1991 Honda Civic Crx Si on 2040-cars

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2018 Honda Accord charges into slumping sedan market

DETROIT - Honda on Friday revealed its newest-generation Accord, one of four re-engineered midsize sedans that Asian automakers are betting on to win market share as Detroit automakers shift focus to SUVs, crossovers, and pickup trucks. The new Accord, like rival Toyota's all-new Camry arriving this month, offers major improvements in fuel economy, technology, styling and safety. Honda declined to discuss details ahead of Friday's event in Detroit. The Accord and Camry are pillars of their manufacturers' US businesses, each selling well over 300,000 vehicles a year. In the coming months, Nissan is expected to launch a new Altima midsize sedan, and Hyundai will launch a new Sonata. Both are popular marques that will be promoted heavily. "There has been no new news on the midsize sedan side for three years, and we think this is a great opportunity to bring attention back to the segment," said Jack Hollis, Toyota's head of marketing for North America. Year to date, US passenger car sales are down 11.4 percent, and sales of midsize sedans are down 14.2 percent. Still, Americans bought 7.1 million sedans in 2016. With General Motors and Ford cutting sedan production, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles abandoning the segment, Honda and its Asian rivals could boost sales with updated models, dealers said. "They could take share from other brands, which is traditionally what happens when a new product is launched," said Pete DeLongchamps, vice president for manufacturer relations at Group 1 Automotive Inc, the third-largest US auto dealer group. "NOT FINDING A PLACE WITH CONSUMERS" The Accord for years was Honda's top-selling model in the United States. Within the past year, US sales of the Honda CR-V have eclipsed the aging Accord, and Honda has expanded production capacity for the compact crossover. Passenger-car sales have steadily declined since 2012, when they made up 51.2 percent of the US market. Sedans have sagged to a 38.1 percent share in the first half of this year. IHS Markit said US consumer loyalty to SUVs and pickup trucks has risen since 2012, but declined for sedans. The new Accord and Camry "may stem the decline," said IHS Markit's Tom Libby. "I don't think they will cause a marked reverse." Improvements to the Accord should boost sales at Galpin Honda in San Fernando, California, general manager Ed Hartoonian said.

Honda, Top Gear working on 130-mph lawn mower

We're not even sure they've got a blade of Kentucky Bluegrass to cut, but the folks at Top Gear have gone ahead and started building what will become, if they're successful, the world's fastest lawn mower. Actually, it appears Top Gear is not doing much of the design and assembly work at all, instead having solicited help from experts at Honda and Team Dynamics, which oversees the automaker's touring car efforts.
What the three are working on is a riding lawnmower with a 110-hp engine that can reach 60 miles per hour in four seconds and trim turf at speeds up to 130 mph. If they succeed, such a maximum velocity would put them well ahead of the current record for the world's fastest lawnmower, which is 96.529 mph set by Bobby Cleveland and his Snapper race mower at the Bonneville Salt Flats in September of 2010. Top Gear hasn't said whether or not it will officially go after Cleveland's record, but the build will be featured in an upcoming issue of the Top Gear magazine and is scheduled to be completed by June 17, so we may learn what this maniacal mower's true purpose is then.
According to TG's report on how the build is going, as well as the video of it being fired up (literally) for the first time below, there aren't many actual mower parts left on this machine. What started out as a Honda HF2620 mower now sports wheels and tires from a racing quad, a back axle from a go-kart, a steering rack from a Morris Minor and a 1000cc engine from a Honda VTR1000F sport bike. All that remains from the original mower are the pedals and body panels; even the steel cutting deck has been replaced with a lighter fiberglass version. And blades? This mower will be bladeless, instead using two electric motors to spin lengths of brake cable like a weed whacker.

2016 Honda Civic Coupe First Drive

[A Honda spokesperson confirmed to Autoblog today that the Honda Civic Coupe equipped with the 2.0-liter engine, which is reviewed below, is not affected by the engine-assembly issue that is at the heart of the stop-sale order currently affecting Civic Sedans. That particular issue was corrected before the Coupe began production. We expect to have more news about a recall involving the 2.0-liter Civic Sedans as soon as the NHTSA officially responds to Honda. - Ed.] Let's not beat around the bush – mechanically, this Honda Civic Coupe is the same as the new-for-2016 sedan, minus a couple of doors. For a lot of consumers, that lack of utility is a big problem, and it's why compact sedan-based coupes are a dying breed. Why spend the same amount of money on a car that drives identically but is less practical? But in the case of the Civic Coupe, we offer this: When a car looks this good, screw logic. The new Civic is one of the most competent vehicles to wear the H-badge in at least a decade. And this new two-door does nearly everything the four-door can do while looking like an absolute stunner. From the A-pillar forward, this is the same reserved but handsome Civic that broke cover in 2015. The new Civic is one of the most competent vehicles to wear the H-badge in at least a decade. Like a mullet (stay with us...), the Civic only gets more interesting as we proceed toward the back. The rear window sits 0.8 inches lower than on the Sedan, but that's only part of what makes the two-door more dramatic. The Coupe is 5.4 inches shorter than the sedan, but all of that is behind the rear axle – the wheelbase is identical. So while the rear window and roofline aren't dramatically lower than the sedan, you just run out of car far more suddenly. The downside, of course, is that you lose three cubic feet of cargo volume, but we think that's a fair price to pay for something that looks this good. Climb inside and feast your eyes on the cabin, which – you guessed it – is essentially exactly the same as what you find in the sedan. The seats get a standard two-tone color scheme and the door panels are ever so slightly different, but that's about it. The big change, of course, is in the backseat, which in this case should really just be reserved for passengers under five feet, five inches. In the video below, you can see your author go from front to back in a Civic Sedan, and then attempt the same feat in the Coupe. It's not pretty.