Discover the expert in you.
Discover the expert in you.
From a purely business perspective, the Mazda RX-7 was a flaming failure. It was a 10 percent car: a truly great, amazingly transcendent sports car 10 percent of the time, and broken the other 90 percent. Fortunately, Mazda's never been a company to bow to bean counters on questions of principle. In 2004, Mazda released its newest take on a chassis, drawing from decades of world-class roadster development, combining it with the ultimate expression of an engine it had been steadily perfecting for nearly 50 years.
The Acura RSX had always been a rebadged Integra, a budget-oriented sport coupe Honda debuted in 1985. Not even a migration to the Japanese automaker’s luxury imprint could shake that perception. By the time the 2005 Acura RSX rolled in, Acura was one year away from discontinuing the car entirely. However, as one of the later models, the 2005 RSX enjoyed the benefit of refinements in certain respects, including its performance.
It takes a certain kind of enthusiast to appreciate classic Japanese vehicles, and that goes for cars and bikes alike. It's no insult to say that classic Japanese vehicles were must like the Japanese culture itself; pride in quiet competence, if not complete anonymity. The Z/KZ400 and its larger 440 brother were just such offerings -- they may not have quite the same name recognition as their overseas counterparts, but they're no less exciting or collectible for it.
The Honda name has been synonymous with high-tech solutions for longer than most people on Earth have been alive -- and for good reason. Honda, like many manufacturers in post-war Japan, had to create a competitive edge among more established companies by being clever, bold and more flexible than they. Code P1259 signals a problem with one of the company's trademark systems; one that's a lot more specific than it sounds.
It's no secret that Honda's trademark Civic earned its stripes at the gas pumps and in the tight twisties of backroads and city streets -- so speed wasn't exactly one of the fifth-generation (1992 through 1995) Civic's strongest points. Still, you might be surprised as to exactly how capable this chassis proved to be when subjected to the right motivation.
Both the NX650 -- the Dominator -- and the XR650L are dual-sport products of the Honda Motor Company. Although production of the Dominator ceased with model year 2010, as of February 2012 the XR650L is still a current model. Both machines combine good fuel economy with reliable road performance and competent off-road performance.
Snow throwers are “single-stage” snow movers; they use the same impeller to both scoop up snow from the surface to be cleared, and to project that snow away from the area. Snow blowers are “two stage” machines; they use an auger to scoop up the snow and a separate impeller to blow it away. Honda’s model HS35 is a single-stage machine, and therefore is properly called a snow thrower, rather than a snow blower. Its release in 1980 entirely changed the home-use snow-moving landscape.
The Lexus ES250 midsize entry-level luxury sedan was part of the first generation Lexus ES series car that began production in 1989 for the 1990 model year. The 1990 models were rebadged Toyota Camrys and offered little in extra luxury appointments. Yet the 1990 Lexus ES250 featured a V-6 engine instead of the conventional four-cylinder. The optional manual transmission gave the ES250 a sporty feel, but most buyers chose an automatic transmission.
The Honda Black Max power-riding mower has a spotty presence in North America, although it can be found at some discount warehouse outlets. Only one model was available in 2012: the Black Max riding mower with a 46-inch cutting blade. The Black Max is not a full Honda riding mower, but assembled by Husqvarna Outdoor Products and powered with a Honda engine.
The Nissan 300ZX was a part of the famed Z series sports cars produced since 1969, starting with the Datsun 240Z, while the Acura Integra was a performance coupe produced by Honda. Both vehicles enjoyed immense popularity in the 1990s. Nissan marketed the 300ZX as a luxury-oriented sports car equipped with a turbo V-6 engine. The Integra was smaller, with a decidedly less powerful four-cylinder power plant.
Rims are an easy upgrade for your car, but many people only consider the aesthetics when upgrading their rims while neglecting to consider the other measures that create a good rim. When shopping for new rims with the idea of increasing performance, you must consider a few design variables that can affect it. These considerations make you a savvy shopper whose rim purchase can increase the curb appeal of your car while also having a positive affect on performance.
The Honda Civic Si is a performance sport compact car commonly called a “hot hatch” because of its hatchback styling. “Si” denotes “sport injected” or “sequential injection.” The Honda Civic Si competes against the Volkswagen Golf among other compact cars in hot-hatch performance. The Civic Si debuted in 1986 and is still being produced as of the 2012 model year.
The Honda Civic made its U.S. debut in 1973. Though the Civic was not the first automobile that Honda produced, it was the first to achieve commercial success. Prior to that year, Honda was known mostly for its outstanding lineup of motorcycles. The high-performance Civic Si first appeared in the 1985 model year, forever changing the landscape of economy cars. The 1993 Civic Si came standard with a wide array of features not available on the base model.
After spending the years during and immediately after World War II devoting its resources to military production and its truck models, Toyota was ready to enter the civilian automobile market in the late 1940s. Although quickly successful at home, the Japanese manufacturer had some misfires in its early attempts to become a worldwide exporter. The Tiara, a version of its Corona midsize car designed specifically for export, would mark the beginning of the company's long, successful ventures in the United States.
The Nissan D21 truck, colloquially known in the United States as the Nissan Hardbody, was a no-frills, rugged compact pickup developed to compete against Toyota’s compact truck line. It earned its hardbody moniker for its overall no-nonsense styling, double-wall cargo box and durable four- and six-cylinder engines. Nissan introduced the Hardbody as a 1986-1/2 model in the North American market.
The Toyota Tarago is an eight-passenger multipurpose vehicle, also known as a people mover, marketed in Australia and named after the city in New South Wales. The van is sold worldwide and was badged the MasterAce and later the Estima in Japan. The Tarago helped inspire the Ford AeroStar, Chevrolet Astro and Dodge Caravan minivans.
The Honda CB750 series motorcycles were popular if not revolutionary sport bikes that broke the lock British motorcycles and Harley-Davidsons had on the big motorcycle market in the 1960s. Honda specifically targeted the North American market because buyers sought a less-expensive sport bike than the other motorcycle makers were offering. The CB750 featured a four-cylinder engine with an overhead camshaft and became the first super bike.
In the early 1970s, Japanese manufacturers built on the precedent set by six- and eight-wheel amphibious all-terrain vehicles and created a new category of recreational vehicle: the ATV. Honda's ground-breaking early ATVs rode on three wheels, but when competitors added another wheel to their ATVs and invented the four-wheel ATV, Honda quickly followed suit.
Carburetors have been around for good long while, and for most of that time automotive futurists have been predicting its inevitable demise. But it hasn't happened yet, and it probably isn't going to happen any time soon -- a fact that arises from a sort of hybridization between mechanical fuel mixers and the electronic engine controls that make modern fuel-injected bikes so livable, versatile and efficient.
There are numerous mechanical and electrical malfunctions that can cause starting problems on the 1999 Honda Accord V-6. Most starting problems can be diagnosed via the symptoms displayed by the engine upon start-up, requiring no special tools or mechanical knowledge. Additionally, a diagnostic reader can be used to access any error codes stored by the engine control unit, or ECU.
Honda's 2001 XR70 can move at an unlikely speed for a 70 cc, 5-horsepower dirt bike. But doing so requires that the dirt bike’s engine receives a precisely metered mixture of air and fuel, as well as a strong spark to ignite the mixture. In most cases, a power loss is caused by a sudden decline in any of these three items. Mechanical problems can also cause the dirt bike to lose power.
There are numerous problems that can occur due to excess oil in a 2005 Nissan Frontier engine. Frontiers equipped with Nissan's 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine have an oil capacity of 5 1/8 quarts, while the 4.0-liter V-6 models have a capacity of 5 3/8 quarts. Depending on the amount that the oil is overfilled beyond these capacities, you may experience performance issues and/or serious engine malfunctions may occur.
The Mitsubishi WS-65809 is a 65-inch rear projection TV. The TV outputs video in 1080i, features a variety of aspect ratios to tailor your viewing experience and offers a 50:1 contrast ratio. Common problems with the TV include forgetting the V-Chip passcode, neglecting to enable the V-Chip, having a closed caption box with no text and hearing out-of-sync audio. If you are experiencing these issues, try troubleshooting the problems before taking the TV in for repairs.
The Infiniti G35 and Infiniti G37 are two entry-level luxury cars. Infiniti, which is Japanese automaker Nissan’s luxury division, no longer offers the G35 in its model lineup. The Infiniti G37 is the updated version of the G35. When comparing the two vehicles, go beyond looks, because they share similar designs, and look at engines and drivetrains, model variations and body styles.
The Kawasaki KX65 is a relatively small dirt bike that is a popular choice for young motocross enthusiasts. The KX65 features a two-stroke engine and Mikuni VM24SS carburetor. Jetting a motorcycle involves changing the amount of fuel in the fuel/air mixture. This is usually achieved by adjusting the jets in the carburetor. Jets are small openings that allow fuel into the manifold. A motorcycle that runs "lean" is one that has a low fuel-to-air ratio while a "rich" motorcycle has a high fuel-to-air ratio.
"Scions of Fate" is a free massively multiplayer online fantasy role-playing game. Players choose from character classes and gain experience through slaying monsters and completing quests. The slasher work of leveling up by killing monsters can be a slow process, though. This is where a bot comes in. A bot puts your character on autopilot, so while you're at work or elsewhere, your character is killing baddies. You can then take control of a supercharged hero and go questing.
The Honda Shadow 750 motorcycle engine belongs to the cruiser class bikes. The engine is virtually unchanged since its debut in 1983. Only modest improvements were made by 2011. Although the Shadow 750 arrived in 1983, it can trace its origins to the Honda 750 that won the 1970 Daytona 200 Motosport competition. In 2011, the Shadow 750 remains one of Honda's most favored Shadow family motorcycles.
Honda has a long history of successful 250 cc dirt bikes. The first was the CL72 Scrambler, introduced in 1961. In 1972 Honda released the XL250. Though this bike was relatively heavy for its engine size, it was dependable and Honda marketed it for many years. One of Honda's most popular 250 cc motorcycles was the CR250M Elsinore, Honda's first ever two-stroke bike. The CR250M came out in 1973, and went on to win a number of AMA Motocross Championships. The four-stroke Honda XR250 debuted in 1979, and immediately began taking sales away from the Honda XL250.
The Honda HR-V multipurpose vehicle was perhaps the first crossover sport utility vehicle that combined passenger car comfort with the looks of a rugged four-wheel drive off-road wagon. Honda produced the HR-V from 1999 to 2006 and took some of its mechanical and design components from its larger sibling, the CR-V. While it wasn't that versatile off-roading, it was a fuel-efficient, lightweight vehicle marketed to younger drivers.
The Honda Vision scooter originally was part of Honda's NH series of motorbikes, with engine displacements ranging from 50 to 125 cc. Honda produced the original Vision for the European market from 1987 to 1994. A U.S. version of the Vision, the Aero, was available from 1983 to 1986. However, a new Vision, launched in 2011, replaced Honda's older Dio scooters in Europe and India. The 2011 Vision is not available in the U.S.
The Honda Z50R was a mini-trail bike equipped with a four-stroke 50 cc engine. It was originally intended for young, inexperienced riders, but evolved into a popular off-roader that appealed to all types of enthusiasts. An estimated 70,000 Z50Rs left Honda showrooms when it debuted in 1979. By the end of its production, Honda had manufactured more than a half-million units.
Honda developed the CR250 to compete in motocross off-road motorcycle racing. Honda had dominated Moto Grand Prix throughout the 1960s and now looked to gain similar success in motocross. The most successful motocross bikes of the day were powered by two-stroke engines. Honda did not make two-stroke engines, and founder and president Soichiro Honda had stated publicly, "Honda will never build a two-stroke motorcycle." The young engineers at Honda who had encouraged the company to enter motocross competition began a secret project to develop a motocross model with a two-stroke engine.
In 1976, the Accord arrived in showrooms as a larger, but still fuel-efficient, alternative to the Civic. The 1986 model year brought about a second redesign -- which lasted through the 1989 model year -- for the Honda's popular mid-sized vehicle, as Honda made it about three inches longer and equipped it with pop-up headlights. When installing a radio in a 1987 Honda Accord-- aftermarket or original -- correct wiring specifications prevent dangerous electrical shorts.
Published by Electronic Arts, "Need For Speed: Shift" is a car-racing game for the PlayStation 3, Xbox360 and PC. In a departure from the previous "NFS" games, it follows the career path of a professional driver, racing on famous courses from around the world in order to earn money and experience points that will unlock access to more competitive and lucrative championships. The events all offer slightly different payouts, so if you're looking to rack up a large quantity of cash, it can help to focus on the most profitable ones.
MotoGP, or Motorcycle Grands Prix, held its first formal World Championship in 1949, making it the oldest motorsport World Championship. Through the 1950s, the sport was dominated by motorcycles and riders from Italy. Japanese manufacturers did not compete in MotoGP until 1959.
Japanese motorcycle manufacturers were the first to mass produce minibikes, small displacement motorcycles that often had automatic clutches. Honda was among the leaders in the 1960s, the earliest years of the minibike craze. Honda's models had engines equipped with overhead cams capable of reaching 9,000 rpm. Honda introduced the QA50 series of minibikes in the U.S. in 1970.
The term ATV, which stands for "All-Terrain Vehicle," covers a variety of small, open vehicles designed for off-road use. The Honda ATC250R marked the height of three-wheeled ATV production. Honda introduced the ATC250R in 1981 as the first ATV designed especially for racing. Honda's first ATVs were three-wheeled models. Between 1981 and 1986, when Honda ceased production on the ATC250R, the company made several major improvements on the three-wheeler to keep it competitive.
The Yamaha YFZ450 is designed for course riding. However, it is also very capable in the woods, on the dunes and almost anywhere. Carburetor jetting will largely affect how the engine performs in all of these circumstances. The jetting process itself is relatively simple; the process of determining which jets to install and what settings to use is a little more difficult. Altitude, weather and other vehicle modifications will determine how your carburetor must be jetted.
The 1986 Kawasaki 750 belongs to the Vulcan family of custom cruiser bikes with V-Twin engine displacements ranging from 125 cc to 2000 cc. Kawasaki began production of the Vulcan 750 in 1984, but U.S. tariff restrictions on imported bikes over 750 cc forced the motorcycle maker to export 750s with 650 cc engines. The 1986 model was the first export to the U.S. with a 750 cc engine after the tariff was lifted in 1986.
The CRF 70F hails from a long line of mini dirt bikes produced by the Honda Motor Company, serving as an entry-level machine for younger riders to cut their teeth on. Keeping this dirt bike in working order involves a small amount of maintenance, mostly in the form of engine oil changes, every 600 miles or six months, whichever comes first. The process is similar to changing a car or truck's oil. However, the CRF 70F's engine uses a cleanable oil screen to filter out debris within the oil, in place of a disposable filter element.
The 1991 Civic came in three body styles -- hatchback, sedan and liftback -- and the Si model come as either a hatchback or a liftback. The Si was the high-performance trim level of the 1991 Civic and came equipped with a 108-horsepower, 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine. A fuel pump transported the fuel from the fuel tank to the fuel rail on the engine. When the fuel pump starts failing on your 1991 Civic Si, there are four telltale symptoms.
Supermoto is a blend of off-road and road racing. Racers ride on a course that is 70 road and 30 percent dirt. Off-road motorcycles fitted with street tires, modified suspension and brakes are used. Conversions range from the very basic to full conversions. The extent of the conversion largely depends on your budget, needs and racing plans. Most popular dirt models can be converted to supermoto in a few standard steps.
The Quest -- Nissan's first and only minivan, as of publication -- hit showroom floors in the 1993 model year. The Quest came about as a joint production venture between Nissan and Ford Motor Company, which manufactured the Mercury Villager. The joint venture ended in 2002, and the Quest did not reappear until 2004. The 1997 Nissan Quest had two trim levels: XE and GXE. The GXE trim level was the highest available on the 1997 Quest, and it came with a wide array of features.
Nissan released a new compact, entry-level sedan, the Sentra, in 1985. In 1995, Nissan completely redesigned the Sentra, dropping the boxy body in favor of a rounder, more aerodynamic one. The 1995 model year came in four trim levels: base, XE, GXE and GLE. The GXE trim level was the second highest trim level available in the 1995 Sentra.
Unlike cars, motorcycles don't use a shock/strut setup. Motorcycles are built in one of three ways. Hardtail motorcycles don't have a suspension on the rear wheel, they have a set of springs on the seat. Other motorcycles use either a single shock/spring combination positioned between the frame and the swingarm to give the look of a hardtail motorcycle, or two outboard shock/spring combination parts that are visible. Rebuilding these, for the most part, is the same regardless of what kind of shock you have. The shock in a motorcycle is gas charged and should never be opened. If the shock…
With the price of fuel rising a new breed of automobile has arrived. Fading are the days of hulking sport utility vehicles. Automobile manufacturers are now shifting to crossover vehicles, which blend the roominess of the sport utility vehicle with the aerodynamics of a sport sedan, creating a much more cost effective ride. The Honda Crosstour is this type of vehicle and there are many accessories and modifications that can be done to it to ensure optimum performance while creating a unique look.
Suzuki introduced the LT250, known as the QuadRacer, in 1985. It was the first of Suzuki's "race ready" ATV models and firmly cemented Suzuki as the most innovative ATV manufacturer of the era. The LT250 represented a number of firsts for the ATV industry, and set the stage for Suzuki's continued success in the field.
Honda's CBR600RR is a dominant force on the road or in supersport-class racing. The 600RR was introduced in 2004, bristling with technology gleaned from Honda's RC211V MotoGP race bike. As of 2011, the 600RR has been refined through four generations of development to provide the best in performance and reliability. However, maintaining this reliability is dependent on regular oil changes to ensure that the engine and transmission is thoroughly lubricated while moving at high speeds. You should change the oil and filter every 4,000 miles, or after every race or track day.
The P0700 OBD2 code is a general transmission error code triggered when there is a transmission related problem in a vehicle. The P0700 code is accompanied by secondary codes by the vehicle ECM to help pinpoint the actual malfunction. Diagnosing a P0700 problem entails having your vehicle scanned to isolate the issue. Without knowing the secondary codes, a P0700 error code can be anything from a sensor failure to low line pressure in a transmission so having your vehicle scanned to pinpoint the underlying issue is vital to avoid expensive uninformed repairs.
Motorcycles typically use one of two different rear suspension configurations: either a single or mono-shock absorber centered within the rear swingarm, or a twin-shock absorber that mounts the shock absorbers along the sides of the swingarm. Replacing the shock absorbers, as part of a repair or performance upgrade, requires the use of specialized stands to support the weight of motorcycle. The job demands a fair degree of familiarity with your motorcycle, as an improper installation of the shock absorbers can have disastrous results.
