After Honda lost in its small claims court gas mileage suit, the Japanese automaker filed an appeal on the ruling and headed back to court. Earlier on Wednesday, Honda won the reversal of the small claims loss to Heather Peters.

Back in February, Peters successfully sued Honda claiming that her 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid’s advertised 50 mpg rating was false. She was awarded $9,867 in damages but more importantly, stirred the pot for many other Civic Hybrid owners to follow suit. But the reversal of the lower court’s ruling may impact all those that elected to remove themselves from the class-action suit.

Honda agreed to pay anywhere from $100 to $200 (depending on the model) and up to $1,500 credit towards a new vehicle to all those involved in the class-action suit. About 1,700 Honda owners have since opted out of the class-action settlement hoping to follow in the footsteps of Peters in suing the automaker directly.

In the case, the judge said that most cars are able to get the fuel economy near the EPA estimates and also ordered Peters to pay Honda $75 to recover the automaker’s costs in defending the case.

According to a release by Honda, 17 similar small claims cases involving the Civic Hybrid have been brought to court around the country since January. In 16 of those, Honda has prevailed “based on facts and the law.”

[Source: Detroit News]

USAA has compiled a list of the top ten cars for teens based on a recent survey where parents determined their most important factors when choosing a vehicle for their teenager. Those factors were reliability, a high safety rating and affordable auto insurance.

At number 10 on the list of top 10 cars for teens is the Kia Forte, a compact offering from the Korean automaker that comes in two-door coupe, four-door sedan, and five-door hatchback form. Starting at $15,200 the Forte comes with either a 2.0-liter four-cylinder with 156-hp and 144 lb-ft of torque, or a 2.4-liter with 173-hp and 168 lb-ft of torque. Both powerplants offer great fuel mileage as well, with the 2.0L automatic getting 26-mpg city, 36-mpg highway and the 2.4L netting 23-mpg city, 32-mpg highway.

As promised back in March after Heather Peters won her settlement concerning the Honda Civic Hybrid’s MPG claims, Honda is heading back to court to appeal the small claims decision.

American Honda’s lawyers are hoping to overturn the highly publicized court award to Heather Peters, who netted $9,867 after suing Honda stating that her Civic Hybrid failed to get the promised 50-mpg. As a result of her successful small claims suit, 1,700 Civic Hybrid owners have opted out of a class action settlement, presumably to take Honda to small claims court themselves.

Honda will be heading back to court on Thursday and the court will once again hear testimony from both sides in what is basically a retrial. But unlike the small claims trial, Honda has legal representation and Peters will be presenting new evidence she has discovered. Peters also renewed her law license and has already testified in the first part of the hearing with Honda’s lawyers questioning her.

The Japanese automaker is hoping the appeal will curb other Civic Hybrid owners from filing their own small claims suits similar to what Peters did successfully.

[Source: The Detroit News]

Acura just announced pricing for its new ILX sedan, which will start at $25,900 and runs all the way to $34,400 for the highest-priced hybrid model. 

Ranging from a 2.0-liter inline four cylinder engine in the base model to the 2.4-liter powerplant sourced from the Honda Civic Si and topped out cost-wise with the 1.5-liter hybrid drivetrain, the ILX will go on sale at dealerships starting May 22.

As part of Acura’s effort to move away from previous mundane and near-indistinguishable models, the ILX is essentially a re-dressed Civic, albeit with a host of luxurious features that make it easy to forget those roots.

Drivers may opt for a luxury package that further differentiates the ILX from its Verano competitor with leather seats, seat heating, an eight-way adjustable drivers seat, upgraded sound system, 17-inch wheels and more. An optional $2,200 technology package (only available on the 2.0-liter model) adds a navigation system that takes advantage of real-time traffic updates to reroute around busy streets, real-time weather updates and more.

The higher end 2.4-liter model doesn’t provision for the technology package, but it is available on the hybrid as a $5,500 option.

Slotting in close to its slightly larger cousin, the TSX, Acura’s newest addition seems a little redundant, but that will likely change as coming iterations of the TSX move upmarket, leaving the entry-level ILX looking decidedly more attractive to young buyers.

GALLERY: 2013 Acura ILX

Price, looks and size… these are the few factors that used to decide what vehicle you’d park in your driveway. Looking for a cheap and small car? A Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic will do. Need something bigger, perhaps a mid-size Hyundai Sonata or an SUV. Things used to be pretty easy.

With increasingly high gas prices and an overall movement towards green, fuel efficient vehicles, fuel economy has become more important. In fact, for many price, looks and size are now completely trumped by fuel economy.

“Buyers just look at the MPG on the sticker,” says IHS Automotive Analyst Devin Lindsay commenting that car buyers are now completely mesmerized by the EPA sticker label.

Take a look at the Toyota Prius, for example. It’s not terribly big, is fairly expensive, and looks… well… weird. But that didn’t stop three million of them from being sold, all thanks to a hybrid gas-electric engine that provides excellent fuel economy.

The Prius isn’t the only option for someone looking for a fuel efficient car, however; especially those in search of a more engaging driving experience. If you want to cut down on trips to the pump, and still drive a fun, powerful, good looking car, your best bet might just be in a diesel powered vehicle. That does mean you’ll almost certainly have to drive German, although a flood of new diesel-powered vehicles are about to hit our shore.

Despite the popular misconception, diesel fuel is readily available at numerous gas stations with most of the major chains dedicating at least one pump to diesels. “Finding diesel is not really a big problem anymore,” says Lindsay. “If one station doesn’t have it, the one across the street certainly will.” And there’s a good reason for the popularity of diesel pumps too. Ford, Chevy and Ram easily sell in the tens of thousands of the diesel versions of their popular pickups each year.

Historically, diesel cars were known for being smelly, hard to start in cold weather and not environmentally friendly. For those most part those issues have been solved, with improvements made to quiet the engines (though they are still noticeably louder than gasoline engines), while special emissions filters and exhaust after treatment systems have been devised to reduce pollution – though at an expense that’s handed down to the consumer.

Volkswagen has been offering diesel options for years, and in key areas, their diesel vehicles are better than the gasoline powered ones.

Take for instance the Golf. The TDI diesel option offers 6 more miles per gallon in the city over the gasoline model (30 mpg vs. 24 mpg) and 11 more miles per gallon on the highway (42 mpg vs. 31 mpg) all while still looking great and keeping its trunk space (something many hybrids can’t say.)

In defence of hybrids, average fuel economy on a Civic Hybrid is 44 mpg while the Prius is 50 mpg. The Golf TDI may have a solid 42 mpg highway rating, but average fuel economy is a less impressive 34 mpg.

Volkswagen sees diesel as an important part of becoming a more environmentally friendly car company. Mark Gillies, Product and Technology PR manager at Volkswagen America tells us “Diesel is part of our future powertrain strategy and you will likely see more models with a diesel option in the future.”

He explains that diesel can appeal to many drivers “The more practically minded will love the excellent highway mileage and range, which are perfect for the way that so many Americans drive.”

Gillies also explained his personal preference of diesel powered cars “As a car enthusiast, I love the torque of a diesel, which is perfect for mid-range passing performance, merging onto on-ramps, and for towing.”

Gillies’ torque-love is well-founded. The TDI Golf makes a noticeable amount of additional torque: where the normal gas Golf makes just 177 lbs-ft of torque at 4250 rpm, the TDI model makes 236 lbs-ft or torque at 1750-2500 rpm.

All that extra diesel-y goodness comes at a price though. Literally. Diesel fuel costs slightly more at the gas station and most diesel cars are more expensive than their gasoline stable mates. In the case of the Golf, a gasoline model starts at $17,995 while the diesel version costs $24,235, a difference of $6,240. To help off-set this cost, VW tends to better equip its TDI models. If you’re on more of a budget, Volkswagen also offers a Jetta TDI for about $2,000 less.

As mentioned, diesel models often require expensive emissions systems, which can also result in added maintenance, and cost. Two of VW’s models use what the company calls AdBlue, a chemical solution (often generally referred to as DEF or Diesel Exhaust Fluid) used to help the vehicles’ emissions stay environmentally friendly. The AdBlue liquid must be refilled at regular service intervals (every 10,000-15,000 miles) and are covered under VW’s three-year/36,000-mile Carefree Maintenance Program.

But it is something to keep in mind, as prices of refilling a car’s DEF vary between manufacturers. Consumer Reports has mentioned paying $241.50 to refill 7.5 gallons of DEF for a diesel Mercedes-Benz GL Class. That’s $32.20 per gallon! Volkswagen apparently sells the same solution for much cheaper, with reports of customers paying just $5.40 per gallon.

Other automakers take a different approach to their diesel powertrains. Take a look at Mercedes-Benz’s E350 models, which are also available with either a gas or diesel engine. The diesel version gets only meager gains over the gasoline engine, earning one more mile per gallon in the city, and two more on the highway. That’s far less impressive than the difference on VW models.

However, in comparison to the Volkswagen vehicles, the diesel E-Class isn’t much more expensive than the gas version. In fact, it’s just $1,200 more, a much more favorable price difference. While the fuel economy doesn’t significantly favor the diesel E-Class, the torque numbers are eye-opening: 400 lb-ft of torque in the diesel compared to 273 lb-ft in the gas model.

As a result, Mercedes markets its diesel models as more of a V8 than a V6 alternative. In Mercedes’ SUVs this means that buyers can enjoy the high torque of a V8, but with the fuel economy and environmentally friendliness of a V6. Mercedes’ offers diesel engines for its ML, GL and R-Class trucks.

The selection of diesel offerings is expanding, and not just by German automakers either, with both domestic and Japanese manufacturers preparing to launch diesel vehicles in the next few years. Among the planned arrivals is the Chevy Cruze diesel, Cadillac ATS diesel and the return of the Jeep Grand Cherokee diesel. Mazda has also announced it will offer its new Skyactiv-D engine in the near future, though isn’t saying what car (or cars) it will power.

For those who want a fun and powerful car, but one that also visits the pump less often, a diesel can be a viable option. Like hybrids, they carry a price premium over their gasoline powered brothers. Unlike hybrids, particularly ultra high efficiency ones like the Prius, they’re peppy around town.

The price of gas is quickly reaching the price of diesel gas, helping make diesel an attractive alternative for prospective car buyers. Another factor that might make diesel a more attractive option is the fact that they tend to fetch a better resale value than their gas powered counterparts.

Ultimately it’s a question of driver preference, before buying a diesel it’s important to make sure it suits you driving style – and your commute.

Insurance isn’t kind to teenage drivers. Rates are usually double the price of experienced drivers. Luckily CarInsure.com has provided a list of the top 10 best vehicles to insure for teenagers. 

The rates are calculated based on a Washington family: a married couple driving a 2011 Honda Accord and a 2009 Chevrolet Traverse, with a clean driving record and good credit. Their teenage driver is a 16-year-old male, also with a clean driving record. This list covers a five-year insurance impact. The vehicles on this list are from 2008, or 2009.

Tenth on the list is the 2009 Ford Fusion, equipped with ESC. This car gains its price thanks to a perfect NHTSA front impact score and the highest score possible for frontal-offset and side impact tests from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The key to this model though is the optional electronic stability control.

Automotive journalism is riddled with pitfalls for corruptible folk, something automakers know all too well. Apart from the usual moral gray areas sponsored press junkets, sometimes questions of integrity are just black and white.

In a recent piece of investigative journalism, Gawker car site Jalopnik (itself not immune to morally gray journalism) exposed how marketing firm eBuzzing attempted to pay for editorial content on the new Honda Civic. No, not our much-maligned Civic, but the Euro-Spec model (above). The assumption (one that isn’t hard to connect the dots for) is that Honda is indirectly paying for good PR about its cars through this third party company.

While Jalopnik did not take part in the pay-for-PR scam, once the positive-spin content was provided, it wasn’t hard to hunt down other sites, such as Parent Wheels, which had.

When contacted, American Honda Motor Co., said it could not speak for its European counterparts but did say it has no dealings with eBuzzing.

[Source: Jalopnik]

The 2012 Women’s World Car of the Year short list has just been announced, and women motoring writers from around the world will begin voting for their top picks.

Cutting a list of contenders from 300 down to 32, judges will now allocate points to the nominated cars that fall into four categories: Family Car, Luxury Car, Sports Car and Economy Car. Just one of the 10 criteria that cars are allotting points for is Child Friendliness, which is something vehicles aren’t usually judged on in a competition.

Winners of the 2012 Women’s World Car of the Year will be announced before the end of March, and awards will be presented at the Paris Motor Show in September. You can check out the complete short list after below.

Family Car:
Ford Focus
Audi Q3
Kia Optima
Subaru XV
Mercedes-Benz B-Class
BMW X1
Mazda CX5

Luxury Car:
Range Rover Evoque
Mercedes-Benz C-Class
Audi A6
Bentley Continental
Audi A7
BMW 6 Series
BMW 3 Series
Peugeot 508
Jaguar XJ

Sports Car:
Porsche 911 – 991
Jaguar XKR
Audi RS5
Renault Megane III
Ferrari FF
Ferrari 458 Spider
BMW Series 1 M
VW Golf R
Lamborghini Aventador
Mercedes-Benz SLK
Mercedes-Benz CLS AMG

Economy Car:
VW up!
Kia Rio
Kia Picanto
Honda CRZ
Honda Civic
Mazda 3 Skyactiv
Ford Fiesta Econetic
Hyundai Accent Diesel

Subaru replaced Honda as the top-rated automaker by Consumer Reports today, in a bit of an upset.

Not only did the Japanese automaker known best for its efficient all-wheel drives take the top spot, but did so while the previous champion fell by several points over last year’s ratings.

The victory, then, is due not only to an improved Subaru line, but also to declining quality on Honda’s part. According to Consumer Reports, Subaru’s overall standing improved after all their vehicles met or exceeded average reliability ratings, something that saw a boost with improvements to the Impreza WRX models. At the same time, the Honda Odyssey and Civic both fell short of their predecessors, costing the company points in their standings.

In fact, Honda didn’t even take second place this year — Mazda managed to win that spot with similarly improved models.

Honda loyalists may bemoan the latest results, but at least Toyota stoics can take solace in the fact their perennial list-finalist still won five of the top 10 picks.

Finally it’s also worth mentioning that despite coming in last place, Chrysler improved eight points this year, compared to Subaru’s two-point climb to victory.

In celebration of the smaller company emerging victorious, click through our gallery of the pugnacious Impreza WRX below.

GALLERY: 2012 Subaru Impreza WRX

After recently announcing plans that it would once again return to challenge for the title in the British Touring Car Championship, Honda has now released the first photos of the car it intends to do so in.

The Next Generation Touring Car (NGTC) Civic is based on the European Civic hatchback model (not on our new 2012 Civic model) and is hitting the track for its first public test today at Brands Hatch in the UK.

“This is the first opportunity we have had to get behind the wheel to really see what the car has got. The team are really pleased with the results from the test at MIRA last week and I can’t wait to finally start putting the car through its paces,” said triple-BTCC champion Matt Neal. “It will be interesting to see how the car performs, but I’m optimistic that we’ll walk away from today confident we have a championship winning car.”

The first race of the British Touring Car Championship will take place at Brand’s Hatch on April 1st.

The numbers are always changing and a new list of the Top 10 best-selling vehicles in history, compiled by 24/7 Wall St. has a new model on top.

There are some surprises on the list, but for the most part it all makes sense. Whether they’ve been in production for a long time or they’re reasonably priced worldwide, the top 10 best-selling cars of all time might not be the most exciting, but are clearly the most popular throughout history.

The Chevrolet Impala is the only GM vehicle on the list and has quite the history since hitting the market 54 years ago. Starting its life as a large two-door performance coupe, the Impala evolved into a versatile sedan. Or as we like to call it, a rental car. Ironically, it isn’t actually offered as a coupe anymore, which seems like a distant memory after 10 generations of upgrades.

With all the Super Bowl ads finding their way onto the Internet well ahead of the big game, we’ve already had our fair share of head scratchers, like the commercial from Audi, and humorous ones like Acura‘s NSX commercial starring Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno. And while we understand that most ads are designed to make us laugh or garner our attention, creative ones such as this Civic commercial is just flat out cool.

The description of the video by Honda puts it best, describing what Honda engineers went through when they came up with the design of the new Civic. From just the spark of an idea came the journey of building a vehicle, overcoming challenges until it culminates into the new Civic. Of course this commercial targets their European customers, which shows off the new European Honda Civic hatchback and is narrated by Garrison Keillor who is very popular in Honda’s British ads.

And for those that can really go way back, you’ll see the slight homage this commercial pays to the infamous “Cog” commercial from Honda, where an Accord was built from a single cog rolling down an incline. It’s subtle, but it’s those things that make us not want to push fast forward. Got what Audi? No vampires, no more vampires. Please.

Watch the ad after the break.

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