10 Honda Insight Hatchback Hybrid Navigation on 2040-cars

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Behind the scenes of our subcompact crossover comparison

The cameras had been set up for almost an hour, and now, the living room filled with the sweetness of freshly brewed blonde roast. The late-summer sun had just started peaking over towering maples. In a week the colors will start changing, the inevitable sign of the coming gray skies and snow. Half past eight, the editors arrived. The Scandinavian inspired house that served as the headquarters for our subcompact crossover comparison couldn’t accommodate all seven of us, so they had stayed at a turn of the century farmhouse down the road. While geese, chickens, cats and sheep made for an authentic Northern Michigan farm experience, ingredients for a good nightÂ’s sleep they were not. Within minutes Red Bulls cracked open and short, cocoa-colored mugs appeared, filled with a variety of caffeinated beverages.  “I thought we were gonna have fried eggs,” Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore said, smiling, before refusing a muffin. Associate Producer Alex Malburg ran from camera to camera, adjusting focus and exposure, trying to keep up with the ever-changing light, which poured into the room faster each minute.  “I was promised food. IÂ’m not filming.” Consumer Editor Jeremy KorzeniewskiÂ’s sarcasm thinly veiled his true feelings. To keep the group content I promised a craft-services buffet next time.  For the second time, we shot our comparison just outside of Traverse City. While we took advantage of a local off-road park for the first, this round proved a bit more tame, utilizing the hilly, winding, wine-country roads that define the region.  An air of nervousness could be detected. Only one person knew the outcome of our test, Senior Green Editor John Beltz Snyder. I found myself both impressed and surprised he had kept this secret overnight, though I came to find out later that he revealed the winner to Producer Amr Sayour on the drive to dinner the evening before.  The cameras started rolling, the audio recording, but the caffeine hadnÂ’t yet entered the bloodstream, with one exception. Associate Editor Joel Stocksdale sipped his lime green Mountain Dew. That seemed to be working, as he passionately laid out his argument for the Kia Soul and his preference for winter tires over all-wheel drive. From behind the camera I silently disagreed with him. “No one buys winter tires,” Jeremy argued. As we consumed more coffee, the sun came up, and so did the energy of the debate.

Do you guys like trucks?

Do you guys like trucks? If the answer is yes, boy do we have the show for you! The 2018 North American International Auto Show is lousy with 'em. Yeah, we saw the new Ram 1500, Chevy Silverado and Ford Ranger, but that's just scratching the surface. There are big trucks, little trucks, clean trucks, dirty trucks, old trucks, new trucks, red trucks, blue trucks. It's like a Dr. Seuss book. Anyway, we made a little video for you truck nuts (see what I did there?). Check it out above, and if you're looking for more serious coverage of the Detroit Auto Show, we've got it, along with a ton of images and other videos from the show floor. Enjoy! Related Video: Humor Detroit Auto Show Chevrolet Ford GMC Honda Lincoln Nissan RAM Toyota Truck Videos Original Video 2018 detroit auto show

SAE World Congress: Testing out the Honda UNI-CUB, Walking Assist Device

Based on the downstairs display at the 2015 SAE World Congress in Detroit this week, you would think that Honda is barely an automaker. Instead, it was a company that focuses on robots, bizarre unicycles, motorcycles, and jets. We were not adverse to the car-related tech on display upstairs, but we wanted a closer look at the UNI-CUB and the Walking Assist Device. The UNI-CUB is one of the strangest vehicles we've ever experienced. It feels telepathic, because when you're sitting on it and think you want to go forward, your body naturally leans and then the UNI-CUB starts to move. The UNI part of the name stands for unicycle, but that's kind of a misnomer, since this thing has more than one wheel. First off, there's a tiny wheel for balance at the rear, but the main wheel itself is made up of multiple smaller wheels, which Honda calls the Omni Traction Drive System. This is what lets the UNI-CUB move side to side instead of just frontwards and backwards. The Walking Assist Device is a small setup with motors, leg straps, and a battery pack. The idea is to have the machine help lift up your legs as you walk, with the target audience being people who have had an injury, like a stroke. The WAD sits outside your clothes and can help someone walk for about an hour from a 22.2V-1Ah lithium-ion battery. You can see more in the video above.