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Struggling McLaren-Honda F1 partners near 'fork in the road'

WOKING, England - McLaren's partnership with Honda has not worked so far, and the team is now approaching a "fork in the road," executive director Zak Brown said on Wednesday. Speaking to Reuters in his office at the Formula One team's headquarters, Brown (pictured above) indicated clearly that a parting of the ways was a real option under consideration by management. The American said engine upgrades promised for this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix were not ready, and the Japanese manufacturer could not say when they might be. And while McLaren still wanted to win championships with Honda, there were serious concerns as to whether that was achievable. "Honda's working very hard, but they seem a bit lost," said Brown, who replaced Ron Dennis at the helm late last year. "We were only told recently that we wouldn't have the upgrade coming (for Montreal) ... and we don't have a definitive timeline, which is concerning because the pain is great and we can't sit around forever. "We were eagerly awaiting this upgrade as were our drivers, and it's a big disappointment that it's not coming. It's not lack of effort, but they are struggling to get it to come together."FAILURE AND EMBARRASSMENT McLaren, the second oldest and most successful team in Formula One after Ferrari in terms of race wins, are the only ones yet to score a point this season. They have not won a race since 2012. The renewed partnership with Honda in 2015 was billed as a return to the glory days, when French great Alain Prost and the late Brazilian Ayrton Senna dominated the late 1980s and early 1990s. Instead it has brought failure and embarrassment to the former world champions, whose cars have failed to finish races -- and sometimes even start them -- due to engine failures. Spanish driver Fernando Alonso, a double world champion whose future is uncertain, said in March that "we have only one problem, and that is the power unit. There is no reliability and there is no power." Honda's engine troubles even plagued Alonso at the Indy 500, where a failure took him out of the race. McLaren were ninth in 2015, sixth last year and this season could become their worst ever. MARCHING ORDERS "The executive committee have now given us our marching orders," said Brown, who is also chairman of the fast-growing Motorsport Network media group. "We're not going to go into another year like this, in hope." "I don't want to get into what our options are.

MotorWeek checks out two sides of the '90s Japanese car scene

MotorWeek's Retro Reviews let you feel nostalgic about a huge range of classic cars, and the latest two releases offer a look at two very different sides of the Japanese car market in the 1990s. The video above shows off tuned examples of the Mazda RX-7 and Nissan 300ZX. Check out the clip below to remember the 1997 Honda CR-V, if you want to reminisce about something a little more utilitarian. The RX-7 and 300ZX were among the era's best Japanese sports cars, and these examples' suspension and engine overhauls gave them an extra boost. Peter Farrel Supercars tunes the Mazda, and the vibrant yellow paint and body kit make it look ready for an episode of Initial D. The updated powertrain stands up to the mean styling and gets the RX-7 to 60 miles per hour in 4.5 seconds. The Stillen 300ZX GTZ sports a giant wing, and new turbos take the output to 465 hp. It sprints to 60 in 4.9 seconds. The CR-V sits on the opposite end of the automotive spectrum as the tuned RX-7 and 300ZX, but it's even more important in a historical sense. The Honda (along with the Toyota RAV4 and others) was among the progenitors of today's mega-popular compact crossovers. These early examples set the foundation for offering buyers a utilitarian vehicle in a comfortable package with good fuel economy at an affordable price. The CR-V had some quirky charm, too, like the removable picnic table hidden in the cargo floor. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

2016 Acura NSX aimed at Ferrari 458 for the price of Audi R8

Acura has done a good job of keeping the next-generation NSX under the wraps for the past few months, especially after a fiery little incident during testing at the Nürburgring earlier this year. But UK's What Car? recently got a chance to speak with development boss Ted Klaus, and he unleashed a few new details about the much-anticipated supercar to make it even harder for us to wait.
Among the info was a strong estimate of the NSX's performance potential. "We have to achieve the type of acceleration that the customer is achieving with the Ferrari," said Klaus to What Car?. "More importantly we have to achieve this every day and also at the Nürburgring." Assuming Acura's supercar is as actually quick as a 458 Italia, then it could hit 60 miles per hour in around 3.5 seconds.
Klaus also claims that the wickedly fast performance could come at a relative bargain for the class. The price is reportedly being benchmarked against the Audi R8, which would put the NSX around $130,000 in the US. While hardly cheap, it would still be a healthy discount off a 458.