Badass Honda Civic NGTC Racer Filmed Testing at Brands Hatch

Wouldn't it be great if your regular Honda Civic hatch would look, sound and go like the new Civic Next Generation Touring Car (NGTC)? We mean, sure it would pose some problems in everyday use, but something tells us that those pesky morning rides to work would become far more entertaining...

However, back to reality, we found the first video footage of Honda UK's new BTCC racing model filmed during its shakedown at the Brands Hatch racing circuit in England, which you can watch right after the break.

Just be warned to turn down a notch the volume on your speakers cause thing is loud, really loud…

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Euro NCAP Says Jeep Compass "Disappoints", Honda Civic "Impresses" in Latest Crash Tests

The latest results from Euro NCAP, which is equivalent to the IIHS in North America, brings good news for some, and bad news for others.

The two vehicles tested by the European body are the new 2012 Honda Civic 5-door hatchback and the redesigned Jeep Compass crossover.

Starting with the good news, Honda's compact model was awarded the maximum five star rating, achieving high scores in all areas of assessment and putting it on a par with the top models in its category.

Euro NCAP said that the passenger compartment remained stable in the frontal impact while the car scored maximum points in the side barrier test. It also offered adequate protection in the more severe side pole impact, and scored top points for the protection it offered to pedestrians.

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Meet Honda's New European Civic Touring Car Racer

In its two last generations, the European market Honda Civic hatchback has followed a different path from its sedan siblings in other markets; however, the admittedly impressive looking Civic you see pictured here isn't the regular model but the Japanese firm's new contender in British Touring Car Championship (BTCC).

Revealed without its racing colors, the new Civic Next Generation Touring Car (NGTC) made its first public test outing today at the Brands Hatch motor racing circuit in England.

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DUI: Man Turns Honda Civic Into a Bugatti Veyron, Wants You to Do the Same

We will agree that a 1990s Honda Civic Coupe won't open any doors for you in this life, but is there really anything you can do about it aside from getting a better set of wheels - if that's your goal, we mean?

Well, that depends on whom you ask and how much you're willing to spend. For eBay seller "Fiberglassdesign4you", the solution is a fiberglass kit that will turn your mundane, mid-1990s Honda Coupe into something that tries very hard to replicate the looks of a Bugatti Veyron 16.4.

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Nissan SUV Slams Stationary Honda Civic that was Getting Ready to Street Race [NSFW]

We're not saying it can't happen, but the last thing you expect to see on an open road at night is two motionless vehicles occupying both regular lanes. Is it that difficult to see that this is something extremely dangerous for all parties involved? Apparently, the answer is yes…

Too bad these drivers had to find out the hard way when an unrelated Nissan SUV slammed into a Honda Civic hatchback that was standing still revving its engine as the owner was preparing to race another Civic on an unnamed road in Tampa, Florida.

The person who uploaded the video said that despite the severity of the crash, -fortunately- no one was hurt. You can watch the accident as it happened in the clip that follows after the break (beware; foul language).

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Honda to Display NSX and European CR-V Concept Plus New 1.6L Diesel at the Geneva Salon

Honda today revealed its line-up for the Geneva Motor Show that takes place in March. The highlight of the Japanese firm's display will be the NSX Concept that features a mid-mounted V6 and a hybrid all-wheel drive system. The production version will arrive within the next three years.

The second Honda concept that will make its European debut in Geneva will be the EV-STER, an electric roadster, akin to a 21st century version of the early ‘90s Beat Kei-car.

Much closer to production, and of bigger interest to a most customers, is the European version of the all-new CR-V crossover. Although it will be displayed as a prototype, the new CR-V, which is already available in the U.S., will effectively preview the European model that is set to go on sale this autumn.

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Woman Wins $10K in Spat with Honda over Civic Hybrid's Fuel Economy, Carmaker Says it will Appeal

Lately, fuel economy figures are becoming something of a hot issue in the U.S. After the Consumer Watchdog-Hyundai Elantra debacle we told you about earlier today, we have another case of a car manufacturer accused of misleading customers about one of its model’s fuel economy claims.

Heather Peters, a former lawyer who lives in Southern California, took Honda to a small-claims court. She accused the carmaker of lying about her 2006 Civic Hybrid's fuel efficiency as she never managed to reach the estimates advertised by Honda.

And guess what? Peters won the case and the court awarded her US$9,867. LA Superior Court Commissioner Douglas Carnahan wrote a 26-page decision, which included a long list of misleading statements made by Honda and identified by Peters, such as “amazingly little fuel” and “save plenty of money of fuel with up to 50 mpg during city driving.”

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Honda to Race New European Civic Hatch with 1.6-liter Turbo in the WTCC

Honda is getting ready to put on its racing suit for the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC), in which it will participate with the new European Civic hatchback.

“We have made a decision to enter into the WTCC with the European Civic," said Honda CEO, Takanobu Ito, on the announcement. "We will develop a totally new engine for this project and we are all excited about starting this new challenge."

The Japanese automaker revealed that its Research and Development division will design a bespoke 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder racing engine with direct-injection in accordance with FIA’s Super 2000 regulations.

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Video: Things Honda Car Guys Say [NSFW]

If you regularly surf the internet aimlessly for hours, there's a good chance that you are aware of the new fad to hit YouTube with a string of videos usually titled "Shit –insert something here- Say", and which may or may not have started with the "Shit Girls Say".

Not surprisingly, someone came up with a car-related clip titled "Shit Honda Guys Say" which you can watch right after the break. We must warn you, though, there is some foul language…

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Watch Roadside Assistance Pull a Honda Civic from the Top of a Cadillac CTS

We just got our hands on fresh footage from the January 5 accident in Wellesley, Massachusetts, when a 51-year old driver of a Honda Civic sedan slammed the accelerator pedal instead of the brake and hit a curb that sent his car a flying into a garage and on top of a fairly new Cadillac CTS.

Fortunately, no one was hurt from the accident, though both cars were significantly damaged.

The newly released video, which you can watch after the jump, shows the roadside assistance trucks as they were trying to extract the Honda from the parking lot the same way it entered the building.

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Oops…Honda Civic Driver Flies Onto a Cadillac CTS at a Parking Lot

Unless we knew better, we'd say that some drivers are purposely trying to get their automobiles airborne…

Following a bizarre incident earlier this week when a thief managed to perfectly land a stolen car on the roof of an apartment building in California, another driver, this time in Massachusetts, somehow piloted his burgundy colored Honda Civic sedan onto a Cadillac CTS at an office parking lot in Wellesley.

The Civic driver allegedly stepped on the gas instead of the brake pedal and hit a curb, which slung the car into a parking lot and onto the Cadillac.

Officer Chris Cunningham of the Wellesley Police Department said that no one was hurt from the accident that took place on Thursday morning. Video follows after the jump [pun intended…].

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The Top 10 Best-Selling Cars and Trucks in the USA for 2011

We have already seen the sales numbers for automakers in the U.S. for the year that just ended so it's time to take a look at the list with the top 10 best-selling cars and trucks of 2011, which was compiled by Car's Kicking Tires.

What's interesting here is not so much the vehicles that appear in the list but the ones that are absent this year as it was more or less expected that the Ford F-Series and the Chevrolet Silverado pickup trucks would once again take first and second place respectively and that the Camry would be the best selling passenger car.

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Honda Orders Dealers to Halt Sales of Certain Used Models until Airbag Problem is Solved

An airbag-related issue has made Honda tell its dealers to stop sales of certain used cars until a recall campaign to fix the defect is carried out.

Honda took the decision in spite of the fact that federal law requires automakers only to stop selling new cars when a recall campaign is issued, as it does not demand the same for used vehicles.

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Consumer Reports Gives the Honda Civic Si a “Recommended” Rating

Just when Honda announced it is developing a revised Civic for the 2013MY that will be launched in the U.S. in late 2012, Consumer Reports, the publication that started the storm of negative publicity on Honda’s compact model, has awarded the Si version with a “Recommended” on its latest report.
CR still stands by its original verdict on the base 2012 Civic when it stated, “while other models like the Hyundai Elantra have gotten better after being redesigned, the Honda Civic has dropped so much that now it ranks near the bottom of its category.”
The difference is that the model tested this time is the sportier Si version fitted with the more powerful 2.4-liter engine. According to the test results, it earned a notably better score than the basic model and as a result, CR says it now recommends the Si.
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Updated 2013 Honda Civic Coming Late Next Year, Company Says it Expects to Improve Sales

With less than two weeks to go before the year’s end, we can safely say that one of the biggest disappointments of 2011 was the ninth generation of Honda’s U.S.-market Civic. Launched in April as a 2012 year model, the new Civic was criticized for its drop in quality and was even removed from Consumer Reports’ “Recommended” list.
Honda Motor CEO Takanobu Ito took personal responsibility for the new Civic's poor performance. And now, the company's executives confirm earlier reports that Honda is rushing back to the drawing board much earlier than originally anticipated.
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Honda Starts Production of New European Civic Hatch at Swindon Plant

Honda revealed today the it has begun rolling out the new Civic at its UK plant in Swindon, which returned to its normal production rates after a disruption due to lack of parts caused by the Thai floods. Read more »

Surprise, Surprise: Canada's Most Stolen Vehicle is the 2009 Toyota Venza, Pontiac Aztec Makes Top 10

Who would have ever guessed that car thieves in Canada have a thing for the Toyota Venza? Yet, the 2009 model year version of Toyota's crossover topped the Insurance Bureau of Canada’s [IBC] top 10 most frequently stolen vehicles this year.

The 2009 Venza takes the crown from the 2000 Honda Civic SiR Coupe that was last year’s number one stolen vehicle but dropped to third place in 2011, just below the 1999 Honda Civic SiR Coupe.

The Japanese carmaker's models prove to be very popular among Canadian thieves as the 1998 and 1999 Acura Integra Coupe also made the list taking the 9th and 10th spot respectively.

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Acura CSX: Canada's Posh Honda Civic Sedan

As some of you readers rightly pointed out in our post on the upcoming 2013 Acura ILX compact sedan, the TSX is not Acura's cheapest offering in North America. This dazzling title goes to the Canadian market CSX.

It doesn't take much to see that the CSX and the previous, eighth generation of the Honda Civic sedan are one and alike minus some discreet styling changes at the front and at the rear, and a more posh interior with all the extras ticked.

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1999 Honda Civic Coupe "Converted to a 2011 BMW M3"

We know what some of you may be thinking upon viewing the pictures, and to answer your first question, no, this is not Acura's upcoming ILX luxury compact model that is slated to debut in Detroit in January. Instead, it's one of those bizarre creations we occasionally find over at the crazy world of Craigslist.

Much like the Saab 900S Convertible turned into a Cadillac of some sorts that we showed you last week, this 1999 Honda Civic Coupe is supposed to resemble a BMW.

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Honda issues a recall for airbag defect

Previously Honda has announced a recall for around 273,000 cars sold in the U.S to replace the driver's airbag inflator. The models being affected were the Honda and Acura vehicles from model years 2001 through 2003.

Affected driver's airbag inflators may deploy with too much pressure, which may cause the inflator’s exterior to burst and may also result in injury or fatality.

Honda CR-V

Honda has also predicted that an approximate of 640 affected driver's airbag service parts were sold for installation in vehicles due to collision repair or other vehicle service.

As of now Honda is unable to determine the specific vehicles that have received the affected service parts.

Hence Honda will conduct an additional inspection on more than 603,000 vehicles and replace those parts as necessary.

The models come under this recall includes:

• Certain 2001 and 2002 Accord
  


• 2001 to 2003 Civic
  


• 2001 to 2003 Odyssey
  


• 2002 and 2003 CR-V
  


• 2003 Pilot
  


• 2002 and 2003 Acura 3.2 TL
  


• 2003 Acura 3.2 CL vehicles

Notification to the expanded group of customers will begin in late December 2011. In late December, owners of these vehicles will be able to determine if their vehicles require repair by going on-line or calling.

Honda owners can go to www.recalls.honda.com or call (800) 999-1009 and select option 4

Acura owners can go to www.recalls.acura.com or call (800) 382-2238 and select option 4.