New center named for Charlie Thomas family

Here is an article on the Galveston Daily news about what happened to our old Ford Store, what it will become, and why it is cool to work for Charlie Thomas.
Here is snip
"
Galveston College’s latest property acquisition is to be named the Galveston College Charlie Thomas Family Vocational-Technical Training Center in honor of Thomas’ sale of the site at a price less than its full value.

Thomas, chairman of the Sand Dollar Autoplex board, set a low purchase price for the former Sand Dollar Ford facility in lieu of a gift in kind to the college, said the college’s president, Myles Shelton, who bought the 4.3-acre site, 7626 Broadway, in March."

Full available here check it out.

New center named for Charlie Thomas family

Sincerely,

Ever P.

Sand Dollar Honda

The new Mrs. Honda

Ok so maybe it's not Mrs. Honda but Mrs. Pereira. This weekend was one for the great memories book and I'm happy to say that the I'm now officially married.  Working at Sand Dollar Honda for the last 10 years and seeing my self grow up, thinking of all the great customers and the ups and downs of the business puts a smile on my face.  Here is a picture of me and my bride, as you can see I'm a great negotiator and I got a really good deal. Although this blog is mainly business I wanted to share a little of my personal life with everyone and a small picture of my beautiful bride. Thanks for looking.

Sincerely,

Ever P.
Sand Dollar Honda

2011 Ridgeline Color Matrix

 I haven't been able to find info on changes for the 2011 Ridgeline yet, but here are the colors available for the 2011 Honda Ridgeline which just released today.  I will post any changes of equipment when the info becomes available.

2011 Ridgeline Color Matrix

Model	Engine	Trim	Trans	KA	KL	Exterior Color	Exterior Code/Color		Interior Code/Color
				Model Code	Model Code
RIDGELINE  4D	3.5L V6 4WD	RT	5AT	YK1F2BEW	KA 50 ST	Taffeta White	WH		GR
						Alabaster Silver Metallic	SI		GR
						Polished Metal Metallic	GX		BK
						Crystal Black Pearl	BK		GR
						Bali Blue Pearl	BL		GR
						Dark Cherry Pearl	RE		BE
		RTS RTL RTL NAVI	5AT	YK1F4BEW YK1F5BJNW YK1F5BKNW	KA 50 ST	Taffeta White	WH		GR
						Alabaster Silver Metallic	SI		GR
						Alabaster Silver Metallic	SX		BK
						Polished Metal Metallic	GY		GR
						Polished Metal Metallic	GX		BK
						Crystal Black Pearl	BK		GR
						Crystal Black Pearl	BX		BK
						Bali Blue Pearl	BL		GR
						Dark Cherry Pearl	RE		BE
						Dark Cherry Pearl	RX		BK
						Mocha Metallic	BE		BE

2011 Honda Pilot Colors Available here

U3-X from Honda. Will it be in your future?

Honda is the world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than 14 million internal combustion engines each year.

So now as Honda moves into jets they have a new little project that I find quirky.  This little gadget here is called U3-X.. Weighing roughly 22 pounds, U3-X uses an advanced Honda proprietary balance-control system which derives from its research into human walking dynamics for the development of the ASIMO bi-pedal humanoid robot. To realize full freedom of movement in all directions, the U3-X also employs the world's first omni-directional driving wheel system (Honda Omni Traction Drive System) which utilizes a series of concentrically mounted wheels - a larger, forward and backward moving inner wheel and a series of smaller sideways moving outer wheels. Diagonal motion is achieved when both forward and sideways moving wheels operate in tandem. I will say that I wouldn't mind trying one out and riding it around the office for a bit, or seeing if any one falls off, but I do feel it looks very silly and brings back memories of WALL-E.  In WALL-E no one would walk around and they had these chairs driving them around everywhere while being very unfit. U3-X seems to keep those people who don't want to walk from walking.

Now I'm a big fan of Honda and Honda blood runs through me but I need to see a better use of this technology then someone riding around in what seems to be a very unstable stool.  Come on Honda build a high powered rollerblade system that take us up to 50 miles an hour easily or something very mobile. Input your hybrid technology on a skateboard and let it take us 50 miles on one charge.   Now I would be more inclined to use this technology and I feel it would be more practical as you could really get somewhere faster with less hardware.

Would you want high powered Honda Rollerblades, Hybrid Skateboard, or a U3-X?

Ever P.
Sand Dollar Honda
www.sanddollarhonda.com

see all the pictures of the U3-X release here.
http://world.honda.com/news/2010/c100406U3-X-Prototype-New-York/photo/index.html

The HSV - 010 takes home 1st place with second try in the Super GT 500

A few months Honda announced the HSV -010 which represented what might have been for the HONDA NSX.. Well in the first race they had a little fender bender.. Second time was the charm as the Honda HSV-010 took home 1st place.. Two races down, two podium finishes.

here is the race report from http://supergt.net/news/index_en.htm

Here is a link to the original blog post of the HSV-010 release.

http://sanddollarhonda.blogspot.com/2010/01/honda-hsv-010-competing-for-gt500.html

 

The race began at 14:00 on a balmy spring day under clear skies. The strong winds of the day before had also abetted, making for perfect race conditions.
Loic Duval was at the wheel of pole-winning No. 18 Weider HSV-010. He got a good start and began to pull away from the pack with no difficulty. By the second lap, he already had more than a 1-second lead over the No. 38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 (Yuji Tachikawa) running in 2nd place. As No. 18 began to lap the back of the GT300 field, that gap lessened somewhat, but not enough for No. 38 to get within striking distance before No. 18 made its pit stop. All four tires were changed and the pit stop took 38 seconds. It was more than the competitors but not too long to prevent the second stint driver, Takashi Kogure, to return to the race still in the lead.
Even through the second half of his stint, Kogure continued to punch out lap times in the 1 min. 27 sec. range. His margin over 2nd place grew to more than 10 seconds. As the 2nd- and 3rd-place machines became involved in an increasingly intense battle of their own, Kogure was able to maintain a safe margin of lead.
Kogure's pace didn't slow over the final stages of the race, and at the finish he had an 11-second lead over 2nd place. The No. 18 Weider HSV-010 has now won its first victory of the season.
Despite having won pole position in the opening round of the season, the No. 18 Weider HSV-010 team was unable to win the debut race of the new Honda HSV-010 GT. But this time, the team brought Honda a perfect win without ever giving up the lead from pole to finish.
For car No. 18 and Takashi Kogure this is the first win since round 5 of the 2008 season at SUGO. For Loic Duval, it is his first win since round 9 of the 2007 season at Fuji Speedway. 

No.38 ZENT CERUMO SC430The battle for 2nd place developed when the pit stop for car No. 38 (changing drivers from Tachikawa to Richard Lyons) took 37 seconds and allowed the No. 1 PETRONAS TOM'S SC430 to move ahead into 2nd place. Driving car No. 1, Andre Lotterer had worked his way up from 8th position on the grid to 4th place. By limiting the tire change to the two rear tires, the team was able to gain another 30 seconds in its pit stop. But, with three laps remaining in the race, Wakisaka in car No. 1 got caught behind a GT300 class machine he was lapping, and Lyons in car No. 38 took advantage of that moment to pass him. From there, Lyons held on to finish the race 2nd.

No.1 PETRONAS TOM'S SC430Before the finish, Wakisaka in No. 1 was also chased by the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R (Ronnie Quintarelli/Tsugio Matsuda) but was able to hold his position and finish 3rd. This made the No. 1 PETRONAS TOM'S SC430 the third team on the podium.
Having just missed a podium finish, the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R became the top GT-R finisher, in 4th. The No. 23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R Satoshi (Motoyama/Benoit Treluyer) had to retire from the race after a collision with another car on lap 16. Unable to keep a fast pace, the No. 24 HIS ADVAN KONDO GT-R (Joao Paulo Lima de Oliveira/Hironobu Yasuda) could finish no better than 12th.

Sand Dollar Honda

2007 Honda CR-V, Fit and Ridgeline as the "most-dependable"

04/02/2010 - TORRANCE, Calif. -

J.D. Power and Associates has named the 2007 Honda CR-V, Fit and Ridgeline as the "most-dependable" vehicles in their respective segments in its 2010 Vehicle Dependability Study℠ (VDS).

The study, which measures problems experienced by original owners of three-year-old vehicles (2007 model year), includes 198 different problem symptoms across all areas of the vehicle. Overall dependability is determined by the level of problems experienced per 100 vehicles (PP100), with a lower score reflecting higher quality. The industry average for all vehicles in the 2010 VDS survey measured 155 PP100.

The CR-V compact multi-activity vehicle received an overall score of 113 PP100. The Fit subcompact received an overall score of 137 PP100, and the Ridgeline midsize pickup received an overall score of 109 PP100. The

Honda Accord was also among the top three models in the midsize car segment with a score of 103 PP100.
J.D. Power and Associates also measures initial quality of new vehicles. Last year the CR-V and the Honda Ridgeline pickup ranked highest in their respective segments in the company's 2009 Initial Quality Study℠ (IQS). The Honda CR-V ranked highest for IQS in its segment for the third consecutive year, with an IQS score of 93 PP100, and the Honda Ridgeline truck ranked highest in the midsize pickup segment, with an IQS score of 81 PP100.

Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information services company operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, performance improvement, training and customer satisfaction. The firm's quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually. For more information on cell phone ratings, car reviews and ratings, car insurance, health insurance and more, please visit JDPower.com. J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.

www.SandDollarHonda.com