Honda Civic 71,125 Miles on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Petition to bring Honda Civic Type R to US picking up steam

Never mind what the executives say - we've had a sneaking suspicion all along that the upcoming Honda Civic Type R won't be coming to North America. And with good reason: both the prototype we drove in Japan and the concept unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show last week were based on the European-spec Civic hatchback - not to mention that some of the best hot hatches remain out of our reach.
Well it turns out we're not the only ones with that concern. There are legions of Honda hot hatch enthusiasts right here in the good old U S of A who want to see the new Civic Type R ripping up the Great American Road. And many of them are taking to the cyberclouds demanding that Honda bring it Stateside, post haste.
As of the time of writing, this online petition has gotten over 6,000 digital signatures, needing less than 1,500 more to get to the author's target of 7,500 votes. Of course, if and when the petition reaches its target, that still won't mean that Honda will bring it over, but it could mean that extra bit of encouragement the Japanese automaker's executives would need to tip the scales in our favor.

Honda Civic Type R blitzes five iconic European circuits

European automakers habitually produce some of the best hot hatches. So it took the revival of a Japanese legend to beat them on their home turf when the Honda Civic Type R stole the front-drive lap record at the Nurburgring away from the likes of Renault and Seat. Volkswagen struck back and reclaimed the prize for Europe with the new Golf GTI Clubsport S, but rather than return to the Green Hell for another attempt, Honda took revenge on five other Grand Prix circuits across the continent. The campaign started in April at Silverstone, where three-time British Touring Car champ Matt Neal set a lap time of 2:44.45 in the wet, then returned once it was dry to beat his own time at 2:31.85. With the front-drive record at the home of the British Grand Prix now in hand, Honda moved on to Belgium, where factory driver Rob Huff tackled Spa-Francorchamps and its infamous Eau Rouge complex to set another lap record at 2:56.91. Then it was off to Monza, home of the Italian Grand Prix, where the Civic Type R – still mechanically unmodified and on road tires – set another record at 2:15.16 at the hands of World Touring Car Championship driver Norbert Michelisz. Former F1 driver Tiago Monteiro was supposed to tackle the Estoril next, until he was taken out of commission in a WTCC crash. So on short notice, the series' safety-car driver Bruno Correia stepped in and lapped the former home of the Portuguese Grand Prix in 2:04.08. The last record fell at the Hungaroring where Michelisz returned to the cockpit and set another front-drive lap record at 2:10.85 last week. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Honda Civic Type R sets new benchmarks at five legendary European race circuits - Honda announces new benchmark times set by Civic Type R at five legendary European circuits - Lap times achieved in standard production car with no mechanical modifications - Benchmarks set at Silverstone, Spa-Francorchamps, Monza, Estoril and Hungaroring - Stars of Honda's WTCC and BTCC squad pilot Type R throughout five circuit campaign Honda's 'race car for the road' Civic Type R has crisscrossed Europe in an effort to set new benchmarks for front wheel drive production cars at five legendary circuits across Europe.

2015 Fit Kit is the perfect DIY car from Honda

Ah... let the April Fools' Day automotive jokes begin. Honda is kicking things off, following up on last year's Honda Hair joke with a prank video featuring the 2015 Honda Fit.
It's called the Fit Kit, and as you might guess, it's a way to build your own version of the redesigned hatchback. There are 180,000 mechanical parts in the kit - some delivered by drone - but that doesn't seem at all daunting to the pair of obnoxious, self-described tinkerers that star in the Fit Kit ad.
Honestly, the video is pretty entertaining, with some biting satire of the DIY movement and its attendant cadre of mustachioed hipsters. Scroll down and have a look at both the video and the Fit Kit press release from Honda.