2012 Honda Pilot Commercial Taps on Ozzy Osbourne's Crazy Train Song

The Honda Pilot is not exactly the kind of vehicle you would associate with a rock icon like Ozzy Osbourne, nevertheless, the Japanese automaker has used of one his most well-known songs in a commercial for the mildly updated crossover.

The "Road Trip" ad for the 2012MY Pilot shows two grownups at the front and six kids at the back attempting to sing Ozzy Osbourne's 1980 debut solo single, "Crazy Train", a capella.

We're not sure the ad works but you can check it out for yourself after the break and tell us what you think.

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Posted on 08.35 / 0 comments / Read More

2012 Honda CR-V Concept Fully Revealed in Pictures and Videos

The time is up for Honda to toss the wraps off the new 2012 CR-V Concept, which made its public debut today at the Orange County International Auto Show in Anaheim, California.

The close-to-production concept previews the new looks of the 2012 CR-V that will receive its world premiere in final form at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November and go on sale in the United States before the end of the year.

The JDM model will follow in December at the Tokyo Motor Show, while European buyers will have to wait until fall of 2012.

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Posted on 11.36 / 0 comments / Read More

Jackasses on Wheels and with Guns Terrorize Middle East Drivers [Video]

There's hooning. And then there's criminal hooning. These particular individuals shown in the video after the break no doubt belong to the second category with their idiotically dangerous antics.

Filmed somewhere in the Middle East (possibly in Saudi Arabia if we are to believe the Youtube commentators), the 10-minute long clip primarily focuses on the "achievements" of the driver and passengers of a silver Honda Accord and to a lesser extent, the crew in a Toyota Camry.

As if waving guns and shooting in the air on a public road isn't dumb enough, the wannabe drifters terrorize all the rest of the drivers throwing the Accord in front of passenger cars, trucks and even near a school bus.

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Posted on 14.55 / 0 comments / Read More

Videos: 2012 Honda Civic Hatchback Filmed In, Out and on the Road

The new Honda Civic hatchback is perhaps one of the most significant production models to make its world premiere at this week's Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany.

We've already brought you a barrage of photos and all the preliminary details on the ninth generation of the European market Civic that will launch early next year as a five-door hatchback, so now it's time to show off Honda's latest creation on film.

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Posted on 16.01 / 0 comments / Read More

New Honda Civic Hatch to Race in BTCC in 2012 [with Video]

We may be waiting for Honda to fully reveal the European market 2012 Civic hatchback, but the Japanese automaker announced today that the five-door model will compete in the 2012 British Touring Car Championship.

Team Dynamics, which has been a long time Honda partner, will prepare two fully works cars based on the new Civic with which it hopes to repeat 2010’s success of winning both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ titles.

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Posted on 12.58 / 0 comments / Read More

Honda Shows and Tells More about its 2012 Civic Hatchback [Video]

As Honda is gearing up for the Frankfurt Motor Show world premiere of the 2012 Civic hatchback, it gradually releases more details about its new European-market model.

This time, Honda tells us that its development team has focused on ensuring that the new Civic will offer optimal interior refinement. The company's engineers used the Swindon factory’s anechoic chamber in fine-tuning every detail: for example, they had to modify the design and construction of the roof lining after studying its interaction with the rest of the bodywork.

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Posted on 05.26 / 0 comments / Read More

2012 Honda Civic Hatch to Feature Cleaner and More Powerful 2.2-liter Diesel in Europe

As we draw nearer and nearer to the Frankfurt Motor Show, which will open its gates to the public in about a month's time, carmakers are starting to reveal more details about the models they will unveil at the IAA.

Honda, which has already shown us photos and a video of a heavily camouflaged version of the all-new European market Civic hatchback that will be built exclusively at its Swindon UK factory, today revealed that one of the available engines in its lineup will be an ultra-frugal and clean 2.2-liter turbodiesel.

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Posted on 08.36 / 0 comments / Read More

New 2012 Civic Hits Rock Bottom in Consumer Reports Test, Honda Says it Disagrees

Usually new or redesigned models fare better in car reviews than their predecessors. Technology moves on during the lifespan of a model, automakers learn from their mistakes and improve their production methods, while the competition gets better forcing everyone else to improve etc.

However, that’s not the case with the redesigned 2012 Honda Civic LX, or at least that's what Consumer Reports states in its latest test of the Japanese model.

According to Consumer Reports (CR), the highest ranking small sedan for many years and a Top Pick in five of the last 10 years has in its latest iteration dropped too low to even earn a “Recommended” tag!

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Posted on 16.43 / 0 comments / Read More

Scoopsters Film 2012 Honda CR-V Prototype on the Road

Last time we wrote about the 2012 Honda CR-V, it concerned a prototype, a blogger and four-vehicle accident – not the best of news for the Japanese company. Now, thanks to the Honda-loving crew over at Temple of Vtec and scoopster Brenda Priddy, we have video footage of the next-generation CR-V crossover testing on the road.

The spied 2012 CR-Vs are wearing less camouflage than usual with only the front and parts of the rear end wrapped up in black plastic.

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Posted on 15.44 / 0 comments / Read More

Honda Teases European 2012 Civic Hatchback with Photos and Video

The ninth generation Civic hatchback for the European market will soon make its world premiere at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September but Honda has provided us with a sneak peak of the five-door model with photos of a camouflaged prototype and a video explaining the changes under the body.

The Civic hatchback has been designed exclusively for Europe and will continue to be a separate model from the North American four-door sedan and two-door coupe variants with which it shares the same name.

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Posted on 08.04 / 0 comments / Read More

Video: Honda’s CR-Z Mugen Special Driven by Fifth Gear

A few weeks ago at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Honda unveiled a concept study of the hybrid CR-Z prepared by Mugen’s European division.

The fettled CR-Z retained the regular model’s mechanical hardware including the IMA electric motor and the 1.5-liter gasoline engine, but the upgraded internals and the addition of a supercharger increased its performance by more than 50% over the normal model, to 200+ horsepower and 215 Nm (158.6 lb/ft).

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Posted on 13.40 / 0 comments / Read More

Honda CR-Z Mugen: All you Need to Know about Honda’s Hottest Hybrid Yet

We’ve already shared initial information and a video on the Mugen-fettled CR-Z that Honda is about to launch at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July, but today, the Japanese carmaker came out with all the juicy details, as well as more photos of the sporty hybrid concept.

According to company’s European division, the CR-Z Mugen sets out to prove that hybrid cars can be exciting to drive, with the one-off special producing “Civic Type R-like performance” while also remaining true to the original, eco-friendly character of the run-of-the-mill CR-Z.

Colin Whittamore from Mugen Euro explains the philosophy behind the creation of the CR-Z Mugen:

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Posted on 15.42 / 0 comments / Read More

Mugen’s Supercharged Honda CR-Z Hybrid Prototype Debuts on Film

With development of the new Honda CR-Z Mugen concept nearing its end, the Japanese automaker decided it’s time to release the first video of the supercharged hybrid model on the road before its world premiere at the 2011 Goodwood Festival of Speed in July.

The prototype CR-Z is the collaborative work of Honda UK and its in-house tuning shop Mugen Euro. The hotted-up hybrid sports car feature modifications to the 1.5-liter i-VTEC petrol engine with the addition of a supercharger as well as to the Honda IMA system.

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Posted on 07.17 / 0 comments / Read More

Hilarious Honda Malaysia Ad Mocks Independent Service Centers

As car owners, most of us have had bad experiences with auto service stations, either official or independent. Of course, carmakers don't like competition from independent units, so here's what Honda of Malaysia thinks of these stations. In a commercial for the local market, Honda mocks an independent garage called “HONDI” which, as you may have already assumed, offers bad service for big bucks.

A beautiful young woman, owner of a Honda Civic, is shown taking her car to the Hondi service center, where all sorts of strange things happen, with the personnel doing a crappy job while singing their own version of the famous “YMCA” song. If only service stations were such a blast... Follow the jump to watch the ad.

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Posted on 12.40 / 0 comments / Read More

Honda USA Shows Some Personal Appreciation to its Facebook Fans

Recently, Honda USA’s facebook page hit the one-millionth fan mark. To show its appreciation, the Japanese brand responded with some personal gestures that, unlike the look of some of its more recent models like the Civic, took some of its fans by surprise.

For example, in response to a fan that mowed the Honda logo on his lawn, the Japanese company carved his name into the corporate headquarters next to the main entrance. Another fan that showed his love for Honda with a tattoo of the brand’s logo was surprise to find out that Honda's vice president of marketing got an airbrushed tattoo of his name and face. Finally, a fan that received a Honda haircut was emulated by a Honda associate who carved the fan's name in his hair.

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Posted on 13.03 / 0 comments / Read More

VIDEO: State Trooper Forces Honda Civic Driver Out of the Fast Lane

How many times have you come across a slow driver that refuses to let go of the fast lane? Probably more times that you can remember. In this video we see one of those drivers in a Honda Civic, the difference being that the person behind him / her is a state trooper.

Of course, when there’s a cop on your tail, you’ll slow down, but common sense says you should also move over and let him pass as soon as you find a chance to change lanes, something that this driver didn’t do. On the other hand, we see the double standards at play here with the police officer dangerously tailgating the Civic. But at least the video has a funny ending with the trooper forcing the Honda driver into the right lane. Watch the clip after the jump.

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Posted on 12.08 / 0 comments / Read More

Honda Airs Funky Commercials for 2012 Civic Lineup [Video]

The wraps only just came off the all-new but not-so-new looking 2012 Honda Civic at this week’s 2011 New York Auto Show, yet the Japanese automaker has already launched an advertising campaign for its popular compact model. The fully integrated national campaign is called “To Each Their Own” and it’s the creative work of Honda’s long-standing agency, RPA.

The campaign touts the idea that consumers are all different and there's a unique Civic for each of one of them, bringing attention to the variety of different Civic models. The ads feature five distinct characters, with each one of them representing a different model.

The stars are: Jack the urban woodsman who shows off the Civic Hybrid; Mitch the zombie salesman who’s into high-tech gadgets and drives a Civic Sedan; Teeny the monster college student in the fuel-efficient HF model; Aiko the young Ninja girl paired up with the Civic Si and finally, Cesar, the Champion Luchador who drives a Civic Coupe.

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Posted on 08.18 / 0 comments / Read More

Honda Sued over Godzilla Copyright Infringement on Odyssey Commerical [with Video]

It seems that the movie monster Godzilla is not only a threat on the silver screen, but in real life too. And if you’re wondering, no, it hasn’t actually come out of the ocean to wreak havoc on the Japanese shoreline. However, Honda could end up paying a...sea of money to Toho Co., the Japanese film studio that owns the rights to the Godzilla trademark, due to the allegedly unauthorized use of the sea monster’s likeness in an Odyssey minivan commercial.

The dispute concerns the part of the commercial showing off the MPV’s split screen entertainment system, which features a barely visible head shot of the mythological creature -no, really.

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Posted on 12.39 / 0 comments / Read More

New Honda App Allows iPhone Users to Catch Characters from TV Spot as they Appear on the Commercial

In a ground-breaking campaign, Honda has merged the worlds of iPhone Apps and traditional commercials, be they on your TV, computer screen or mobile phone. Created to celebrate the launch of the revised Honda Jazz [Fit in the U.S.], the new interactive app allows iPhone users to virtually catch animated characters as they appear on screen in the firm's new TV advert 'This Unpredictable Life' and drop them into their phones, more or less in the same way you'd use a PS3 Move or Nintendo wii motion-controller.

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Posted on 12.09 / 0 comments / Read More

VIDEO: Honda CR-Z TS-1X Concept Car Walk-Around

Revealed at the 2011 Tokyo Auto Salon, the Honda CR-Z TS-1X hybrid concept car is an impressive lil' beast with its stealthy matte-black paintjob and extensive aerodynamics package. The automaker’s initial press release was short on details, but, luckily, a walk-around clip (or shall we say talk-around?) has surfaced on Youtube, detailing some of the innovations developed by Honda.

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Posted on 06.52 / 0 comments / Read More