Now that my fleet of Acu-rides has grown to a half-dozen, one of my readers requested a photo of all the keys in a lineup. Well, this one’s for you, Sunny! In order here L to R are 1992 NSX, 1993 Legend sedan, 1994 Legend sedan, 1994 Legend coupe, 1994 Vigor, and 2013 ILX.
It’s that time of year again when the Legend fans of the world (all two dozen of us, ha!) get together at an annual event called the National Acura Legend Meet (NALM). It’s tradition – even obsession – for some of us to make sure it happens each year. For 2015, our host city will be at the fourth most populous city in the United States (at a staggering 6.3 million residents in the metro area): Houston, Texas. This destination marks a homecoming of sorts, since the inaugural NALM in 2005 was held in Dallas a few hours to the north.
For this voyage, you’ll be joining me for a trip length of 1,178 miles each way, which according to Google Maps should take 16 hours & 24 minutes of drive time. Get your road snacks ready.
This will be my 11th NALM. The last few years’ events are detailed here:
Here’s a photo of last year’s program in Los Angeles. I think we had 30-someodd cars in attendance. Panorama!
A 2,400-mile round trip journey is no small undertaking, so I have to make sure my Legends (2 of the 3, anyhow) are up to the challenge. For this trip, my 1994 coupe and 1994 sedan will be making the drive. Thanks in advance to a yet-unnamed friend who will be driving one of the cars on my behalf. On Saturday morning, I took the Vigor over to swap it out for the 1994 Legend sedan in storage.
Back at the house, it was nice to start “seeing double” again. I’ve had the coupe since 2003 and the sedan since 2008. They were built 5 months apart (9/93 versus 2/94) but they are the same model year, color, and drivetrain.
Let’s take a peek under the hood and check out a few fluid levels. Here’s the 4-door.
And here’s the 2-door. Identical, right? Only to the untrained eye. The coupe is missing a sticker on its airbox (Kevin, I know you sent me one – I just haven’t installed it yet!) and has some aftermarket stereo wiring.
For kicks, the new 1993 sedan. Some clear differences here. Let’s ditch that aftermarket air intake soon.
The coupe went in for maintenance on Thursday afternoon and received a full inspection and 5W30 oil change at Acura of Tempe. I added a new page to my 2-binder collection of receipts, and a 257th line to my maintenance spreadsheet on that car. The technician noted some (known) oil leaks and he said the front tires are “yellow” status so I should probably rotate those on my next oil change. Otherwise, a clean bill of health and Dana, my service advisor sent me off with “Have a great trip!” Even she has no doubt the car will get me to TX & back.
We will depart on Wednesday evening. I’ll post as best I can with regular updates, so come back soon!
I have a few fun high-mileage topics to share with you:
My coworker, Todd, achieved the 320,000 milestone in his Volkswagen Passat this week and sent me a photo. Congrats, Todd!
My friend Spencer sent me photos of an Accord his dad took on trade at the family dealership in California. It’s a 2000 model year with 509,000 miles on it, and the original automatic transmission! Looks pretty decent for that kind of mileage!
509,000 miles on a 2000 comes out to 33,933 miles per year!
And finally, I’ve reached out to the folks at The Smoking Tire who are on a mission to get to the 1 million milestone on a 1996 Lexus LS400. Site founder Matt Farah bought the car not long ago with just a little fewer than 900,000 on the odometer. He’s passing it around to various automotive journalists around the country and letting them help the old Lexus get to 7-digit territory.
I thought this article (and video) about the LS were great. The article discusses how most often it’s the type of OWNER responsible for achieving high-mile status, rather than the type of car. Take care of your vehicle and it’ll take care of you!
A couple friends and I took a trip to Bartlett Lake, northeast of Phoenix, yesterday with the ILX.
A little dirt road didn’t scare me away.
Perfect weather now that we’ve dipped out of triple-digit temperatures. Welcome, fall.
It wouldn’t be a proper 3-day holiday weekend if I didn’t try and squeeze a little roadtrip in somewhere. A friend of mine who I hadn’t seen for about a year and a half was playing at the “WeHo Sports Festival” at the University of California – Los Angeles campus and I took the opportunity to cruise out to LA and meet up with him for a night on Saturday. WeHo is short for West Hollywood, and the WSF event attracted a total of over 2,000 athletes competing in 10 different sports. My friend, Jeff, had flown in from Calgary, Alberta, to play soccer.
The 400-mile I-10 westward voyage on Saturday morning was uneventful and even a little boring – my only two stops were for fuel and snacks at 339th Avenue in Tonopah, Arizona, and then again at Washington Street in Palm Desert, California. I did roll 140,000 miles though, so that was exciting.
I found my way easily to the UCLA campus off Highway 405 and Sunset Boulevard. UCLA has over 43,000 students, making it nearly twice the size of the student body of my undergrad institution in Utah. The campus itself sits at the base of the Santa Monica Mountains and covers 419 acres of land. I thought it was very well laid out and clean.
Unfortunately, Jeff’s team didn’t perform all that well but I still enjoyed spectating from the sidelines in 80-someodd degree weather. It’s the first time I’ve been able to use my cheapo $6 foldable camp chair that’s been rolling around in the trunk of my ILX for the last six months. After fighting Highway 101 traffic for about 45 minutes en route to our hotel (welcome to LA!), we met up with our other friend Jack, then enjoyed a night out in Hollywood glamour (or lack thereof, in our case). I talked a little about Hollywood during my blog post from last August when I attended a party out there.
On Sunday morning, Jack and I wandered from our hotel down Hollywood Boulevard to the TCL Chinese Theatre. On the way, we crossed the “Walk of Fame.” Even by 10:00 in the morning, the streets were already bustling with selfie-stick-wielding, foreign tourists. For a minute, I felt like I was on The Strip in Vegas, because there were guides passing out pamphlets and trying to sell me on a $49 tour of the city. I respectfully declined (I had to get my car out of the paid parking lot by 11:30).
The Walk of Fame consists of over 2,500 pink stars embedded into the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard. Each one contains the name of someone famous, and I recognized the names of a few actors, musicians, and directors as we wandered around. About 20 new stars are added each year.
TCL Chinese Theatre dates back to 1926 and has been home to hundreds of movie premiers over the years. It’s currently home to the third largest commercial movie screen in North America. But what brings thousands of tourists to the facility every year is the concrete out front: Here, you can see over 200 handprints, footprints, and autographs of famous people that have been immortalized on the ground.
Beverly Hills, 90210: It’s a location that’s been made famous thanks to TV and movies, and it’s pretty posh for sure. Driving along westbound Sunset Boulevard, you see posters alongside the road frequently saying “STAR MAPS!” and encouraging you to pull over at some roadside stand and get a guide to (I’m guessing) where the movie stars live. I didn’t take the time. Even as I type this entry, Weezer’s song “Beverly Hills” is stuck in my head. I was surprised to learn that the median income there is only about $90,000 – I might have expected it to be at least in six-figure territory.
As has been widely publicized in the news, California is experiencing a huge drought right now, and the impact is even hitting the folks in Beverly Hills. The streets’ medians have had their sprinklers shut off, allowing the grass to die off and turn gold. I saw a huge billboard along one of the interstates that said, “Let Your Grass Go California Gold” with a photo of a dead/dying lawn.
I rolled home Sunday afternoon, exhausted from such a quick adventure: Arrival in LA at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, departure at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday. Would you expect anything else from me? In & out. Places to go and people to see. Thanks for joining!
A rare sight of traffic freely flowing on northbound, 8-lane, Highway 405 in Los Angeles
Meeting up with Jeff at the UCLA campus
Route (really round-about route, suggested by my phone) to our hotel from UCLA
Anddddd, of course. Parked traffic on the 101 freeway thanks to an accident.
ILX street parking
Wandering past the Hollywood Wax Museum on Sunday morning
Following Jack’s red IS300 on Hollywood Boulevard – and he happened to be next to an ILX
Spotted a Prius towing a U-HAUL trailer on eastbound I-10 on my way home. I wonder how many MPGs he was getting.
Coming up soon: The Legend coupe and the NSX are heading to Torrance, California this weekend for a special event at Honda Headquarters. You’ll read about it here before too long!
In preparation, I hauled 2 new rear tires over to Discount Tire for install…
A 2013 Acura costs half as much to maintain long-term as a 1993 Acura. And I can prove it.
Let’s talk about maintenance costs. I love to ‘geek out’ about facts & figures, so bear with me here. My friends and I frequently comment about how owning an old Legend gets pricey – like this recent dialogue with Kevin from Georgia, who I’ll see at NALM in a few weeks:
Well stated, Kevin. And we love our expensive hobbies like your 1994 LS coupe. Last Wednesday, I dropped another $250 on maintenance for the ILX. This got me wondering just how much the car has cost overall to keep on the road since new. That total is $4651.26. Considering that it has 139,755 miles on it, the cost-per-mile comes out to 3.3 cents. Here’s a detailed spreadsheet look at my ILX’s complete maintenance history since new (on June 12, 2012 @ 16 miles on the odometer).
If the ILX has taken $4,650 to get to 140,000 miles, how much did my other cars cost to get there? Luckily, on 4 of my 6 current Acuras (most of you haven’t ‘met’ the most recent – but you will soon), I have complete records back to brand new. And for each of those cars, I’ve created an Excel spreadsheet just like the one you’re looking at for the ILX, so it’s an easy calculation.
1992 NSX: This car only has 101,000 miles on it, but has already cost $16,908.74. [17 cents per mile]
1993 Legend sedan: Cost $9,777.44 to get to 140,000 miles. [7 cents per mile]
1994 Legend coupe: Cost $7,403.56 to get to 140,000 miles. [5.3 cents per mile]
Conclusion: The average cost of getting a 1993-94 Acura Legend from zero miles (brand new) to 140,000 miles was $8,590. When compared with what the ILX has cost me so far ($4,651), this is a substantial savings – especially considering 20 years of inflation! Did you know that $8,590 in 1994 dollars is $13,831 in 2015 dollars?!
So why is it that my new car is so cheap to keep on the road? How can it be that you’ll spend HALF as much getting your new Acura into the 100,000+ mile range today as you would have spent in the 1990’s? I have a few ideas:
Cars are more reliable in general. Fewer things break. Contributing factors might be: Enhanced durability testing techniques, higher quality materials, more rigorous development processes over the last 20 years.
Scheduled maintenance intervals are longer. While my Legend grew up on 3,000-mile oil changes, it’s not uncommon for my ILX to go 3 times that distance thanks to longer-lasting “0W20” synthetic oil.
Fewer “major” services. The Hondacars of yesteryear required strict adherence to a 90,000-mile change interval for timing belt & water pump replacement. My ILX, on the other hand, has a timing chain, which requires little/no upkeep. This is a $1,200+ savings for me every 90,000 miles!
Improved technology. Thanks to the many computer systems at work in today’s cars, we leave it to the car to tell us when it needs something, rather than leaving it to a mechanic who may just want extra money.
External conditions: Are roads less likely to put wear and tear on suspensions today than they were 20 years ago? Am I a more careful driver than my Legends had when they were new?
Or is it that the Legend was simply a more complex car than my ILX is (it did have two additional cylinders) and thus was inherently more involved to keep on the road?
There’s so much to consider, but these are just a few ideas that I had. I know we have a lot of other road warriors in the audience out there. What do you think? Are cars of today more economical to maintain than cars of yesterday?
Chew on that while you look at this safari-ready, lifted 1998 Acura SLX that a friend sent me.
Finally, the Phoenix area has been getting hit hard this week with late-summer “monsoon” thunderstorms. We had a pretty severe one roll through town on Monday night.
I was out to dinner with a friend in Old Town Scottsdale when I noticed that every time the restaurant door swung open, people were ducking indoors to seek cover, soaking wet. The rain outside was coming in sideways and the wind was howling. Sadly, when I went back out to my car, I saw that a dumpster had rolled into it.
The pics were taken AFTER I had rolled the dumpster away and folded the dented sideview mirror back out.
Somehow, miraculously, the mirror took the only impact and the door has zero damage. The dent mostly popped out and I threw some touch-up paint on it Tuesday. This will have to do for now!
Poor car has been through a lot in the last year – I got backed into overnight at a Motel 6 parking lot in Las Vegas, a busted out rear window in Salt Lake City this summer, and now this. Always an adventure! Hope everyone is having a good week!
On any given week, I would guess I receive about a dozen “odometer” related pictures from friends and family. Recently, a few of those were Ruben’s Honda Pilot hitting 180,180 miles with 90 degrees on the outside temp, Ian’s Volkswagen Jetta GLI hitting 33,333 miles with 111 degrees on the temp, and Ivan’s Acura RL hitting 270,000 miles. Have I trained these people or what? Someday I’m going to compile all of the submissions into a massive blog post in order of mileage.
I think the Mac-Daddy of all odometer achievers has to be Alex from Florida who has sent me next two. What are the chances he could pull both of these off in his Scion xB?
78 miles per hour
87 degrees
78,887 miles on the odometer
Then:
28 miles per hour
82 degrees
82,228 miles on the odometer
Clearly these took some pre-planning! Alex is the man.
Special recognition goes out to Josh from Idaho who captioned this odo shot with “Counting. Like a Boss.” His 2005 Acura TSX recently rolled the 456,789-mile mark with 123 on the trip meter. Nicely done, Josh.
Make sure and follow Josh’s pages for TSX Travels on Facebook and on Instagram to keep up to date on his progress toward hitting 500,000 miles on his car!
Speaking of TSX milestones, today’s feature is right along those lines. We’re here to talk about my friend Peter’s 2004 Acura TSX 6-speed that passed the 200,000 mile mark on a weekend road trip in south-central Utah.
Named for Mormon pioneer Ebenezer Bryce who settled in the remote area in 1874, Bryce Canyon was named a national park 1928. It receives about 1.4 million visitors annually and covers about 36,000 acres. Despite its name, Bryce is in fact not a “canyon” because it wasn’t formed from erosion from a central stream. Rather, it was formed by “headward” erosion which has to do with an origin moving away from direction of stream flow. Can the geologists in the blog-reading audience please chime in and explain this to those of us who are clueless?
Peter picked Bryce as the destination of choice for his 200k celebratory road trip. The first leg of our trip was to St. George, Utah where we’d be meeting up with seasoned road-tripper Jason from Las Cruces, New Mexico (Driven for Drives) and also joined by James Lee of Six Speed Blog. Peter and I departed from north Phoenix in the early afternoon on Friday in two silver Acura sedans: his TSX and my ILX.
Our timing was sheer perfection, as Peter & I arrived at my mom’s place just minutes before Jason got there (Jason had started his 8-hour driving day out in Grants, New Mexico). Mom had lasagna, salad, and fruit ready for us to satisfy our appetites. It wasn’t until about 4 hours later that James arrived in a 2015 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid which he was road-testing for the week. Mom had to get in on the action by pulling her 2010 Volkswagen EOS into the mix for our 5-car photoshoot on Saturday morning.
We set sail northbound a few minutes later in 3 sport sedans: The ILX, the TSX, and the 6. We had about a 130-mile one-way drive to the entrance to Bryce Canyon ahead of us.
Thanks to the elevation gain from St. George to Cedar City, the temperature dipped down out of the 90’s – a great reprieve to those of us who’ve been enduring triple digits since May. By the time we headed east on Highway 14 toward Duck Creek, Peter only had 10 miles left to spare until the big 200,000 mile mark. We knew already that the road would not have much of a shoulder to pull over on, but we decided to press on and see where the milestone would happen anyway.
Peter kept me posted via walkie-talkie as his TSX crept closer to the rollover, and we pulled over just briefly for a few shots at the exact location where it happened. Couldn’t have asked for a nicer backdrop!
200,000 on the dot:
The happy owner!
It was time to rip through the gears and continue our ascent. Once we finished climbing Cedar Mountain, we’d arrived at a little over 8,500 feet and the temperature was a brisk 69 degrees. You’d better believe I had all 4 windows down and the moonroof open to savor every second of that environment. After some enthusiastic twists & turns in Highway 14, we stopped briefly for a bathroom break at Duck Creek Village. The place was crawling with off-road enthusiasts and at least a hundred ATVs lined the main street with shops & a small cafe.
From there, we connected with Highway 89 and headed north for about 25 minutes until arriving at Scenic Byway 12, one of Utah’s most famous stretches of road. We started seeing frequent signs about Bryce Canyon so we knew we were getting close. There were two small tunnels along the way. We opted to take all 3 cars into the park @ $30 each which was kind of a poor financial move, considering the 4 of us could have easily piled into one vehicle. But for the sake of completing the road trip, we all wanted to have our own cars inside Bryce Canyon for any potential photo-ops.
I summoned everyone for a pow-wow in the Visitor Center parking lot so we could pull out our maps and figure out the next stops. I proposed a visit to Sunset Point just a little bit down the road. As soon as we found parking there, we walked out to the edge of the cliff and beheld a huge expanse of red rock formations for as far as the eye could see. It was stunning to say the least.
The sandstone towers are called “hoodoos” and were formed by years and years of erosion. That erosion is, in fact, still actively taking place. The National Park Service recommends making follow-up visits to the park because the terrain can change in just a short matter of time. I noticed a trailhead that said there was a 1.3 mile loop we could take. We all had a pretty good amount of energy to burn off from sitting in the cars for the last couple of hours, so we headed down into the canyon on the tight switchbacks that descended at steep elevation. The base of the canyon reminded me a little of Antelope Canyon due to its sheer walls and cooler temperatures.
Here you can see a piece of a trail weaving down into the depths of the canyon.
The not-so-fun part was climbing back out of the canyon, as it took only a few minutes to realize the grade was steeper than it looked, and we hadn’t packed any water with us. We definitely broke a sweat. Thankfully, we were just a 2-minute drive away from the historic Bryce Canyon Lodge and its restaurant. The Lodge was completed in 1924 and is a National Historic Landmark. It was one of 4 lodges built in the Union Pacific Loop Tour. I sampled the Grand Canyon Club and it was delicious.
From our dining table, we could see a thunderstorm brewing outdoors and within a few minutes, it was pouring rain outside. The open windows brought in a breeze of fresh mountain air and it was better than any scent Glade has ever produced! We didn’t even care that the rain would put a damper on the rest of our park visit. We decided to check out Rainbow Point, the highest point in the park at 9,105 feet. The road through Bryce extends for another 15 miles south beyond the Lodge, and we took it to its end.
Thunderstorms are serious business in Bryce Canyon. Lightning strikes have claimed the lives of four visitors in the last 23 years! Rain (and even a little bit of hail – in August!) kept us from venturing too far out at this viewpoint, but we did enjoy a couple minutes from this area. Kind of like Clark Griswold at the Grand Canyon.
We did a little car-key switcheroo after that, and I drove both Jason’s 6 and Peter’s TSX. The Mazda, at 167,000 miles, drove as smoothly as could be. I enjoyed the V6 power and the 5-speed transmission. Peter’s TSX is a sport-tuned masterpiece: The gearbox has a short-throw shifter making gear changes extremely quick and precise. Handling has been enhanced thanks to a professionally lowered suspension. The car drove tightly despite its 200,113 miles!
Jason split ways from us at the Highway 89 / Highway 14 interchange, and Peter, James, and I went back up over Duck Creek on Cedar Mountain in a torrential downpour. Road conditions got so dicey I had to slow way down and keep the wipers on full-blast. Oh, and my wiper blades on the ILX SUCK! They’re the originals – and Peter pointed out to me earlier in the day that the rubber has become totally detached. I’m adding that to the list of things to address in this week’s “B1” maintenance service appointment.
Back in St. George, it was time to spice things up a bit so we took mom’s red EOS to dinner. I decided to show the guys my favorite pizza joint in town: Pizza Factory. It did not disappoint! And the following morning, we headed out in the TSX, ILX, and Sonata for Phoenix by way of Las Vegas on our return drive.
Thanks to all who made this fun weekend adventure possible, and a huge CONGRATS to Peter on passing the 200,000 mile mark. Here’s to many more! Video of a few weekend highlights here:
The rest of my photos are here. First, my Lunchables.
Peter in the sideview mirror.
I have Jason & James “tracked,” location-wise, so I was able to see where they were.
Dinner at mom’s place on Friday night in St. George.
Photoshoot!
Location of Peter’s 200,000 mile mark
Duck Creek Village along Highway 14, east of Cedar City
Peter’s TSX wears two of these stickers proudly!
Red Canyon, just east of the Highway 89 / Highway 12 junction
Your truly – acting as tour guide
Peter and James making their way down the trail
Sweaty hikers but feeling pretty accomplished
Obligatory warning about not falling off the edge of the cliff
Warning sign at eastern entrance to Highway 14 which would take us up Cedar Mountain
Silver sedans after driving through the massive mountain thunderstorm
Back in blue sky country, headed to dinner in the EOS
James took a spy shot of this 2016 ILX passing me on Highway 93 on the way back to PHX
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.
My buddy Dave flew in for a visit this week from the Seattle area, so I had to roll out the ‘Formula’ Red carpet for him. We took this car to get drinks at Tempe Marketplace.
Dave is a long-time friend of mine who I originally met via the Acura Legend enthusiast community. This was the airport shuttle.
On Tuesday night, we took a ride in the Legend coupe for some BBQ dinner at “Bobby-Q’s” off Interstate 17 & Northern Avenue in Phoenix.
Cruising to dinner.
The pulled pork was indeed delicious.
Dave also borrowed the ILX for a bit. He sent me a text message later on: “This clutch is 180 degrees different than your coupe’s!” Thanks, my friend, for making time for me in your vacation travel schedule!
Huge thanks are going out to my friend Beau who snagged me some snazzy new profile photos a week or so ago. I used the pictures for my Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram accounts. For laughs, we took this one too. I couldn’t resist getting the car in just one shot!
That Vigor is now officially an Arizona resident. First order of business was an emissions test on Tuesday morning at the facility on Evans Rd in Scottsdale, not far from my office. That test ran me $20. Results are here:
Summary: It passed with flying colors!
Hydrocarbons in grams/mile: Standard = .8; my Vigor = .36
Carbon Monoxide in grams/mile: Standard = 12; my Vigor = 4.25
Oxides of Nitrogen in grams/mile: Standard = 2; my Vigor = .78
I then spent two hours at the Tempe DMV office near my house. Luckily I’d taken my work laptop so I could multi-task while dozens of other people made their way through the process. For $92.28 I was issued new tags with a 2-year registration, good until August 2017. So cheap! And it would have been even cheaper, but $50 of that total was for my personalized tags which are on order. I won’t spill the beans, but I’m excited for what they’ll say. In the meantime, I’m riding around on a generic looking one.
As all of you know, I’m big on “car history.” I like to know where my vehicles have been – and what they’ve been through – down to every little detail. That’s the whole reason I track my vehicle maintenance on Excel spreadsheets. When I purchased my Vigor from an AutoNation dealership in Denver, it came with its owner’s manual inside the glove compartment.
The original owner’s name was handwritten on the inside of the manual’s front cover. It only took a quick Google search to locate her current whereabouts and contact information. I sent her over a quick note. Within 12 hours, she’d responded – gratefully – and was glad to hear that the car she’d driven for 21 years is still in good hands! Check out her email:
That made my day. I’ll keep Kathy in the loop as things progress.
It’s been a super busy time here. I’m still actively engaged in NSXPO planning activities, in preparation for our 250-car NSX celebration the weekend of October 8-11 in Palm Springs, California. I’m taking a “practice” drive through that area soon. Here are a few coming attractions.
Aug 22 – Bryce Canyon National Park, UT
Aug 29 – Palm Springs & Idyllwild, CA
Sep 23-27 – National Acura Legend Meet – Houston, TX
A few final pics to close out the week. I test-drove a coworker’s 2005 Porsche Carrera S. Loved it!
Rainbow!
Drive to Five reader Joe saw this in the local paper. Someone stole my tagline.
Legends out on Saturday
And the Vigor out on Sunday
The end of the road, and the end of this epistle! Until next time.
I flipped randomly through the pages of my hardbound high school senior yearbook from 2000 a few minutes ago. The book fell open to a page with a bright red 3.5″ IBM disk inside (and no label). What’s on that disk? The world may never know, because I have no way of reading it.
It was around that time when Sprint announced the first nationwide wireless data service. A web phone – can you imagine? And here probably 75% of you are now reading this blog post via your smart phones. Times have changed.
It’s hard to believe a decade and a half have passed since I departed the hallways of Pine View High School in St. George, Utah as a graduating senior. The year 2000 was a pivotal time in our history: the new millennium. Though Y2K turned out to be a lot smaller of a deal than we’d anticipated, it’s still fun to look back and reminisce. And that’s exactly what I did with some classmates this past weekend in my hometown. Who could forget Lou Bega’s “Mambo Number Five” or Sisqo’s “Thong Song“? They’ve been stuck in my head since the late 90’s.
I was a bit of a nerd back in those school days. I admit, I was a member of the “Magic Club,” except, we were too cool to even call it the Magic Club. It was the “Illusionists Society.” Seriously. Aside from that, I participated in my share of car club events, Honor Society get togethers, and that sort of thing. I think at the end of it all, I was only a B+ grade away from having a perfect 4.0 GPA and becoming one of our 7 or so valedictorians during commencement. I may never forgive my Chemistry teacher Mr. Page for giving me that B grade. Haha.
Can we talk about those frosted tips again? (see bottom right)
The one redeeming thing about me during that era was my cool car. I made #6 on the list of the coolest cars at Pine View. My brother made #5.
A lot of the messages inscribed by friends on the insides of the cover of my yearbook have “car” references, as it’s a well known fact that even in the late 1990’s I was very obsessed with anything automotive. My pride and the joy – as I’ve already well-documented here on the blog – was this 1989 Honda Prelude 2.0 Si. 15 years later, I still have the rear emblem from the trunk lid in a box somewhere.
My favorite message was this excerpt’s from Ben Braten’s long paragraph:
… What I’m trying to say is, I want your car. I mean, it’s not like I soil myself or anything when I hear it purr, or lose temporary bladder control when the chrome blinds me due to the combination of the contemptuously bright St. George sun & the precociously reflective properties of the chrome… I do go on! But anyway, I just want you to know that no matter how much nicer your car is than mine, I’ll still think you’re cataclysmically HIP and all that jazz…
The PVHS Class of 2000’s 15-year reunion festivities were broken into two separate events: A family-friendly BBQ on Friday evening at a park, and an adults-only roller-skating activity on Saturday afternoon. I attended both. I think my ILX was one of only a few sedans in the parking lot at Pine View Park in Washington, Utah. For as far as the eye could see, minivans and SUVs dominated by a long shot. That’s because most of my classmates are on their 3rd or 4th child by now.
“I see you’ve been traveling a lot.” “I can’t keep track of you!” Those kinds of comments were recurring themes brought up by classmates in the inevitable Q&A with me that ensued when we started catching up on the 15 years that have passed since I’d last seen some of them. It was great to reconnect, and my hat goes off to Sr. Class President Brad for his diligence in setting up our reunions every 5 years.
It wouldn’t be a Tyson Trip if there wasn’t a little bit of ‘car stuff’ sprinkled in to the weekend. As I’d shared recently on the blog, my younger brother Payton recently picked up a daily-driver 1993 Legend L coupe 6-speed. I swapped him cars for a day just so I could get a feel for it. First stop on Saturday morning was to say hello to Blair who was working in his yard. Blair’s a long-time friend of mine who drives a Kinetic Blue Pearl Acura TL Type-S.
I also spent a couple of hours hanging out with my friend Cody who’s a fellow member of the Legend family. He and I got a few photos together of the “twin” Cashmere Silver Metallic Legends. Both cars in the below photos are 1993 “L” models and stick shifts. The chances of getting these two identically-configured cars together for a photoshoot were just too slim to calculate!
The interesting thing about driving these cars back-to-back is just how strikingly different their personalities are despite being nearly identical from the outside. For starters, the powertrains are different. Here are some quick perspectives on each Legend after a quick drive in each.
Sedan: 200-horsepower, Type I motor, 5-speed manual transmission. Low-end torque with this setup is plentiful and ready. Cody’s clutch felt light and smooth. The car revs freely and and cabin exudes a comfortable feel. This cream puff is a step back into 1993, right down to the fresh smelling interior.
Coupe: 230-horsepower, Type II motor, 6-speed manual transmission. This is the high-speed highway cruiser. My brother confirmed that it’s capable of hitting 60 mph in 2nd gear. The clutch is aftermarket and a little on the notchy side. The Type II takes awhile to get to optimal rev range. The ride is a little more abrupt and the seat bolsters are designed with more lateral support.
Selfie with the cars
Cody’s sedan has only 77,000 miles on it.
Cody’s interior
Payton’s coupe has 136,000 on it.
Payt’s interior
The last bit of automotive fun that I had on Saturday was a first-ever drive in an automatic transmission Acura NSX.
Cody’s neighbor, Nate, owns a Midnight Purple Pearl NSX-T with the 3.0 liter V6 and 4-speed automatic. Per the NSX Production Numbers reference sheet on the forums, this car is only 1 of 6 ever produced! For reference, my 1992 Formula Red with black interior 5-speed is 1 of 421 — a lot more common! See the arrows here in my diagram.
Overall impressions of Nate’s NSX were very positive — while I’d heard nightmare stories about how Acura had “de-tuned” the powertrain and sacrificed performance in the automatic-equipped models, I still thought it accelerated nicely and I still loved that characteristic growl of the motor from behind the cabin. The shifts were smoother than I’d expected (perhaps because I’m used to the “whiplash” Legend 4-speed automatic of the same era).
I didn’t play around with the shift paddle “manual” mode at all – I was too busy enjoying the open-air cruising. This was also my first time driving an NSX Targa with the top off. It takes just the quick release of a latch on either side of the top to remove it for easy stowage in a compartment above the engine. Thanks to Nate for the quick test-drive!
Here are the rest of my photos from this quick trip to southern Utah.
Approaching Las Vegas at dusk on Thursday evening, about 4.5 hours into my drive
Rolling past the Las Vegas Strip and resisting the urge to throw $20 on red
Morning view from mom’s back deck, Friday
Heading out to get some pics with Cody in the twin Legends
I’m impressed: Cody owns a cassette tape! I don’t think I even have one anymore!
Legends
Another pic from the NSX test-drive.
Veyo, Utah for part of the class reunion festivities
I’ve already had over 3 years of experience in road-testing Acura’s entry level model which debuted as a 2013 model in mid-2012. I can say with a certainty that over the last 135,000 miles, my ILX has been a real peach to own and maintain: Zero unscheduled maintenance, flawless performance and it still handles as nicely as the day I got it. But, as can be expected, inevitably automakers have to go back to the drawing board every few years and make updates to their vehicles to keep them at the forefront of technology and design trends.
Enter the newly-refreshed 2016 ILX to join the TLX and RLX sedans in the Acura sedan family. It was November 2014 when Acura first showed us the production-ready 2016 ILX at the Los Angeles International Auto Show which I attended with the Redline Reviews crew. Unveiled in stunning Catalina Blue in A-Spec trim, the ILX was a sight to behold.
Notable changes for the ’16 model year include both cosmetic and performance enhancements. Gone is the base model’s weak 150-horsepower motor, and now standard across all ILX models is the 2.4 liter, 201-horsepower 4-cylinder engine. It’s the same one that my ILX has, and which came standard on stick-shift-only models from 2013 through 2015.
The sad news is that the manual transmission, with its sheer perfection in its crispness and precision, is now eliminated as an option. For 2016, all ILX models will have an 8-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, carried over from the car’s larger TLX midsize sedan sibling, which I’ve already reviewed. I’m a die-hard 3-pedal manual guy, but that new automatic left me impressed. More on that later.
Before even seeing the refreshed ILX itself, it only takes one look at the key fob to know what great lengths Acura went to on improvements. Gone is the “chrome” plated unit that gets chipped and ugly within months of normal use. Now the fob is a hard black plastic that feels quality and looks like it will endure the test of time much better.
My test model was equipped with three different package options, including (but not limited to!) the following:
Premium Package:
Leather Sport Seats
XM Satellite Radio
Auto-Dimming Rearview Mirror
Blind Spot Information
Rear Cross-Traffic Monitor
Tech Package:
Navigation System with Voice Recognition
ELS 10-Speaker Sound System
GPS-Linked, Dual-Zone, Automatic Climate Control
AcuraWatch Plus Package:
Adaptive Cruise Control
Collision Mitigation Braking
Road Departure Warning
Lane Keeping Assist
All of the above brings the tally up to $33,820 including destination and handling.
Where to Today?
To put this new ILX to the test along with my “old” ILX, a few friends and I (okay, 16 of us!) headed for the hills of the Catalina Mountains north of Tucson, Arizona to a place where I’ve visited multiple times in the past – Mount Lemmon Scenic Byway.
In attendance were a wide variety of cars — ten of them, in fact: Two ILXs, a Mini Cooper, a GTO, a 370Z, a TL, an FR-S, an RS5, a 300ZX, and… a Corolla to round things out nicely! Brock’s orange Mini 6-speed was the cutest crowd pleaser of the bunch. Did you know it’s powered by only a 3-cylinder motor? If I’d taken my 1994 Acura Vigor on this drive, we would have had 3, 4, 5, 6, AND 8 cylinder motors all present on this 300-mile Saturday cruise.
No road trip is complete without proper fuel, and for some reason my friend Peter has a tradition of buying these orange-flavored Hostess Cup Cakes every time we take a drive together. He shared one with me. Thanks, P! Breakfast of champs.
Interior
Getting even more settled into the cabin with its “Graystone” colored leather appointments, I started to take note of the many things that were different from my personal car. Sun visors are made from the same fabric as the headliner, rather than from vinyl. There’s now a two-setting memory seat function with controls on the driver’s door panel.
The instrument cluster has a higher resolution display between the gauges and a lot more available information. The bezel around the cupholders on the center console are now a painted finish rather than chrome, keeping the reflective sunlight from beaming occasionally in the driver’s face as it sometimes does with my 2013 model. Even the seat belt buckles are a new design that’s easier to grab!
Love that rear camera which uses a much larger screen and with higher resolution than the one I’m used to looking at.
Overall fit & finish felt great, as is expected from a premium brand. I do wish the plastic lower part of the door panels was more resistant to scuffing, as my ILX at 3 years old is showing fairly significant wear there from getting in & out of the car.
Exterior
You’ve already seen those brilliant “Jewel Eye” headlamps which I adore, but the whole front & rear ends of the ILX have been reworked to give it a more aggressive performance vibe. The grille has been tweaked slightly and the ILX now has a new set of 17″ shoes. An optional “A-Spec” package offers 18″ wheels and fog lamps which further heighten the curb appeal.
My favorite thing about the outside of the car is the LED turn signals.
Driving Experience
Amenities and handsome looks aside, the driving experience is really of greater importance to me. Clearly the 201-horsepower, 2.4 liter 4-cylinder motor is a bulletproof powerplant, having logged well over 100,000 miles on mine without skipping a beat. Direct-injection is a new addition to that motor for 2016. For a lightweight car like the ILX, that kind of power is more than sufficient to get forward momentum at a brisk rate. I didn’t get the chance to have a flat-out drag race between my ILX and the 2016, but they feel right on par with one another in terms of acceleration.
Right off the bat, it’s easy to tell just how civilized the 2016 ILX has become compared to its predecessor. Where my ILX 6-speed revs at nearly 3,500 RPM at 80 miles per hour, the new ILX 8-speed only works the motor at a little over 2,000 RPM. This translates into a substantially quieter cabin thanks to diminished engine and exhaust noise. You can actually carry on a conversation in there!
Mount Lemmon was bustling with bicyclists and tourists as is typical on a Saturday, but the 26-mile stretch from Tanque Verde Road all the way to Summerhaven at 8,200 feet gave us dozens of curves to evaluate our diverse group of cars. When you’ve got a lineup of sports cars in your rearview mirror and you’re in the lead, you feel the pressure of setting a pace that’s fast enough to be fun but conservative enough to be safe. Both ILXs are well suited for canyon carving.
The 8-speed automatic transmission is a revolutionary dual-clutch unit, carried over from the Acura TLX model. Shifts are lightning fast and to be honest, I couldn’t believe that it got into 5th or 6th gear by the time it got to the end of my residential street! Eight gears sounds like a lot, but I was pleasantly surprised at how little “gear-hunting” the car had to do when commanded to accelerate. A drop of the throttle beckons near-instantaneous response from the powertrain as it downshifts.
The general consensus on the ILX was a hearty thumbs up in pretty much every regard. Donald, who owns a 2009 TSX, said the car felt more nimble than his car. Peter, who drives a 2004 TSX, said he was most impressed with the response from the transmission, especially in Sport mode. I have to agree with him. During descent from Summerhaven, the car would effectively hold its gear, avoiding the need to get on the brakes frequently. We stopped briefly during our descent to enjoy the view of Tucson from “Windy Point” rest area.
Safety Tech
The technology advancements in the new ILX are extensive, ranging from not only the “fun” stuff like the rocking, 10-speaker ELS stereo, to a full suite of safety features. The lane departure warning does a really nice job of accurately reading the road, the adaptive cruise control is a convenient way to “set it and forget it” with regard to speed maintenance, and there are six airbags in the cabin. All of Acura’s sedans are rated as top safety picks by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
Final Take
While the ILX didn’t have the bloodthirsty growl of Kyle’s 400-horsepower GTO or the on-rails handling of the FR-S, in my mind it hits a bullseye in purpose and function. It’s a comfortable cruiser on the highway – quieter, more refined, and better appointed than the prior iteration. Yet it still has a thirst for a twisty mountain road and feels right at home with its Michelins gripping a tight hairpin on a mountain pass like the Catalina Highway. For anyone in the market for a fun-to-drive sports sedan, I’d give this one a nod of approval.
Here are the rest of my photos and a very short walkaround video!
402 combined horses at my command!
Graystone interior
Driveway duo
Sunset in Scottsdale, Arizona
Pre-roadtrip with staging at Chevron
Arrest-me-red Scion definitely was a crowd pleaser
Midpoint on the drive – Picacho Peak, at the Shell station
A few scenes from around Tucson
ILXs at a stoplight side-by-side
Brunch bunch at Viv’s Cafe off Catalina Highway in Tucson, Arizona
Kyle’s GTO getting ready to lead the pack upward from Windy Point rest area
Enjoying cooler temperatures at higher elevations north of Tucson
Matt’s 370Z NISMO getting surrounded by ILXs
Can I please have these LED taillights for my car? I wonder if they’re plug & play.
Rest area
Descending from Summerhaven
Photo-op!
Back to Tucson we go
Following Peter who was at the helm of the 6-speed 2013 ILX
Rounding up the gang for lunch post-drive
Still having fun with my “new” old Vigor, by the way! This week it got a valve adjustment, new distributor cap, and a full detail.
I bet you didn’t know that the “official” Center of the World is actually in the middle of the desert about 10 miles west of Yuma, Arizona.
Detail on that sign:
Located in the far southeast part of the state, Felicity, California has a pretty bold claim to fame. The unincorporated community is home to a population of two along with a number of odd architectural buildings, including a pyramid that’s claimed to be the center of the world. Among the attractions is this 25-foot-tall section of the original Eiffel Tower staircase. It leads to nowhere and serves no purpose other than to attract people like me, and that’s pretty much all it’s done since it was planted there in 1983. This little roadside attraction is just one of a handful of sights to see along the Interstate 8 corridor.
How are real estate prices doing in your neighborhood? A median house in San Diego, California costs just a little over $700,000 (as of May 2015 data). If it wasn’t for the insane cost of living there, I’d consider relocation to that area. I can’t think of a more perfect climate – 263 sunny or partly cloudy days per year, average temperatures ranging from 55 to 72, and beach proximity within a stone’s throw. I was lucky to reside in San Diego County from 2001 to 2003 as a volunteer representative for my church, and I’ve returned to visit many times in the dozen years since. This past weekend, I took a few friends along with me for the ride.
Drive time from Phoenix to San Diego each way adds up to about 6 hours after you’ve made a couple of bathroom or fuel stops. For the most part, our route took us parallel to the Rio Grande River which forms the international border with Mexico. In fact, at times, it’s possible to look south from Interstate 8 and see the fence in the distance which separates the two countries.
Aside from our quick detour in Felicity, we were stopped once at an agriculture checkpoint just past the California state line and again about 50 miles from San Diego at a Border Patrol stop. Otherwise, it was smooth sailing. James was at the wheel of the ILX as we descended from Jacumba to the sea level elevation and watched the exterior temperature dip accordingly. It’s been quite some time since I was able to ride around in my car with windows down & moonroof open.
The “sunny San Diego” nickname didn’t hold true for us, as Saturday was filled with gushing gutters and intense thunder while the clouds unleashed from about 11 a.m. until at least 5 p.m. Still, we had a good time enjoying the sights & sounds of the bustling Hillcrest area around University Avenue and we found a few great places to dine, people-watch, and make a few new friends.
Thankfully, on Sunday morning it was back to business as usual and the clouds retreated long enough for us to enjoy some al fresco dining on the front patio at Huapango’s on 5th Avenue & Pennsylvania (best breakfast burritos in town!).
Thanks for coming along, and here are the rest of the photos from our quick weekend SoCal tour in the ILX.
Here’s the pyramid at Felicity. The center of this pyramid – which we didn’t enter due to it being after-hours – is said to be the official center of the world.
Proof! Established in 1985.
This seemed a little ridiculous. The distance from our hotel to a friend’s hotel was .4 miles. But when I plugged it into Apple maps on my iPhone to get directions, it gave me a 3.4 mile route, taking every possible roundabout way rather than just straight down the street. Sometimes “smart” phone technology is the dumbest way to go.
My car at the Best Western parking lot. Everything was so green compared to the desert landscape I’m used to.
Sunday morning, headed to brunch at Huapango’s.
Back to the car for our return trip eastbound.
Easy drive, straight out I-8 to Maricopa County, Arizona we went (via El Centro).
More time in the passenger seat for me. Good chance to enjoy the scenery and play around on my phone!
Time warp. If you drove down my street last night at 7:40 p.m., you would have seen me standing on a step ladder in the middle of the street to capture a picture that embodied the essence of 1990’s Japanese car design. The Vigor, Legend, and NSX parked on my driveway were three of the four vehicles marketed by Acura Division of Honda Motor Company in the early 90’s under the “Precision Crafted Performance” slogan. I’m pretty sure the neighbors were peeking out from behind their blinds and making fun of me.
Some 20-plus years after they were introduced, each of these vehicles have aged well and are well on their way to becoming classics.
Ranked in order of price here, the Vigor was $28k, the Legend, $41k, and the NSX $65k when new. That’s $134,000 worth of cars, that I paid a total of $36,500 for. Did I get a deal or what?
In the background here were two “hiding” Hondas – my neighbor’s black Accord and my 2013 ILX.
Thanks for putting up with my craziness but this was a photoshoot I’d been wanting to do for some time now.
Today I have a grab-bag of features to share – no real “theme” but rather just a a few updates on what’s been going on this past week.
Automotive journalist Jeff Koch who did the photos for my Hemmings feature last November invited me to check out a car he was testing. It’s this 2015 Dodge Charger Hellcat in “TorRed” paint job. It’s an absolute monster of a car, with a 707-horsepower V8 engine that left me grabbing for a handle when Jeff gave it a little gas on the Loop 101 onramp.
Even just while parked outside the pizza joint where Jeff and I grabbed lunch, the Hellcat drew a crowd of Mopar fanatics.
Sometimes I wish I had 700 horses at my command, but then I realize that my 201-horsepower ILX is getting 34.8 over miles per gallon. I’ll take the fuel economy. You all know how much I drive.
On Thursday, my friends Chris, James, and I went over to check out a sweet custom home owned by our friend Shelly. Look at that lineup of garages! Real estate goal of mine, for sure.
Meanwhile, I’ve made some great progress this week with my “new” 1994 Vigor GS. I had to laugh when Chuck from Acura’s Public Relations team in Torrance, California made a comment on my Instagram post about picking up the Vigor. “You own more cool Acura cars than we do — and we’re Acura, for crying out loud!” Well, Chuck, come borrow the keys any time!
I had a few visitors this week coming to check out the car. One was Joe who drives a 1995 Legend LS.
One was my friend Armando who drives a sweet Subaru SVX.
And one was Phil who drives a 1992 Legend LS. Thanks to all you guys for stopping by!
The Vigor got some detailing this week. I took to the undercarriage with a high pressure wash so I could clean out 20 years’ worth of dirt & gunk that the car had accumulated during its lifetime in Colorado. Then I hit the paint with a hand-wax of Meguiar’s carnauba wax and buffed it off with a microfiber towel. It turned out nicely.
The interior doesn’t need much but I’ll probably condition the leather soon.
Exhaust tip polish: Before & After
Freshly painted wiper arms in black satin Rust-Oleum.
Oil change and full inspection at Acura of Tempe (couldn’t resist a photo with a new TLX)
And looking pretty shiny now.
Ben from AutoNation where I purchased the car sent me a follow-up email. It’s clearly a “form” email, but I had to laugh at how he offered to help me understand how to operate the “technology.” Thanks, Ben, but I can handle 1994 technology just fine!
In other Acura news, my younger brother Payton picked up a sweet ride for his daily driver. He’s now in a 1993 Legend L coupe 6-speed with just 135,000 on the odometer. He sent me this text earlier in the week to share the news.
After some fresh window tint and a quick wash, he had it looking great already. Congrats Payton!
Yesterday, a few friends and I went to Sedona for a day. It’s a nice escape from Phoenix – only about 120 miles each way – and offers cooler temperatures and nice landscapes all around. I’ve blogged about Sedona multiple times, including most recently in a Toyota & GMC pickup truck comparo back in May. James captured this photo of the ILX northbound on Highway 179.
Scenic viewpoint in Sedona
Couldn’t sit here long – parking not allowed along that stretch, and the lot was full with tourists!
Dating back to 1993, this McDonald’s on Highway 89A is the only one in the world with its arches painted turquoise instead of yellow. The city mandated the color change in the interest of preserving the “desert” color scheme of the town. Even the homes blend in. Here I’m with Jack and Donald, two of my road trip partners. Thanks to James from Six Speed Blog for taking the photo.
Rolling back into Phoenix on Interstate 17 southbound
And lastly: I don’t know where or how this photo was captured (and it wasn’t by me!) but isn’t that new NSX sweet?
drivetofive 