08 Accord- Ultra Reliable, Leather Interior, Ex Trim Level on 2040-cars

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Honda pulling plug on slow-selling Insight hybrid

Insight hasn't amounted to even a tenth of Prius sales, and well over half of those sold were JDM.
It's been a rough ride for the Honda Insight, and now its journey appears to be at an end - word is that the five-door hybrid hatchback is going out of production.

Honda has more tricks in store for next Civic Type R

While we can only admire the current Honda Civic Type R from afar, the next version is slated to make its way to American showrooms. That's not expected to happen until 2017, but our friends over at CivicX.com got a sneak peek at the engine that will provide its motivation. And it looks to be shaping up to be a real firecracker. Honda's latest 2.0-liter inline-four is slated to take its advanced design even further. Not only will it combine a turbocharger with the company's signature VTEC variable valve timing system, but closer inspection of the pictured engine reveals that it will also feature an electric actuator on the wastegate as well as a bypass valve integrated into the compressor housing. Expect the new Type R to be even faster and more potent than the current version. That's saying a lot considering that the existing Type R already packs 306 horsepower and clocked the fastest time for a front-drive car at the Nurburgring – besting the Renaults and Seats that diced it for top honors until now. It'll surely be an expensive piece of kit, though, which brings us to another potential piece of good news. This engine is tipped to make it into the lower-level Civic Si as well, albeit in a somewhat detuned state. As it is, the outgoing Civic Si packs 205 horsepower, so there's plenty of room to improve before it starts threatening even the existing Type R, let alone the more potent model to come. All of which tells us that the Si will be no slouch either, and with those features will surely prove a favorite once again in the tuner crowd. Related Video:

It turns out Takata isn't willing to expand airbag recall nationally after all

There have been "approximately 0.000006 failures per air bag deployment, which is far below the failure rate" of most recalls, Takata claims. Takata has seemingly made an about face following reports that it would expand its regional airbag recall into a nationwide repair effort, issuing a scathing, four-page letter rebutting allegations by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and its Office of Defects while simultaneously attacking the government's handling of the situation. The Japanese supplier claims in its letter that the "currently available, reliable information does not support a nationwide determination of a safety defect," arguing that there were "approximately 0.000006 failures per air bag deployment, which is far below the failure rate in the vast majority of the thousands of recalls," The Detroit News reports. Takata then breaks down the two specific incidents mentioned in NHTSA's original recall request letter, a 2005 Honda Accord and 2007 Ford Mustang. Referencing the two crashes, NHTSA Administrator David Friedman said last month "one incident is an anomaly, but two are a trend." The supplier, though, argues the Honda issue is already being covered by that company's soon-to-be-national recall (more on that in a moment). The company then goes on to point out that neither Takata nor NHTSA has been able to analyze the Mustang's airbag inflator, saying that such a lack of examination meant there was "no way to ascertain what actually occurred during the incident, whether any inflator ruptured, and whether any inflator rupture that may have occurred was related to the incidents that led to the current regional campaigns." Takata alleges that NHTSA has disobeyed its own statutes. Takata also took the opportunity to take a few swipes at NHTSA's behavior during the airbag scandal, saying it was "very surprised to receive" a recall request letter because the ODI had yet to even receive the company's responses to a pair of special orders. It also alleged that NHTSA was disobeying its own statute, which says only manufacturers of vehicles and replacement equipment can "decide in good faith whether their products contain a safety related defect," and that the government can only "issue an initial decision that a safety-related defect exists" to those same entities.