2009 Honda Odyssey Exl Sunroof Leather Dvd Rear Cam 36k Texas Direct Auto on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Editors' Choice: Top Five 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show Debuts

Consider the 2015-16 auto show season officially kicked off. The Frankfurt Motor Show offered a great look at the newest crop of production cars and conceptual machines, and brought some old favorites back into the spotlight for a closer look. (The Alfa Romeo Giulia, for example, debuted in June, but this was the first time most of us saw it.) Now that the dust has settled and we're all on flights back to the US, our editors cast their votes for their personal favorites from the Frankfurt show. These are the cars we truly loved seeing the most. But unlike other shows, there was no one runaway winner – all of the Top Five received positive praise from our team. We won't spoil the results, though. Scroll down to see what we liked most from this year's Frankfurt expo. 5th Place – MERCEDES-BENZ IAA CONCEPT View 12 Photos MIKE AUSTIN: The clean lines on this concept have me excited for a more elegant beauty to future Mercedes-Benz vehicles. Next to the Concept IAA, the lovely S-Class Coupe looks like an overstyled barge. DAVID GLUCKMAN: Yeah, the extendable rear is neat and all, but I'm more interested in the front-end styling of this one. It looks like the Tron version of a 300SL, in a good way. I'm hopeful it portends the future of Mercedes design. STEVEN EWING: I was super impressed when Mercedes said that, with the rear end extended, this concept has a drag coefficient of just 0.19. That's crazy aerodynamic. I'm not head-over-heels about the styling, but I think the lessons learned from this concept are really important, and will play a huge role in the future of Mercedes' products. 4th Place – ALFA ROMEO GIULIA View 15 Photos SEYTH MIERSMA: I can hardly express how in love with this car I am. The styling feels creative, modern, and evocative, without going over the top. The proposed performance is spectacular. And the Alfa badge speaks to a legacy of romantic motoring. DAVID GLUCKMAN: Pretty Italian car makes big promises and will probably deliver on about three quarters of them. I think that will still be enough for me. JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: I'm really intrigued by the Giulia. It looks great, sounds awesome, and I'm expecting it to have a load more character than its German rivals. I hope I'm not disappointed. 3rd Place – JAGUAR F-PACE View 15 Photos GREG MIGLIORE: It's the first SUV for Jaguar, and I think they nailed the design, capability, and electronics. It's the right car at the right time.

Honda takes us through 50 years of automobiles in 60 seconds

Honda's wonderfully simple, fun ads are not in short supply right now. We showed you Hands, the followup to 2003's The Cog, last week. If you haven't had a chance to look at those two great videos, we strongly encourage you to head over that way and give them a watch.
The latest minute-long commercial is a bit more dear, though. And while it may be in Japanese, it's still a cool look back at Honda and its car-building history.
This is also a great video if you're a fan of odd, vintage Japanese vehicles. Honda's T360 and a few old Civics are featured heavily, although we can't help but notice that a few very big names are missing. Where's the NSX or the S2000? How about the original Insight, a car so revolutionary it still has a cult following today? Honda has made some great cars, we just wish it'd show off more of them. Check out the video below.

Listen, the Type R and the WRX STI don't look alike. Here's why.

So following the reveal of the new Honda Civic Type R, we've seen quite a few commenters issuing all kinds of accusations about the Type R looking like a WRX STI. And you know what? They're right. Both cars have four wheels, four-passenger doors, big wings, and scoops. In all seriousness, aside from a passing similarity because they're both flashy sport compacts, they really don't look alike. Let's start with the front and the profile. These areas are technically the most similar, since both cars feature high beltlines and have lower fascias defined by large inlets and a deep chin spoiler. And admittedly, the little kick-ups on the lower rear portion of the side windows are reminiscent of each other. But that's where the similarities end. Up front, the grille is by far the clearest indicator that the Honda is most certainly a Honda. The wide "blade" shape that spans the nose from light-to-light is unmistakably from the company that gave us VTEC. After all, just about every Honda today uses some form of that grille. The Subaru, on the other hand, has a traditional grille that is distinctly separated from the lights. It's not a bad thing, Subarus have had rather anonymous designs in the past, and we've still liked them. It's a Subaru thing. Moving to the scoops, we find more differences. For once, the Type R is more restrained, with a small, low-profile inlet far back on the hood. It will not be mistaken for the massive one on the STI, which looks like it could suck up low-flying fowl. View 58 Photos Along the side, the distinctions continue to pile up. The key here is in the fenders. While the STI has proud, pumped-up fenders compared with its distant Impreza cousin, they aren't nearly as pronounced as those on the Type R. The Honda's flares clearly show that they protrude from the standard hatchback's sheetmetal and closely follow the curve of the wheelarches. The STI's fenders proceed along the body's lines more closely and blend in more. Finally, we come to the rear, where no one should ever get these two vehicles confused. Yes, they both have enormous rear wings and diffusers, but that's it. For starters, one car is a hatchback, and the other is a traditional sedan. Not only that, but the Type R's hatch has a distinctive split rear window. I mean, based on the criteria people have used to compare the Type R with the STI, they should've actually been comparing the Honda to a Prius.