Honda Prelude (awesome Condition!) on 2040-cars

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In Honda Super Bowl ad, Ridgeline teaches sheep to sing

Honda hopes that its Super Bowl ad's combination of a classic Queen song and an adorable premise are enough to get customers excited about the 2017 Ridgeline. The 60-second spot for the new pickup airs during the game's third quarter, and the commercial is sure to leave Somebody to Love stuck in your head. The spot titled A New Truck to Love stars a sheep rancher who likes to listen to Freddie Mercury while hauling animals to the field. He even uses the truck's bed-mounted stereo to enjoy some tunes while at work. The sheep apparently like Queen's songs because they start singing along when their owner is away. This is the one of the better auto ads for Super Bowl 50 that we've seen yet. A look at the truck's capabilities would be nice, but at least the commercial's premise is highly enjoyable. Plus, it's hard not to enjoy Queen. Honda's spot could be a popular one during this year's game. Innovative 2017 Honda Ridgeline Pickup Leads the Flock in New Super Bowl Commercial Feb 1, 2016 60-second commercial features music by Queen, performed by some unlikely and unforgettable co-stars Directed by Bryan Buckley, creator of more than 40 Super Bowl ads Extensive multiplatform campaign to support launch of new TV spot Consumers can enter to win a first drive of new Honda truck at "Camp Ridgeline" Honda today offered a sneak peek of the brand's commercial for Super Bowl 50 starring the highly innovative 2017 Honda Ridgeline pickup, a wily herding dog and a flock of sheep singing a classic Queen song, "Somebody to Love." Fans tuning in to Super Bowl 50 on Sunday, Feb. 7, will see the 60-second spot, "A New Truck to Love," during the third quarter, but the entertaining commercial is now available for viewing in its entirety on Honda's YouTube channel (http://honda.us/BigGameCommercial). Directed by Oscar-nominated director Bryan Buckley — dubbed "King of the Super Bowl" for his role in bringing to life more than 40 commercials for the big game — the new Honda commercial imagines how a rancher might use one of Ridgeline's available features, the industry's very first factory truck-bed audio system, enabling music to play outside the truck. This poses the question, "What if his sheep learned how to sing?" with the commercial showing the sheep being dropped off by the new Ridgeline and then performing the classic Queen hit after the rancher departs. The spot signals not only Honda's return to the Super Bowl, but the return of the all-new Ridgeline to market.

Will states start to prevent you from registering cars that have pending recalls?

The impact of 2014 – henceforth known as Year of the Recalls – will have long-ranging consequences on the auto industry. One of the biggest changes, though, might not be in the way manufacturers inform the government of pending recalls or in the way Uncle Sam punishes automakers that violate its rules, but in the ability to sell cars with pending recalls. And strangely enough, the charge is being led by an automaker. Honda Executive Vice President Rick Schostek, pictured above, argued during a meeting of the Senate Transportation Committee that the government needs to take a role in mandating that consumers have recall services performed. That could include withholding registration for vehicles with pending recalls, Bloomberg reports. Honda is just one of the automakers currently embroiled in the massive Takata airbag recall. "It's a good idea," safety advocate Clarence Ditlow said, according to Bloomberg. "California won't give you a registration if you have an emissions recall. Why not a safety recall?" "Honda is going to use any innovative tools to find customers and get these recalls done," Schostek told the Transportation Committee. The exec, aside from echoing Ditlow's viewpoint, also argued for requiring dealerships and garages to inform vehicle owners of incomplete recalls, regardless of the service provided. Schostek also made an argument that state governments could step in, as well. Whatever ends up happening, it's fair to say that between Takata and General Motors, the future of recalls for American consumers are set for significant changes. News Source: BloombergImage Credit: J. Scott Applewhite / AP Government/Legal Recalls Honda Ownership Safety

2019 Toyota Corolla vs. compact hatchbacks: How they compare

So you've read what we thought about the 2019 Toyota Corolla Hatchback. Oh, you didn't? Well, click to your left, we'll still be here. Just made some coffee, we're good for a while. Welcome back! Wasn't that riveting? The blue paint sure is bright, eh? Well, now you must be wondering how that new 2019 Corolla stacks up with all the other hatchbacks. And, despite long thinking that hatchbacks were doomed, there are actually quite a lot of them these days. So many, in fact, that we couldn't fit them all in our space-limited comparison chart. So, with apologies to the Hyundai Elantra GT, Kia Forte and the dead-man-walking Ford Focus, these were the cars we chose based on sales and competitiveness: the Honda Civic Hatchback, Mazda3 5-Door, Volkswagen Golf, Chevrolet Cruze and Subaru Impreza. We also included the outgoing Corolla iM for reference. If you think we've left something of interest out, you can always create your own comparison. Performance and fuel economy There is but one king here, and its name is Civic. While the sedan and coupe come with a naturally aspirated 2.0-liter 158-horsepower four-cylinder that's less potent than the Corolla's, the hatchback comes standard with the 1.5-liter turbo that aces the segment in terms of both acceleration and fuel economy. The Golf's acceleration should be comparable, but as you can see, it trails on fuel economy (still not bad, though). The new Corolla ends up being better than the rest with its new 168-hp four-cylinder paired to novel transmissions: a six-speed manual with rev-matched downshifting (!) and a CVT that mimics the actions of a 10-speed automatic. The Corolla does weigh more than everything else, though, so that could hamper its acceleration. Fuel economy data also wasn't announced, but Toyota indicated it would be a bit better than the old Corolla iM. Something akin to the 2.0-liter Mazda 3's numbers seems likely. As for the Mazda, its top two trim levels actually come standard with its bigger engine. In any event, despite its ample power, testing has often showed that the Civic is still the quicker car from 0 to 60 mph. And finally, let's not leave out the two on the end. The Subaru is the only car in the segment that offers all-wheel drive (the Focus RS and Golf R don't count), but is also the segment weakling now that the Corolla iM has been discontinued.