2002 Honda Civic Ex on 2040-cars

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2017 Honda Ridgeline enters the landscape block war

In the test of pickup truck beds, if steel is apples and aluminum is oranges, Honda wants you to know that composites are pineapples. Chevy recently performed a test in which its own Silverado was pitted against its most obvious competitor, the Ford F-150. A loader dropped over 800 pounds of landscaping blocks into the two truck beds, and Ford's aluminum bed ended up with more damage than Chevy's steel bed. Check that test out right here. Honda apparently wasn't content to let Chevy throw stones alone. In a new test, the Japanese automaker replicated the block-drop test using its brand-new Ridgeline truck, which features a composite bed. As you'll see in the video above, there was very little damage to the high-strength plastic bed of the Ridgeline after a similar load of landscaping blocks were dropped from a loader. Without being on hand at any of these tests, we can't say with any degree of certainty that they match up in severity. But they all look pretty similar, and this is actually a test that Honda performed in front of journalists ( ourselves included) earlier this year. We visually inspected the composite bed of a Ridgeline after a demonstration just like the one on video above, and can confirm that there was basically no damage to Honda's truck. Chevy went an extra step by flinging a heavy toolbox into the Silverado and F-150; Honda didn't match that particular test. Does any of this matter? That's up to truck buyers and owners to decide, naturally, but we doubt anyone would actually dump a load like this into their own truck. And it's also worth noting that a heavy-duty spray-on bedliner would probably minimize damage to the metal surface below, whether steel or aluminum. If nothing else, it's memorable marketing. Related Video:

Honda helps Santa take his sled into the 21st century

If you had put nearly 75 billion miles on your only company car, it would most likely be pleading for retirement in every rickety way it knew how. That's Santa's situation, so St. Nick heads to his not-exactly-local-at-all Honda dealer for a new sled, and the company obliges with a red rider fit for the new millennium. But Honda doesn't try to shoehorn he of the white beard into an Civic on rails. Working from Crayon sketches of safe sleighs and wanting to insure a lengthy stint on Santa's "Nice" list, the Honda reps work up a bespoke offering from a block of clay, but still give it features like a rear-view camera and a cargo bay ejector platform fitted with a parachute. You can see their gift to Santa in the video above. And for some even more far out holiday offerings from Honda, check out their Honda Days videos featuring Skeletor singing a bro hymn to He-Man, G.I. Joe serenading Gem, and Gumby and Pokey singing whatever they can think of. News Source: Honda via YouTube Honda Videos

Honda Clarity Fuel Cell has the longest range of any EV: 366 miles

If you want to go far without emitting anything from your tailpipe, your new road trip warrior is here. Honda announced today that its upcoming Clarity fuel cell vehicle will have an amazing 366-mile range. That's the most you can get from a zero-emission vehicle between recharging or refueling. The other electric vehicles with more than 300 miles of range are the battery-powered 2016 Tesla Model S P100D ( 315 miles) and the hydrogen-powered 2017 Toyota Mirai ( 312 miles). WIth 68 MPGe, the Clarity Fuel Cell can't claim the highest miles per gallon of gasoline-equivalent rating in the US, since these are all based on official EPA numbers. That title goes to the BMW i3, with 124 MPGe. The hydrogen Clarity should arrive for lease in hydrogen-friendly California before the 2016 calendar runs out. It will be followed by all-electric and plug-in hybrid versions in the coming years. The hydrogen Clarity will lease for about $500 a month, a bill that will almost certainly include the hydrogen fuel, since that's par for the course with hydrogen vehicles in the US right now. Related Video: