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2016 Arizona Rock & Roll Half-Marathon Weekend

Posted in Arizona, NSX, Running, Vigor on January 20, 2016 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 540,655

Odometer (ILX): 153,336

Over here, we enjoyed our 3-day holiday weekend with friends from New York and Texas, as well as family members from Utah. January in Arizona is prime time for perfect weather, so for the next several weeks I’ll be hosting folks from around the country who want to bask in our desert sunshine. Next on the docket will be a road trip to Sedona this coming weekend so stay tuned for that. This past Sunday morning, I participated in the Arizona Rock & Roll Half-Marathon, sponsored by PF Chang’s restaurant.

Along with about 11,000 other finishers, I ran from University Avenue near downtown Tempe, Arizona, on a counter-clockwise 13.1-mile circle through Scottsdale and Papago Park, and then finished at Tempe Beach Park in front of thousands of spectators. It’s always a rush to come around the final bend and see the banners and finish line in the distance, then dig deeply for every available ounce of energy and make a strong finish. My so-so running pace put me in the middle of the pack as far as my age range was concerned.

My friend Lance summed up part of his weekend here in Arizona as “Acura Merry-Go-Round” because we rotated through some different cars during his stay. The Arcadia Green Vigor was the vehicle of choice for primary transport to and from the marathon exposition at the Phoenix Convention Center downtown, to brunch, and to the race start line itself.

Fez on Central was a great place for some open-air dining.

The Vig at its parking space on race day in Tempe, Arizona.

I was able to host more than a dozen friends at my home on Saturday night with a carb-heavy dinner menu consisting of spaghetti with two types of sauces, grilled chicken, and all sorts of side dishes. My mom and stepdad were nice enough to staff the kitchen and carry out most of the duties there while I was entertaining. It’s the most use my appliances have had in the 7 years I’ve lived in the home.

On the race day itself, we met up at the start line (in “corral 3,” anyway) with seasoned runner Beau.

Post-race reception and runner recovery area at Tempe Beach Park.

Here were my standings.

Conor and I took the NSX out for a Saturday cruise to Papago Park. It was his first time driving an NSX and he was sold! His current S2000 satisfies his need for speed in the meantime.

Kyle’s GMC Sierra could have easily driven right over my hood.

Lance and I took the NSX to meet up with fellow road tripper James Lee for brunch at MacAlpine’s in central Phoenix. Look at how a 2016 Mazda Miata MX-5 dwarfs a 1992 NSX in size comparison!

The Vigor went in on Monday morning to Midas for a new muffler to replace the rusted-out original. Peace and quiet again!

It also received an oil change this afternoon.

Thanks to Dana & the crew for the fine service as always.

That’s about it from this end! Tune in next week.

14 Comments »

Saturday Drive to Greenlee County: Town of Duncan, Arizona

Posted in Arizona, Ghost Town, ILX, Road Trip on December 20, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 540,423

Odometer (ILX): 149,872

Trip Distance: 481 Miles

Come back with me to 1883 today. About 5 miles from the New Mexico state line lies a community that I’ll introduce you to.

Duncan’s story mirrors that of so many other small towns of the Old West: Mining origins, bustling and prosperous earlier years, and a steady decline from then onward. Today, the 696 people who live there are hearty. After all, they’ve survived two devastating Gila River floods that nearly wiped out the entire town, not to mention a widespread fire. To top it all off, the main highway through town – once a critical east-west thoroughfare – was bypassed about 30 miles to the south by Interstate 10 in the 1950’s. Duncan was left high and (not so) dry for the next several decades. It’s a small town in every sense: The people all know one another. Traffic lights are non-existent. And the locals look at you with a raised eyebrow and ask, “You came to Duncan, why?” if you tell them you’re visiting.

It seemed only fitting that before visiting Duncan, I visit Dunkin (Donuts). So, I grabbed a bagel and beverage in Scottsdale around 7:30 in the morning before beginning my journey.

My day started out eastbound on US Highway 60 on a voyage back in time. By the time I’d driven 100 miles, I’d already passed through a half dozen teeny little towns that were past their prime: Places like Miami, Claypool, and Globe that survive – barely – on the mining industry thanks to nearby Freeport McMoRan copper extraction operations. I stopped just a couple of times for photos at abandoned sites and to explore some back alleyways with their boarded-up windows and rickety looking exteriors. I also stumbled across a collection of four 1950’s Lincolns tucked away on a side street, some in better condition than others.

In Globe, I cut to Highway 70 and continued heading toward New Mexico. I rolled on a two-laner through the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation which covers 1.8 million acres in eastern Arizona. No reservation would be complete without a casino or two, and I exercised restraint by not stopping at the Apache Gold Casino Resort, lined extravagantly with palm trees that looked very out of place in this barren landscape. I also was tempted to make a stop at the “Rock-A-Buy” rock shop on the roadside, but decided to press on. I arrived in Duncan at 11:58 in the morning, just in time to pull my Acura ILX into Bart Tipton’s Saloon – long since boarded up – for a photo next to a 1950’s Chevy fire truck that probably hasn’t moved in quite some time now.

Church bells rang out the 12:00 hour, and I received a wave from a woman on the patio of the Riverfront Lounge across the street. She was probably mumbling to herself, “Damn tourist.” I think I had the only vehicle in town newer than about a 1990 model year. Jason arrived not long afterward in his well-traveled Mazda 6 sedan and we dined at the only place available for lunchtime grub: Tumbleweed Cafe / Patio / Lounge at 206 Old West Highway. Jason and I had work to do: The purpose of our meet-up was to lay the preliminary ground work for a 2016 Alaska drive we’ll be taking together next May. It’s now been 10 years since my dad and I took a similar 7,500-mile round-trip drive to Fairbanks and back in my Legend, and I’ve been wanting to go back.

The Western Burger hit the spot while Jason and I took a detailed look at timing, destinations, and budget topics for our Alaska trip. You’ll see coverage of that adventure in its entirety next year, and I’m excited to take you all along for the ride. Our very young waiter made a fuss at the cash register when we went to pay the bill for lunch. “You guys had to wait awhile; I’m going to take 10% off your bill,” he said. I told him not to worry about it. The total for our meals was only $20, and we’d been busy chatting it up about Alaska, anyway.

Duncan was the perfect meeting point for our Saturday drive because it represented a 3.5 hour one-way drive for me and a 2.5 hour drive for Jason. We took some time to explore the town – or what’s left of it – now that we were well-fed. A few blocks west of the restaurant lies a concrete platform that was once home to a railroad station. A drive down “East” Street (which is more gravel than paved) reveals older homes that have clung to their foundations in spite of the floods that came through the area, as well as empty lots where not-so-lucky homes used to reside. We got a few looks from locals who were setting up for an outdoor picnic of sorts in their front yard.

Next we rolled up to a park that at one time was probably the pride of the town. In 1998, a jet fighter plane was perched on top of a hill just south of town in recognition of the men and women of the Armed Forces who had served from the Duncan area. Today, the park is in a sort of disrepair. The adjacent swimming pool looks like an algae breeding ground, and the landscaping looks like it hasn’t seen much attention in awhile. Still, we got a good overview of the valley from there and the winding Gila River in the distance.

Our last stop was at Germaine’s Emporium, an elaborate collection of antiques, toys, books, and just general “stuff” right on the main highway. There were only two other customers there – locals, I think. Jason and I walked through the series of 5 or 6 rooms that were crammed with artifacts on shelf after shelf. I didn’t have cash on hand (shame on me), but Jason loaned me $1.40 so I could buy a cute little hardbound New Testament that was probably 100 years old.

It was time to split ways, so I said farewell to Jason and we headed in opposite directions on the Old West Highway. I looped home via an alternate route – interstate this time, instead of back roads. The I-10 experience is far less interesting but also far less involved than going through all the little towns on US 70 and US 60. I set my cruise control at 78 miles per hour and whizzed through Willcox, Benson, and Tucson on my way home, arriving just in time for a Saturday night out with friends. Enjoy the rest of the pics below!

Morning visit to Dunkin Donuts on Hayden Road in Scottsdale

Abandoned building in Miami (Arizona, that is)

Traveler Hotel in Miami. I think it’s closed, but that’s just a guess.

Who can identify the year of this Pink Lincoln?

Roadside abandoned service station on US 70

Restroom facilities are long-since left to ruin

Even Keen’s “Fort Thomas” Store was shut down, with a lonely dry gas pump out front

Pictured here is the Simpson Hotel in Duncan, built 101 years ago and still in operation today.

Some of the other cars around Duncan, including a decent-shape 1985 Honda CRX.

One-stop shop!

Exploring a dirt road up a canyon south of Duncan, until I got to a No Trespassing sign

Owner will finance! Should I buy some property in Duncan? Fixer-upper, for sure.

Rock church in Duncan

Lunch is served. And the curly fries were better than the ones at Arby’s!

Elevated concrete platform where a train station used to reside

Kool Spot RV Park and its elaborately painted (not) sign

View of Mount Graham as seen from US Highway 191 between Safford and Interstate 10

And finally a sunset as seen while stuck in bridge construction traffic on I-10 near Benson last night

Thanks for joining!

Here are a few other fun links to take a peek at today.

2017 NSX pricing now announced: $156k – $205k!
2016 ILX self-driving car, built by the same guy who hacked the original iPhone
Somebody buy this extra set of NSX wheels from me!

Have a great week, everyone.

18 Comments »

Just Another Legend Post: New Acquisition & Phoenix Meet-Up

Posted in Arizona, Legend on December 13, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (1994 Legend Coupe 6-Speed): 540,378

Odometer (1993 Legend Sedan): 178,473

Odometer (1994 Legend Coupe Automatic): 167,954

Odometer (1994 Legend Sedan):

Odometer (ILX):

A couple of months ago, I scrawled a note on a scrap piece of paper. “Nice Legend! If you ever want to sell it, call me.” I left it underneath the windshield wiper of a car next to me in the parking lot in Scottsdale, Arizona. It was a really nice-condition 1994 LS coupe, Desert Mist Metallic, just like mine.

I didn’t expect to ever hear from that car’s owner – especially since the car had out of state Oregon plates – but I did. I received a phone call from an unknown phone number many weeks later from “Lee” who’d just taken European delivery of a brand new BMW M235i convertible. “I’m ready to sell my Legend,” he said. And the rest is history.

I took delivery of Lee’s car a few days ago and while I have no space or need for the car at my house, it’ll be going to a new home in Salt Lake City with my friend Branson in the next few weeks. With only 168,000 miles on the odometer, it’s barely getting broken in. Branson will take great care of it. I was glad to help find this car a new home!

Lee getting his license plate removed while I took care of paperwork

Traditional key handoff

And the first photos during fill-up at the gas station

Check that interior! Flawless for the age & mileage

Later that same day, I took the sedan for an oil change. It’s only a few hundred miles from 150k

And my friend Ian ‘spy-shotted’ me while heading home from retrieving the coupe

I wasted no time in getting a Legendary photo shoot set up in the driveway that evening. It took a step ladder to get the right angle, but at this point my neighbors already know I’m off my rocker, so it didn’t raise any eyebrows.

Yesterday, I had a few friends over for a meet at my house. Despite the cold weather (“cold” as in probably 50 or 60 degrees, which is enough to justify a hooded sweatshirt for us Arizonans), we hung out for a little while and got a few more pictures. In attendance were Joe, Michael, Mirel, Chris, Benjo, and Zach. A few of us cruised over to the local salvage yard in south Phoenix and scavenged for parts afterward. The only treasure I picked up was a passenger side headlight for my 1994 Vigor. Thanks to Mirel for helping retrieve that. The bumper on that car was a lot hard to remove than it looked! Here are a few photos from yesterday’s meet-up.

The ‘new’ car was here with missing front plate

Another ladder shot

Back ends

A hint of blue sky

Tyson, Mirel, Benjo parked at the Ecology salvage

Mirel giving me a hand with that Vigor headlight

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Edit, one thing I forgot to include: Thanks to my friend Tim, I found this really great article about a guy who spent a year as a truck driver. As someone who drives a ton, I can totally relate to this on many levels.

Link here

truck_article

23 Comments »

Visit to “Legend City” Amusement Park Exhibit in Tempe, Arizona

Posted in Arizona, Legend, Vigor on November 24, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (1994 Legend Coupe): 540,174

Odometer (1993 Legend Sedan): 178,468

Odometer (ILX): 147,200

Odometer (Vigor): 104,780

The 1994 Vigor GS came out to play for a bit in the beautiful Phoenix weather this weekend. I drove through South Mountain Park and captured a few images in the bright afternoon sunlight. Moonroof open, of course.

Arcadia Green in all its glory.

And a few cacti thrown in for good measure.

On Sunday morning, I met up with my friend and avid road-tripper Kevin at the Phoenix Botanical Garden near Papago Park.

After brunch at Gertrude’s there, we headed over to Tempe to check out a new feature there. For about the next year, a special exhibit is on display at the Tempe, Arizona History Museum. It’s dedicated to a long-gone landmark from the Phoenix Valley: Legend City.

Concocted from one 28-year-old entrepreneur’s dream, the amusement park operated (mostly in the red, financially) for two decades until its close in 1983. I wish I had been able to visit this place, but by the time I was two years old, its features were already being auctioned off and the land being razed to make way for industrial development by its new owners.

I have always had a fascination with abandoned sites and the history of infrastructure, so the story of Legend City caught my attention right away when I learned of it. The fact that it has Legend in the name was just a sheer bonus. Kevin and I enjoyed walking around the exhibit and seeing all sorts of artifacts. They even had one of the old gondola “pods” on display that at one time used to transport park-goers via cable some 100 feet above the ground across the site from end-to-end.

When Louis Crandall, the father of Legend City, designed his theme park, it was modeled loosely after Disneyland, with a train station out front sharing clear similarities to that of Disneyland. Among the many attractions within were a miniature golf course, a rollercoaster called the Sidewinder, boat rides, and a shooting range. Admission for adults back in the early 1960s was a steep $3 per head. Here’s some food for thought: $3 in 1963 is about $24 in today’s dollars. Do you know how much a park pass to Disneyland costs today? $235. Ouch.

Aerial view of Legend City in its prime.

By the late 1970s, after some ownership changes, a 20,000-capacity stadium venue was carved out of the southeast corner of Legend City, called Compton Terrace. Fleetwood Mac and many other music groups performed there. In its final few years, the value of the land on which Legend City sat had far out-valued the payback from keeping the park open, despite the fact that it was profitable by about $1 million per year. The Salt River Project, a utility company, bought out the land and razed all of Legend City. Since then, some roads have been realigned and all-new infrastructure built on that land. There is nothing left of the park aside from the memories.

Oh, and this awesome T-shirt I picked up before taking a cruise in my 1993 Legend L sedan.

Making a visit out in Mesa, Arizona.

I met up with my friend Chris there who’s a long-time Acura enthusiast. He was one of the first people who I met in the Phoenix area when I moved here about a decade ago. At that time, he was driving a 1994 Legend L sedan. We met up for photos from time to time, including our trip to Tombstone. Back in March 2007, we did this photoshoot out in Superior, AZ, when I had a white Legend sedan.

Today, Chris is in this black 2006 Acura TL. He does the best details in the Phoenix area. If you’re local, give him a call!

I found a Thai restaurant on Indian School Road in Central Phoenix that almost bears my name. It’s called Thai-E-San. Full review pending after I give the menu a test-drive in the near future.

That’s it for quick updates this week. I’m off to southern Utah this week for Thanksgiving festivities. Hope everyone has a great holiday!

4 Comments »

Mileage Updates, Trip Recap, Visit from Tom, & Emissions Check

Posted in Arizona, Legend, Vigor on November 2, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend Coupe): 539,421

Odometer (1993 Legend Sedan): 178,388

Odometer (1994 Legend Sedan): 149,669

Odometer (ILX): 144,915

Odometer (Vigor): 104,652

Odometer (NSX): 102,757

Total Miles: 1,219,802

Happy Monday. Time to catch up on life! I just celebrated first weekend at home in Phoenix in at least the last couple of months. I realized last Tuesday during my 400-mile return trip from Los Angeles that I’ve made the trip from Phoenix to southern California via Interstate 10 a whopping SEVEN TIMES since the end of August. Need a recap of those?

8/28: Palm Springs in the ILX
9/4: Los Angeles in the ILX
9/11: Los Angeles in the Legend
10/8: Palm Springs in the NSX
10/18: Los Angeles in the Legend
10/22: Los Angeles in the ILX / Back in the LS400
10/26: Los Angeles in the LS400 / Back in the ILX

Somewhere between all of that, I had a road trip to Houston and back for the National Acura Legend Meet, and I ran a marathon in Utah. I’m exhausted. So is my wallet. And so are my cars.

If you’re interested in some additional reading, here are some great articles:

NSXPO 2015 by Michael Jordan of Automobile Magazine
NALM 2015 by James Lee of Six Speed Blog
Million Mile Lexus by Jason Pawela of Driven for Drives
Million Mile Lexus by James Lee of Six Speed Blog

My friend Tom visited from Connecticut this past week for work. On Thursday night, he and I went over to Mesa to check out my friend Jimmy’s “new” 1994 Legend coupe. We took it for a spin.

This thing had an incredibly aggressive suspension setup but it handles amazingly!

Saturday was a perfect-weather day outside so I made good use of it. Ecology Auto Parts at 35th Avenue & Broadway in Phoenix was bustling with people like me who paid $1 to walk the aisles and scope out the place for used auto parts. I didn’t find anything I absolutely needed to have.

I spent some time cleaning up the 1993 L.

Still need to ditch all that aftermarket intake stuff.

Thanks to a tip from a friend, I also got the CD magazine inside the trunk un-stuck! Inside it were 5 discs from the prior owner that had been in there since 2008! Doobie Brothers – gotta love it. I’m mailing these back to the seller.

Also got the Vigor out and about for a quick wash.

Happened to see this “Legend Distributing” company sign on 51st Avenue in Glendale, but I was in the wrong car.

The Legend sedan did come out, too. In fact, I made a point to drive all 6 cars over the weekend.

Last night I visited the Pavilions car show, which takes place in Saturday in Scottsdale, the whole year ’round.

Yesterday morning, the ILX got a much-needed bath.

Cleaned up both inside and out!

I guess I picked the right place to live. In January, I’ll celebrate my 10-year anniversary of having moved to the Phoenix metro area. A new study by Waze, a GPS app that uses real-time feedback from drivers on road & traffic conditions, has named Phoenix as the best city in the world for drivers. Here’s the full article.

Lastly, the coupe passed its emissions test recently with flying colors. It had been two years since the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) put the car on a dyno to evaluate its emissions compliance. Results are below, including the car’s emissions numbers as well as the allowable limits for each of the pollutants evaluated. The technician who handed me the printout at the end thought the odometer reading was a typo!

Next on the agenda I’ll be heading up to the SEMA show in Las Vegas this evening. Among many celebrities who will be in attendance is Irv Gordon, the Guinness World Record holder for the most miles on any car! I will be finding him.

Have a great week!

12 Comments »

Million Mile Lexus, Meet Arizona: Road Trip to Chiricahua National Monument

Posted in Arizona, Legend, Milestones, Road Trip on October 25, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 539,421

Odometer (LS400): 922,121

Trip Distance: 466 Miles

I held up the worn-out key to Matt Farah’s 1996 Lexus LS400 at “The Dining Car,” a BBQ restaurant inside a train car in teeny Willcox, Arizona. It was a town of 3,600 people – “The Cattle Capital of the World” (so they say) – and 80 miles from the nearest Lexus service center in Tucson. “Who wants to take the LS next?” I asked. I got two different reactions from the group. Jack kind of shied away like I’d asked if anyone wanted to dog-sit for a week. Jason, on the other hand, piped up enthusiastically, “I’ll take it!”

And with that, the 921,000-mile Lexus added another driver to its list of likely hundreds of pilots who had helped get it to that milestone. Jason’s 37 mile drive from there to Chiricahua National Monument was (as he described it) bouncy, but uneventful.

Chiricahua National Monument covers 18 square miles in remote southeastern Arizona. It’s known for its vertical rock formations, believed to to be the remains of a volcanic eruption millions of years ago. The monument was set aside 91 years ago but it is far less-traveled than many of Arizona’s other natural wonders. It’s almost as if the Grand Canyon steals the show and many of these smaller parks go unappreciated. I know for a fact that I’ve lived in the state for 10 years now and hadn’t even heard of this one until just a few months ago.

It was a perfect day for road tripping on Saturday morning, October 24th. Jack, James, Chandler, and I headed out from Phoenix in roughly 1.6 million miles’ worth of cars: The 1994 Legend, 1996 LS400, and a 2000 Toyota Tacoma. Luckily we had two-way radios (or would it be three-way, since each vehicle had one) on-hand for the duration of our 233-mile trip to Willcox so we were able to pass the time by bantering back and forth. James was the first to give the LS400 a whirl. “Make sure you check out the power seat belt height adjusters on that thing,” I advised. “Oh, trust me. I already did,” he responded. “I’m like a toddler hitting all these buttons.”

Jason and James Z (another James) from Las Cruces, New Mexico met up with us in Willcox just in time for lunch. The service was top-tier at The Dining Car, but James L didn’t have much positive to say about his rubbery rack of ribs. Our next jaunt was to the entrance to the national monument — extremely remote and only accessible via some twisty two-lane back road sections of Highway 186 that go where no T-Mobile cell signal has ever gone before. Sorry, James L, that you were out of cell phone range for virtually the entire day. It’s no wonder we passed a blue sign stating NO SERVICES shortly after hanging a left onto Highway 181 for the last couple of miles. This was not the place to be worried about reliability of your car, let alone one with nearly a million miles on it.

The attendants at the Visitor Center were kind enough to draw out some instructions on a folded map. They asked if we’d be driving or hiking. “A little of both,” I told her. We learned about a 6-mile scenic drive that would take us past rock formations called Organ Pipe, Sea Captain, and China Boy. She also gave us directions to a 3-mile and a 7-mile hike. And we were off! Back in tandem, now 4 cars strong with Jason’s 2004 Mazda 6 in the mix, we climbed in elevation to the final roundabout at “Massai Point,” at 6,870 feet. The wind was gusty but the skies were beautiful and we hiked around on the nature trail enjoying panoramic views. Jack and Chandler got feeling exceptionally brave and dangled their legs off a steep cliff. We also subjected ourselves to Jack’s selfie stick for a group shot.

The afternoon was full of scenery as we made our way around the national monument, snapping pictures and capturing a little GoPro video along the way, too. My favorite part of the hike was “The Grotto” where we could actually climb through a cavern of sorts created by all the rhyolite rocks coming together.

At 4:30 p.m., we set out on a hike up to a fire lookout station that’s on the National Register of Historic Places. It was a steep and rocky trail originally blazed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. From the vantage point at the top, administrators could view on a clear day for more than 50 miles in any direction. I hurried back down the hill and made it to the parking lot just in time for dusk. Then we rallied back into our Japanese high-milers and returned to Willcox.

When I asked the front desk attendant at our Super 8 motel for dinner recommendations, I said, “What about that Rix’s Tavern on Haskell Avenue?” “You have to cook your own steak there,” he said. Oh. Well, forget that! We instead went to Isabel’s South of the Border, a Mexican place with great tacos and some of the tastiest horchata I’ve ever had. I chugged two glasses at $3 each and it was worth it.

Here are the pics from this segment of the trip! The final leg – and a short video – await you on the next go-round.

See you then!

NSX making a new friend

Tyson, Jack, Chandler, and James at Chevron pre-departure from Phoenix

Driving Jack’s truck with the Legend + LS in my rearview

Here comes that luxo-barge, now!

Getting close – just 33 to go until Willcox

Rare view, getting to see my own car when it’s on the roll.

Arrival in Willcox… otherwise known as…

… “Cattle Capital of the World.” Okay!

Lunch spot at The Dining Car / Big Tex BBQ

Inside it’s pretty much what you’d expect from food inside a rail car.

Jason meets the LS400 just prior to his 40-mile test-drive

My sign in at the Chiricahua Nat’l Monument guest register

Park attendants showing us the lay of the land

Heading on up the scenic highway

Views for days!

Lexus + Legend at the Massai Nature Trail parking area

Let’s go hiking!

Awesome rock formations throughout the area

Tyson, Jack, Chandler, James Z, Jason

Heading out on the nature trail

Jack perched on top of a rock way in the distance there

Scenery all around. This remote area was free of excessive tourist traffic, which I loved.

Acura, Mazda, Lexus, touring about the area

And some more

Evening hike on the Sugarloaf trail to 7,310 feet in elevation

Fire watch station at the summit of Sugarloaf, with Chandler

James L’s photo of the vehicles in the parking lot

And a great shot he captured of the Lexus’ rear

Best time of day to drive!

Dinner at Isabel’s South of the Border. Colorful place, tasty food.

See you again soon!

4 Comments »

I just picked up a Lexus with 921,000 miles

Posted in Arizona, California on October 23, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (LS400): 921,619

Odometer (Legend): 538,882

Odometer (ILX): 144,325

Trip Distance: 395 Miles

What better way to explore the sights & sounds of the Grand Canyon State than behind the wheel of a vehicle that’s traveled the circumference of the globe 36 times? Have a seat in your fine leather saddle, buckle up, and let’s take a trip back in time while discovering one of Arizona’s many natural wonders: Chiricahua National Monument. I’m taking you there tomorrow in a special car.

In 1986, Honda took a massive gamble on the prospect of whether people would pay a premium price for a Japanese luxury sedan. Launched originally under the code name “Channel 2,” the Acura brand took hold in the hearts and minds of consumers with its Legend and Integra models; the formula worked. The Legend model alone (first generation model pictured above) ended up selling over 477,000 units over its 10-year production span, before it became the RL which sadly faded into nothingness.

Toyota and Nissan saw what was happening and wanted a piece of the pie. Enter Lexus and Infiniti with their LS400 and Q45 respectively (Q45 pictured above) for the 1990 model year. Those models took the Legend idea and extended it even further – adding 2 additional cylinders compared to the Legend’s V6 and incorporating rear-wheel-drive to really sweeten the pot for buyers-to-be. This was a heyday for all three automakers. 1995 brought us Forrest Gump, Braveheart and “All I Wanna Do,” by Sheryl Crow. Life was good. And though I was but a wee 14-year-old, I already had an appreciation for fine automobiles. The LS400 was one of them. I even owned this diecast 1:18 scale version of said car:

Forever emblazoned in my teenage memory was this Lexus LS400 commercial, where someone in Marketing had the bright idea of stacking 15 champagne glasses on the car’s hood, putting the car on a dyno, and driving at the equivalent of 145 miles per hour to see if the glasses would topple. They didn’t. And that level of refinement is exactly what sold the LS in vast numbers.

The LS got its second generation for the 1995 model year, adding 10 horsepower to the 4.0 liter V8 powerplant to make it 260 in total. A four-speed automatic transmission pushed power to the ground, exactly half as many gears as the car’s successor the LS460 has today, some 20 years later. Speaking of 20 years later: Let’s cut to the chase. Today, I’ve been tooling around in a 1996 Lexus LS400 that has nearly twice the miles as my Legend coupe. Just when I got feeling like a hot shot, Matt Farah of The Smoking Tire had to put me in my place.

It was December 2014 when Matt bought this Florida-owned, 897,000-mile piece of automotive history from an ad on Craigslist. He saw it as an opportunity to relive his early driving days when he owned a similar car, but he also saw it as a story in the making. Over the past 10 months, he’s been passing the keys around to that old Lexus to journalists all over the west coast. It’s racked up another 20,000 or so miles exploring the countryside. So I saw fit to reach out to Matt about giving the old girl a taste of Arizona, and we made it happen. Matt, thanks for entrusting me with your luxo-ride!

When I first saw the LS this morning at Matt’s warehouse in Los Angeles, I was overly critical. “That marker light is a little out of place. The center caps on the wheels are scuffed. It’s missing the ‘L’ emblem from its trunk lid.” Then Matt started it up. At first crank, the 4.0 liter V8 took life. Not a single puff of smoke. Without a moment of hesitation, and the car just purred like a kitten. With 921,223 miles on the odometer! Now, I didn’t care so much what it looked like. This car was a miracle on four tires, and I was about to spend four days behind the wheel of it. Excited? Nah, I was ecstatic.

I drove the car initally like it was some fragile ancient artifact that would crumble if you breathed on it too hard. I let the transmission shift at 2,500 RPM. I applied the brakes ever-so-gently. I refrained from any sudden movements of the steering wheel. Basically, I drove like a freaking Sunday driver in a 1996 Lexus LS400 would be expected to drive. And slowly it became apparent that I could ease up a bit and drive under normal behavior.

There’s no better way to put any car through its paces than to subject it to some grueling Los Angeles traffic, and that I did. Interstate 10 eastbound, even at midday on a Friday, was a mess of stop and go. In fact, I didn’t even get to full freeway speed until a full SIXTY MILES from where I picked up the car. I breathed a sigh of relief when I finally confirmed – thank goodness – that the cruise control works, and I was able to sit back and enjoy that plush leather seat and soft ride without the chaotic freeway circus around me.

So here’s where I really started to fall in love with that Lexus. Sure, the check engine light was on, and sure, only the front two speakers were working. But Matt had handed me a plastic bag just prior to departure from LA stating, “Oh yeah, and here are some cassette tapes for the drive.” What was inside the tape player? U2. Perfect.

And I just couldn’t get over how nice the car smelled. Isn’t that weird? For a car that’s been lived in for such good chunk of its life? It smelled good. So, safely and soundly I completed my first 400 miles with the #MillionMileLexus. Come back for more soon 🙂

Matt’s send-off with an Instagram post

Photo-op in Desert Center, CA. The sign says 24-Hour Service. This place is shut down 100%.

As is the cafe. Nothing but dust bunnies in there!

The Lexus looking ready for its next 216 miles eastward.

Welcome to the Grand Canyon State!

Dusk and approaching Scottsdale

Much more to come! Stay tuned!

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2015 Active Lifestyle Vehicle of the Year (ALV) Awards – Chandler, Arizona

Posted in Arizona, Vehicle Reviews on October 17, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 538,420

Odometer (ILX): 143,798

Let’s get a little mud on the tires!

There are so many “vehicle of the year” contests in the world today that it’s sometimes tough to keep track. This one in particular is unique in that instead of vehicles being evaluated by automotive journalists alone, the ballots are cast by the end users who actually plan on putting the vehicles to work for their designed purposes. For 4 years now, I’ve joined forces with Event Co-Founder Nina Russin of Carspondent.com to put the event together each October. This year, we also engaged the efforts of Test Driven TV’s own Sam Haymart, who played an instrumental role.

The Active Lifestyle Vehicle of the Year (ALV) program has now concluded its 12th season, bringing automobiles and athletes together with the intent of identifying exactly which new (or significantly improved) vehicles in today’s marketplace are optimal for someone who has demanding needs and an active lifestyle. We’re talking about the outdoorsy people – triathletes, ball players, kayakers and adventure-seekers of any type. They’re rating vehicles based on things like all-weather capability, ease of using climate control functions with gloves, hauling capacity, ease of loading, and many other criteria unique to this demographic.

Here are my write-ups on ALV programs of years prior:

With each year, the size and scope of the event grow and what once started as just a handful of athletes getting together to review some new cars has now turned into a full two-day event that draws over 60 athletes, many of whom are elite competitors in their respective sports. Also on the guest list are several retired NFL football players and media representatives from local agencies.

ALV 2015 kicked off on Friday with a “Media Day” for credentialed journalists who wanted to come see & experience the vehicles that were entered this year. Some 20 vehicles were set up in the parking lot of our host facility, the historic San Marcos Crowne Plaza in downtown Chandler, Arizona. The following day, we had about 60 athletes come on-site for the ride-and-drive. Meet my team:

Rear: Tyson, Chuck, Paul
Front: Jack, Alan, Matt, Chandler
Not pictured: Mike

We were assigned to evaluate the following four “URBAN” vehicles, each of which stickered at < $25,000:

Fiat 500X:

Base MSRP: $20,000
Horsepower: 180 Hp @ 6400 rpm
Torque: 175 lbs.-ft. @ 3900 rpm
Off-road: No
Towing: No
Bicycle friendly: Yes
Fuel economy: 21/31 mpg city/highway (FWD)

Scion iA:

Base MSRP: $15,700
Horsepower: 106 Hp @ 6000 rpm
Torque: 103 lbs.-ft. @ 4000 rpm
Off-road: No
Bicycle friendly: No
Towing: No
Fuel economy: 31/41 mpg city/highway

Scion iM:

Base MSRP: $18,460
Horsepower: 137 Hp @ 6100 rpm
Torque: 126 lbs.-ft. @ 4000 rpm
Off-road: No
Bicycle friendly: Yes
Towing: No
Fuel economy: 27/36 mpg city/highway

Kia Soul:

Base MSRP: $15,900
Horsepower: 164 Hp @ 6400 rpm
Torque: 151 lbs.-ft. @ 4000 rpm
Off-road: No
Bicycle friendly: yes
Towing: No
Fuel economy: 24/31 mpg city/highway

Each car had its own merits, but in the end, the Kia Soul took home the prize in this segment for various reasons. The most important reason, I think, was its power delivery. In a class of vehicles that are clearly economy-minded, the Kia definitely felt like it had the best power. “This one actually gets up and goes,” Jack said when he took the Loop 202 onramp for the freeway portion of the drive route. Additional niceties that put it at the top of its group were the large panoramic sunroof and the best-in-class stereo.

Other winners for this year’s ALV program were as follows:

Best Value On-Road: Mitsubishi Outlander
Best Value Off-Road: Ford F-150
Best Value Family: Ford Edge
Luxury On-Road: Mercedes-Benz GLE450
Luxury Off-Road: Jeep Grand Cherokee

More photos follow! First, with journalist and fellow ALV Jury Panel member Sue Mead

Dave Lee from Toyota discusses the new 2016 Tacoma

Alex Fedorak from Mitsubishi talks about the new Outlander

Darryll Harrison from VW introduces the Jetta GLI.

This one was fun! It had a 6-speed manual.

Nicole Ellan from ClassicCars.com agreed.

Nissan’s newly-redesigned Titan even made an appearance!

The GMC Canyon Diesel came dressed to impress in all sorts of gear-hauling equipment. The off-road category was exceptionally competitive.

Fleet coordinator Carrie Owens had her work cut out for her.

PAPA (Phoenix Automotive Press Association) members Kyle & Zac Baker took the Jeep Renegade for a spin.

ALV Planning Committee at last night’s banquet dinner

My team learning about the Kia Soul before starting the driving portion of the event

Chuck taking the wheel in the Scion iA

Don Connors from Toyota teaching us about the Scion iM

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Intermission: Die-Cast Model Car Update, Upcoming Events

Posted in Arizona on August 20, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 534,423

Odometer (ILX): 137,344

I’m about through my 9th summer in Arizona and every year I get a little bit more accustomed to having my metal shift knob “brand” my right palm with the imprint of a 1-6 gear pattern. We broke a couple of records in the past week or so – 117 degrees Fahrenheit or some nonsense like that. I kind of lose track after it gets above about 105. Besides, I’m sitting in an air-conditioned (read: frigid) office for 9 hours during the workday and I can’t even see the sunshine over my 7-foot-tall cubicle walls, let alone feel it.

Summer is in full swing, and with that I mean I’ve been too busy to even focus much on posting regular updates here.

Here’s what we have to look forward to in the coming several weeks:

This weekend: Road trip to Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah
Next weekend: Road trip to Palm Springs & Idyllwild, California
Labor Day: Surprise! No plans yet for the 3-day weekend
September 12: Honda S2000 Event (details TBD, this one isn’t announced)
September 23-27: National Acura Legend Meet in Houston, Texas
October 8-11: Acura “NSXPO” in Palm Springs, California

Sneak peek of the landscape in Bryce Canyon:

So I hope you’ll come along for the ride as we make the rounds to some of these fun activities.

In the meantime, it’s been about 18 months since I last looped you all in on my project involving 6 die-cast model cars that have been sitting on my rooftop since December 2009. For the last nearly 6 years, those cars have seen the wrath of Phoenix weather: persistent heat, drenching “monsoon” rainstorms, and those famous late-summer dust storms that we giggle and call “haboobs.”

So from glistening 1:18 scale metallic paint & chrome, my unfortunate test cars have now faded, yellowed, and weathered as one would expect. I climbed up on the ladder this afternoon when I got home from work to see just how bad things have gotten. The BMW 3-series driver side door was wide open. I closed it back up – not that it’ll help keep the interior any nicer, seeing as how it’s a convertible.

Here’s how my Maserati looks. This one is on a west-facing side of the chimney. It clearly sees direct sunlight a lot.

Whereas the ’57 Thunderbird, right in front of it, looks amazing. It’s by far my best survivor.

The BMW 3-series lost a headlight sometime in around 2012. The red seats are baked brown.

The SL500’s front grill has deteriorated almost entirely.

The Aston Martin isn’t too bad. It gets shaded in the afternoons.

I think the ’57 Nomad might be my favorite. The way the paint has chipped away and the chrome has yellowed makes it look like a real abandoned car. I get a “Christine” feeling when looking at it. Who else here loves the Stephen King movie?

It’s as if I can hear “Bad to the Bone” playing when I look at it.

It looks like a real 58-year-old car. Someone suggested that when my science experiment concludes (end date: TBD), I should take one of these cars and “restore” it. Do I have any hobby modelers in the audience who are good with a paint gun?

As for current events, I had a few fun friend encounters this week. I rolled out to Gilbert, Arizona in the Legend to check out a friend’s newly-built home.

Thanks, Todd, for the tour! I’ll be back for the pool party!

I also had a visit from my friend Asim who’s based in Washington, D.C., but was in town for work. I went to start the NSX so we could drive it to Roka Akor restaurant in Scottsdale (great sushi, btw!) and it wouldn’t start. It cranked all day long but seemed like it wasn’t getting fuel. Feeling a little defeated (and a lot embarrassed) I told Asim, “Well, we’ll have to take the Legend. It starts every time.” And it did.

I’m a little proud of myself for figuring out – and fixing – the NSX starting problem all on my own. I found out in some googling that the “main relay” is a common weak point. The solder joints inside the relay get broken or cracked, causing the connection to be lost and thus the fuel pump to receive no power. I followed some instructions and located the relay behind a panel inside the cabin, just behind the seats.

I had the relay re-soldered by a friend (but ordered a $70 new one, for good measure), reinstalled it, and the NSX started up on the first crank! I treated the car to a hand-wash last night.

Slippery when wet. Still cleans up decently for having 100,900 miles on the odometer.

Also this week I got to meet up with my friend Michael who formerly joined a Drive to Five group drive in his BMW 7-series. He’s since sold the 7 but stayed within the BMW family. Look at his GORGEOUS 1987 BMW 635csi. 118,000 miles on the odometer and every record since new. I promise — I saw them. Michael pulled out an inch-thick portfolio from the glove compartment dating back 28 years. Unreal. He let me take the car for a spin and it drove incredibly for such a vintage car. The A/C blew colder than my 2013 ILX!

Lastly, I had to laugh when a friend showed me this ad for an immaculate 2000 Acura Integra GS on Ebay. The car is clean and all, but you know what my favorite part was? The guy has created a binder for his service records. Even the cover of the binder has a sketch of the car, a title in appropriate font, and the dates for original purchase and second owner purchase. I need to meet that guy.

Safe travels, happy Friday (soon!) and enjoy the weekend.

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Sunday Drive to “PHOENIX” Marker, and Some 2016 NSX Sightings

Posted in Arizona, ILX, NSX, Road Trip on August 12, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 534,350

Odometer (ILX): 136,770

Trip Distance: 67 Miles

Lots of cities & towns across America have letters or numbers painted on mountainsides nearby to represent something symbolic. My hometown in southern Utah has a huge white “D” on the hill since St. George is “Utah’s Dixie.”

But, there aren’t many towns that have an entire 7-letter word spelled out in massive 100-foot-tall letters! For anyone who’s driven nearby on Loop 202 or northbound on Ellsworth Road, you’ve probably seen this view (you’ll have to click/zoom at top left):

Located on Usery Mountain in Mesa about 20 miles east of Phoenix, a giant “PHOENIX” marker is made of rocks that have been painted white. It took a Boy Scout troop over 5 years to assemble them in the early 1950’s. Most of the information that I found stated that the marker served as a guide for aircraft at the time, similar to the concrete arrows found across America.

Unfortunately, access to the PHOENIX sign is a little tough right now. I made it almost all of the way there and then ran up against a metal gate with not one, but 3 padlocks attached to it. Those, along with the plentiful “NO TRESPASSING” signs, kept me from trying to get any closer.

I did the best I could to capture a photo with my car, of course.

From there, I looped around toward Saguaro Lake on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

I promise, I was having a good time!

These cliffs at sunset are brilliant. I need to get back out there at the right time of day.

Sending some hearty congrats out to TWO friends who’ve joined the ranks of “Bellanova White” Acura TLX ownership in the last week or so. Ed in North Carolina went with the 2.4 liter. Here it is parked next to his roommate’s 3.5 RL:

And Ira in Oregon traded his TSX 6-speed in on a new 3.5 liter TLX SH-AWD.

A stunning purchase if I do say so. Well done, guys!

Let’s have some NSX Talk for a minute. This guy Sheldon has a mileage achievement to share that’s pretty dang impressive. His NSX has logged 400,000 miles!

Tuesday was a special day for the Arizona NSX fanclub since we learned that two production-spec NSXs were headed our way as part of a testing shakeout during the “#AcuraNSXOnTour” campaign. My sources had told me to be at the Acura of Tempe dealership between 3-5 p.m. So, I drove my own 1992 NSX to work, thinking I’d leave directly from there to head to the dealership in the afternoon. What I didn’t anticipate was extreme weather:

My poor car saw rain for the first time in my 3.5 years of ownership. Oh well! As my friend Mike said, “Don’t worry about it. It’s not like it’s going to melt or anything!” Very true, Mike.

The arrival of the 2016 NSX models was delayed, and the ETA was pushed back to 7 p.m. An anxious crowd of about 20 people started assembling at the dealership around that time. Current NSX owners comprised the majority of the group, though most didn’t have their NSXs with them.

One attendee was a guy named Stewart from Fountain Hills who has never owned an NSX but who was specifically invited by dealership management who is interested in getting one. He’d better get in line! I don’t know how many cars will be allocated to each dealership, but I heard that there will be only 8 NSXs produced per day at the Ohio assembly plant.

By 8:30 p.m., I’d waited 90 minutes and the NSXs hadn’t arrived. I had to take off because I was already late for a dinner engagement. I received a text message just minutes later from my buddy Jhae who was still waiting – I’d missed the arrival by just a teeny bit of time. No worries, I stopped by this morning with my friend Kelvin and we had the cars all to ourselves inside the service bay.

The red one looked clean, but the black one had clearly spent a lot of time on the road. It was covered in dust and the front end was buggy.

Still, I’d take one! Would you choose the red or the black?

Hope everyone is having a good week. Before you go, check out these awesome roads in a short “Dream Roads” video put together by Infiniti! I’m determined to visit some of these.

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