2022 Honda Civic Touring on 2040-cars

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Sonic-themed Honda Civic spin-dashes into Comic-Con

Prepare to feel old video gamers – Sonic the Hedgehog, the speedy, spiky avatar of early 1990s Sega enthusiasts turns 25 this year. And in celebration of Sonic being old enough to rent a car, Honda put together a celebratory Civic in time for the awesome nerd fest that is San Diego Comic-Con. The Sonic Civic, as Honda's taken to calling it, features a vinyl wrap over parts of the Sonic Blue body, while the Sonic Yellow accents add some pleasant contrast. Honda went with two different wheel colors for the Civic – the rears honor Sonic's iconic red-and-white sneakers and the fronts are reminiscent of the long-running series' gold rings. It's pretty obvious Honda aggressively lowered the Sonic Civic's ride height, too. We don't have interior images, but Honda claims the blue theme carried over to the Katzkin leather seats. In the trunk is a pair of ten-inch, 500-watt Rockford Fosgate subwoofers, a pair of 400-watt amps, and a flip-up, 32-inch TV for play throughs of Sonic's classic adventures. Cool upgrades, but where's the performance stuff? Speed is Sonic's defining characteristic, so it seems a little strange that a car built in his honor is rocking a base 1.5-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder. Related Video: Featured Gallery Honda Sonic Civic for Comic-Con 2016 News Source: HondaImage Credit: Honda Auto News Toys/Games Honda Economy Cars Sedan sega

Hawaii is first state to sue Takata

Hawaii became the first state to sue Takata Corp. alleging the company knowingly sold potentially defective airbags in a suit filed May 13. The state also claims Takata covered up data showing the airbags were a danger and then delayed recalling them. Hawaii also named Honda Motor Co., which owns part of Takata, and Honda's US affiliates, American Honda Motor Co., and Honda of America Manufacturing Inc., in the complaint. The state claims Takata switched to lower-cost ammonium nitrate for its airbag inflators, despite internal testing that the propellant was "unpredictable and prone to explode." Hawaii, which brought the suit through its Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Office of Consumer Protection, is seeking the maximum civil penalty of $10,000 per violation. It also wants Takata to make restitution to owners, run an educational campaign to spur owners to get their cars fixed, and repay profits made from the faulty airbags. Faulty Takata airbags have killed 13 people and are estimated to have injured more than a 100 more. NHTSA says 28.8 million vehicles with the airbags have been recalled, and potentially 40 million more may need to be recalled. Related Video: Image Credit: Getty Images Government/Legal Honda Safety lawsuit Hawaii

Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha to make swappable motorcycle batteries

Just as electric cars are becoming ever more common, the alternative propulsion system is starting to make headway in the motorcycle sphere. Companies such as Harley-Davidson and Zero already have electric models on sale, but other established brands are preparing for the electric future. Among them are the four big Japanese bike builders (Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha) who have a plan to improve electric bike adoption, and make their bikes very appealing. The four companies created an organization back in April 2019 for this sort of purpose called the Swappable Battery Consortium for Electric Motorcycles. And the group has now announced that the manufacturers have agreed on the specifications for motorcycle batteries that can be interchanged among each company's motorcycles. So if you have a Suzuki, you can use a Honda battery, or vice versa. This idea presents quite a few interesting possibilities. The manufacturers could sell bikes with or without batteries, since you might already have a battery from your previous bike, or just another one you own, so you wouldn't have to shell out to buy an entirely new battery. If, for whatever reason, you needed a replacement battery, it should be easy to get one, since the same type would support bikes from a variety of manufacturers. The pipe dream of battery swapping stations might even be feasible because of the standardization and support. And having the batteries relatively easy to remove could be good for apartment dwellers, since they might be able to bring a battery inside to charge. The manufacturers haven't said exactly what the specifications are for these interchangeable batteries, nor when they'll be implemented. But we'll be eagerly awaiting more information in the future. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.