2004 Honda Odyssey Ex Mini Passenger Van 5-door 3.5l on 2040-cars

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Honda to offer $184k street legal version of MotoGP racer [w/videos]

Fancy yourself a motorcycle racing talent on par with MotoGP factory riders like Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez? Have $184,000 to spend on a bike to prove it? Then get an order in on the Honda RC213V-S when the Japanese motorcycle maker begins taking global reservations on July 13. RC213V-S is designed to be the closest thing possible to legally riding Honda's two-time championship winning RC213V MotoGP racer on the street. Outside of the US, buyers can even spec an optional kit to make the bike track-only but raise the performance even higher. All versions use a 1.0-liter V4 and six-speed gearbox making 157 horsepower and 75 pound-feet of torque or over 212 hp and 87 lb-ft with the tuning package. That's not as much power as the Kawasaki Ninja H2R, but the Honda is a lightweight at 375 pounds for the street version or 353 lbs with the kit. In comparison, the factory racing example weighs just 348 lbs and produces over 235 hp. Being rideable on the road means losing some of the race bike's high-tech features, though. For maintenance reasons, the engine now uses coil-sprung valves, rather than the pneumatic units in MotoGP, and the seamless-shift transmission is replaced with a traditional one. Also there's some added equipment for legal reasons like lights, mirrors, and a muffler, plus useful things like a speedometer and starter. Honda has put out a few videos showing Marquez riding an RC213V-S and one opening up on track. Both are embedded below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. HONDA TO LAUNCH RC213V-S BY TURNING RC213V COMPETING IN MOTOGP RACES INTO A MODEL FOR PUBLIC ROAD RIDING 11/06/15 The RC213V is a machine exclusively for racing that has won consecutive championships in the MotoGP class of the FIM Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix (hereinafter called "MotoGP") in 2013 and 2014. Honda has made changes to some of the specifications of the RC213V, and will now introduce this as the RC213V-S. It is possible to ride the RC213V-S on public roads, and Honda will start accepting order entry for this new model on July 13, 2015. In 1954, Honda declared its intention of participating in the Isle of Man TT races, which were a part of the Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix at the time.

Honda promises all-new Ridgeline within two years

Despite an aging design and low sales, Honda has remained committed to its Ridgeline pickup truck. Now, in its first official confirmation of a next-gen Ridgeline, Honda has released a teaser sketch (click to enlarge) of the new truck and promised a debut within two years, as previously reported.
The sketch shows the direction that Honda is planning for its new truck, which appears to ditch the single-piece body in favor of a more conventional pickup truck design. Even with the new design, it's not clear if Honda will move away from the Ridgeline's car-based platform shared with the Odyssey, Pilot and Accord. Sales of the Ridgeline dipped to below 10,000 units in 2011 but have increased steadily over the last two years (including 29 percent so far in 2013) with slightly more than 16,000 units on the year.
As for the current Ridgeline, Honda will wind down production at the Lincoln, AL assembly plant sometime during the middle of next year. The press release for the announcement is posted below.

Honda, Hyundai and Kia get best word-of-mouth recommendations in US

Forget advertising, incentives and, yes, even our excellently crafted vehicle reviews, sometimes the best way for automakers to sell cars is still good ol' fashioned word of mouth. In an attempt to measure this "word of mouth" power, The Boston Consulting Group, a management consulting firm, has created a new study called the Brand Advocacy Index (BAI). The index takes a look at how various industries perform from person to person. Those industries include automotive, smartphones, grocery, mobile telecommunications and banking.
The study polled more than 32,000 individuals across Europe and in the US to come up with the top 55 brands in these various industries. On the automotive side of things, the top brands in the US were Honda, Hyundai and Kia, all tied at 63 percent. On a global scale, Volkswagen and Toyota scored the highest with a 65-percent BAI rating (both in France). The average BAI for auto industry players tallied 50 percent.
As for companies in other industries, Apple's iPhone was the index's top-rated smartphone, Trader Joe's was the highest recommended grocery store, Virgin was sat atop the mobile telecom industry and USAA was the top retail bank. Scroll down for the full press release on the new study.