The Civic Loses it's Charm

2012 Honda Civic EX Sedan

I wouldn't have one of these in a million years, and apparently, neither would Consumer Reports. For the last couple of years, the Civic has always been a must buy for readers of the Consumer Reports, but this year, it seems that the editor wants their readers to buy a Kia Forte, a Ford Focus, a Chevy Cruze, a Fiat 500, a Nissan GT-R; pretty much any car other than this. How bad has this car become? Well, the last one which looked decent received a score of 78. This new one with it's weird curves and crooked lines took its score down 17 notches to a disappointing 61, casting it out of the Consumer Reports recommended cars list along with the Toyota Corolla, Nissan Sentra, and Mazda 3. Unfortunately, they're not gonna get any luck with me. It's by far the ugliest Civic I've ever seen. Honestly, they should've left the design alone. It looked better before this horrid redo. So, if you've bought a new Civic, shame on you! You could've done much better with an older one. Or better yet, if you want a good looking, fuel efficient, cheap compact car, I'd get either a Ford Focus, Ford Fiesta, or a Fiat 500. Those 3 are the best looking small cars in this day and age. Honda's really going down a steep hill with their failures. First it was the CR-V, now, it's this. If only the S2000 came back.

H.F.H.V

2011 Ford Fiesta Gymkhana 4 H.F.H.V

So, if you've heard the chatter around Ken Block's Facebook Page and his main rally website, you've probably heard of Ken Block's newest project: the Hybrid Function Hooning Vehicle, or H.F.H.V for short. Basically, Ken takes a two-door Ford Fiesta rally car, but instead setting up for one main discipline like Gymkhana, he uses it for three different disciplines like Gymkhana, RallyCross, and Rally. One car, three ways to race, new awesome! So far, Ken's given his new car a public show by hooning it around his Los Angeles stop on his Gymkhana World Tour. So far, no info has been given on what this new 3-in-1 monster packs under its bonnet, but Ken says it will be released along with a new video tomorrow.

Things Are Getting DiRTY

Traxxas #43 Ford Fiesta Gymkhana 3 R/C

Grab your helmet and a clean towel because things are about to get DiRTY. The next biggest racing game of 2011, DiRT 3, will be here May 24 for the PS3, Xbox 360, and the PC. Codemasters has made what probably will be the best rally racing game of all time including all your rally favorites such as the legendary Group B races, Pikes Peak stages, WRC battles, Rally Raid races, and everyone's favorite Gymkhana showdowns. 50 cars are said to be on the roster including the Ford Fiesta WRC, the Suzuki Grand Vitara Pikes Peak, and even the MG Metro 6R4 rally monster. So far, there will be two editions available for pre-order: the standard and the limited edition. Pre-ordering the limited edition will give you more rep points at the beginning, all four cars from the Texaco Racing Superteam, and four bonus events. Not only that. Remember the time I told that Codemasters was planning to release that R/C Ford Fiesta (above) to all the DiRT 3 LE players? Well it turns out that it's all true. When you pre-order the Limited Edition, Codemasters will add Ken Block's Traxxas Ford Fiesta Gymkhana 3 R/C car to the bundle. Normally this toy would cost you about $500. But, Codemasters will send the car and the game to you for a reasonable $300. Sounds good, doesn't it? So if you haven't pre-ordered the game yet, you better get on it.

All Work and No Play Keeps even Ken Block Away

Traxxas Ford Fiesta #43 Gymkhana R/C Car

Remember this little thing? Monster World Rally Driver Ken Block asked world-renowned R/C Car company Traxxas to make a special one just for him and the fans. It's on sale now if you still want to buy it. But, since the real thing is the official car of the next big sim game, DiRT 3, Codemasters, the guys behind the DiRT series, decided to amp it up a little. When the game comes out on May 24, there will be 2 editions: the standard and the limited edition. Recent speculation has been received that if you pre-order the limited edition for who knows how much, Codemasters will drop this awesome R/C car in the package along with the game. How cool is that? We're talking about a toy car that's about the size of my laptop and can run faster than a school bus. Check out their website for more info and check out the video below to see the car in action.