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Honda fixes Fit flaw, improves performance on key crash test [w/video]

The Fit's grade on the small-front overlap test improved from "marginal" to "acceptable."
Back in March, safety engineers at Honda were disappointed when the much-anticipated 2015 Fit received a substandard grade on an important crash test conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Honda and Mugen take tuned rides to Tokyo Auto Salon

The Makuhari Messe will open its doors in a couple of weeks for the 2016 Tokyo Auto Salon, featuring all manner of custom creations from Japan's automakers. And Honda will be out in force with an array of roadsters, hatchbacks, minivans, and crossovers. Included among them will be some modified with parts from the company's Modulo customization catalog, but the ones we're most interested are being prepared by its longtime performance partner Mugen. Mugen was founded decades ago by Hirotashi Honda, son of Soichiro Honda, the man who started the motor company for which his name is best known. Over the years Mugen has prepared Honda engines and vehicles for motorsport competition, but also customizes the company's road cars for higher levels of performance. At the Tokyo salon, Honda and Mugen will display two amped-up takes on the S660 roadster, along with a Civic Type R featuring even more extreme aero appendages, plus a modified Step WGN Spada minivan and a customized HR-V crossover. Alongside the Mugen show cars, Honda will also display an array of Modulo custom concepts. The lineup includes accessorized versions of the S660, Civic Type R, and Step WGN, but also customized takes on the Fit, N-One, and N-Box. While it's at it, Honda will also showcase some of its racing machinery and motorcycles, including the McLaren-Honda MP4-30, NSX Concept-GT, and the Concept CB cafe racer it displayed at the main Tokyo Motor Show a few months ago. Scope out all the modified automobiles in the Mugen gallery above and the Modulo gallery below for a closer look. Related Video:

Honda rolls out six-seat Jade Hybrid wagon in Japan

Honda has tried its hand at making hybrids of all shapes and sizes – whether dedicated or adapted to partial electric propulsion. There was the original two-seat Insight, the five-passenger Insight that followed, the 2+2 CR-Z hatchback and the hybrid version of the Vezel crossover – to say nothing of hybrid versions of the Civic and Accord. And now there's one more... in Japan, anyway. That would be the Jade, a wagon developed for the Chinese market but which Honda is now bringing home for the JDM, with a few key differences. For starters, while the Civic-based, low-slung wagon/minivan is produced under joint venture with Dongfeng principally in five-seat configuration, the Japanese version is being offered with three rows of two seats each for a total of (you guessed it) six chairs. The six-seat configuration, also offered on the conventional Chinese-market model, does away with the middle seat in the middle row in favor of more elbow room. The JDM Jade is also ditching the conventional 1.8-liter inline four in favor of the 1.5-liter hybrid and seven-speed DCT from the Vezel and Fit hybrids. Now if we could just get it Stateside with the Civic Type R engine, we could have a real sleek power wagon on our hands that would make us forget all about the Seat Leon ST Cupra unveiled just last week and let us play British touring car champion on our daily commute. Featured Gallery Honda Jade Hybrid (JDM) View 15 Photos News Source: Honda Green Honda Minivan/Van Wagon Hybrid JDM