Honda recalls 160,000 Fit and Vezel vehicles in Japan

Honda will recall another 21 million cars worldwide as a result of the ongoing Takata airbag scandal. Since 2014, Takata, the company that is the OEM for many of the airbag systems fitted to modern cars, has been in a spot of bother. Up to as many as 24 car manufacturers have had faulty airbags fitted to their cars, which may increase the risk of serious injury should the occupants ever get involved in a proper shunt. The faulty parts in question are the inflators, which may be defective, and shoot shrapnel when the airbag deploys. Takata has admitted that they have no idea which batches of cars from the various manufacturers have faulty airbags onboard. In fact, the Japanese firm doesn’t even have a clue as to why the inflators will behave in this manner. Thankfully, most of the recalls are preemptive, and only a very small percentage of the airbags have actually caused harm. Do check if your car is one of the affected units by clicking here.  

The hot hatch market has been hotted up over the past couple of years with each manufacturer taking a stab at making one. This has led to the most exciting lineup of hot hatches since the originals back in the 80s and 90s. However, not content with being just an average car in the lineup, Honda has poured in a lot of resources to develop the latest Civic Type R. It certainly shows. The Japanese weren’t pleased when the European automakers were setting new FWD lap records, so they decided to have a pop. Whereas the manufacturers are busy squabbling away at the Nurburgring, Honda decided to break their lap records at 5 other Grand Prix circuits across Europe. For all attempts, the Civic Type R has been paired with a professional touring car driver. Silverstone was first on the list. With Matt Neal at the wheel, it posted a best time of 2:31.85, comfortably the front-drive record. Rinse, and repeat on different circuits and with different drivers, and the incredible agile Type R broke further records in Spa, Monza, Estoil, and Hungaroring.

The all-new HR-V and Jazz are the latest models in Honda’s line-up to receive the maximum safety rating by independent safety organisation Euro NCAP. Under the new testing regulations for 2015, both models achieved a full 5-star rating reflecting Honda’s commitment to overall vehicle safety. The 5-star result for Jazz means it is only the second supermini to achieve a 5-star rating so far this year. Both Jazz and HR-V feature Honda’s City-Brake Active system (CTBA) fitted as standard across the range. By using laser technology, the CTBA system scans the road ahead and automatically applies the brakes if a low speed collision is likely.