Indiana Open Wheel - Hello Honda

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Originally Posted by SprintRacer4:
I heard last year that Fontana was supposed to be working with Honda Racing Development to debut the new USAC legal motor. Kind of their answer to Toyota's midget motor

Did you hear this from Santa Claus? Honda has never been interested in the Midget division.

Now that Toyota is there maybe Honda is rethinking this. Afterall Toyota and Honda look for opportunities to beat on each other.

Posted via Mobile Device

"GOOD-BYE" Honda! :moon: That's what we should be saying. We as AMERICANS should not be supporting these "FOREIGN" manufacturing companies! These are the same companies that are crippling the American Automotive industry. Good Luck to all who are supporting "AMERICAN" rides!!!!! :thumb

Mike Cray

they build more cars here than the big 3 do

Maybe so but, where does their money and profitable income go? OVERSEAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not AMERICA!!!!

Some money goes overseas and some stays here. They have created many jobs here and jobs are what should be important to the country, not the homebase of the corporation. We have many foreign companies bringing jobs to America while we have American companies taking jobs overseas.

Chevy sells a car called the Aveo. The Aveo is basically built in an Asian country and retagged as a Chevy. Not much of that profit stays here either.

That said, I think the American car companies have received some bad press as their cars are not as bad as people believe. Much of their money problems are the result of being too good to their workers and not watching the bottom line.

For some reason, American cars don't seem cool to the people of America. They think they aren't as good or save as much gas as the Japanese cars. There is also this perception that the Japanese are more efficient and are more innovative. I don't buy that necessarily, but Detroit is bad at conveying a different message.

A personal example for me is that I have owned a couple of used BMW's. With each of them I had an expectation of how they would drive,feel,look, and sound. I had those expectations from seeing and hearing the cars for years. Neither car dissappointed me.(Except how can a car from Germany be so bad in the snow?) They where exactly what I wanted and what I thought they would be. Each year they change the style a bit or the interior a bit, but they keep their essence.

The big 3 have an unprofitable business model right now and it needs to change. Frankly; they also have bad karma as well. They have to start showing the people that what we think about their cars is wrong.

I have no problem allowing Honda engines into our sport for that matter any engine that fits the rule books. My son is always asking me about different engine and if they could be used. He doesn't ask about Ford's Chevy's or Mopars it's always some kind of Honda Toyota or Nissan so if that's what it takes to get our youth interested in our sport and away from the drifters then I think it should be looked at seriously.

What I have a problem with is corporate funded teams like Mopar Ford Chevy and Toyota in our sport. We talk about big money and I feel this is the reason things have gotten out of control. Maybe it to late but if we want to keep Midget and Sprint car racing grassroots than we need to get the car manufacturer out of the game and keep it to our local engine builder. Here's a thought have you tried to build you own engine it's amazing how much cost can be cut by just assembling you own motor. When your engine needs refreshed take it apart take the part to a respected machine shop or builder to have them checked or machine work done and put it back together. That would take car of that $5 grand or more freshening job.

Look around there are ways to cut the cost of racing.

Originally Posted by mtcray:
"GOOD-BYE" Honda! :moon: That's what we should be saying. We as AMERICANS should not be supporting these "FOREIGN" manufacturing companies! These are the same companies that are crippling the American Automotive industry. Good Luck to all who are supporting "AMERICAN" rides!!!!! :thumb

Mike Cray

What is crippling our auto-makers are bad business practices and unions. The big 3only recently(very recently) started offering things American drivers want....Germany and Japan have been doing it for years. The new Honda Civic Si is an 11 to 1 compression, 200HP 4cylinder with an awesome interior - loaded for under 25K....with reliability that has really only been offered by the American companies in the trucks. Ford sells the Focus in Germany in an all-wheel drive, 5 cylinder turbo version. What do we get here? Yes the Mustang is really a good car - however loaded it will be about 30k+; and does not have the drivability of an Audi or BMW, or the Euro-Spec Focus RS for that matter. The New Cadillac CTS-v should be able to compete with the Acuras, Lexus, Audis etc. However the business model of the us makers is still not profitable. They have let bad union negotiations; bad business decisions and un-innovative(until very recently anyway) designs put themselves in the position. Also - I am sure you are aware that Mercedes, BMW, Honda and Toyota all have major plants in the US that employ thousands. How about High-horsepower, small displacement turbo motors? That creates fuel efficiency and offers a thrilling ride....with the exception of the Saturn Sky - there are none made in the US; however quite a few come from overseas, and they sell....

Originally Posted by ThrottleHead:
Now that Toyota is there maybe Honda is rethinking this. Afterall Toyota and Honda look for opportunities to beat on each other.

Posted via Mobile Device

Doubt it. Beating Toyota in USAC won't grab the headlines like beating them in NASCAR or IRL.

Toyota takes better care of their employees and gives more back to the American peeople than the Big 3 have in 30 years.

Maybe you should ask yourself what buying American really means these days. The only people responsible for crippling the american automotive industry are Ford, GM, and Chrysler.

Mike, you've lost your mind.

The "Japanese" auto makers have their roots in Japan sure, but a lot of their profits get turned around here in the U.S.

The "Japanese" cars that you see driving around these days are mostly American made.

Your Chevrolet?

Designed, cast, machined, and shipped from...

MEXICO.

Subaru?

Designed in the U.S. and Japan, machined, shipped, and built right here in Indiana.

Viola!

American made car with American Jobs.

Thank your Big 3 "American" car companies for shipping jobs over seas to Mexico, Venezuela, Honduras, Croatia, and a host of other 3rd word countries.

BTW... never seen an Ed Pink midget or a Gaerte Midget 4 banger come straight from Ford or Chevrolet.