2006 Honda S2000 Base Convertible 2-door 2.2l on 2040-cars

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Is Fernando Alonso preparing to sit out 2016?

Things have not been going well for Fernando Alonso since moving to McLaren. In fact they've been going so poorly that the Spanish driver may end up sitting out next season if things don't improve. At least those are the rumors presently occupying the Formula One paddock. The notion was first raised by McLaren chief Ron Dennis. When asked by reporters about Alonso's near-term future with the team, Dennis said, "I have an open mind to anything, and some of the ideas have involved those sorts of considerations, yes, sabbatical years etcetera." Though far from confirmed, the basic idea would be to see how next year's car performs in pre-season testing, and if it's not up to spec, Alonso could end up sitting out a season while McLaren and Honda get their partnership up to speed, so to speak. Alonso appeared to be puzzled by the prospect his boss raised, but couldn't rule it out, either. It would be a rather unprecedented move, but could end up avoiding some frustrations as the Anglo-Japanese teething process works itself out with time. Alonso has been a constant on the grid since 2003, missing only two grands prix in thirteen seasons: the 2005 United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis when all the Michelin-equipped teams sat out the race in protest, and the Australian Grand Prix at the beginning of this year, when Alonso was still recovering from a crash in pre-season testing. Out of 254 grands prix contested to date, Fernando has landed on the podium 97 times, including 32 wins and two world championships. This season, however, he's only finished in the points once, with his fifth-place finish in Hungary. Of the eighteen races he contested this year, his car failed to get him to the finish line altogether at seven. His seventeenth place in the final standings for the season are the worst he's done since his debut in 2001 with Minardi (the team now known as Toro Rosso). News Source: Autosport (1), (2), (3)Image Credit: Clive Mason/Getty Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Motorsports Honda McLaren F1 mclaren-honda

Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha to make swappable motorcycle batteries

Just as electric cars are becoming ever more common, the alternative propulsion system is starting to make headway in the motorcycle sphere. Companies such as Harley-Davidson and Zero already have electric models on sale, but other established brands are preparing for the electric future. Among them are the four big Japanese bike builders (Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha) who have a plan to improve electric bike adoption, and make their bikes very appealing. The four companies created an organization back in April 2019 for this sort of purpose called the Swappable Battery Consortium for Electric Motorcycles. And the group has now announced that the manufacturers have agreed on the specifications for motorcycle batteries that can be interchanged among each company's motorcycles. So if you have a Suzuki, you can use a Honda battery, or vice versa. This idea presents quite a few interesting possibilities. The manufacturers could sell bikes with or without batteries, since you might already have a battery from your previous bike, or just another one you own, so you wouldn't have to shell out to buy an entirely new battery. If, for whatever reason, you needed a replacement battery, it should be easy to get one, since the same type would support bikes from a variety of manufacturers. The pipe dream of battery swapping stations might even be feasible because of the standardization and support. And having the batteries relatively easy to remove could be good for apartment dwellers, since they might be able to bring a battery inside to charge. The manufacturers haven't said exactly what the specifications are for these interchangeable batteries, nor when they'll be implemented. But we'll be eagerly awaiting more information in the future. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Honda could halve its US lineup without crimping its sales much [w/video]

Taking a detailed look at the Honda lineup in the US, it isn't hard to see the strength of some models and the weaknesses of others. A recent report on Autoline Daily points out that its five core models - the Accord, Civic, CR-V, Odyssey and Pilot - make up a full 93 percent of Honda's sales in the US. Through April, Honda has sold 419,798 vehicles, and 389,474 of them were from these core models; not to mention the fact that the Accord was the top-selling car in the US last month.
This means that Honda could technically cut six of its 11 models and only lose about 5,000 sales per month. Of course, this is just some data crunching and there is no reason to believe that Honda is planning to kill off any of its models in the near future. In fact, it seems to be committed to the Ridgeline, while Japanese-made models that may actually lose money for Honda still fill unique voids. Scroll down for the video report - fast-forward to the 1:43 mark for the Honda info.