Toyota recently launched a number of all-wheel drive Camry and Avalon models in the U.S. market and Redline Reviews had the opportunity to test out the two on a prepped snow course and on the road.
The all-new Honda Fit went on sale in Japan last week along with a wide range of genuine accessories.
Pricing is out for the 2020 Honda Civic Type R, and it has crept up a bit from last year. The new base price is $37,950, which is an increase of $695. Considering the amount of additional features and updates made to the Type R, that's a fairly reasonable up-charge.
Among the feature additions is the Honda Sensing suite of safety and driver aids. It includes automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control and lane-keep assist. The styling has been tweaked to downplay some of the fake vent openings as well as opening up the main grille for improved cooling. There are several mechanical updates including new two-piece front brake rotors that weigh a total of five pounds less, and Honda claims they provide better feel. The shocks have been retuned and stiffer bushings fitted. There's even a data logging tool that will be available as a phone app later this year.
Consumer Reports is out with its top 10 picks for best cars of the year, with increased emphasis for 2020 on safety technologies and its rankings based for the first time on price point rather than segment categories. Models from Asian brands cleaned up, with the Tesla Model 3 as the lone entrant from an American automaker on the list and the controversial Toyota Supra making an appearance.
Among 33 brands tested, Porsche was named top vehicle brand, with Genesis staying at No. 2 and Subaru dropping two places to third.
TOKYO — Japanese automakers delayed on Friday the restart of plants in China near the epicenter of a coronavirus outbreak, complying with authorities' directives but raising the risk of further supply disruptions that could hit global car production.
Nissan Motor Co said it would keep its plants in Xianyang in the central province of Hubei, and Zhengzhou in the neighboring province of Henan, shuttered after Monday, when it had planned to resume operations, but did not set a new date.
The 2020 Toyota Corolla Hybrid marks the first time we've seen a hybrid powertrain in a Corolla in the U.S. It uses the same hardware as the Prius, consisting of a 1.8-liter four-cylinder and single electric motor that combine for 121 horsepower. So no, the power numbers aren't scintillating, but the EPA fuel economy figures are. The Corolla Hybrid is rated at 53 mpg city, 52 mpg highway and 52 mpg combined. Those numbers put it right on pace with the 52 mpg combined rating of the Prius LE (though the Prius Eco achieves 56 mpg combined). Its price is significantly less than the Prius LE, though — at just $24,055, it's $2,435 less. Impressive stuff, but the Prius is more practical with its hatchback body. You can also get the stripper Prius L Eco for just $25,280, closing the gap by a bit.
Toyota positioned the Corolla Hybrid like this on purpose, letting it be the budget option for Toyota's small, hybrid lineup — the Prius C hatchback is no longer with us. Our tester was the LE trim, because that's the only trim Toyota offers on the Corolla Hybrid. After a couple of accessories were tacked on (body side molding, mudguards and a carpet mat package), our tester came to $24,467. A few of the standard features are impressive at its low price point. You get LED headlights, an eight-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay compatibility and Toyota's full Safety Sense suite of driver assistance aids that includes adaptive cruise control and lane-centering.
The ‘Type R' name has only ever been used on a handful of vehicles from Honda and during a recent interview with Autoblog, the car manufacturer said it's very protective of the name and won't use it for any old model.
You may find it hard to believe, but the tenth-generation Honda Accord had its Japanese premiere in late October 2019 at the Tokyo Motor Show – more than two years after its world debut in U.S. specification.
Japan is looking to be proactive with regards to this latest Coronavirus outbreak and is setting up a joint task force between the car industry and the government.
The 2020 Honda Civic Type R gets a number of updates over the previous model, plus a wild special edition, but one that Honda just announced is actually for your phone. The company is launching a phone app called LogR that will record vehicle data when you're at a track.
The app connects with the car's on-board computer to display and record various, well, data. The most basic function is as an auxiliary instrument panel displayed on the infotainment screen. It can show oil, water and intake temperatures, oil and boost pressure, and lateral and longitudinal g forces.
A year and a half ago, we got our first glimpse at a Civic Type R sporting a wing that didn't touch the sky. And now that more subtle Civic is going into production as the 2020 Honda Civic Type R Sport Line. It features a number of changes that make it more mellow looking, but American buyers hoping to order one are out of luck, as it's a European model only.
The obvious change is a low-profile wing that is almost more of a spoiler. It does still have pointy parts like the rest of the Type R's extroverted body, so it fits in nicely. Another significant change is the switch to 19-inch wheels, rather than 20-inch units. These look less extreme, and they will probably return a slightly nicer ride. The front splitter, side skirts and rear diffuser also get a grey highlight rather than the regular Type R's red line. Inside, the red bucket seats are swapped for simple black ones with red and grey stitching.
The Type R is the ultimate Civic from a performance standpoint, and now Honda has created an ultimate version of the ultimate Civic: the 2021 Honda Civic Type R Limited Edition. It's an uninspired name for an eye-popping limited-edition car, only 600 of which will come to America.
The immediately obvious change to the car is the Phoenix Yellow paint scheme that's exclusive to the Limited Edition. It's matched with a black roof, mirror caps and hood scoop, plus some dark chrome badging. Also noticeable are a set of forged 20-inch BBS wheels, the brand having been selected since it has produced wheels for the NSX and S2000.
Honda has announced a new recall on more than 200,000 Odyssey minivans, model years 2018 through 2020. Due to a safety defect, a wiring harness could potentially be pinched, which could create a short circuit and therefore a fire risk.
Honda first learned of a reported fire back in August 2018, but no information was provided to the company for further investigation. After a second fire in April 2019, however, Honda repurchased the involved minivan to examine it. In total, three fires were reported, and after months of internal testing and investigation, Honda identified the defect in January 2020.
During a roundtable during a recent event hosted by Honda, we joined in on a roundtable interview with Honda Technical Consultant Ko Yamamoto and Honda Civic Type R Project Leader Hideki Kakinuma. Questions were asked about the Type R brand broadly, as well as the potential for some new projects. The answers were both good news and disappointing news for Honda fans.
The good news is that Honda takes the Type R name and brand very seriously. Yamamoto and Kakinuma explained that the name and its associated red "H" badge are only for vehicles with a racing connection, such as the Honda Civic Type R that has a couple of racing variants. As such, you won't be seeing a CR-V, Odyssey or Insight with the Type R name. Furthermore, the Type R name is only for Honda-badged vehicles, despite the existence of the Acura Integra Type R a couple decades ago.