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Honda launches new Fit in Japan, has big expectations for North America

Honda has officially launched the Fit sub-compact in its home market, ahead of its eventual arrival in North America. The third-generation Fit is wildly important for Honda, with the company's president, Takanobu Ito, saying, "This is the most important model."
The third-generation Fit is a ground-up reworking of the car that we've come to know. It will pioneer Honda's new design language, Exciting H Design (seriously) and will also be the very first Fit to be manufactured in North America. Thanks to a Mexican factory that is scheduled to open in the spring of 2014, Honda will be able to produce 200,000 Fits for the North American market in North America, saving the brand a huge amount of cash.
As for that Exciting H Design, it's meant to be sleeker and more modern, according to Automotive News. It's not bad looking, but the overall design is far less important than what's under that hood. The vehicle you see above is a Fit RS, which has quite a resemblance to the rumored Fit Mugen. There's not a lot of detail on this model, but based on looks alone, we certainly hope it'll be coming to the North American market - it'd make a great Fit Sport. A hybrid variant will also come to the US market, and that car is returning impressive numbers on the Japanese cycle: 86 miles per gallon so far, thanks to the combination of an 1.5-liter, Atkinson-cycle, four-cylinder engine and a seven-speed, dual-clutch transmission. That's a 35-percent improvement over the current, JDM Fit Hybrid.

A closer look at the motorcycle El Chapo used to escape prison

Joaquin Archivaldo Guzman Loera, better known by his nickname, El Chapo, stands five-feet, five-inches tall. This defining trait – his nickname, not coincidentally, can be translated as "Shorty" in Spanish – is an important detail in his escape, as the tunnel that stretched a mile underground that led the drug kingpin to safety measures just one inch taller than Guzman's height. Clearly, this was a well-planned and executed escape. The tunnel that was custom-sized to perfectly fit El Chapo started at an abandoned building in the middle of an empty field and ended in a tight shaft that led to the shower stall in Guzman's jail cell. In between those start- and finish-points was an impressively dug-out hole in the Earth, complete with ventilation shafts, wiring for electricity and lights, and rails on the bottom to serve as tracks for a custom-built motorcycle that El Chapo apparently rode to freedom. There are specific traits that could be useful in figuring out what kind of motorcycle we're looking at. All of these facts are well-known to anyone who's been following the story of how the most notorious criminal in Mexico could escape from a maximum-security prison in broad daylight. Especially considering that this event marks the second time since 2001 that Guzman has arranged his own prison break. There's one detail, though, that has caught our attention. A close look at the images released by Mexican authorities shows us a motorcycle that's been heavily modified specifically to work underground. We can't be certain, based on the grainy shots and limited viewing angles of the pictures we have access to, but there are some specific traits that could be useful in figuring out what kind of motorcycle we're looking at. For starters, there's the engine. It's a single-cylinder, air-cooled powerplant, canted slightly forward. The exhaust exits on the right side of the bike, when looking from above, and there's a short chain guard on the opposite side. Granted, that doesn't narrow it down all that much. A look at the shape of the fins on the cylinder and the shape of the head, though, makes us think this may be one of Honda's ubiquitous CG-series of engines. A quick look at the bike's frame shows a single downtube, dual shocks and a steel-tube swingarm. That means it's probably not of particularly recent vintage, but we can't really pinpoint exactly what model it may be.

Watch Obama kick the ball around with Honda's latest ASIMO

Bend it like Obama. The Commander-In-Chief was just in Japan for a state visit, and his trip took him to a science expo, where he played a bit of soccer with Honda's latest ASIMO robot. The entire scene was captured on video, and showed the innovative robot as it ran, hopped and kicked a soccer ball to a bemused President Obama.
ASIMO had a number of upgrades ahead of its meeting with the president, which were originally shown off to the crowds at the 2014 New York Auto Show. These tweaks to the 110-pound robot included a number of changes in both its upper and lower body to improve stability, speed and balance. Although not shown in this video, Honda claims the lower-body upgrades allow ASIMO to climb faster and more smoothly than ever before. Its hands are more dexterous and expressive, as well, while new sensors give it an even better sense of touch.
Before ASIMO smoothly and effortlessly jogged across the stage, the robot and the President had a brief chat. According to The Wall Street Journal, Obama later told students at the Miraikan Science Expo in Tokyo that ASIMO and the other robots at the fair "were a little scary. They were too lifelike."