on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Honda shows facelifted Euro Civic hatch with new Sport variant

Honda has released the details on its freshened Euro-spec Civic ahead of its debut at the 2014 Paris Motor Show, whose media days are set to open next week. Aside from a fairly pleasant visual upgrade for both the standard Civic as well as the Civic Tourer, Paris will also see the arrival of a new Civic Sport model.
The new Civic wears a sportier front fascia, while the rear end is home to a new, stylish set of LED taillights. Honda has also revised the rear bumper, side skirts and spoiler. In the cabin, a new, Android-powered infotainment system called Honda Connect takes its place in the center stack, providing typical functions like radio, media, navigation and Bluetooth, as well as the ability to browse the Internet. The entire system is confined by a seven-inch display that offers pinch, swipe and tap functions that should be familiar to smartphone owners.
The big news, though, is the new Sport model (shown above). While this isn't a Civic Type R - with its 1.8-liter, 140-horsepower engine, it's not even a decaf Type R - it does deliver some more aggressive looks to the Civic line. There are standard 17-inch wheels, as well as a new, sportier Type R-inspired front fascia and a color-coded rear spoiler. Alongside that 1.8-liter gas engine is a 118-hp diesel mill that displaces 1.6 liters.

New death linked to Takata airbag crisis, Honda recalls 170k vehicles overseas

The safety crisis surrounding Takata's exploding airbags continues to expand. In the latest revelation, Honda confirms another death linked to the faulty parts, and the company is expanding its recall of the components. However, none of the newly added vehicles are in the United States.
With the confirmation of this report, there are now five deaths linked to the faulty airbags. According to The New York Times, a pregnant woman in Malaysia was killed on July 27 in a 2003 Honda City when she crashed into another vehicle, and the inflator ruptured. This was the first announced case outside of the US.
The faulty part in the woman's car was reportedly made at a now-closed Takata factory in Georgia, according to the NYT, and it's the first known example from that location. In response, Honda recalled about 170,000 vehicles in Europe and Asia to replace the potentially bad inflators. The latest campaign brings the total number of recalled vehicles worldwide to around 14.3 million units.

Toyota, Honda, Nissan and more collaborating to increase fuel efficiency

Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Suzuki and Daihatsu have announced an alliance that will see a push to improve fuel economy from both gas-powered and diesel-powered engines by as much as 30 percent before the end of the decade.
The newly assembled Research Association of Automotive Internal Combustion Engines put the roughly $20-million project together, with the Japanese government committing to half the cost while the eight manufacturers will chip in the rest.
According to Automotive News, the automakers will team up and share basic research on internal-combustion engines in a bid to cut costs. Eventually, the results of the research will find its way into a production vehicle, although it's unclear just when we'll see the fruits of this partnership on the road.