SuperNatural
Honda Greenlights Retail Sales Of Civic GX Natural Gas Vehicle In New Yawk.
Hidden by the overzealous hype surrounding its Si and Hybrid brethren, the Civic GX is starting to make waves of its own. Powered by compressed natural gas, which produces near zero emissions, the GX is the only dedicated natural gas-powered passenger vehicle available to retail customers in U.S. And starting this fall, New Yorkers will be able to buy the GX from selected dealers.
Primarily produced domestically, natural gas is cheaper than petroleum fuels, roughly 25 percent less expensive than gasoline when purchased at a refueling station, and around 50 percent cheaper when supplied by a home refueling appliance, something Honda is offering as well. More on that later.
Based on the all-new Civic, the GX achieves a city/highway EPA-rated fuel economy of 28/39 miles per gasoline-gallon equivalent and meets federal Tier 2-Bin 2 and ILEV zero evaporative emission certification standards. It also offers LX-style features and safety. It's equipped standard with a 5-speed automatic transmission and its 1.8-liter, 4-cylinder engine delivers 115 horsepower and 109 lb-ft of torque, both an increase of more than 10 percent over the previous model.
Also going on sale is a natural gas home refueling appliance manufactured by FuelMaker Corporation. "The Phill" mounts to a garage wall either indoors or outdoors and connects to an existing natural gas supply line. There will also be natural gas refueling stations located across New York state. The GX is already marketed to fleet operators with their own fueling stations. It's also offered with the Phill at select dealers in California.
Monday Morning Quarterbacking Aside, The IRL Driver's Death Looked Avoidable.The IRL lost rookie Paul Dana when his Rahal Letterman Indy car smashed into Vision Racing's Ed Carpenter during practice for the season opener at Miami-Homestead Raceway. It happened at the exit of turn two, when Carpenter spun his car and it slowly drifted down the middle of the track. Dana, a former journalist, hit Carpenter's left rear wheel and transmission at near full speed. Both drivers were airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, where the 30-year-old Dana was pronounced dead. Following the accident, Rahal Letterman withdrew the cars of Dana's teammates, Buddy Rice and Danica Patrick, from the race, which was won by Target Ganassi's Dan Wheldon. How Dana was not alerted to or able to avoid the slowly developing situation is a mystery. Anyone who has seen the horrific video will be left scratching his head.
Splash & Dash
The Indy Racing League announced that the Accord Hybrid would serve as the Official Pace Car for the Indy Car Series, marking the first time a car utilizing hybrid technology has been used to pace a major auto racing series. The Delphi IRL Safety Team also will use Honda vehicles this season, operating a fleet of Ridgelines as well as a Pilot, which will be equipped for the various safety and medical needs of the team.
On March 27th, the 20th anniversary of the creation of the Acura brand, Honda broke ground on a new $15 million Acura Design Center, the latest expansion of Honda's product design and development capabilities in North America. The facility will be located adjacent to Honda R&D America's existing Los Angeles Center, which will continue to research and design future Honda products. The Acura Design Center is scheduled to open in summer 2007. The company is also opening a new advanced design studio in Pasadena that will work to advance new future design concepts, giving Honda four R&D facilities in California.
The '06 Honda Civic Hybrid was named the "2006 World Green Car" at the World Car of the Year Award for the greenest car of the year. The Civic Hybrid, which achieves an EPA estimated city/highway fuel economy of 49/51 miles per gallon, was selected by a jury of 46 international automotive journalists. It also came in second in the overall World Car of the Year balloting, just behind the BMW 3-series.
VP Racing, makers of Street Blaze 100-, 101- and 103-octance racing fuel blends, now offers a contingency program for NHRA Sport Compact competitors. The program, called "Street Blaze Fuel Bounty," rewards racers in the Street Stock and ET classes with $200 product certificates for winners and $100 for the runner-up. You need to run the fuel to be eligible, so if you're wondering where or how to get it, call VP's Lisa Bender at 954/565-7670.
Mixed Messages
Honda F1 Is Among The Top Four Teams In F1, Yet They're Miles Behind - And Seconds Off The Pace - Of Last Year's Champions, Renault.
They looked impressive in pre-season testing, but Honda F1 has yet to put together a solid race weekend. Jenson Button can't qualify much better than he did in Bahrain, Malaysia and Australia, where he started from P3, P2 and pole respectively, and he's been quick to blame his car's lack of grip for his poor results. Despite three strong grid positions, he's still looking for his first win.
Rubens Barrichello, meanwhile, has had even worse luck and is just looking for some sort of pace-any kind of pace. He's yet to qualify in the top five and has struggled to even keep up with backmarkers. Apparently, Rubes is having trouble with Honda brakes, saying after a seventh-place finish in Melbourne that he "struggled the whole race with the brakes and it was impossible for me to overtake, although I was able to get past [Scott] Speed and gain position." Speed, a rookie with the low-budge Scuderia Toro Rosso, isn't really considered a contender in the championship.
Hot Start For Hayden
Repsol Honda's Number One Continues His Podiumstreak.
Two early podiums in 2006, and a total of six straight podiums going back to the end of last season, have given Repsol Honda's Nicky Hayden some good momentum to start the season. He trails Ducati's Loris Capirossi by just five points, but he still doesn't look entirely comfortable on his Honda RC211V.
"The six podiums in a row are OK," Hayden said after the Qatar GP, "but we need to take another step up. We've got two weeks to put some hard work in to find the extra second a lap we need."