2001 Honda Accord Ex Sedan 4-door 3.0l on 2040-cars

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Honda exclusive to McLaren at least until 2017

Next year Honda will return to Formula One after a seven-year absence, bringing the first Japanese automaker to compete in the top-tier racing series back into the fold. But though it started in 1964 much as it ended in 2008, running its own team (much like Ferrari and Mercedes do today), its new F1 program will see it revert to engine-supplier status (like Renault did when it sold its team to Lotus).
The arrangement will be exclusive to McLaren for the 2015 Formula One World Championship. But what fans and insiders alike have been wondering is how it might expand after that. Well, now we have at least part of the answer.
According to the F1 business insiders at Pitpass, Honda motorsport chief Yasuhisa Arai told a group of journalists at this past weekend's race in Shanghai that the deal with McLaren will be exclusive not only in 2015, but also in 2016. In other words, it won't be until 2017 at the earliest before Honda might begin supplying engines to any other teams, if at all.

Honda Performance Development reveals new ARX-04b LMP2 coupe

Make no mistake about it: Honda is big in racing. It was the first Japanese automaker to enter Formula One, remains the most successful and is set to return as an engine supplier next season. It's powered more IndyCar race winners and champions than any other manufacturer, hands down. Honda has won races and titles in Super GT, WTCC, even motorcycle racing. Just about everything this side of NASCAR, really. And that includes endurance sports car racing.
In fact Honda Performance Development prototypes claimed over 70 victories and numerous titles in the American Le Mans Series, and took the first LMP2 title in the FIA World Endurance Championship. And with sportscar racing in the US now grouped together into the United SportsCar Championship, Honda is back with a new chassis design.
Called the ARX-04b, it's Honda's first closed-cockpit LMP2. Like previous LMP2 and IndyCar projects, it's a joint development between HPD and Wirth Research, and packs Honda's HR28TT engine - a 2.8-liter twin-turbo V6 based on (and using many of the same components as) the J35 engine you'd find in a contemporary Acura. Designed to exceed the latest safety regulations, the ARX-04b features low-drag bodywork, quick-change front and rear panels, the same locking fuel filler system that Honda pioneered for Indy, top-exit exhaust to meet noise regulations, a 75-liter fuel tank and a gearbox that can easily be optimized for individual circuits.

2014 Honda Odyssey set to clean up in NY with world's first in-car vacuum

Much of the minivan segment's volume has been sucked up by the industry's ever-increasing appetite for crossovers, but a few major players are hanging in there, eager to serve as beasts of burden for America's families. Chief among those players is Honda, which is showing its revamped 2014 Odyssey at this week's New York Auto Show with a potential game-changing feature - an in-car vacuum.
Co-developed with Shop-Vac, the HondaVAC system will come standard on the range-topping Touring Elite model. The system includes a replaceable filter and canister bag, along with a range of attachments located in the cargo hold. Honda says this first-ever feature includes a hose that is long enough to clean the entire interior. Better still, the vacuum will run for up to eight minutes after the vehicle is turned off, so you can get every last Cheerio out of the seat cushions, and it never needs plugging in or recharging, as it runs off of the vehicle's electrical system.
In other news, the 2014 Odyssey gets a new aluminum hood and fenders to pair with its revamped grille and lower fascia. Headlamps get a more sinister look thanks to darker surrounds, and there are new LED taillamps out back, as well as revamped side mirrors on the doors. Underneath the skin, Honda says the 2014 Odyssey has received structural changes to help it ace the Insurance Institute For Highway Safety's new small-overlap frontal crash test, and it's also added active safety features like lane departure warning and forward collision warning to the optional features list.