Car Throttle

FINALLY.  The friggin' Buick Encore is here.  All my dreams and prayers have been answered, I'm so excited I can hardly...

...oh, sorry, got caught up in Auto Show mode there.  I'm just glad we don't have to deal with teaser images of a small SUV any more.  Look, I love auto show season.  Even after years of this, it still gets my blood going - who doesn't like seeing new stuff for the first time?  But not everything that comes out at the auto shows are worth an entire article.  Thus, Car Throttle News Bites: Detroit Auto Show Edition.  If you missed the earlier coverage, you can find it under the Detroit 2012 Category.

Speaking of that

Pardon the overused meme.  It's nice to see Honda focusing on their new Civic Si for SEMA, rather than - oh, I don't know, Elements outfitted for dogs.  They brought a wide array of the new 2.4L powered Si's to SEMA this year, ranging from mild (the HFP package) to wild (the 450-horsepower Fox Marketing turbocharged one I showed you earlier.)  They also brought along a supercharged V6 Accord Coupe, just because.

The Tjin Edition Civic Si Sedan (Above, left) is interesting.  Most notable are the 19" Rotiform BLQ Concave wheels, in orange on the driver's side and purple on the passenger.  Why?  Don't know.  Rotiform is quickly becoming a standard go-to wheel choice for the stance crowd, so

It's nice when enthusiasts and dealers get along. This allows events like a Honda car show at a Honda dealer to occur.  So big kudos to Crown Honda of Charlotte for hosting Carolina Honda's meet in their lot this Sunday.  It's a great venue for a show: plenty of parking, room for vendors and swap tents and a dyno, and of course so many awesome cars you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a set of titanium lug nuts. What's really cool about Honda shows is the variety of cars that show up to them.  The bulk of the aftermarket and enthusiast support for Hondas are for mid-ninties Civics (EG and EK chassis, mainly for their low weight and double-wishbone suspension) and Integras (primarily

This is another idea that sprang to mind when I was trying to come up with ways to get you, the CT reader, more involved. Everyone loves a poll, and everyone loves talking about the good old days, and how they don't build 'em like they used to.  So here's your chance to vote: with this series, we'll be comparing a current production model from a brand to one of their past.  You tell us if you think where we're at now is "progress."  I'm willing to bet the answer is no, most of the time.  Here we go, onto exercise 1. Honda critics used to refer to the Prelude as the Quaalude, because... well, it was boring and slow.  But when the bizarre-looking 4th generation

Observe the intro image to this post.  That's my key-carrying carabiner, with a modern Honda automobile key attached to it. As I write this post inside my home-away-from-home Starbucks coffee, there's a 2007 Honda Accord sedan sitting outside which this key fits into the ignition switch of.  The title says "James Mackintosh," and if you look closely you can see the faint outline of a "CarMax" sticker on the back of it. ...WHAT?!? Me? The constant preacher of the joys of old-car ownership?  The person who said "I'll chew off my own foot before I own an OBD-2 car!!!"  Why do I, of all people, have the perfect example of car-as-transportation-appliance now?  Well, let me tell you.  It all started with a rattling noise... About three weeks

Honda hasn't exactly been on a product rampage lately. Stylistically the recent cars from the Honda brand haven't been hits, but even more lately than usual - the CrossTour Crossover in particular. The latest product  from Acura, the ZDX crossover is good looking and seems to have the makings of a winning product inside and out. The next product in the pipeline looks like a winner as well. Honda has just made an announcement that the Accord Wagon will be coming to the United States. Not as an Accord mind you, but as an Acura. The smaller European market (shows you the size difference versus ours) Honda Accord is badged on our shores as the Acura TSX and is virtually identical. Could the wagon be making a comeback?

If you're averse to car crash test carnage, look away. Interesting findings and information has come out courtesy of International Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). They've detailed a more "real" view on the safety of small cars in comparison to larger ones. Let's see how they fare.... The IIHS took  the Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris and the Smart cars, all vehicles that achieved the IIHS's rating of "Good" in the traditional 40-mph barrier test. In these tests though, each one drops from "Good" to "Poor. It doesn't take a genius to realize that a small, lower weight vehicle will be at a disadvantage in an accident with a larger, heavier one. So in that respect I think the IIHS testing is important, because it simply informs people better that there is more to the story then just a

With each and every passing generation of the automobile, one thing (pretty much) remains constant: "More is more." It seems to be what we all want, and so that's what we get.  More size, more weight, more features, more safety equipment, and more power.  More more more, each and every time.  Today's Civic looks gigantic compared to the original Accord - and the Accord these days is about as big as an Impala, which is disgusting. Cars these days are huge, and for the most part have way too much power.  They're losing the plot and losing the point, losing focus and losing touch.  Sure, there's more, and sometimes more's better.  Like when there's not enough to begin with.  But the American mentality of "more is

We talked about it earlier, and now it's here. The rumored six-cylinder version of Acura's small TSX sedan (the American version of the Euro-market Accord) will be receiving a full-sized powerplant for 2010, addressing one of the main concerns of critics - a lack of power. As I said a few days ago, the TSX will be receiving a new engine next year to increase interest in the hot-selling  TSX.  In place of the base 2.4L 201bhp four-cylinder will go Honda's corporate 3.5L J-series V6.  This single-cam four-valve (isn't that weird?) V6, placed east-west in the engine bay, will crank out 280 horsepower and probably 254 lb-ft of torque (345nM), as it's the same engine in the base-model TL sedan.  This V6 is equipped with

Rumors are beginning to swirl that Acura will debut a V6-powered version of their controversially-styled TSX small sedan next week at the Chicago Auto Show. A reader over at Honda Lunatic site Temple of VTec reports that Acura will be debuting a high-performance version of the euro-Accord based TSX sedan next week at the Chicago International Auto Show.  The TSX will be getting it's own version of the Honda Corporate 3.5L SOHC 24v V6, which looks sorta like this: This V6, ported over from the larger TL sedan, produces 280 horsepower and 254 lb-ft.  This compares very favorably with the TSX's base engine, which is a 2.4L inline-four with 201 horsepower and 172 lb-ft. It is not known whether Honda will adapt their Super-Handling All Wheel Drive