2013 Honda Civic Versus 2014 Kia Forte

Our long-term Honda Civic is getting much more use this summer as competitors flow into our test fleet. While a few may have grumbled about us pitting the redesigned 2013 Civic against the outgoing and outdated 2013 Toyota Corolla, they shouldn't have much to complain about with us pitting it against the even more thoroughly overhauled 2014 Kia Forte.

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However, there was a bit of a disparity this time around too. Our Forte test car was a fully loaded EX trim with a 173-horsepower, 2.0-liter four-cylinder. The base Forte comes with a 148-hp, 1.8-liter four-cylinder that is more comparable to the Civic's 140-hp, 1.8-liter four-cylinder, the car's only engine apart from the hybrid and Si versions.

If the engine wasn't a big enough difference, the nearly $6,000 bump in the Forte's MSRP and all the associated goodies arguably didn't make for a fair fight. Would the results of driving the two be as one-sided as the numbers implied? Editors David Thomas and Joe Wiesenfelder took the two on a loop of city, suburban and highway driving to find out.

Recall Alert: 2006-2007 Honda S2000, 2006 Acura RSX

Honda is recalling 18,352 model-year 2006-2007 Honda S2000 roadsters and model-year 2006 versions of the Acura RSX coupe due to a problem with the brakes, Honda announced today.

Improperly manufactured brake booster components could cause decreased brake assistance over time, increasing the risk of a crash. "No crashes or injuries have been reported related to this issue, which was discovered through warranty claim analysis," Honda said in a statement.

Honda will notify all affected owners starting in mid-July, and dealers will inspect and replace the affected parts for free. Owners can call Honda at 800-999-1009 or Acura at 800-382-2238 for more info. They can also log on to www.recalls.honda.com or www.recalls.acura.com.

Related
Research the Honda S2000
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Top 10 Best Base Models

An ode to the base model.

Black door handles and a seat that can't move up and down/
paying monthly for not a lot has me feeling like a clown.

Just because you might not be able to afford more than the very least in a car doesn't mean you have to sing the base-model blues. Automakers are adding more features to their lowliest trim levels to entice shoppers even if some are stuck in the stone ages before the USB port became a necessity.

Here are 10 models that we consider to be solid picks, even in their base-model version.

Which Cars Fit Three Car Seats?

UPDATE 6/7/2013: Parents are often searching for the automotive holy grail: a car that's not a minivan and can fit three child-safety seats across the backseat. It's a short list.

In the more than three years that Cars.com editors have been installing car seats into test vehicles, we've come across only a handful of cars that can hold three car seats across a backseat.

The newest vehicle to make our list is the 2013 Nissan Armada. The largest of the brand's SUVs has room for eight passengers and easily accommodates three car seats across its second row.

As we come across more cars that fit three child-safety seats, we'll add to this list. For now, here are the cars from our Car Seat Checks that can fit three car seats in the second row:

Tracking the Fuel Economy of Cars.com's 2013 Honda Civic, 2013 Subaru BRZ

The past month was a good mileage month for our long-term 2013 Honda Civic and 2013 Subaru BRZ. Both testers bumped up their average mileage, and the Civic has a new best-recorded single-tank mileage of 35.6 mpg.

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Our 2013 Civic was stuck in city loops averaging 28.53 mpg for the first 2,500 miles. Now with more miles accumulating we're starting to see the 39 mpg highway rating in our recordings. The Civic's overall mileage average increased 1.75 mpg since the last update 1,200 miles ago. All fill-ups tallied in above 30 mpg instead of the mid-to-high 20s from earlier tanks.

Top 10 Best-Selling Cars: May 2013

The last time Ford sold 70,000 F-Series pickups in a single month was March 2007 when unemployment was just 4.4%. The best-selling truck eclipsed that mark again in May 2013, gaining 30.6% to hit 71,604 sales. That's the best May since 2005, an era when the F-Series' clipped along at 800,000 or more sales a year.

Such is the pickup rebound, fueled by a construction market that saw some of the highest housing starts in recent months since 2008. The Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra and Chrysler's Ram pickups all had 20%-plus gains for the month — and this comes with little increases in incentives versus May 2012. Ford's recent plans to add jobs to its Kansas City, Mo., facility, where the F-150 is built, seems like a safe bet.

While Ford led Detroit's sales gains, Nissan's 24.7% sales increase led the largest Asian automakers. Sales for the Altima boomed 40.8%, and that's with slightly lower incentives versus a year ago. The rival Honda Accord added 11.7% to stay ahead by fewer than 1,500 sales. Virtually every Honda sale in May "represents a purchase by an individual customer," Honda sales chief John Mendel said in a statement — a reference to Honda's fleet sales, which are by far the lowest among the seven largest automakers.

Honda Cuts Price on Fit EV

Honda's subcompact electric vehicle is on sale. Starting June 1, the automaker will offer a $259-a-month lease on the Fit EV; that's a decrease from $389 a month.

The new three-year lease offer is good for current and new Fit EV customers, and includes some pretty nice perks: no down payment, unlimited mileage, free routine maintenance, collision coverage and a Leviton 240-volt home charging station. Honda says a full charge on a 240-volt charger takes only three hours.

2013 Honda Civic Versus 2013 Toyota Corolla

It's a battle as old as time itself ... or at least it seems that way to the people who work at a car research website; Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla? Which relatively bland economy car is the right one?

In February we purchased a 2013 Honda Civic to join our long-term test fleet, and part of our yearlong mission is to pit it against other compacts that come into our review fleet for shorter evaluations.

One such car happened to be a 2013 Toyota Corolla. It had similar miles on it to our Civic, similar equipment — save for ridiculous large wheels with a ridiculously large price tag attached — and an upgraded multimedia system.

On the road, though, there proved to be a stark contrast in performance. Did the recently updated Civic completely trash the soon-to-be-replaced Corolla? Or did Toyota deliver an upset?

Plug-in Cars: Where Can You Buy Them?

Thursday’s pricing announcement for the Chevrolet Spark EV likely piqued some interest on the West Coast, but chances are few others gave it much attention. GM will sell the all-electric hatchback only in California and Oregon; the automaker has announced no plans to sell it elsewhere, spokesman Kevin Kelly told us.

Where can EV fans find their cars? We tallied up the states.

No surprise: Californians get the biggest slice of the EV pie. Thank the state's zero-emissions vehicle mandate, which requires automakers to sell a certain percentage of zero-emissions vehicles, explained Ed Kim, AutoPacific's vice president of industry analysis. Nearby Washington state has adopted California's emissions requirements but not the ZEV quota, and states such as Oregon and a number along the East Coast have adopted both.

The emissions requirement should eventually align with the federal government's 2025 corporate average fuel economy requirements. But it still means "a plug-in car sold in Oregon counts towards California’s required ZEV volume for the automaker that makes that vehicle," Kim wrote in an email. "It’s not a natural consumer market for such vehicles, but rather a market legislated into existence."

Why I Drive the 2013 Honda Civic Like a Hybrid

Our long-term Honda Civic has only been in our fleet for a few months, but I've already racked up several weeks' worth of drive time in it. Besides the fact that it is a very capable commute car with a nice stereo and comfortable seats, I've found myself driving this car differently than I expected. I drive it like a hybrid.

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When I test hybrids I generally don't employ hypermiling techniques to rack up impressive mileage figures, but I do drive the cars "smarter" while still keeping up with traffic. That means accelerating smoothly without hammering down the gas pedal, coasting when possible and when in heavy traffic leaving room between the car in front of me to reduce braking.

The other day I realized I was doing all this in the Civic too.