Matt’s Accord Coupe & Marc’s Integra GS-R
Odometer (Legend): 520,253
Odometer (ILX): 31,444
Today we’ll take a pit stop on the road trip frenzy since I’m featuring a couple of my blog followers who are as Honda/Acura fanatical as I am.
First is Matt from Atlanta. He drives this stunning red 2008 Honda Accord EX coupe automatic. It had 36,523 miles on it when he took delivery just a year ago. He enjoys driving it so much that he’s already got over 69,000 on the odometer. Matt works as a stock material handler (SMH) at Honda’s largest parts center in the country and he loves takes a great deal of pride in the company.
Matt has added a moonroof visor and a factory front accessory lip.
I’ve loved this bodystyle of Accord since its introduction in 2008.
Matt’s owned about a dozen Hondas since he was 15 and says he “hopes to never drive anything else.”
Must be great to work for Honda! Thanks, Matt, for sharing these pictures and your love for Honda.
I’ve shared the story before of my Legend-loving friend Marc in New Jersey. He’s the lucky owner of not one, but two mint-condition, low-mileage, Acura Legend LS coupes. Marc has added a new Acura to his collection. It’s the Legend’s little brother, the Integra. This particular model is a 1992 GS-R 5-speed in a very rare color called Aztec Green. Marc recently picked this baby up with only 110,000 miles on it and all the maintenance up to date.
That little GS-R badge below the passenger side taillight makes this a pretty sought-after ride. It’s powered by a 1.7-liter 4 cylinder dual-overhead cam motor that was one of Honda’s first implementations of VTEC (Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control). VTEC is a valvetrain system developed to increase the efficiency of an engine. It uses two camshaft profiles and hydraulically selects between profiles.
Marc says this thing is a blast to drive, and I believe him! The first car that ever got me excited about Acura was a similar 2nd generation (1990-1993) Integra, but it was a 4-door GS sedan. The Integra has long been known as a sporty, high-revving 4 cylinder and it’s no mystery that they’ve been so popular with import tuners and racers.
That’s really an eye-catching color. Marc is lucky to have found an Integra GS-R in this kind of condition. After 20+ years of use, most of these have been highly modified, wrecked, or otherwise destroyed over the years. The Integra feels a bit like the ancestor of the ILX in that its mission was to fill a role as a fun entry-level vehicle to the premium compact class.
Legend Updates
The Legend took me to work on Tuesday and afterward I stopped by a now-closed drive-in movie theater near my home. The “Scottsdale Six” has been closed since August 2011, as noted by the sign stating “TEMPORARY CLOSED.” The drive-in originally opened in 1976 and for several decades was home to movie-goers.
This article talks about the ultimate fate of the movie theater. It closed because it’s located on Indian land (the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, to be exact) and the lease expired in 2001 but was allowed a 10-year extension which ended in 2011. So, until further notice, this place sits vacant as just a memory of what once was.
I’ve never been to a drive-in movie. Have any of my readers?
I picked up a new hood lift/strut for the Legend today (aftermarket) at Autozone. The hood barely stays open with the ones that are on there now. For only $22 it’s not a huge expense to just throw a new strut on.
ILX Reviews
The most exciting thing that happened with my ILX this week was that it got a much-needed bath after last weekend’s trip to the sand dunes in New Mexico.
The leather seats got a conditioning with Griot’s “Leather Care” product. They’re starting to show a little more wear and tear – the seat bottoms appear a little more “loose” but still clean up nicely.
This write-up on Autoblog puts the ILX against the Buick Verano and captures the same type of feedback that I have had about the ILX. The manual transmission drivetrain excels in every way, and from a handling perspective it’s extremely fun and nimble. There could stand to be some advancements in sound deadening and other fit & finish areas. I thought it was a great read and definitely had plenty of good to say about the ILX.
And finally here’s a video by “2TheRedline,” a YouTube series of evaluations of new car models featuring Editor in Chief Sofyan Bey. They’ve added a 2.4 liter ILX to their long-term test fleet and I’ll be watching closely to see how their Fathom Blue 6-speed ILX performs.
Keep on cruisin’, drive to fivers.
drivetofive 
March 14, 2013 at 12:43 pm
Haven’t been to a drive in, but that sounds like it would be fun. Especially back in high school. Matt’s coupe sure is nice. When I backed out of my house this morning, I noticed an 8th gen silver V6 Accord coupe parked in my neighbor’s driveway. I was drooling. Had TX plates though. 😦
I had the issue of the leather getting “loose” on my RSX too at around 50,000 when I had it. Here’s a tip, use a hair dryer to shrink the leather and massage it with your hand (careful not to burn it) back to where it’s supposed to be. Worked great on the RSX. Afterwards, follow up with a nice coat of conditioner.
March 14, 2013 at 1:22 pm
Jason, thanks for the tip on leather renewal. Wow, hair dryer and conditioner. It’s like my seats are taking a trip to the salon. I’ll give that a whirl on my next detail day.
March 14, 2013 at 7:43 pm
Thanks again Tyson for putting me in another one of your posts. The 1.7L matched to the close ratio 5 speed is definitely a blast to drive. It is much like a baby brother to the legends. Not nearly as refined or filled with amenities but it makes up for it in the fun factor
March 14, 2013 at 9:47 pm
Fun factor is where it’s at! Happy to post the pics. You’ve got quite the Acura collection right now. Someday you should pull them all out onto the front lawn and charge admission 🙂
March 14, 2013 at 7:47 pm
Ohh btw, all the drive thrus around NJ closed up some time ago. I do remember going as a kid to one in South Amboy NJ right off the GArden state parkway. It had a huge screen and you could clearly see the movie playing while driving by on the parkway. My aunt used to take us in her 1975 Chevy Caprice. She would take half the kids in the neighborhood and we would all sit on the roof of that huge car
March 14, 2013 at 9:48 pm
I was gonna say, a 75 Caprice could easily accommodate a dozen or so people, right? Haha. That sounds like a really cool experience. I guess I’ll have to make it over to the drive-in movie theater that’s on the other side of the PHX area (in Glendale) before it gets shut down too. And before it gets to be 100 degrees here…
March 14, 2013 at 8:55 pm
Just so you know, drive-in movies were an integral part of my childhood. Anyone who lived in Logan back in the 1970’s can boast the same. Gear up for Easter weekend, my son, Tyson!
March 14, 2013 at 9:49 pm
You know it! Rip-raring to go. Did you ever go to the drive-in theater on the entrance to the south end of Logan that now has “Home of the Aggies” painted on the back side of it?
March 24, 2013 at 6:40 am
I did not. Honestly, I did not know that was a movie theater. Maybe that was before my time (hard to believe). Was the viewing on the side of the highway or on the backside?