2012 Honda Accord Lx Sedan 4-door 2.4l on 2040-cars

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2019 Subaru Forester vs. 2020 Honda CR-V Car Seat Test

We've had our long-term 2019 Subaru Forester Touring for some time now, and I've had my large son's car seat in it — and out of it, and back in it — a fair number of times. Installing a car seat over and over is a pain, but the Forester is actually a pretty good car for it. The rear seat is roomy, the door opening is large and the car seat is generally easy to install. For a few short days, though, I also had a 2020 Honda CR-V Hybrid in the driveway alongside the Subaru. Mostly stuck at home in quarantine, I wasn't getting a lot of chances to drive the two cars back to back, but comparing something like a child's car seat in each car is easy enough without unnecessary trips and potential exposure to coronavirus. So, with my son along for moral support, I lugged his car seat out of the garage and got to strappin'.  In terms of backseat roominess, the Forester and CR-V are competitive. On paper, they're very close, with the Forester offering 39.4 inches of rear legroom and 39.6 inches of headroom, and the CR-V providing 40.4 inches of legroom and 39.2 inches of headroom (the fact that I tested a Hybrid makes no difference). For each, I moved the front passenger seat forward to a reasonably comfortable seating position, keeping a sizeable gap between my knees and the dashboards, and eyed them up. They look damn near the same, each offering lots more space in the second row than my wife's 2013 Mercedes-Benz GLK that I'm usually putting the car seat into. Even the openings are close in size and shape, perhaps with the Forester getting a slight advantage in ingress/egress for one's feet, which matters little when installing the boy's Chair Force One (officially a Britax Frontier ClickTight). First, I tried the car seat in the Subaru. It's really easy. There's no angling the seat to wedge it in the door. Just walk up and plop it down. I thought for sure the Forester would take the win here, but when I went to put it in the CR-V, it was equally simple. Once installed, both still offer plenty of room behind the front seat for a child to swing their legs around without kicking the seat back. With just one child, we often find ourselves putting one of the rear seats down to accommodate more items, like when we're hauling gear up to our cottage for a vacation — or just going to Costco. If we're picking a side of the car, we usually put our boy on the passenger side.

Recharge Wrap-up: Honda Legend Sport Hybrid launching in Japan; driving cross-country on chicken fat

Honda will begin sales in Japan of the Legend Sport Hybrid SH-AWD in January. The Legend is Japan's answer to the Acura RLX Sport Hybrid sold in the US. Up front, the new flagship sedan uses a 3.5-liter V6 with cylinder deactivation and a seven-speed, dual-clutch transmission with integrated electric motor. In the rear, a dual electric motor unit supplies power to the wheels. The three electric motors are also used for generating electricity during deceleration. The car has three drive modes, including EV Drive, Hybrid Drive and Engine Drive. The result is a fuel economy rating of 40 mpg, according to the JC08 cycle. Read more at Green Car Congress or in Honda's press release below. While Jay Leno explains how marketing early electric cars toward women caused them to lose out to internal combustion, the same can't be said about the current era of EVs. Leno says that early EVs, like Leno's beloved Baker, appealed to women because they were quiet, clean, and didn't require cranking to start them. This led to accessorization marketed toward women, causing men - who had more buying power than women at the time - to shy away from EVs. This time around, though, EVs target a broader audience in a different culture from the early 20th century. See Leno explain the early EV culture while driving his Baker Electric in the video below and read more at Hybrid Cars. GKN's two-speed eAxle allows EVs to make the most of both acceleration and top speed. Single-speed transmissions must sacrifice top speed for acceleration, or vice versa. In addition to improving performance at all speeds and increasing range, the GKN's eAxle also performs well in terms of NVH, providing seamless shifts and low gear noise. In order to package the eAxle in the BMW i8, the unit is just 12.8 inches by 22.1 inches by 12.3 inches and weighs 60 pounds. Read more at Green Car Congress. An alternative fuels researcher at Middle Tennessee State University will drive a truck powered by chicken fat biodiesel across the country. Professor Cliff Ricketts is driving a converted 1981 Volkswagen Rabbit pickup from Key West, FL to Seattle, WA to demonstrate the viability of chicken fat as a fuel. Ricketts admits, though, that the truck's exhaust stack is loud and smells like French fries. Read more at Domestic Fuel. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

The 2017 Honda Ridgeline's innovative bed

Today most truck makers put their emphasis on high-zoot comfy interiors, towing bragging rights, and macho styling (aka my grille's bigger than yours). The "work area," aka the "bed," for the most part, is often an afterthought. Yeah, there have been improvements, but they've come slowly; and frankly most to date have not been very innovative and/or have been poorly executed. A thinking man's truck Since the very first Ridgeline was introduced, and now with the new 2017 model, Honda has done a lot of serious thinking when it comes to the bed – how it's used, and how to make it even more user-friendly. For the most part great ideas abound, while some like the in-bed audio system seem really silly. The two-way tailgate is flat-out brilliant, even if the idea was borrowed from 1970s Detroit station wagons. Other trucks offer optional bumper steps, fold-out steps, or a tailgate step to aid bed access. Good ideas for sure, but Honda's swing-out tailgate solution is so simple and so elegant it hurts; plus it's standard. The Ridgeline's ability to lay 4x8 building material flat on the floor of the bed is a no-brainer, especially for someone who likes to do home projects; yet Honda is the only mid-size truck to offer that capability. The storage trunk in the bed is another super idea – most of the time. Is it perfect? Nope. Some say accessing the bed trunk with a load of mulch is a problem. No argument there, so you plan ahead. Same with accessing the spare tire; it could be a BIG problem with a loaded bed. Then again, how often do you see a Harry Homeowner truck with a loaded bed? The odds are, if you're going to get a flat tire, most likely the bed will be empty. If not, well then you must have angered the gods. Speaking of flat tires, Honda blew it big time here by giving the Ridgeline a temporary spare tire. no truck should ever have a temp tire; full-size spare all the way, baby! No way do I want to have to use a temp tire while carrying a load or towing a trailer. Hopefully they will offer a full-service spare as an option. The funny thing is, the previous model sold in Mexico came with a full-size spare standard. From what I've heard, the reason the American-spec model comes with a temp tire is to save weight; and Honda will do anything to save weight, to improve EPA mileage ratings, even if it's unwise for real-world conditions.