2004 Honda Accord Lx Sedan 4-door 2.4l on 2040-cars

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2013 Honda Fit Sport

Revisiting The Runabout Of Record
The current Honda Fit has been around the block a few times. The subcompact hatch has soldiered on without significant revision since its first update for US customers in 2009, and while Honda is on the verge of launching a third generation, we thought we'd take the time to see how the runabout stacks up against the new wave of small, efficient and plucky five-doors now on the American market. Those include old standbys like the Nissan Versa and Toyota Yaris, as well as relative newcomers like the Chevrolet Sonic and Ford Fiesta.
Those machines may have all covered ground on the Fit, but Honda's wee machine holds a pleasant surprise for those buyers still willing to give the car the time of day. While the rest of the Japanese automaker's lineup has succumbed to dreaded model bloat, the Fit has remained true to the spirit of Honda that we remember from our vagabond youths. This may very well still be the closest genetic ancestor to the Civic models of old.

Honda asked for Takata inflator change without telling Feds

Honda and Takata could be in legal hot water after the automaker requested a design change to the supplier's airbag inflators in 2009 without notifying the government. According to internal documents obtained by Reuters, the updated parts had extra vents to reduce the force directed occupants if a rupture occurs. Automakers generally need to tell the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about any safety-related changes to their vehicles, but Honda argues to Reuters that the disclosure wasn't necessary in this case. The company wanted the changes to the parts to "protect against the possibility of future manufacturing errors – it was not an acknowledgement of a larger design flaw in the inflators," Honda spokesperson Chris Martin told Reuters. The revised components started going into some Honda models in 2011. However, a jury might not agree with Honda's position, and a lawyer could argue the company had a responsibility to report the alterations. There's already a pending class action lawsuit against automakers and Takata for violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, and there are many more from individuals. Among those is the case of a pregnant woman in Malaysia who died from a rupturing airbag. An investigation by the Independent Testing Coalition found three factors for the inflators'' rupturing. The use of ammonium nitrate is part of the problem, but the inflator's assembly doesn't keep moisture from reaching the chemical. If a vehicle is in a high humidity area, the danger is even worse. When they combine, these issues make the explosions more likely. Takata allegedly knew about the problem as far back as 2000 but hid the failures. Emails even reportedly showed workers joking about changing the data. Related Video:

Honda demonstrates driverless valet parking system with special Fit EVs

There are many challenges that will need to be sorted out before full autonomous driving becomes a reality, but automakers are taking small steps toward this advancement with semi-autonomous technologies. Nissan, Toyota and Ford have already revealed various automated driving systems, and now Honda is getting into the game with an automatic valet parking system that was unveiled recently at the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) World Congress in Tokyo.
Unlike Ford's recently demonstrated self-parking Focus, which is fully operational on its own, Honda's new system requires input from the parking lot via cameras. Combining information provided by the car's rearview camera as well as cameras positioned around the parking lot, drivers are able to drop their car off at a central location, and using a touchscreen display, the car can park itself and return when the driver is ready to leave. The benefit of this is that multiple cars can be parked at the same time and no additional sensors (other than a backup camera) are needed for the car, but the downside is that it can only operate on properly equipped parking lots. According to Honda's demonstration, this system can be practical by 2020.
Honda also showed off some semi-autonomous driving and non-contact electric vehicle recharging technologies at the ITS World Congress, although information is limited and there are no demonstrations available. Scroll down to read more about Honda's latest tech, including a video demonstration of the automatic valet parking system.