-cars

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2014 Honda Odyssey sucks it up for our editor

When we heard that the 2014 Honda Odyssey would be getting the world's first in-car vacuum, we had to check this thing out for ourselves. Called HondaVAC, this tidy little sucker was co-developed with Shop-Vac, and it's actually pretty neat. It comes standard on Odyssey's top-trim Touring Elite model and can be fitted with a wide range of attachments all housed in the cargo area. Honda notes that the vacuum hose is long enough to reach surfaces in every part of the Odyssey's cabin, and that it will even run for a full eight minutes after the vehicle is turned off.
Good thing, then, that Honda chose to show off the new 2014 Odyssey here at the New York Auto Show, as Autoblog west coast editor Michael Harley clumsily managed to spill some snacks all over the cargo area (we tried to convince him to give himself a hickey, but he declined on grounds that his wife might not let him attend any more auto shows). Take a look at the video below to see just how well the new minivan cleans up.

Honda 'Hands' ad is a worthy successor to 'Cog'

The 2003 Cog commercial from Honda may have been named one of the best car commercials of all time, but an all-new spot called Hands looks to be even more entertaining even if it's digitally enhanced. The two-minute video - which starts and ends with a nod to Cog - highlights just about all facets of Honda's universe of products from passenger cars to racecars, the HondaJet to leaf blowers, motorcycles, ATVs and even Asimo.
Celebrating 65 years of innovation, the advertisement is as informative as it is amusing, and it even injects a little humor, too, like a glass of water being squeezed from the FCX Clarity. We just hope that the 1:10 mark of the video isn't hinting at a CR-V Convertible. We're not sure when Hands will air or if we'll see it on television here in the US, but the video is posted below; as an added bonus, we've also included the video for Cog.

Honda getting in on the Daytona Prototype racing action

Racing fans at Sebring are plenty used to seeing Honda powering into the winner's circle, the Japanese motor company having claimed class victories at the endurance race in Florida in 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013. Those were all in the LMP2 category, but with the Twelve Hours of Sebring now part of the combined United SportsCar Championship, Honda is branching out into another class: Daytona Prototypes.
The purpose-built racing machinery that were once part of the Grand-Am series are now racing alongside the LMP2 prototypes from the American Le Mans Series under the united championship. So far Ford and Chevy have signed on to power the Daytona Prototypes, and now Honda's joining their ranks as the only manufacturer to field entries in both categories of the championship's Prototype class.
The competition-spec 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 revealed last month is based on the same J35 engine that powers everything from the Honda Accord to the Acura RLX and MDX. Now it will power the Riley chassis fielded by Starworks Motorsports, competing alongside the pair of Honda Performance Development (HPD) ARX-03b chassis which Extreme Speed Motorsports will campaign under LMP2 regulations, giving Honda a two-pronged, three-car assault on the top class of the new American sports car racing series.