Toyota Partner Robot

Okay so StreetFire's own DailyDriver recently took a trip to Toyota's facilities in Japan and instead of capturing footage of their cars, he got this video of Toyota's Partner Robot playing Over the Rainbow on his trumpet. And even though it may appear as if the music is coming out of some hidden speakers, we're told that this Mini-Storm Trooper actually produced the sound by blowing into the trumpet like a human.

ASIMO eat your heart out! I personally would like to see this robot and ASIMO duke it out. They're all creepy if you ask me.

Watch the Toyota Partner Robot play the trumpet.

H2H Ep 4, S2000 CR Vs. 350z Nismo

Brought to you by Torque TV

Torque TV's Head 2 Head Episode 4 transports us to the other side of the Automotive industry, Japan. A perfect match between the best of both worlds, check out this showdown to see the Honda s2000 Club Racer v.s. the Nissan 350z Nismo Edition.

View the H2H Ep 4, S2000 CR Vs. 350z Nismo Video

VIDEO: Dyno Accident

Brought to you by saabbygoran.

You won't get any safety sermons from Streetfire, but, this video is worth watching. It shows how quickly an accident can happen. It's a short video. Guys are standing around a Honda watching it on the dyno. An older man walks past those lined up along the wall, accidentally steps on the spinning machinery, and falls. Hopefully he's okay. The video comes to Streetfire from Serbia.

View the Dyno Accident video.

VIDEO: 1989 Honda CRX vs. 2001 Lambo

Uploaded by: MRJDM609

The people at Mischief.tv uploaded this unbelievable clip. If I hadn't seen it a while ago I'd think it was an April fool’s prank. Why? Well, just read the title of the video again. Now, if you saw a Honda CRX and a Lamborghini Murcielago side by side on the open road with the drivers even contemplating a run, what would your initial reaction be?

As obvious as the obvious may seem maybe this is a lesson to always be open-minded to the ingenuity of gearheads.

The passenger in the Lambo gives an accurate summation after each run. The first run begins about 20 seconds into the clip and the second about 50 seconds into the clip.

Here are a few stock stats on the cars:

Lambo: Engine: 6.2L V-12, 572; Weight: 4058; 0-60 in 3.8

1989 Honda CRX: Engine: B18 Series; Weight: 1,834 pounds; 0-60 FAST!

View the 1989 Honda CRX vs. 2001 Lambo video.

Honda S2000 Top Speed

Brought to you by 300zxttracer.

Sit back and listen to the Honda S2000 go through gear changes as the speedometer climbs. When you get to 1:10 and the car hits maximum speed, 281 km/h (174.61 mph), hold on tight and hope the driver of the transfer truck the S2000 roadster is approaching decides to stay in the slow lane.

View the Honda S2000 video.

Photo Album: Honda Rose Parade Float

Brought to you by ksingh.

In case you missed the Parade of Roses in anticipation of the Rose Bowl, here are some photos of the transforming Ridgeline float that Honda built. As unattractive as it was, I do have to admit it was one of the more unique floats that I have ever seen. I actually watched it on TV and I was impressed. It was even driven by our future robot master, ASIMO.

View the Honda Float photo album.

Funny Honda Commercial

Thanks to 72479de6 for the great video.

This is a funny Honda commercial. I found it pretty entertaining. I wonder how many outtakes it took to create this.

Watch the Honda Commercial.

A CRX did what?

Here is a video brought to you by VODCars.

I like this video because it has a little of everything. It makes you hurt with pain but still manages to make you laugh.

I especially like the part where my friend John gets beat in his Murcielago by a Honda CRX! Yes you read that correctly, a CRX. What they don't tell you is that the CRX is running a highly modified Skyline engine.

VODCars

Street Run in Stockholm

I've seen lots and lots of street runs through this town... I'm starting to wonder if the cops just go ahead and set up a course for you to run between the hours of midnight and sunrise. Regardless, here is a Honda NSX and Corvette playing back an forth on the streets of Stockholm. Love the camera angle mounted low on the bumper. Very sweet.

[Midnight Run in Stockholm]

Direct Download the NSX Widebody Video

Update from over the weekend: A lot of users sent PMs asking me to make this video available for direct download on iTunes. So we've added the high quality version of the this to our Best of StreetFire podcast feed, download away! Thanks again to JPJ Studios for the video, we've included the high quality 640x480 H.264 direct download version on iTunes, so check it out!

[Direct Download on iTunes]
[Podcast RSS feed]
[Streaming on StreetFire web Site]

Widebody NSX

If you close your eyes and listen to the soundtrack you almost expect to open them to a Lord of the Rings battleground. But with fantastic fantastic camera work, effects and great editing the visuals keep up and even surpass mood of the Music. Great work by the team at JPJ Studios & Low Boost Productions.

[Video, Widebody NSX]
[More videos by JPJ Studios]

New Civic Type R

Here's a little something something for you Honda guys out there.... I'm a bit of a Honda guy myself, but my Honda pops wheelies and has a 16,000 RPM redline, so I've been hard pressed to get behind the Hondas with more than two wheels. Still though, I have to grudgingly admit the new Civic coupe has grown on me quite a bit, pretty good looking car actually. Hope this new Type R is half the car of the old one, it at least looks the part.

[Video, Civic Type R]

Porsche bangs an S2000 around

First, I had no idea an S2000 sounded so sweet running around a track, very impressive sound track. Second, I would be pissed if some guy oversteering out of a corner tagged my car like that... oh well, I guess Rubn' is racing, but man that's got to hurt.

[Porsche tags an S2000 at the track]

Electric Sport Bikes?

(via MotorBiker.org) At first this sounds like an odd idea, but the more I think about it the more sense it makes. Yes I love good ole Dinosaur burning sportbikes, but there are some intriguing benefits to this technology in a more mature form.

First, you could go for an in-hub motor freeing up tons of space for the rider to sit lower in the bike, similar to "The Alligator" which has proven a lower seating position has some huge handling gains. Second, one of the problems with electric cars has been replacing batteries, but in a bike, given access and size, not to mention typically lower mileage driven, batteries start to make more sense. Finally, the instant torque of an Electric motor would be just plain cool from the sadle of a sport bike.... talk about a wheelie machine!

Anyhow I think this puts us one step closer to the coolest sport bike ever... Kaneda's Bike from Akira
:-)

[ElectricMotorcycles.net]
[Mike's really cool Electric F3]
[Comment on this in the Forum]

Stunt'n a 50

Who says small bikes aren't fun? I admit I've been a little hesitant to try an get crazy on my own CBR, but if I had one of these little bikes I would be stunt'n the hell out of it. These guys make it look easy.

[Watch Video Small Stunts]

Honda Civics in SoCal heaven

Great Video from ClubSi.com uploaded by Design! Just before Thanksgiving I took my first trip out to Southern California, and quickly realized why it's heaven on earth for us car guys. Fantastic mountain roads, incredible ocean views, amazing top down 75 degree weather....in November.......oh and yea it was 43 degrees and raining back home in Atlanta.

So here I am this morning and the Freak'n heat in my house is out (Dual zone AC means you're twice as likely to be without heat apparently)....poured a nice warm cup of coffee, sat down at the moderation que and here is this nice warm video from the driving paradise of SoCal. Thanks Guys!

[ClubSi.com]
[Watch Video of Ricky's Em1]

While on the subject of S2000's...TunerVlog.com

I've been saving this video for a feature until we could collect some stats comparing us to the other guys, but first....

.....let me gush about this video for a second. Great job, great editing, and I see they had a bit of fun at the end. TunerVlog.com did a great job with this video. The car? It's immaculate, and I love the mods, aggressive yet tasteful. The car's owner, Stephen Tran of Team RPM has a great ride, and now that I've seen a boosted S2000 can crack out a 12.25@113mph, I have to admit I have a new found appreciation for Hondas with more than two wheels....yes I'm a CBR snob.

[Video: Team RPM S2000 by TunerVlog]

So now time to toot our own horn. This same video was uploaded to both YouTube and StreetFire on August 22. A week later and this video has received 872 views on YouTube .... nice ... respectable .... but a whopping 2,350 views on StreetFire, almost 4 times more exposure in 7 days. (note I'm sure the views will go up after this Blog post, but this is what they are at time of writing)

So more exposure is nice, but here is a direct side by side quality comparison. We encode at 528Kbps to YouTube's 330Kbps, which doesn't make much sense to non-techie types, so here is a picture worth a thousand words...or at least an extra 198Kbps... notice the detailing in the leaves and street.

So, more exposure, higher quality, and best of all, keeping it "in the car family" But if you still insist on using third party video hosts, ... hey we support that too.

[Discussion: StreetFire.net vs. YouTube]

The Honda Hate Song

Welcome to a weird land where fields of bunnies and rainbows dance and kill strange diesel birds from the sky.... Me think the Honda advertising staff may be experimenting with peyote.

[Watch video, via our partner Clevver]
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