Wheelies: The Turbo Honda Edition

A roundup of motoring news from the web:

¦ Honda introduced its new turbocharged engines, as well as an 8-speed dual-clutch transmission, at a press conference in Tokyo this week. The engines – a 280-horsepower, 2-liter 4-cylinder, a 1.5 liter, 4-cylinder and a 1 liter 3-cylinder – and the transmission are part of Honda’s Earth Dreams powertrains, which are designed to produce more power without reducing fuel economy. (Automotive News, subscription required)

¦ Lamborghini makes very recognizable cars, some capable of stopping traffic on their own. But one Lambo driver took his noticeability to the next level when he decided to drive around Huntington Beach, Calif., with a pet bear in his car, creating a knot of onlookers. (Jalopnik)

¦ The trucking industry is facing regulatory changes, aimed at making trucking safer and more efficient, that will cost it an estimated $2 billion and alter the way truckers work. At the heart of the new regulations is a type of tracking module called the electronic on-board recorder that monitors a truck’s engine metrics and makes sure drivers aren’t working more than 14 hours a day. (The Atlantic)

¦ According to the British Lung Foundation, more than 430,000 children between the ages of 11 and 15 are subject to second-hand smoke in vehicles in England every week. The organization is pushing legislation in the British parliament to ban smoking in cars when children are present. (The Mirror)

¦ BMW’s i3 electric car, an all-new platform that breaks a number of design conventions, will come with another innovative feature: easier access to solar charging. BMW teamed up with SolarCity, which will offer i3 owners a 10 percent discount on home solar charging packages. (Green Car Reports)

¦ With the biofuel industry unable to meet expectations created by Congress, which in 2007 set production quotas for 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency has reduced the quotas for total biofuel production, lowering next year’s target to 15.1 billion gallons from 18.2 billion. (Quartz)

¦ Economic recovery and incentives in Spain similar to the American Cash for Clunkers program have caused a spike in car sales in Europe. In October, sales across the Eurozone grew by 4.6 percent over the previous year, with a 34-percent rise in Spain. (Bloomberg)

¦ The International Historic Motoring Awards has dubbed the Amelia Island Concours d'Élégance its motoring event of the year. Bill Warner, chairman of the Amelia Island event, said that this is the first international award it has collected. (Hemmings Daily)

Wheels: Air Bag Problems May Affect 320,000 Honda Minivans

Honda Motor Co. The 2003 Honda Odyssey; one of the model years possibly affected by industrywide air bag problems.

Citing complaints about air bags deploying when there has not been an impact, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating whether 320,000 2003-4 Honda Odyssey minivans should be recalled.

In a separate report, also posted on the N.H.T.S.A. Web site early Monday, the agency said it would upgrade its investigation into whether General Motors should have recalled an additional 550,000 vehicles in 2009. That’s when G.M. recalled 8,000 Pontiac G6 models from the 2005 and 2006 model years for a problem with the brake lights.

In the Honda investigation, the agency said it has received six complaints from owners, including three who said they were injured. One of those six owners said he was stopped at a light when the bags deployed, though the minivan had not been struck in a collision.

“The driver’s side air bag deployed first with a loud pop. Two or three seconds later the passenger-side air bag deployed, where my wife was sitting. Fortunately both us were sitting back in our seats and I had my hands off the steering wheel,” he wrote, adding that the dealership he went to for repairs gave him an estimate of $4,100.

The report noted that Honda may use the same module that resulted in the recall last year of about 745,000 2002-3 Jeep Liberty and 2002-4 Jeep Grand Cherokee models. In that recall, TRW Automotive Holdings Corp., the company that supplied the air bags Chrysler used in its Jeep vehicles, told the safety agency that the same module was used in some Odyssey models.

The G.M. investigation involves brake lights that illuminate when the brake pedal is not depressed but do not light up when the driver does push the brake pedal. N.H.T.S.A. said in February that it would open a recall query to learn whether recalling 8,000 2005-6 G6 models in 2009 was adequate.

In the safety agency’s latest report, investigators said they found enough reason for concern to upgrade the recall-query investigation to an engineering analysis. The newly discovered information includes 314 complaints from owners, with a report of one crash without injuries. G.M. told the agency it has fielded about 1,100 complaints.

The investigation will also look into reports that the cars’ cruise control did not work properly and that shifting automatic transmission-equipped models out of park was difficult.

Behind the Wheel | 2014 Honda Accord Plug-In and 2013 Ford Fusion Energi: Aiming for the Hybrid’s Sweet Spot

What, then, should we make of Ford Fusions and Honda Accords suddenly sprouting plugs and growing battery packs? Both of these mainstream, top-selling cars have recently arrived as plug-in hybrids, expanding their maker’s existing lines of gas-only models and conventional hybrids.

You can think of a plug-in as an overachieving hybrid, a vehicle that runs largely on electrons for local miles and then mostly on gasoline for longer trips. That combination — a broadly appealing solution that splits the difference between petroleum power and purely electric cars — has the potential to make battery propulsion acceptable to motorists put off by matters like limited driving range.

The Ford Fusion Energi, however, is less about the blending of electrons and hydrocarbons for power and more about the car’s dual nature: the ability of a handsome family sedan to switch, superhero-style, from one driving persona to another.

When its 7.6 kilowatt-hour battery pack is fully charged — that takes about 2.5 hours from a 240-volt source — the driver can invoke the car’s jazzy smooth electric-vehicle self. In the first two days of a week with the sedan, I used a button near the gearshift to select the EV Now mode, which keeps the car driving almost exclusively on its battery. In 36 miles of driving punctuated by frequent electric top-ups, I was effectively operating a spacious 3,913-pound zero-emissions electric sedan, not using a drop of gasoline.

The car’s roomy interior, comfortable ride and taut steering were a welcome change from the toylike robotic feel of the Nissan Leaf compact E.V. that is my usual transportation. Among sedans that can operate on battery power, in my view, the Fusion Energi is surpassed in size and style only by the Tesla Model S.

Both cars appropriated Aston Martin’s signature grille to inject some James Bond flair in their four-door profiles. But don’t take the similarity too far: compared with the rip-roaring Model S, the Fusion Energi has swallowed a dose of Xanax. It glides sedately through city streets. The acceleration on highway on-ramps is adequate, but when driving solely on electricity, the car is not even as zippy as a Leaf.

Things change about 17 or 18 miles down the road, when Dr. Electric transforms into Mr. Combustion. With gasoline supplying power via Ford’s 2-liter 4-cylinder engine, and assisted by the electric motor and battery pack that had been operating solo in E.V. mode, the car’s output jumps to 188 horsepower. It feels like twice the oomph.

Ford has perfected smooth transitions between gas and electric power sources, so passengers have little evidence of the handoff. The cabin of the Ford Fusion Energi is also among the quietest I have experienced. Close the door and you feel practically vacuum-sealed, buffered from engine noise or vibration. Noise-cancellation technology is used to counteract any whine from electrical components.

After the switch from E.V. to hybrid operation, there is an obvious sign that hydrocarbons are powering the Fusion: the planted feel on the road now takes on a sporty quality. It becomes a fun family cruiser, especially shining on the highway, territory not usually associated with E.V. prowess.

An 80-mile round-trip drive between Berkeley to San Jose — usually an anxious experience in my Leaf requiring a 55 m.p.h. pace to conserve energy — was carefree in the Fusion Energi, which offers a total range of 620 miles.

Yet the Transformer-like shift has an impact on efficiency. There were several days early in the week when I frequently charged throughout the day, and therefore remained all E.V. As a result, fuel economy broke past 100 miles per gallon of gas (not including the electricity you put in the battery). The E.P.A. pegs average combined city-highway fuel at 100 m.p.g.e. A Toyota Prius plug-in, for reference, is rated at 95 m.p.g.e.

Trips that started all-electric for the first 20 miles or so but continued on for another 50 or miles registered around 75 m.p.g. And the day’s travel to San Jose and back — when I tested the limits of legal highway speeds, with air-conditioning and audio blasting — fuel economy was a respectable 38 miles per gallon. Over the course of 227 miles, the Fusion Energi averaged 55 m.p.g.

Behind the wheel. 2013 Honda Civic: a meat well cooked-Over triggers the final score

In 1990, when it turned out that the mirror in the shiny, new, freshly Orbiting Hubble Space Telescope is brilliant precisely the right way, the Space Agency began to work on a solution. In December 1993, this fix, Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial replacement, called Costar, was launched aboard the space shuttle Endeavour and, in a major calls for service of all time, has been installed in the Hubble. The telescope has been look at the edge of the universe since then.

The 2013 non-toute new Honda Civic is the 2012 Civic with Costar. It is a version sharper, more focused, more user-friendly for the Civic, even if they are basically the same car, powered by the same engines 4 cylinder feeding the same transmissions.

To distinguish the Civic version 2012 2013 sedan dull, Honda has summarized the front end with a new chrome trim grille and bumpers, replaced the rear bumper and lights back and bolted on new wheels. Single steel sheet which has changed is the hood, which has a slightly stronger form.

Honda says the look is more 'chic' and 'premium', which is a way bias say that it is not as cheap or as bland. And the changes have left the Civic looking more like his brothers and sisters more large, redesigned and well-received 2013 Agreement.

While the two-door Civic sharing other revisions with the sedan, its outward appearance has not changed. This is the other revisions that make up the substance of the improvements for 2013.

The front structure has been revised in order to better perform in the offset crash tests. In fact, next Thursday the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety announced that the cut Civic 2013 and sedan got Top Safety Pick more, its highest rating, indicating that they performed well in all tests, including a new small lag before crash test.

In addition, suspension and steering electrical systems have been adjusted for better responsiveness and other noises of material has - more obviously as a buffer to the inside of the trunk lid. Even window glass is a little thicker to remove noise.

In the Department of gadget, a rear backup camera is now standard on all versions, as well as a cell phone Bluetooth and audio integration. Pandora Internet radio and SMS text messaging interfaces have been added alongside USB and standard iPod interfaces.

The biggest improvements, however, are the materials revised inside cabin. A new star feels thick and rich to the touch; the door panels seem better padded. More impressive is the refilling of the dashboard, which has a better texture, is softer to the touch and simulated sewing.

Dashboard in two fundamental levels did not change, but the austerity of the 2012 Civic, which had all the charm of a plastic bucket, has disappeared. The Interior of 2013 is among the most pleasant found in any compact car.

Banned from the programming of the Civic sedan is the base model DX, a leader of loss that virtually no one bought anyway. But that still leaves seven variations of the civilian sedan and four cups.

Sedans, four versions use the same 140-horsepower, 1.8-liter engine. The least expensive is the LX $18 955 public with a manual 5 speed and tires and 15-inch steel wheels. Adding an automatic transmission 5 speeds nudge prices upwards of $800.

A notch above which is the $21 605 EX, which mounted on 16-inch alloy wheels and is only available with automatic transmission. The former has an air-conditioning, a more powerful stereo system, four-wheel disc brakes and a sunroof.

For $23 055, the EX - L adds leather trim. The two EX versions can be done with a navigation system with voice command for another $ 1,500.

For mileage-obsessed, there is also the HF model for $20,055, which has an automatic transmission, lightweight wheels of 15 inch and low rolling resistance tires; HF also fails the spare wheel to save weight and economy a little better: 29 miles per gallon in the city and 41 MPG on the road, against 28/39 for the automatic LX and EX. My test car was an EX with fabric upholstery, but without the navigation system.