https://www.wsj.com/articles/honda-t...ble-1533484840

Honda Took Pride in Doing Everything Itself. The Cost of Technology Made That Impossible.

Aug. 5, 2018 12:00 p.m. ET

TOKYO — A semiautonomous Honda SUV was traveling down a test track at 20 miles an hour in March last year when a child-size test dummy moved into the middle of the road. Oblivious, the Honda mowed it down.

It was part of a brutal day of Japanese government testing for Honda Motor Co., whose vehicle was equipped with a camera and sensors that were supposed to detect obstacles and apply brakes to avoid a collision. The SUV scored 0.2 out of a possible 25 points in the pedestrian portion of the test, the worst among tested vehicles.

With its long heritage of technical prowess, Honda was determined to do better—and it did. But Honda engineering didn’t get it there. The car maker turned to an off-the-shelf sensing kit from Robert Bosch GmbH, the companies said.

Honda’s decision to go shopping points to a radical culture change at one of Japan’s proudest companies, where founder Soichiro Honda in the 1960s said, “We refuse to depend on anyone else.” The struggle at the entrepreneurial success story cuts deep into Japan’s sense of itself as a global leader in technology.

Car makers around the world are under stress from the huge investments needed to develop new technologies used in electric vehicles and autonomous driving. To trim costs, most are leaning on megasuppliers such as Bosch, Continental AG and Denso Corp. , as well as smaller companies with cutting-edge technology such as Intel Corp. subsidiary Mobileye.

Honda has announced deals with Chinese search giant Baidu Inc. to develop mapping technology for autonomous vehicles, and with Chinese startup SenseTime Co. to build camera software for self-driving vehicles. The company has a deal with SoftBank Corp. for artificial intelligence that SoftBank says will be able to read a driver’s emotions, so that in the future cars can perform tasks such as suggesting music based on your mood.

Honda, which prides itself above all on its engines, is farming out the development of an electric motor. Hitachi Ltd.’s auto-parts division has the majority stake in a joint venture with Honda that will make electric motors for Honda cars by March 2021. By 2030, two-thirds of its cars will be partially or fully electric, Mr. Hachigo said. In June, Honda also said it would buy electric-car batteries from General Motors Co.


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https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/03/gm-a...s-vehicle.html

GM and Honda team up to build an autonomous vehicle

Oct 3 2018

Honda is taking a stake in General Motors subsidiary Cruise Holdings as part of a plan for the Japanese and American automakers to work together developing and building an autonomous vehicle.


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GM, Honda sign deal to develop batteries for electric vehicles

Jun 7, 2018

General Motors and Honda have signed a deal to collaborate on battery development for electric vehicles.

The move deepens the advanced technology alliance between Detroit-based GM and Japan-based Honda, which are already working together on hydrogen fuel cells.

The latest accord involves the development of battery components, including cells and modules, "to accelerate both companies' plans for all-electric vehicles," GM and Honda said Thursday in a statement.


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He likes posting pics of his car parked next to better ones.

https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/18/a...s/18DRIVE.html
The Accord delivered 50 m.p.g. even during a 75-m.p.h. cruise and 40 m.p.g. when I flogged it like a Nascar yahoo.

https://www.driving.co.uk/car-review...d-type-s-2011/
The Clarkson review: Honda Accord Type S (2011)
But there’s more. The Type S package means an “aero” body kit — which I couldn’t spot — bigger wheels, low-profile tyres and sports suspension. You would imagine, therefore, that you were in for a bone-shaking ride. But you’re not. At the BBC’s underground car park in White City there are speed bumps of such severity that in most cars I weave about through the bays rather than drive over them. Even at 1mph they hurt. But with the Accord they weren’t there. I didn’t feel them at all. It was as if I was trying to park a hovercraft. So, it’s fast, economical, comfortable … and almost unbelievably well made
Slam the door on a Subaru Legacy — another well-made car — and it makes the sound of a shot pheasant hitting the ground on a frosty morning. Slam the door on the Honda Accord and it makes the sound of a pheasant coming in to land … after you’ve missed it. It’s almost silent.
There’s a similar sensation of quality on the inside. This is a car that doesn’t feel assembled. It feels as though it’s been hewn from one solid block of steel. It’s a Barbour jacket. It’s a Scottish mountain. Push a button in a Honda and it feels as if you could push it a billion times and it would still be working. It’s the exact opposite, then, of an iPhone.
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American Honda settles class-action suit over oil-burning claim

Design caused spark plug failures, suit says

October 22, 2013

DETROIT -- American Honda Motor Co. has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit over claims that it manufactured 1,593,755 defective vehicles that excessively burn oil and require frequent spark plug replacements.

The settlement concerns all U.S. purchasers and lessees of 2008-12 Accord, 2008-13 Odyssey, 2009-13 Pilot, 2010-11 Accord Crosstour and 2012 Crosstour vehicles equipped with six-cylinder engines that have variable cylinder management. Accord vehicles with four-cylinder engines are excluded from the settlement.


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Acura 3.7 L V6 Excessive Engine Oil Consumption leads to Extended Warranty

PSA: Today i received a letter from Acura that current owners of 2010-13 MDX, 2011-12 RL, 2009-14 TL, and 2010-13 ZDX will have their 6 yr/70k mile warranty extended to 8yr/125k for the power train warranty. This is to address excessive oil consumption that is caused my the oil control rings becoming clogged and preventing oil from returning to the crank case. Furthermore, regardless of mileage or time in service (age of vehicle covered) from now until Sept 1, 2019 Acura will cover the vehicle for this to ensure client satisfaction and confidence.

Honda is extending the warranties on more than 1 million CR-V SUVs and Civic cars in the U.S. over complaints that gasoline can seep into the engine oil. That problem has raised concerns about the durability of the 1.5-liter turbo engine and about the vehicles potentially stalling, especially in cold weather.

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews...erm-road-test/
Overall fuel economy of 26 mpg fell toward the high end of the EPA’s 20-mpg city and 28-mpg highway ratings, and there were road trips during which staffers achieved as high as 32 mpg.

2006 BMW 330i long-term tester’s run through the 40,000-mile gantlet by two mpg. (That E90 3-series was powered by BMW’s lovely 255-hp naturally aspirated 3.0-liter six.)