2004 Honda Accord Lx on 2040-cars

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Honda celebrates 30th anniversary of the NSX with a look back at how it began

In 1989, the baseball-loving Japanese dipped their bats in pine tar and came to the U.S. to take gigundous swings. That single year launched five legends: Lexus LS400, Infiniti Q45, Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo, Mazda MX-5 Miata, and Acura NS-X concept. The Chicago Auto Show (!) hosted the global debuts of the Mazda and the Acura. While Mazda celebrates the bygones with the 30th Anniversary Miata, Acura's reminiscing with a look at how the NSX — a car Motor Trend described in 1990 as, "[The] best sports car the world has ever produced. Any time. Any place. Any price ..." — came to be. The development yearbook opened in 1984, a year after Honda returned to Formula One as an engine supplier for the Spirit team, and for the second Williams chassis in the last race of the season. For the first time in the automaker's history, Honda wanted to build a production car with the engine behind the cabin, one that would demonstrate Honda's engineering prowess and "deeply rooted racing spirit." The sports car would also serve as a halo for the not-yet-launched Acura brand. The engineering team built the first test vehicle in February 1984 on the bones of a first-generation Honda Jazz. After four years of formal development, Honda parked the NS-X Concept in a conference room at Chicago's Drake Hotel in February 1989. This is where the media would meet the red wonder before the public show-stand debut. The F-16 Fighting Falcon-inspired coupe was built on the world's first all-aluminum monocoque, and its SOHC V6 ran with titanium connecting rods. Before the press conference, then-Honda president Tadashi Kume got in the NS-X, started the engine, and revved to the 8,000-rpm redline — a noise felt by everyone in the adjacent conference room attending a Ford press conference. Honda's PR man at the time yelled, "Mr. Kume, stop it! They're gonna hear this!" When Kume got out, he asked Honda engineers present why they didn't put their new VTEC technology in the NS-X. (What's Japanese for, "Why didn't the VTEC kick in, yo?!") They told him VTEC had been created for four-cylinder engines. Kume told them to work on a V6 application. More suggestions came from journos who drove the early prototypes at Honda's Tochigi R&D Center, who said the NS-X "could use more power." The development team had grabbed the SOHC V6 from the Acura Legend for the NS-X concept, and it put out 160 horsepower in the luxury sedan.

Honda motorcycles most stolen, just like Honda autos

It comes as no surprise that Honda's Civic and Accord are the most stolen cars in America, but as it turns out, thieves like the company's motorcycles the most too, according to a study by the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB). Out of the 46,061 two-wheelers stolen in 2012, 9,082 of them were Hondas. While that's bad news for Honda motorcycle owners, at least motorcycle theft went down slightly from 2011, which had 46,667 reported thefts. Motorcycle theft recoveries, on the other hand, were just 39 percent.
Yamaha is up next in the theft rankings (7,517), then Suzuki (7,017). The numbers drop a bit for fourth and fifth place, Kawasaki (4,839) and Harley-Davidson (3,755). These five brands are far and away the most stolen motorcycles: sixth place, apparently held by scooter, dirtbike and ATV maker Taotao, dropped to 914 theft reports.
California had the most reported thefts (6,082), followed by Florida (4,110), Texas (3,400), North Carolina (2,574) and Indiana (2,334). By city, New York City had the most reported thefts (903), followed by Las Vegas (757), San Diego (633), Indianapolis (584) and Miami (535.

Honda to ax Civic Hybrid, CNG models

Honda will kill off the Civic Hybrid and Civic Natural Gas models at the end of the 2015 model year as part of a massive product overhaul, a top executive said Monday in Detroit. The moves come in response to consumer preferences as the Japanese automaker prepares to launch the 10th generation of the Civic later this year, said John Mendel, executive vice president, American Honda Motor Co. "These moves will allow greater focus on Civic's sporty new driving character," Mendel said. Honda revealed the close-to-production Civic concept this spring at the New York auto show and confirmed it will include Si and Type R variants. The powertrain lineup will feature a new turbocharged inline four-cylinder engine, a short-throw six-speed manual, and a continuously variable transmission. The Type-R is expected in 2017, Mendel said. Though the new car marks a return to more athletic Civics, some versions will still get more than 40 miles per gallon in highway driving. The changes come as Honda pivots toward an expanded fuel-cell strategy with a new model set to launch in 2016. "We're creating the strongest and most balanced vehicle lineup in our history," he said. In addition to tweaking the Civic line, Honda has discontinued the plug-in hybrid Accord to focus on the updated Accord Hybrid, which launches in early 2016. Eventually, the plug-in Accord will be replaced by a new plug-in model in 2018, Mendel said. The changes come as Honda pivots toward an expanded fuel-cell strategy with a new model set to launch in 2016. The automaker has spent $14 million with California company FirstElement Fuel to set up 12 hydrogen filling stations. The new Civic is part of an influx of new products set for 2015-2016. The next-gen Ridgeline will arrive in 2016 with a more traditional truck design, Mendel said, admitting the styling of the current generation was divisive. "Design was polarizing," he said. "No one wants to have to explain why they bought what they bought." The next-generation Odyssey will also launch after the Ridgeline in 2016, Mendel said. He was also asked about a 'baby NSX' sports car by a reporter in the wake of trademark drawings that leaked last week, though he declined to elaborate. "No I can't tell you anything about the baby NSX," he said. "I mean I could, but I'd probably be fired." In other news, Mendel said Honda continues to work with airbag supplier Takata as it grapples with the massive recall and increased attention from the NHTSA.