Honda Sedan

Volkswagen has finally given its Jetta sedan for North America the power, exclusivity, and extra sporting edge that some enthusiasts felt were missing from the package. The new 2020 Jetta GLI has addressed all those concerns and is now a model with enough brawn and sophistication to go head to head with all the sporty sedans in its size and price brackets. If you’re into fast driving, then you will be happy to note the new Jetta GLI gets the exact same engine as the (Golf) GTI, a standard limited-slip differential, and a snappy six-speed stick shift.

One of the new Jetta GLI’s main rivals is the2019 Honda Civic Si sedan, a very hard contender indeed. The Civic Si has a smaller displacement engine than the Jetta GLI, and has less power, but it is also quite a light car, one renowned for its excellent handling and road manners. It also looks somewhat sportier than the Jetta too, especially if you see its trunk lid-mounted wing, the center exhaust, and the aggressive overall design and stance.

If this were purely a visual comparison to discover which car looked more aggressive, that distinction would automatically go to the Civic Si. But it’s not all about the visuals, especially since the Jetta is more powerful than the Civic and it also has a more sophisticated independent rear suspension that VW doesn’t offer on any other Jetta model.

Isaiah John Gellatly was the unhappiest man in Happy Valley, Oregon, when his attempt at stealing a run of the mill Honda Accord ended with jail time and a broken leg after he was run over by that same Accord.

Yes, that is what actually happened on Monday night in a quiet Oregon neighborhood that was suddenly turned on its head by a police pursuit. While injuries coming as a result of a police pursuit aren’t something that’s unheard of, the way this particular guy got his is what makes the story fit perfectly in a Leslie Nielsen movie.

The Honda Civic Type R TCR is a purpose-built racing car for the TCR formula. It is based on the FK7/8 Civic Type R and is built by JAS Motorsport. The car, with all of its 340-horsepower, won the inaugural TCR title in the Pirelli World Challenge this year with driver Ryan Eversley and team RealTime Racing.

Touring car racing has seen many sets of regulations come and go, some more successful than others. We all remember the glorious Group A touring cars such as the BMW M3 (E30) Sport Evolution, the Mercedes-Benz 190E AMG Evo II or the Nissan Skyline GT-R R32. Then there was the Super Touring formula which took the world by storm and became a truly global phenomena spawning regional series all across the globe, including North America where the North-American Touring Car Championship was held for two seasons.

Now, there’s a new platform that’s at the peak of its popularity. It’s called TCR, and it was conceived by Marcello Lotti, head of World Sporting Consulting, as a cost-effective option to the TC1 cars that were used in the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC).

Graduate students at Clemson University have completed building one of the coolest Honda Civics you’ll ever see. It still looks like the current Civic, but a lot of what lies under the surface has changed, none more important than the car’s powertrain. No longer is this Civic running solely on a traditional gas engine. It still has one in the form of a 2.0-liter, supercharged, four-cylinder engine, but it also features an electric motor that helps bring the car’s total output to 600 horsepower.

While the Type R may be a bit over the top with its styling, the lesser versions of the latest Honda Civic are definitely exceptional in their compact-car mission. Now, Honda has revealed the 2019 Civic with new styling features for the coupe and sedan. As an added bonus the Sport trim can now be had on the Civic Coupe.

Earlier this week, Honda announced that it began building the third-generation Insight hybrid at its factory in Indiana. A concept version of the Insight was showcased at the Detroit Auto Show earlier this year, and the production version was unveiled in New York in March. The Honda Insight is making a return after five years, and the company hopes for it to succeed. Is third time the charm for the Insight? Let’s find out.

Honda’s new-gen Civic is quite the looker. Here in the States, we were lucky enough to get both the hatchback (and the Type R, finally) and the sedan or “saloon” as our European brethren call it. Over in the U.K., however, the only choice is the Civic Hatch, but that will change now as Honda plans to bring the saloon to U.K. dealers by August 2018.

Japanese automaker Honda has been rather busy lately when it comes to new vehicles. But alongside new versions of the Civic, Accord, Clarity, and Insight, the carmaker also unveiled a couple of intriguing, all-electric concepts recently: the Urban EV and the Sports EV. And it seems that the Japanese aren’t stopping here, with two new concept vehicles set to break cover at the Beijing Auto Show in China later this month. And both are developed with the company’s local partners in China.

Discontinued in 2014, the Honda Insight returns to the U.S. market for the 2019 model year. Previewed with a pre-production concept car at the 2018 Detroit Auto Show, the Insight made its global debut less than three months later at the New York Auto Show. A significant departure from its predecessor, the new Insight is larger, boasts a more sedan-like design, premium features, and a brand-new drivetrain that has what it takes to give the Toyota Prius and the Hyundai Ioniq a run for their money.

Originally offered as a three-door hatchback for the 2000 model year, the Honda Insight has been an on-again, off-again power technology showcase for the Japanese automaker. Now, the nameplate makes its return for a third generation at the 2018 New York International Auto Show, bringing a fresh body style, the very latest H-badge technology, and fuel returns aimed at taking down the Toyota Prius.

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The Toyota Prius’ main competitor for many years, the Honda Insight took a break from the U.S. market between 2006 and 2009 and was again discontinued in 2014. The Japanese hybrid is set to return once again in 2018 with a brand-new design and Honda just previewed its upcoming production model with a prototype at the Detroit Auto Show. A production-ready vehicle at first glance, the new Insight is a significant departure from its predecessor, a scenario we’ve seen before. While the first-gen Insight was a rather weird-looking three-door hatchback with hidden rear wheels, the second-gen model had a more conventional design and five doors. For its latest iteration, Honda went with a four-door sedan configuration, probably hoping to appeal to a bigger crowd.

There’s bad luck, and there’s really bad luck. A couple from Prince George’s County in Maryland found themselves on the short end of the stick when a thief stole all four tires from their Honda Accord not once, but twice. The first incident occurred on November 28 when surveillance footage showed a man getting out of his car and jacking the tires from the Accord before it leaving it on bricks. To prevent the incident from happening again, the husband of the owner of the car, identified as Anthony Greer, decided to install a Viper alarm system with a tilt sensor on the Accord. Turns out, the two safety devices weren’t enough to prevent the crime from happening again. Exactly a week later on December 5, the thief managed to steal the Accord’s new set of tires after breaking the wheel locks and leaving the car on the same type of bricks.

Honda has high hopes for the all-new 2018 Accord, so it’s taking the car’s dealership experience to a whole new level with a new feature called HondaLens. The augmented reality (AR) feature puts prospective customers in a unique position of seeing the Accord and its features in a whole new light, literally and figuratively. The proprietary system made its debut at the 2017 Los Angeles Auto Show in grand fashion. Those in attendance were given an opportunity to peak into the history of one of Honda’s best-selling models before diving deep into the array of features that the tenth-generation Accord has at its disposal.

There’s no denying that Honda has been pretty stingy when it comes to the Type R badge and the U.S. Market. Over the years, U.K., Euro, and Japanese markets always seemed to get the best that Honda had to offer, with the Type R badge being applied to the first-generation Acura NSX, Acura Integra, the Honda Accord and, of course, the Honda Civic. Of all these, the only models we saw come to the U.S. were the NSX Type R and the Integra Type R, both sporting Acura Badges, and we finally got the Civic Type R for the 2017 model year. With that in mind, it’s been a while since the world got a Type R version of the Accord, so we decided to render up was a U.S.-Spec Accord Type R would look like. Highlights of the build would include more aggressive fascias out front with Type R specific styling to go with plenty of Type R goodness inside. There would, of course, be an improved output over the range-topping model’s 252 ponies, but how that power will come to be is another story. Other necessities include a stiffer suspension, manual transmission, tuned-out exhaust, and a lower ride height.

On the plus side, all of the necessary prerequisites are already in play. The new Accord is pretty sporty on its own, so a more aggressive look should be easily welcomed. But, with the range-topping models of the Accord already sporting the detuned version of the Civic Type R’s 2.0-liter four-cylinder, it won’t take much to get some extra power to the wheels. Even more intriguing is the fact that Accord Sport models with the 2.0-liter can be equipped with a six-speed manual if you check the right option box, so you’ll be able to forgo dealing with that new 10-speed auto gearbox. With all of that in mind, let’s talk a little about the Accord Type R’s history and then take a good look at our rendering. Are you excited? I sure am. Let’s get to it…

It’s been 41 years since Honda introduced the Accord to the compact market and, in that time, it has been through 10 generational shifts, with the most recent occurring for the 2018 model year. And it came quite quickly as well, considering the ninth-gen model only ran a total of four years – a very short life cycle for a car as raved about as the Accord. For 2018, however, Honda has tried to fix all of the sedan’s little shortcomings, and it has done a pretty good job. Highlights of the new-gen model include two new, turbocharged, four-cylinder engines (sorry, folks – no V-6 this time around) to go with a new 10-speed automatic transmission, an all-new chassis design, heavily revamped interior, and a reworked body. It also sees the use of more ultra-high-strength steel than any other Honda in production today, which should make for a safe vehicle.

However, it’s not all peaches and cream. While there’s been a lot of work done inside and under the skin, the Accord doesn’t seem to live up to the hype. Not that I’m saying it’s an ugly car by any means (it’s actually quite attractive from most angles), but what’s going on up front with that big, open grille? My initial thoughts are that there’s a piece of gloss black trim missing from the front end. But, then again, looks aren’t everything, so maybe it’s not so bad – I’ll leave that decision up to you. For now, we need to find out if it has what it takes to compete against the new Toyota Camry and Hyundai Sonata, so let’s dive on in and figure it out.

The Honda Accord has a long, illustrious history that goes all the way back to 1976 when it started out life in Japan as a compact car. Over the years, it’s been through a total of nine generation changes, effectively jumping segments twice, from compact to mid-size and, more recently, to full-size. The most recent generation kicked off in 2013, but that was before Honda really got its act together, so this generation is destined to be short-lived, with 2018 ushering in the 10th-gen Accord. Highlights include two new engines, a 10-speed automatic transmission, an all-new body design, all-new chassis design, and the full suite of Honda’s safety and driver-assistance technology as standard equipment. It has more ultra-high-strength steel than any other Honda on the market today and features a tech-savvy cabin that has an almost-German look matched with a rather busy layout.

Inside and under the skin, the Accord has gone through a complete transformation while the exterior’s new look is more evolutionary than revolutionary. One could even argue that the teasers were a bit misleading when it comes to the lesser models, whose front end just looks cheap. Higher-end models look a little better up front, but the overall look is a little risky in a segment that’s got cars like the new Toyota Camry ready to reign supreme. Want to learn more about the new Accord and get a better look at what it offers for 2018? Keep on reading for a quick breakdown.

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Honda introduced the Clarity nameplate back in 2008 with the FCX Clarity, a mid-size, five-passenger, four-door sedan equipped with a hydrogen-powered electric motor. Based on the FCX Concept vehicle from 2006, the original Clarity was the first hydrogen fuel cell passenger car ever offered for general public consumption. Production of the original Clarity ended in 2014 with just a handful of units sold, but now it’s back, with Honda reintroducing the nameplate in December of 2016. The basics are the same, including the four-door sedan body style bristling with nerdy cuts and details, while under the hood you’ll find a hydrogen fuel cell powertrain. Joining the H2-powered model now is two other powertrains, including an all-electric and plug-in hybrid variant, both of which were unveiled earlier this year at the New York International Auto Show.

With three options on the table, Honda hopes to bump up U.S. sales to 75,000 units over the course of the next four years, representing a five-fold increase in electric vehicle sales overall. This also coincides with goals of making two out of every three vehicles sold an electrified green alternative by the year 2030. “The Honda Clarity is aimed at accelerating the deployment of advanced electrified powertrain technology and bringing electrified vehicles further into the mainstream,” said Jeff Conrad, senior vice president of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. “The Clarity series also heralds the advancement of our Honda Electrification Initiative, representing our investment in the full spectrum of electric-vehicle technologies.” Can the Clarity deliver?

Update: 06/12/2017: Honda has just announced a new leasing program for the Honda Clarity Electric. Check out the “Prices” section below to learn all about it.

The interwebz have been bustling over Honda’s all-new 2017 Civic Type R, and for good reason. Not only is the hot hatch better than the previous version, it marks the first time a Honda Type R product will be sold in the United States. The Civic Type R takes advantage of the new, tenth-generation Civic’s chassis, while adding an improved suspension system over the outgoing Type R. Drive modes change the hatchback’s attitude via variable-rate steering, throttle response, and dampers. The familiar 2.0-liter VTEC turbo-four returns almost unchanged, but comes mated to a new six-speed manual gearbox with new rev-matching system. And like before, the Type R sends power to its front wheels only.

The go-fast goodies are matched with an aggressive styling. A huge wing, chin splitter, and air scoops all play into the sporty design. Production kicks off in the summer of 2017 with deliveries starting in the fall. Like all tenth-generation Civics, the Type R hails from Honda’s U.K. manufacturing plant in Swindon, England. Pricing starts in the mid-$30,000 range.

Update 1/10/2020: Honda has brought an updated Civic Type R to the Tokyo Auto Salon, so we’ve updated this review with everything you need to know about it. Check out our special “What’s New” section below.

The tenth-generation Honda Civic was launched in 2016, only five years after the previous generation was introduced. Alongside the standard model, Honda also redesigned the iconic Si version, until now the range-topping trim for the U.S. market. But while the hatchback has been relegated due to Honda having finally brought the Type R to North America, the Si sedan continues to sit at the top of the Civic range and act as Honda’s sole competitor for the likes of the Subaru WRX.

Much like its predecessor, the new Civic Si sedan is a slightly beefed-up version of the standard four-door. There are sportier features on the outside, a few exclusive items and extra standard equipment on the inside, and a more powerful engine under the hood. The latter is brand-new and not a massive improvement over the outgoing unit, but it now motivates a lighter, more rigid car. Find out how it stacks against the competition in my review below.

Updated 05/12/2017: Honda announced prices for the 2018 Civic Si sedan which will be put on sale at dealers nationwide on May 13, 2017.

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Think about this for a minute. It’s Spring 2018, and you’re sitting at a stop light in your brand-new Civic Si. A Civic Touring pulls up next to you and begins flexing his muscle. It’s on!! Right? Well, the light turns green and you partake in a highly illegal but fun competition of endangering others on the road while proving your Si is better. But, you can’t even get into third gear without realizing that the Civic Touring is kicking your ass. How is this possible? You just paid a premium to own the Si, just to have it beaten by a lesser model, so what gives? Well, chances are, homeboy in the Civic Touring probably just left a Hondata dealer after having the new FlashPro tuner installed.

So, what is this FlashPro tune I’m talking about? Well, I’m glad you asked. It’s a special tuner that Hondata says can increase the output of your six-speed, non-Si, 1.5-liter Civic (EX trims and Touring trim) to 225 horsepower and 254 pound-feet of torque. That’s an increase of 51 horsepower and 92 pound-feet over a stock tune with a few other minor modifications like cold air intake and high-octane fuel. CVT models can get a power increase as well, bringing them up to as much as 214 horsepower and 220 pound-feet (yeah, it’s less, but that’s what you get for choosing a CVT over a real transmission, ya wuss.) Details of how the tune work are pretty scant, but the tune includes a nine-psi increase in boost pressure for manual models and a boost of three to six psi on CVT models. The best part is, the tuner will only set you back by $695 – not bad, right?

Between low gas prices, national carbon reduction pledges, and fluctuating regulations, it’s not exactly certain where the market for environmentally friendly transportation will head next. But that’s not bothering Honda, which just announced it will expand its Clarity lineup to include new plug-in hybrid and all-electric variants, essentially providing all avenues of attack when it comes to green options for consumers.

You probably recognize the Clarity nameplate as Honda’s hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, the four-door sedan offered up in December of last year as an answer to the Toyota Mirai. The move to include a hybrid and an EV, in addition to the hydrogen Clarity, coincides with Honda’s stated intentions of reducing carbon emissions over the long term.

“The Honda Clarity is aimed at accelerating the deployment of advanced electrified powertrain technology and bringing electrified vehicles further into the mainstream,” said senior vice president of American Honda Motor Co., Inc., Jeff Conrad.

Honda has previously indicated that it wants 2 out of every 3 vehicles sold to be electrified by the year 2030. That’s a mighty ambitious goal, but an expanded Clarity lineup is a big step towards making it a reality.

Read on for more details, as well as a few of the specs on the newly unveiled Clarity hybrid and EV.

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