Honda
Video: HondaHAIR Expands Capabilities Of HondaVAC
When Honda unveiled the 2014 Odyssey at last week’s New York Auto Show, it came with an interesting feature: a built-in vacuum cleaner. Called HondaVAC, the benefits are easy to see. Parents can reclaim their minivans, cleaning up Cheerio fragments without making a special trip to a gas station or car wash. While those without kids might scoff at the idea, parents with tantrum-prone toddlers can surely appreciate having a vacuum on hand. Now, Honda’s released its first accessory for HondaVAC.
Update: 2013 Honda Accord Coupe V-6
There’s a misconception that since the death of the S2000, Honda’s only really “fun” car is the Civic Si (with respect to the tossable, but ultimately underpowered CR-Z). We’d dispute this point of view, and we think you would too, if you’d just got done testing Honda’s new Accord Coupe.
List: The Top Ten Winding Road POV Test Drives
Considering it’s Friday, and none of us want to do actual work, this makes today’s list a perfect time sink. We’ve corralled our most popular POV test drives, and have assembled them in one place. There’s roughly an hour’s worth of video here, with everything from affordable rear-drive coupes, to full-bore sports cars, to a pair of very powerful muscle cars. There are few better ways to spend an hour of your day then watching these videos (make sure you have headphones!).
Winding Road Video: 2013 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X GSR – POV Test Drive
We were offered a turn in a rare Evo GSR, complete with the old-school five-speed manual transmission. It had all the important bits, like the revvy, turbocharged 2.0-liter engine, but the addition of a third pedal changes the Evo’s equation considerably. Join us as we take it for a spin in our latest POV test drive.
Winding Road Video: 2013 Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG – POV Test Drive
The Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG is a perennial favorite among the Winding Road staff. It’s a fast, stylish, and muscular vehicle that we never get tired of driving. In fact, we enjoyed our last CLS so much that we had our own Chris Amos put together this POV driving video. We strongly recommend watching it with headphones on.
Update: 2013 Lexus LS460 F-Sport AWD
Now, we’ve tested the LS F-Sport, and the lack of sportiness afforded by the F-Sport badge is even more evident in this full-size offering. Simply put, if you desire a sporty, executive luxury sedan, buy a BMW 7-Series or an Audi A8. Allow us to explain.
Driven: 2013 Buick Verano Turbo
When an automaker announces a more powerful version of one of its vehicles, it usually makes us quite happy. Generally (but certainly not always), more power means more fun. So it was with some joy that we greeted the news of Buick’s new turbocharged Verano. With a 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-pot under its handsome, portholed hood, it packs 250 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque.
Third Look: 2013 Acura ILX Tech Hybrid
In Acura’s television ads, the ILX is billed as offering a just-right blend of premium-brand luxury, fun, and down-to-earth practicality—a blend that, in Acura’s own words, invites drivers to “move up (without) settling down.” Given this, one might assume the ILX Tech Hybrid would fit roughly the same mold, but with a distinctly energy-efficient “green” twist, and to a certain extent it does just that.
Greenformance: Hybrid Small Cars—The “Premium” Question
On the occasion of driving Acura’s new ILX Hybrid Tech, several members of the Winding Road team found themselves asking what exactly hybridized premium-brand small cars have to offer, at least in theory. But at the same time, we couldn’t help but ask two follow-up questions. First, do hybridized premium small cars deliver in reality what they promise on paper? Second, are there potentially cheaper and/or better ways to get the things we think we want from compact premium hybrids?
Quick Drive: 2012 Honda Fit Sport
This is a car we really could live with. Our tester, a Sport Navi trim, costs just $20,480 including destination charges. If you ask us, that’s not too bad for a car with all the stuff we need, and none of the stuff we don’t. The navigation features voice controls, there’s a decent setup for audio controls on the steering wheel, and Bluetooth and USB audio come standard at this level. In addition, the cost of living with the Fit remains low, with its EPA-estimated 27 miles per gallon city, and 33 mpg highway.
Quick Drive: 2012 Honda CR-Z
The CR-Z is kind of an odd little car. It’s vaguely reminiscent of the CR-X from which it borrows its form. It employs a hybrid powertrain, but passes itself off as moderately sporty, too. It offers a six-speed manual transmission—which we’ve tried in the past and enjoyed thoroughly—but our recent tester was fitted with the more efficient continuously variable transmission (CVT). As such, its 1.5-liter gasoline engine and electric motor put out a combined 122 horsepower and 123 pound-feet of torque.
Driven: 2013 Chevrolet Malibu LTZ 2.0T
Until now, Chevy only offered its Malibu as a mild-hybrid Eco and a rather tepid 2.5-liter four-pot. The arrival of the 2.0T delivers a healthy power boost to the Bowtie’s bread-and-butter sedan.
Driven: 2013 Honda Accord Sedan
The 2013 Honda Accord marks the 30th anniversary of the well-known nameplate. With an opportunity to commemorate this milestone with the best version of the car to date, well, we’ll go ahead and spoil it for you and say that Honda has succeeded. If you’re looking for a mid-sized family sedan that is high in quality, very comfortable, efficient, and (dare we say it?) actually fun to drive, this is the Accord you’ve been waiting for.
Quick Drive: 2013 Acura ILX 2.4
The Acura ILX’s 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine is a hoot to use. It pulls nice and hard, but doesn’t ever feel rough. It’s just slightly peaky, and changes in both physical and aural sensation as it climbs the rev ladder. The sound is usually pretty mild, but it will come to life when running it flat-out to the redline. Its tone is almost vocal as the pitch increases, and can really evoke a bit of emotion from the occupants. When driven civilly, though, it is easy to be smooth, and the noise, though always present, doesn’t intrude too much into the interior.
Honda Unveils New Accord Ahead Of Fall Debut
If you are looking at your screen and thinking “that’s not a 2013, it’s a 2012,” you’re not alone. The styling changes are subtle at best. Revised front and rear fascias, along with new head and taillights and a sharper character line are the primary changes. We haven’t seen any interior images yes.
Quick Drive: 2013 Acura ILX Hybrid
The sweet spot of this Acura package is found in the goodly amount of comfort and refinement for a compact luxury car. Interior materials are nice, and it feels roomy for the car’s fairly small size. Seating is comfortable for extended drives, and visibility isn’t a problem. The ride is smooth and quiet, with very little in the way of NVH (though the CVT can make the engine buzzy under full load). The $5500 Technology Package (for a total starting MSRP of $34,400) adds convenience technology such as navigation with traffic and weather, upgraded surround sound audio, voice recognition software, and GPS-linked, solar-sensing dual climate control.
Quick Drive: 2012 Toyota Prius C
But being small is part of the point. Its diminutive size makes the Prius C ideal to drive in urban environments. It is superbly easy to park, and to maneuver in heavy stop-and-go traffic or the tight confines of a parking lot. Its city gas mileage is slightly better than its bigger brother (53 miles per gallon versus the Prius liftback’s 51), but suffers a bit on the highway (46 versus 48 mpg). That’s the same average fuel economy as the standard Prius, which is as good as it gets without going all-electric—undoubtably the nameplate’s most famous attribute and greatest draw. In all, the C makes efficient work of in-town commutes, and feels right at home at the slower speeds of city traffic.
Secondhand Gems: Highway To Hollywood
The digital pages of Winding Road are typically filled with our presumptions on what makes driving enjoyable. To reach these conclusions, 99 times out of 100 we’re scribing about essential, elemental motoring characteristics such as vehicle balance, dynamics at the limit, handling prowess, usable horsepower, driver feedback, and so on. That being said, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to 100.
Winding Road Issue 84 Is Now Available!
This month in Winding Road, the Mini Roadster takes aim at the long-reigning king of the segment, the Mazda MX-5 Miata. Plus, we pack a bunch of other automotive content in this issue.
Driven: 2013 Honda Fit EV
The Fit EV retains many of the gasoline-powered Fit’s redeeming qualities, while creating a niche and a personality all its own. Driven by a 92-kilowatt AC electric motor and supported by a 20-kWh lithium-ion battery, the EV has an EPA-certified unadjusted range of 132 miles in the city, and an adjusted range—adjusted to better reflect real world driving—of 82 miles of combined city and highway driving. That figure gives the Fit EV the edge versus its competitors: the Nissan Leaf (73 miles), Ford Focus EV (76 miles), and Mitsubishi i-MiEV (62 miles).
Secondhand Gems: $33,000 Roadsters
Look closer at the segment, however, and one finds a roadster sweet spot just about in the middle, in the vicinity of $33,000. At that price point there exist three roadsters in the secondhand market that have the ability to deliver everything an enthusiast could ever want. Each machine has a different personality. All share a front-engine/rear-drive configuration with a manual gearbox, and the ability to properly carve corners. At $33,000 you can probably guess the two Japanese makes on the list, but the American entry just might surprise you.
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