Honda insight 1.3 IMA SE Hybrid: "So here goes. It’s terrible. Biblically terrible. Possibly the worst new car money can buy. It’s the first car I’ve ever considered crashing into a tree, on purpose, so I didn’t have to drive it any more."
posted by Antidisestablishmentarianist on May 20, 2009 - 180 comments

Convert your Honda Accord to run on trash.
posted by gman on Jan 11, 2009 - 36 comments

"Engineers Rule" and "The Toyota Way": How Toyota and Honda have bested the Big Three.
posted by rollbiz on Nov 25, 2008 - 131 comments

"I can name that tune in 300 yards ..." Not for much longer, though. Honda prepared for an upcoming commercial by cutting grooves in a road in Lancaster, California. These grooves, if driven over at just the right speed and in just the right car (one guess!) should play something resembling the William Tell Overture. But once filming was done (and I'm sure the commerical will be as impeccably produced and successful as Honda's other ads), locals and tourists were left with the driver's equivalent of that huge floor keyboard in Big, with some drivers lining up to play over and over again. Result? The city will pave over the road today. But hey, we'll always have Anyang. And Japan (previously). And Denmark.
posted by maudlin on Sep 23, 2008 - 29 comments

Riccardo Patrese drives wife crazy in Civic Type-R (SLYT)
posted by slater on Sep 16, 2008 - 136 comments

Star Wars cars: Obi-Wan's Honda, Luke's X-Wing Truck, and the TIE Cycle.
posted by fandango_matt on Jun 1, 2006 - 16 comments

What separates GM from Honda? The development process. An interesting read about Honda's lean and mean development process, as compared to the bureaucratic nightmare that exists at General Motors. A fascinating read and good insight into one of the many reasons why the domestic automakers are getting spanked these days.
posted by tgrundke on Apr 5, 2006 - 43 comments

Honda's last TV ad was a treat for Rube Goldberg fans everywhere. Their latest (9.4MB zipped H.264 video) is an excellent demonstration of the human voice as an instrument.
posted by Mwongozi on Mar 4, 2006 - 22 comments

Asimo gets an upgrade. His new abilities include running at 6 mph, operating a cart, serving tea, walking hand in hand, walking with a tray, facial recognition, and the ability to defenestrate you without moral responsibilities.

Videos of the Asimo in action.
posted by sourbrew on Dec 14, 2005 - 65 comments

Goldwing Retriever
A Swedish company named Coming Through has developed a Honda GL1800 powered motorcycle mounted towing rig that lets the bike weave through traffic, arrive at the broken down car quickly, unfold the towing rig and then haul a car of up to 5500 pounds away before the traditional towtruck can even get there!
Here's a photo gallery and videos of the system in action. via
posted by fenriq on Aug 25, 2005 - 35 comments

Honda has upgraded Asimo. They've added jogging, autonomous continuous movement, some new joint designs, and better intelligence, expanding the range of humanoid robots, which includes, the Qrio from Sony, Isamu, and Toyota's offering that entered the fray earlier this year (previously discussed). (More)
posted by effwerd on Dec 16, 2004 - 27 comments

Honda + Diesel + Bunnies + Garrison ± Alice in Wonderland = Flash Game! Taking the Corporate Flash game to new levels of abstraction, Honda UK, Garrison Keillor and Weiden+Kennedy have teamed up again to sell quiet diesel engines... with bunnies.
posted by fezdel on Oct 12, 2004 - 10 comments

Now Toyota enters the robot race. Honda's humanoid robot, ASIMO, is such a splash, Toyota is entering the race, making robots designed to assist the elderly and incapacitated, and play trumpet with artificial lips. Shouldn't the US be making humanoid robots too? What do you really want your robot to do?
posted by kablam on Mar 14, 2004 - 21 comments

The latest Honda television commercial, "Sense" being shown in the UK, is the follow up to the widely discussed "Cog." It's quite not as cool as its predecessor, but still, an elegant, interesting concept. Apologies for the somewhat low quality of the java video stream.
posted by jonson on Jul 10, 2003 - 23 comments

Manufacturing cars doesn't have to be a dirty business
Hats off to Toyota, which along with Honda, has a no-bullshit commitment to the environment.
posted by magullo on Jun 3, 2003 - 7 comments

Ever played Dominos as a kid? Honda's new TV ad (56K/100K) in the UK takes the concept to extremes, using parts from a car.
Yes, it's an ad, but it's very, very amusing.
posted by Mwongozi on Apr 7, 2003 - 26 comments

Gracefull bipeds, miniature robot ballets.... Titled by the BBC as "Humanoid robots wow Japanese", The world's largest robot exhibit this weekend in Yokahama features Asimo by Honda ["Asimo can now recognise individual faces and can understand gestures as well as spoken commands. Meet him once and he never forgets, responding by approaching and calling your name on subsequent meetings."] as well as Sony's newest Aibo accesories and their stunning SDR-4X ll, a biped sporting "fluid walking motion and lifelike gestures." Epson Seiko caught my attention, though, with their dozen tiny Bluetooth controlled 12.5 gram Monsieur ll-P robot prototypes which executed a miniature choreographed ballet.

Pretty soon they'll be scuttling around on our walls like cockroaches, watching us......
posted by troutfishing on Apr 5, 2003 - 11 comments

Honda expands their Asimo line of robots with a stunning 44 ft. unit developed specifically for Carmax. From the press release:

Based on Honda's Asimo robot, Carmax and Honda have developed a new version specifically for use in Carmax showrooms. The new version is much larger however - standing at roughly 44 feet tall. Because of its size, it is far less mobile but much more imposing. According to Thomas Folliard, V.P. of store operations; "We're already seeing an effect from the new Asimo sales force -- many potential shoppers are almost, to borrow a phrase, shocked and awed into buying a car.

I hate to be the voice of doom and gloom, but this sounds kinda dangerous.
posted by mecran01 on Apr 1, 2003 - 15 comments

attention rice-boys, live in f43r. your civic has nothing on this ride...
posted by jcterminal on May 1, 2002 - 19 comments

Thank you very much, Mr. Roboto. Both Honda and Sony have unveiled the newest versions of their humanoid robots. Honda favours a more practical design, while Sony's is geared for entertainment. Having just watched AI the other night, I'm wondering when and if people would want to have one around the house.
posted by Stuart_R on Mar 19, 2002 - 21 comments

Honda has released their 2002 and 2003 motorcycles and upcoming models. For those of us into that type of thing. I think Honda should have some strong sellers here, hopefully regaining some market share in naked bike and sport tourers as well as the large cruiser segment.
posted by mich9139 on Sep 21, 2001 - 11 comments

Turn your webwasher off for this link.

I hate banner ads, which is why I use webwasher, they're annoyingly large, wasteful, and don't work. The reason they are dying and taking the rest of the dot-com industry along with them.

I don't know much about Hondas or cars all entirely, but prius seems like a good idea, better fuel efficiency saves on money and doesn't pollute as much. The reason I like the ad though, is it's not intrusive, it doesn't have a 200k gif of a windows alert box telling you 'your connected is too slow. CLICK HERE to make it faster OK', it doesn't blink or use flash. It is tailored to a specific audience, people that look up directions and drive their cars, the product that the company sells.

I hope this is the future of advertising on the web, but then again, how exactly are you suppose to fish out people to buy your 'ultra small hidden bathroom cameras'?
posted by tiaka on Jul 27, 2001 - 21 comments

Another domain battle begins, as the Honda Motor Corp. is suing the owner of honda.net, a fan site owned by a web designer. The owner has his own take on it, and Alan Herrell wrote a nice summary too. Come on Honda, let it go, this is a pointless fight.
posted by mathowie on Feb 25, 2000 - 2 comments

Honda's releasing the first electric-gas hybrid car this year. It claims to get up to 70mpg too. I love innovative vehicles and cutting edge design, but I have to admit I think it's butt ugly (although, this does remind me of my old CRX). I bet they'll want $30k-$50k for it too. So close, yet so far... (update: they want about 20 grand for it - not that bad for an electric/gas car, but it is still just a two-seater)
posted by mathowie on Jan 21, 2000 - 3 comments