The two-door layout might just do it. Buyers who in past years would probably have never considered a Kia or Hyundai – much less a Ford or Chevy – over a car as blue chip as the Honda Accord now frequently do consider it. Toyota’s got the same problem as far as the Camry....
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Relativity – it’s not just a concept in physics. It applies to horsepower (and performance) too. On the one hand, the just-updated 2012 Honda CR-V is still a bit underpowered and a bit slow relative to competitors because it still has nothing mightier than a 2.4 liter four-cylinder engine under its hood (same as...
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Honda’s take on the old Chevy El Camino (and Ford Ranchero) probably came along a few years too soon. In 2006, when the first Ridgeline appeared, real trucks (body-on-frame, rear-wheel-drive with real 4WD, not AWD) were like the pre-Chicxulub crater T-Rexes of the late Cretaceous era: Abundant and dominant. Then came the asteroid –...
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Honda’s Civic is the grandaddy of them all – the first Mass Success Japanese economy car that kicked in the door for the rest of them and, arguably, ushered in a transformation of the American car marketplace. It appeared (in the U.S.) in 1972 and soon captured American buyers’ affection – and brand loyalty...
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When it was new, the ’83 Honda GL650 Silverwing Interstate seemed like a sure-bet winner. The basically identical GL500 had been successful for several years prior and before the GL, there had been the CX – the first of the series to use the transverse “twisted” 80 degree pushrod V-twin, which was a better-engineered,...
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If gas prices hold at their current $3 or so per gallon, most of us will be paying an extra $240 or so per year for fuel vs. what we were paying last year. Here’s how it breaks down: Regular unleaded is about 30 cents per gallon more today than it was around Thanksgiving....
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Minivans started out as inexpensive family trucksters. A 1984 Plymouth Voyager – the grand-daddy of them all – had a sticker price of about $8,200. Even adjusted for inflation, that’s still just over $17,000 in 2011 Fed funny money. Today’s minivans have gone high-end. I just tested a 2011 Honda Odyssey – a van...
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Last year, Honda brought out the Insight hybrid to compete against the well-established, best-selling Toyota Prius hybrid. The 40-43 MPG Insight didn’t quite match the 50-plus MPG fuel efficiency of the Prius, but it was priced much more aggressively: $19,800 for the 2010 Insight vs. $22,000 for the 2010 Prius. That put $2,200 back...
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Ho ho ho. Your Christmas present from Ben Bernanke – $3 per gallon gas – is coming a couple of weeks early. “Qualitative Easing” – printing money, lots and lots of it – is beginning to show itself in the form of less buying power for the money you’ve got right now. Gas hasn’t...
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Honda’s Accord has long been the yin to the Toyota Camry’s yang. Sporty, modern-looking and high-tech – whereas the Camry has traditionally been flabbier-looking and stodgier-feeling. One was for younger up and comers; the other was the car of suburban middle class respectability. Together, they owned the mid-sized family sedan market, coming in as...
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