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Honda to field this awesome Civic Tourer wagon in BTCC next season

We all know that the letters BTCC stand for British Touring Car Championship. But one of those Cs might as well stand for Civic, so dominant has the Honda team been in one of the most competitive tin-top racing series in the world. Honda has taken the manufacturers' and teams' titles in the BTCC for the past four years running, and the championship-winning drivers for the past three years have claimed the prize behind the wheel of a Civic. While that might have proven enough for any other manufacturer, Honda is returning again next season to defend its dominant position, and has just revealed the new car with which it intends to do so.
Next year Honda will be back on the grid with another Civic, only this time it's based on the new Euro-spec Civic Tourer. That will make Honda the only team in the BTCC (and one of only a few worldwide) fielding a wagon-based racing car. In announcing the new BTCC-spec Civic Tourer, the Honda Yuasa Racing team only released this one photo and didn't reveal much in the way of details, but team manager Peter Crolla indicated that "the weight, wheelbase, layout and suspension remain the same" as the hatchback which it will replace, only with a longer roofline.
Testing of the new touring wagon will commence in January before returning champions Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal will pilot the new Civic Tourer in the season opener at Brands Hatch in the UK in late March. It remains to be seen what car Andrew Jordan (who took the title this year in another Civic with the Pirtek Racing team) will be driving next season, but in the meantime, you can check out the full press release below for more.

Honda recalls select 2013 Accords over fuel tank neck

Honda and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have announced a recall for 1,659 model-year 2013 Honda Accord vehicles. The affected Accords are Low-Emission Vehicle II rated cars manufactured between January 15 and April 5 of 2013.
The recall is pursuant to a fuel tank neck that might be out of specification, and the variance could result in the fuel pump not properly sealing with the fuel tank. As you might guess, a bad seal here could result in a gasoline leak, posing a fire risk. As of this writing, there have been no reports of fires because of this problem.
Honda will reach out to owners of affected 2013 Accords, directing dealers to replace the cars' fuel tank, nut and O-ring gasket. Expect the notifications when the recall begins in earnest on August 1. FInd the full NHTSA press release below.

NHTSA urges owners of recalled Takata airbag vehicles to take immediate action

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Department of Transportation are taking the unusual step of issuing a followup press release urging owners of certain recalled vehicles "to act immediately" to fix their cars and trucks. The problem in question concerns the repair campaigns for rupturing Takata airbag inflators issued in June and covers a long list of models from Toyota, Lexus, Honda, Acura, Mazda, BMW, Nissan, Infiniti, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Oldsmobile and Pontiac.
While NHSTA doesn't specifically say why the recall is vital in the new release, Toyota's own explanation in its newly announced renotification campaign earlier today sheds some new light on the topic. According to the Japanese automaker, in testing, Takata found a possible link between the rupturing airbag inflators and high humidity. NHTSA is advocating that all owners pursue repairs immediately if they haven't already done so already. This is especially crucial for those drivers especially in Florida, Puerto Rico, Guam, Saipan, American Samoa, Virgin Islands and Hawaii because of the humid conditions there.
We don't need to tell you how dangerous an inadvertent airbag deployment could be - even in a stationary vehicle - but adding to the Takata issue is fears that the deployment could lead to shrapnel being sprayed into the cabin.