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2013 Honda Fit Sport

Revisiting The Runabout Of Record
The current Honda Fit has been around the block a few times. The subcompact hatch has soldiered on without significant revision since its first update for US customers in 2009, and while Honda is on the verge of launching a third generation, we thought we'd take the time to see how the runabout stacks up against the new wave of small, efficient and plucky five-doors now on the American market. Those include old standbys like the Nissan Versa and Toyota Yaris, as well as relative newcomers like the Chevrolet Sonic and Ford Fiesta.
Those machines may have all covered ground on the Fit, but Honda's wee machine holds a pleasant surprise for those buyers still willing to give the car the time of day. While the rest of the Japanese automaker's lineup has succumbed to dreaded model bloat, the Fit has remained true to the spirit of Honda that we remember from our vagabond youths. This may very well still be the closest genetic ancestor to the Civic models of old.

Five vehicles named Top Safety Pick+ including new Civic, MKZ

In an attempt to help push vehicle safety to a higher level, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety created a stricter Top Safety Pick+ rating last year, which incorporates a brutal small overlap test and requires cars to get Good ratings in four out of the five categories (and no less than Acceptable in the fifth). Joining the list of the safest cars of 2013, the 2013 Volvo XC60, Lincoln MKZ, Honda Civic (sedan and coupe) and the 2014 Mazda6 have all received the coveted TSP+ rating.
The Mazda6 and Lincoln MKZ have both been completely redesigned, and both received Acceptable ratings in the small overlap test. The Honda Civic, coming off its emergency refresh for 2013, is the first small car to be subjected to the small overlap test, and IIHS says that one of the car's many upgrades includes a stiffer front structure allowing it to receive Good ratings in all categories. Similarly, the XC60 gets all Good ratings thanks to, according to IIHS, Volvo updating the airbag software allowing the side airbags to inflate during the small overlap test.
The 2014 Subaru Forester has not yet been subjected to the small overlap test, so it must make do with just a Top Safety Pick rating until the IIHS tests small utility vehicles, which is expected to happen later in the spring.

Honda Tourer BTCC car lavished with photographic love

Back in December, Honda Yuasa Racing gave us one image of the Civic Tourer entrant it's fielding in the 2014 British Touring Car Championship. Thanks to media days at Brands Hatch and a few photos from Oulton Park, we've got a whole photo album of the elongated Civic that will attempt to continue Honda's BTCC winning ways and shots of drivers Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal.
This is the first wagon to race in the BTCC since 1994, when Jan Lammers and Rickard Rydel had just one year to throw the Volvo 850 Estate BTCC between the kerbing. The following year, the rules were changed so that rear wings couldn't extend above the roofline or beyond the rear bumper, which meant the end of Volvo's blue and white "pizza delivery wagon."
The season begins on March 30 at Brands Hatch, when Shedden and Neal will begin trying to wrest the driver's championship crown from Pirtek Racing. We don't know anything more about the manufacturer entry go-fast Civic Tourer, however, which means this is just an easy feast for the eyes. Because racing wagon.