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Midsize Sedan Comparison | Honda Accord vs. Toyota Camry vs. Mazda6

The rumors of the midsize sedan's death have been greatly exaggerated. The 2018 Honda Accord and 2018 Toyota Camry together moved more than 262,000 units through May of this year, which is still a ton of cars. Then again, both are down year-over-year despite being completely, and quite impressively, redesigned for 2018. So yes, the midsize sedan's grip on family transportation is weakening. Ford certainly thinks so, yet this change in consumer preferences comes at a time when the current crop of sedans is sensational. They're bigger and more powerful, yet also more efficient. Safety scores are impeccable. They even look better than ever. So before running out to score one of the bajillion little SUVs flooding the market, why not ponder this trio of midsize sedan all-stars that might actually work better? Over the course of three consecutive weeks we tested the 2018 Camry XSE V6, 2018 Accord Touring 2.0T and the perennial critical-darling 2018 Mazda6 Signature. The latter was thoroughly overhauled and, perhaps as such, bucked the segment trend by actually selling more in June this year. Each was a range-topping trim level with all the bells and whistles, plus the most powerful engine available. Really, you couldn't find cars closer in power, price and feature content. View 57 Photos Performance and fuel economy Toyota bucked the turbocharged trend by sticking with naturally aspirated engines for the 2018 Camry, and when it comes to its 3.5-liter V6, it's sure hard to argue with that decision. For starters, it produces 301 horsepower. Let that sink in for a moment. A 301-hp Toyota Camry. That crushes the others, while its 267 pound-feet of torque is only 6 less than the Accord. This is a strong, smooth engine that only gets better when you realize it matches the 26-mpg combined fuel economy of the others. Honda, meanwhile, followed the masses by switching to a turbocharged four-cylinder for the Accord's engine upgrade (and its base engine, for that matter). Though its 252 hp is considerably down on the Camry and its 271 lb-ft is only a smidgen more, the Accord's torque arrives earlier in the rev range without feeling overtly turbocharged. It also has 143 fewer pounds to contend with. When wrung out, this new 2.0-liter belts out a beautiful, typically Honda song made possible by the smart 10-speed automatic (the base 1.5-liter is paired to a CVT that results in more drone than mechanical music) that thankfully doesn't draw much attention to itself.

Fernando Alonso tries out fast motorcycles and Senna's McLaren

Honda closed out its racing year yesterday with its annual Thanks Day at Motegi. The event brought out an array of competition machinery and the drivers and riders who race them. That included Fernando Alonso, but rather than bring his Honda-powered McLaren, the two-time world champ took the opportunity to try out some different equipment. While MotoGP rider Marc Marquez slipped behind the wheel of the NSX Concept GT, his countryman Alonso hopped on his RC213V motorcycle for a couple of laps. Fernando isn't the first racer to swap between F1 and motorcycles: Michael Schumacher tried his hand and motorcycle racing from time to time, Valentino Rossi tested Ferrari grand prix cars on numerous occasions, and of course John Surtees won championships in both spheres – but he remains the only one to have done so. Fernando also had the chance to drive a McLaren-Honda MP4/6, just like the one with which Ayrton Senna successfully defended his title in the 1991 Formula One World Championship. That was the first time McLaren ran a Honda V12, but the last time a V12 – or a manual transmission – won the championship. After the following season, Honda and McLaren parted ways – only to be reunited this year with Alonso and Button behind the wheel. While Alonso was toying around with Senna's car, Takuma Sato – who drove Hondas in Formula One and now in Indy – tried his hand at the 1968 Honda RA301. That machine was also powered by a Honda V12, but at 440 horsepower, was far less potent than the 735+hp version that would later power Senna's. John Surtees drove one just like this in the '68 world championship, retiring from most of the races on the calendar but scoring two podiums from the three that he did finish. Marquez and his teammate Dani Pedrosa also competed in the CBR250 spec race, rode the mid-80s-era NSR500 bikes. They drove in four-wheel spec race as well in modified Honda N-One kei cars. The event served to cap a full year of racing for the Japanese automaker, which competes in a range of racing disciplines including F1, Indy, Super GT, the World Touring Car Championship, and numerous classes of motorcycle racing. Featured Gallery Fernando Alonso at Honda Thanks Day 2015 View 11 Photos News Source: Honda via Autosport Motorsports Honda motogp

Honda releases H2O brand bottled water to promote FCX Clarity

Remember when Hollywood stars Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds) and Joshua Jackson (Fringe) took a Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-Cell into Death Valley and "survived" by drinking water from the car's tailpipe? Honda has taken that idea into movie theaters in Australia. The idea, but not fuel cell water itself. Honda has created a bottled water brande called H2O, and it's meant to promote the hydrogen-powered Honda FCX Clarity as part of Honda's "clever thinking" campaign. The headline message, just as it was for Mercedes, is that a hydrogen fuel cell car emits nothing but water vapor, which is actually safe to drink. To give movie fans a hands-on experience, Honda Australia filled a number of Palace Cinemas movie theaters with free disposable bottles of H2O water. Of course, since there are only a handful of FCX Clarity vehicles in the world today and it would take a lot of driving to fill up that many bottles, Honda admits that, "if you're holding a bottle of our specially produced H2O water in your hand right now, you've been drinking plain old spring water. If you want to taste the real thing, you'll have to travel to California, Japan or the UK where the FCX is currently available." Of course, why anyone would want to associate themselves with the unending waste that is bottle water, a product that has not proven itself to be any better than good tap water, is beyond us. But that's what Honda is doing, as you can see in the promotional video about the stunt below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.