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Tribute to Million Mile Joe, Home Improvements, & Car Updates

Posted in Arizona, Blog, ILX, Integra, Legend, Milestones on August 6, 2016 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 544,118

Odometer (Vigor): 105,807

Only in Arizona could a church use this as an advertising ploy! I’m tempted to convert.

First, a tribute to a man who inspired many. “Million Mile” Joe LoCicero of Maine became a hero of mine when he and his 1990 Accord reached a million miles back in the fall of 2011. Coincidentally, that was right around the same timeframe when my Legend reached half that distance. Unfortunately, Joe recently passed away but he will be missed. As Jason of Driven for Drives put it, “That was a good run.” Joe, we salute you!

I was able to track down the VIN to Joe’s Accord, and (nerd that I am) I couldn’t resist running a Carfax report just to see what it looks like when a car’s 6-digit odometer effectively resets itself to zero.

As expected, the title history shows ‘branded’ since the odometer mechanically can’t even show a 7th digit. (Reminds me of my 1986 Celebrity which only had FIVE digits on the odo).

The Accord was in for service in April 2011 at Berlin Honda in Portland, Maine at 970,333 miles. The next time we saw an odometer reading, it was almost two years later, at Auburn Motor Sales when the readout was 2,707 miles. Mileage Inconsistency, says Carfax. Well, duh!

The most recent Carfax entry on Joe’s old Accord was in December of last year, at 3,341 miles, when the car was purchased by someone in Jefferson, South Carolina. I’m not sure where the car is today nor who’s driving it, but I hope it’s still getting some time on the open road and not mothballed to a museum where it will dry up and deteriorate.

On the subject of Carfax, I was glad to see that my recent Integra’s emissions pass now shows up, so it’s no longer tarnished by that failure when I brought the car to Arizona earlier this year.

My apologies for sporadic blog posts in recent weeks as I’m still underwater with home and career activities. It seems the road tripping has taken a back burner. My home in Scottsdale, Arizona is on the market and I’ve taught myself how to do some basic repairs.

I was quite proud of some drywall repair results, and I spent an entire evening doing a repaint on my guest bedroom which turned out pretty flawlessly. Here a friend captured me attempting some bathroom updates whilst multi-tasking with my work laptop.

I ended up with more paint on my hands and shorts than on the wall, I’m pretty sure.

It’s yet TBD if I’ll be getting the “dream house” I have my sights set on, but I’m crossing fingers and hoping so. It would be great news from a car-parking perspective as it has lots of garage space.

I had an electrician at my home correcting a few small things on Friday afternoon. I was in the kitchen and he was in the other room working on a light switch. “All those cars outside yours?” he asked. “Yeah, I have six cars.” He responded, “What’s that, you fix cars?” “Uhh, yeah, that’s right,” I said. Sometimes I’d just rather not explain the car-collecting craziness.

This week I visited my friend Mirel at his new shop where he’s started a used car dealership. On site were 3 Legend coupes and a 1992 Dodge Stealth (I’ve always liked those).

Cool plate!

All these Legends are 6-speed manuals. Mirel has the right idea!

My friend Chris in Maryland has a “twin” car to my Legend sedan. Awhile back we both decided to go out for a special treat in our own way. Though separated by 2,009 miles, I enjoyed my iced caramel macchiato and Chris enjoyed his strawberry shake. My photo on top, his on the bottom. It’s interesting how the lighting conditions can change the color so much. In person, they’re identical “Desert Mist Metallic” paint codes.

I extend THANKS to a couple of my friends and readers! Jason recently had this awesome canvas print made up from my photo at the Arctic Circle back in May.

And Tim mailed me these sweet posters from a Honda museum in Ohio capturing the race team. Looks like I have plenty of art to adorn my garage now!

The Legend is getting ready for its trip to Atlanta this September. I’ll be gone for a full week.

And the ILX is in the hands of a couple of friends this weekend in Boise, Idaho.

Green with envy. These ones want a road trip, too.

The NSX is still in southern Utah and my brother had his friend Grant from Renu Auto do a full detail on it. The paint is finished off with an “Optimum Gloss Coat” paint coating. Results speak for themselves!

Looking forward to bringing this one back to AZ later this fall.

Lastly, you all know I have my “Spy Shot Roundup” posts on a regular basis. In all my years of collecting spy shots from people, I’ve had the same car submitted by multiple people before. Like twice. But in recent weeks, FOUR DIFFERENT SPIES have sent me this 1992 Legend L sedan wearing Wisconsin plates! The owner has to be wondering by now why she’s being followed by such a skilled group of paparazzi!

From Beau, July 16th, 2016

From Jack, July 20th, 2016

From Matt, July 21st, 2016

From Kyle, August 1, 2016

Unreal! I’m bound to run into this one eventually!

Check out our wacky late-summer “monsoon” weather. This 17-second video shows a courtyard at my office on Friday. First, getting torrential rains, and later – within a couple of hours – with blue skies and sunshine. Make up your mind, Mother Nature!

15 Comments »

Josh Clymer Update: 500,000 Mile Acura TSX Achievement!

Posted in Milestones on June 26, 2016 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Integra): 235,869

Ladies and gentlemen: He’s made it. Join me in welcoming Mr. Josh Clymer to the Half-Million-Mile Club (HMMC) and extending heartfelt congratulations on this impressive achievement.

500000

I’ve followed Josh for some time now – a few years, in fact, since I first stumbled across his then-300-something-thousand mile Acura TSX on Acura’s Facebook page. Over the years I’ve watched him dutifully log miles during his work commute and post updates from time to time. His blog is at TSXTravels.com. I’ve also seen him total his car – twice – and rebuild it at great expense to keep it alive. I’ve seen him surpass now both the 400,000 and 500,000 mile marks. And this car doesn’t seem like it’s stopping any time soon.

It was Saturday, June 25th around 4:00 in the afternoon when we departed Josh’s home in Kuna, Idaho with 499,998 miles on the odometer to fulfill his long-awaited Big Five milestone. I’d just arrived moments earlier in my newly-acquired 1992 Acura Integra GS-R but we left it parked – I wanted to ride shotgun for Josh’s special moment. More, later, on that Integra. The destination for our 500,000 mile ride was none other than Kuna’s top-rated Mexican restaurant, called Enrique’s. I treated Josh to dinner and presented him with a glass plaque that Jason of Driven for Drives and I had made up.

So here you go: Join the event in the below 6-minute video. I apologize in advance if I blow your eardrums at around 4:30 on the timer because I sort of screamed in the video. Guess you had to be there.

Heading out for the big moment

Southbound Linder Rd just before the roll-over

There’s the spot! Boise Street, I think. Westbound after we’d made a corner.

Let’s get a close-up of that excitement!

Josh told me I couldn’t post this one. I’m going to anyway, ha! But I want to mention here that Josh has TWO blue Acura hats. One tried and true example that he retired, and a brand new one that he donned after his milestone.

Celebratory dinner spot

Chicken fajita burrito. I could eat only half of it. The other half went to Josh’s dog, Abby.

Presentation of the glass plaque.

And the victorious TSX looking proud.

Congrats, my friend!

34 Comments »

Magic Number Five, High Mileage Stories, & 2017 MDX Teaser

Posted in ILX, Legend, MDX, Milestones on February 24, 2016 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 542,130

Odometer (ILX): 155,679

Ever have a weird moment when something happens and it’s too perfect to be coincidental? You might be driving down the road and a song comes on that talks about a specific landmark you’re passing. Or, as happened to me recently, a song came on that had a tempo absolutely identical to the pace of my ILX’s windshield wipers. For the entire 3 minute & 33-second duration of Rascal Flatts’ “I Like the Sound of That,” my wipers were rocking out to the exact pace of that song.

But just now as I was uploading the below picture of my 55,555 and 155,555 mile odometer shots in the ILX, my eye caught the bottom of the text box I was editing here in WordPress and I saw this:

What in the world? I had to screen shot it because the timing couldn’t have been better.

So there you have it:

55,555 Miles on October 7, 2013 en route to St. George Utah
155,555 Miles on February 22, 2016 on my way home from work

And both, mind you, striving for exactly 55 miles per hour but falling just a tad short.

Oh, and one more thing. Dad turned 55 years old the next day. BOOM. My Instagram post:

I guess this blog really became named Drive to Five for a reason.

I had a newcomer in the garage for one night as my friend Hy entrusted me with his pride and joy 2004 Acura TSX. With just 61,000 miles on the odometer, this beautiful little 6-speed looks like it’s fresh off the showroom floor. I especially like the body kit and chrome wheels.

hy2

“Fastidious” is the best way to describe Hy’s care for this automobile. Two layers of floor mats, towels on the seats, and a clear bra on the front end that keeps rock chips at bay. It’s no wonder the car looks, smells, and drives like it’s brand new (not 12 years old).

Meanwhile the Legend got to see some daylight for a bit. It’s developed a nagging power steering leak which is becoming quite aggressive. That comes as a disappointment since the entire rack & pinion was replaced just 12,000 miles ago for $800 with a remanufactured unit. How did my original power steering system last 530,000 miles before it developed a leak, and my remanufactured one lasted only 12,000?

I have a couple of high-mileage stories for you to kill time with today.

This one is apparently old news, but for some reason I’m just now learning about it. There’s a guy named Habib who delivers medical supplies in his 2006 Honda Civic all across Kentucky. This 51-page thread on the Civic enthusiast forums chronicles his progress as he racks up the miles. In 2012, he was featured on Jalopnik at 750,000 miles, and as of latest update on his forum post (this month) the car is still running and driveable but sidelined at 1,100,000 due to a bad head gasket. He plans on fixing it and continuing to drive.

I’m also introducing “Russell” from Connecticut to my blog audience. He reached out to me this week to report that his 2001 Acura MDX has over 495,000 miles on it. Russell bought the MDX brand new in April 2001 and has spent the last 15 years driving it on average 33,000 miles per year. He’s on his second transmission but otherwise has had very few unexpected maintenance needs. Most interesting of all: his choice in fuel. Russell has run only 87 octane for most of the MDX’s life. “Premium Fuel Required”? Maybe not.

Speaking of MDX news, get a glimpse below of the soon-to-be-revealed 2017 MDX in the below image from a press release that came out today. The real deal will be unveiled in a press conference at the New York Auto Show on March 23rd.

One more little quirky mileage find: This 1993 Acura Vigor automatic with 355,781 miles on it was found on a craiglist posting here in the Phoenix area. How in world did that little 2.5 liter 5-cylinder get so far? I’m tempted to call the seller/owner just to ask and find out.

My dad & stepmom are flying in from northern Utah tomorrow so we’ll have a few adventures to share with you on the flipside.

Have a great rest of the week!

19 Comments »

A 150,000 Milestone, Barrett-Jackson Auction, and Papago Park Meet

Posted in Arizona, Legend, Milestones on February 1, 2016 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 541,020

Odometer (ILX): 154,063

Get comfy on your office chair / easy chair / toilet. (I know some of you *cough* Chris *cough* read my blog from there). It’s time to recap the last four days’ worth of activities here in Arizona. I had friends visiting from the east coast for a few days and our schedule was packed with activities, most of which revolved around automotive stuff. Are you surprised? I doubt it.

Among the highlights were a big milestone for one of my Legends, a day at one of the world’s premier collector car auctions (and VIP access while watching a $1.2 million car find its new owner), a scenic desert drive in the Superstition Mountains, a Sunday morning hike near Arizona State University, and a 12-car meet-up in Papago Park with some Acura fanatics. Let’s get this party started. Inline with these stories are four YouTube videos for your viewing pleasure. If you’re so inclined, subscribe to my channel! I need just one more YouTube subscriber to put me at 500, and you know how much I love hitting milestones. Channel Link

Chris was one of my guests. He’s the guy with a ‘twin’ Legend to mine who drove to last year’s Houston Nat’l Acura Legend Meet (NALM) to meet up with me there. I reserved for him the opportunity to roll 150,000 in my car when he flew in for his visit from Baltimore. His request specifically was a “sunset” rollover, so that’s what we had. Around 5:30 p.m. on southbound Galvin Parkway in Phoenix, he hit the 150,000 milestone in my car and Thursday evening we got a few pictures (duh!) to commemorate the occasion. That car has only been driven 18,000 miles in the nearly 8 years I’ve owned it.

After rolling into Papago Park for a more appropriate photoshoot.

And the video:

On Friday, Chris and I spent the entire day at the Barrett-Jackson collector car auction in Scottsdale. This place was a candy store for any automotive enthusiast. Just one drawback: These were some very expensive sweets. I saw cars routinely crossing the auction block for 6-figure pricetags, and each time a vehicle met that amount, the spectating crowd would cheer and clap in excited support. When Chris and I weren’t watching the auctions, we were browsing the automobilia, tire-kicking the classics inside & out, chowing on footlong sausages from the food trucks, and PEOPLE-WATCHING. If I had a dime for every guy I saw with a mullet and a “Camaro SS” cutoff T-shirt, I could have probably bought a Camaro SS!

I’ll spare the details of the dozens of cars that caught my eye as we made the rounds, but I did really enjoy a few things, like this old Cadillac.

This pearl white Dodge Stealth only had 55,000 miles on it.

A 2000 Bentley Arnage with <50,000 miles, sold for $30,000. You’d look like a millionaire for $30k!

There were, of course, plenty of tailfins in attendance, like the ones on this 1958 Buick.

The front ends of those cars are equally shiny.

This one was for Kevin – a rare 1963 Chevy Corvette split-window coupe.

But the real draw was Lot #3007: a 2017 Acura NSX, VIN 001, scheduled for auction at 7:30 in the evening.

So, Chris and I made our way to Skybox #15 which I’d been given tickets to. The Skybox was a flight of stairs up, and overlooking the left side of the stage. Senior leaders from Honda & Acura started filing in by around 6:00 p.m. in anticipation of the big event. Jay Leno’s Ford F-150 pickup truck went for something like $200,000, and a Chevy Camaro “COPO” Edition went for over $300k, so I felt like Acura would be well positioned to get a good price for its new NSX. What I didn’t expect, though, was just how crazily the bids would climb.

Moments before the “athletic red” NSX made its way up onto the stage, all the Acura folks were ushered out to accompany it. Chris and I were about the only people left in the booth to watch from that area. A short video introduction played on the screens flanking the auction stage. All proceeds for the new NSX were to benefit two charities, the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation and Camp Southern Ground.

At the blink of an eye, the bids were already at $600,000. Then a million. More perks were thrown in – special ride-alongs at the Indy 500, backstage passes to a concert, yada yada. Slowly the price crept one more time to $1,200,000 and then it capped off. The auctioneer’s gavel hit the podium and the car was SOLD to Rick Hendrick, founder of Hendrick Automotive group. Hendrick has been known to buy similar cars for similar prices. Apparently he paid $1M for a Z06 2015 Corvette not long ago. At least he spends his money on fun things!

Hendrick will be customizing his future NSX in the coming weeks and months. After all the one driven across the auction block was in fact a pre-production car and not destined for sale to the public anyway.

With Chris, showing our Skybox view

NSX Project Leader Ted Klaus, and Honda Vice President John Mendel

RealTime Race Team Driver Peter Cunningham

The NSX making its way to the auction block

Up on the stage it goes

Celebrating with VP Sales, Jon Ikeda, after the auction

Text from Ted Klaus showing the SOLD sign with $1.2M written in sharpie across it.

Video of the auction.

That brings us to Saturday, when we finished working on some maintenance on my 1993 Acura Legend L sedan. By this time, my friend Jake had flown in from Virginia so he lent us a hand installing some hydraulic hood struts. Soon afterward, we hit the road in the 1994 Legend GS and the 1992 NSX for a 100-mile round-trip drive to Tortilla Flat, one of my favorite destinations in the region. Slow-moving traffic and less-than-optimal road conditions kept us from really pushing the limits of the cars too far, but we had a great time enjoying the perfect weather and soaking up the scenery. Saguaro cacti dotted the landscape – something my east-coast friends don’t get to see much.

We dined at the saloon-style restaurant and then made our way back to the Scottsdale area. Here are the pics from that day.

Original intake installed – I threw away the aftermarket Ebay setup that the car came to me with.

Jake taking the wheel of the Legend GS. As a BMW guy, he appreciates a car with nice handling!

Just after lunch in Tortilla flat, with John Wayne and walls covered in thousands of $1 bills

Chris enjoying the sunshine so he could take a tan back to Maryland with him

Just before heading back to civilization

Video of Chris at the wheel of the Legend sedan

Sunday morning, I had a brunch spot in mind so we took the Legend coupe to downtown historic Tempe, Arizona. It turned 541,000 miles on the way there, and Jake captured this picture from the backseat, of me capturing the milestone. Documentation of documentation!

We burned off a few of our breakfast calories by hiking up ASU’s “Hayden Butte” to get a nice view of the cloudless winter day.

That afternoon, it was Legend-mania as we made our way to a Phoenix area meet at Papago Park. The guys helped me clean up the cars so they were ready for action. Peter came as well so he could assist with transport.

Shot taken by Jake as he was following Peter (NSX) and me (1993 sedan) to the meet venue.

Jake with the high-miler.

Here’s the lineup!

Can we just talk about Jimmy’s seats for a second? These have lived underneath sheepskin seat covers since new!

Group shot – missing a couple folks who came later in the afternoon.

My 1994 LS coupe

Phil’s 1992 LS coupe

Jimmy’s 1994 LS coupe

Jimmy’s 1994 GS sedan

Tyson’s 1992 NSX

Mirel’s 1994 LS coupe

Mirel’s 1993 LS coupe

Tyson’s 1994 GS sedan

Tyson’s 1993 L sedan

Walter showed up with the famous “Acura Legend Concept” which has been featured previously on the blog.

And Chuck brought his 1988 Legend ragtop (custom)!

Chris got a taste of Vigor-ous driving today.

I sent him to the hills near Superior and Miami off US Highway 60, but snowy weather proved treacherous!

What a whirlwind weekend of car craziness. Huge thanks to my friends near and far for taking part in it with me, whether here in person or via the blog. Adios for now.

Edit: Almost forgot to share – here’s the final (extended) version of that Super Bowl Commercial teaser I showed you last time!

25 Comments »

ILX 150,000 Milestone, Utah Trip, and a 30-Something Birthday

Posted in ILX, Legend, Milestones, Utah on December 29, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 540,467

Odometer (ILX): 151,120

I have quite the potpourri of news updates for you all today! I was on my way home from work last week when my 2013 ILX hit its 150,000-mile mark.

Timeline of major milestones:

16 Miles at Delivery: June 12, 2012
50,000 Miles: August 15, 2013
100,000 Miles: October 16, 2014
150,000 Miles: December 21, 2015

Maintenance history since new:

Video:

The Legend coupe had to get a new starter last week from Hon-Man in Tempe, Arizona after the original one lasted 540,428 miles. About a week ago, I had needed to move the car out of the garage to get access to the attic opening, and it would click but not turn over. The starter had been acting up for some time so I finally had it taken care of. Hon-Man’s parking lot was full of other Honda products, but I parked next to a 1993 Legend sedan when I dropped the car off for its service.

Service was $599 parts/labor and included replacement of an inner CV boot that was torn on the driver side axle. Back on the road now.

My friend Daniel stalked me on Christmas Eve on Loop 202.

For about 10 years now, I’ve been attending an annual Christmas party hosted by my friend Chuck in Phoenix. This year, he gave me a glass “moose mug” like the style used in the classic film “Christmas Vacation.”

My friend James gave me a very fitting license plate!

I made my way north to my hometown in Utah (~400 mi) in the ILX on Christmas morning. Weather conditions on my end were vastly different from the ones my stepmom and dad were experiencing. Here’s a text conversation excerpt:

I stopped for a quick visit at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway at the north end of Las Vegas. It was only 50 degrees, but looked much warmer!

Virgin River Gorge on Interstate 15 northbound:

“Castle” Christmas light display at a home in St. George. This won a $50,000 contest!

With my niece Vivienne.

Lunch with mom.

Taking my brother’s 1968 Chevy II Nova SS 6-speed for a cruise on the day after Christmas:

I drove it about 100 miles, round trip, to & around Mesquite, Nevada

Great sunset lighting overlooking the peaks around Mesquite. You’ll soon see this car in a feature story in Hemmings Muscle Machines.

Mom even rolled around in it for a bit:

We received a visit from a few friends on Sunday prior to the return drive to Phoenix: Tyson, Tia, Chandler, Jack

Jack, Chandler, Tyson, Branson

Jack took my brother’s M3 6-speed for a little ride

Branson rode 400 miles back with me from St. George to Scottsdale to take delivery of this 1994 Legend coupe from a prior post.

On the morning of 12/28, we pulled it out of the garage and he went on his way!

Desert Mist twins before Branson’s departure.

It was my 34th birthday yesterday, so I went and pulled the NSX out of the garage for a celebratory cruise.

I received a ton of well-wishes from friends & family. My email inbox overflowed with about 700 Facebook notifications. Here is a short video capturing some of the day’s highlights.

And, I think that pretty much brings you up to speed! Hope everyone’s New Year festivities treat them well this weekend.

30 Comments »

2015 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, Nevada: Ludacris Legend, Galpin ILX, & World Record Volvo

Posted in ILX, Legend, Milestones, Nevada, Road Trip, SEMA on November 5, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 540,089

Odometer (Ludacris’ Legend): 246,080

Odometer (ILX):

Trip Distance: 616 Miles

Viva Las Vegas! Or was it “Lo$t Wages”?

The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) has been around since 1963 and is a huge trade group centered around the automotive aftermarket industry. It’s grown to a colossal size with over 6,300 member companies. Its largest trade show, held every year at the Las Vegas Convention Center, occupies more than a half-million square feet of space.

SEMA week puts every “car geek” into a candy store. Its full week of activities bring every participant the sights, sounds, and yes – even smells, of the automotive industry. I’m talking about these scented Little Trees, and they’ve been around since 1952 when this first version on display was created. What’s your favorite scent?

This wasn’t my first SEMA rodeo. Here are write-ups from years prior:

This year’s show included some special components which I was excited to see: The Acura display booth contained the now-fully-restored 1993 Acura Legend sedan that belongs to 20-million-fan music artist Ludacris, as well as a highly modified 2016 Acura ILX in vivid Sunburst Yellow with a host of performance and cosmetic upgrades. Legends and ILXs? It’s like they structured show content around exactly the type of content that would interest me!

My friend Chris described the SEMA experience as “It’s like being at the mall on Black Friday.” It’s overwhelming to be among the crowds, with all the suppliers clamoring for your business with “Look at me!” signage and fanfare. Another friend, Nina, calculated that if you walked the entire floorplan of the 4 gigantic convention rooms plus the outside areas and the adjoining hallways, it would be the equivalent of completing a marathon. I’ll have to throw on a GPS watch someday and validate that claim. My legs believe it.

I arrived in Las Vegas on Monday night after an uneventful 4.5 hour drive from the Phoenix area in my Legend. I met up with long-time friend Tommy who’d made a similar distance from LA that same afternoon. Later in the the evening, famed HondaPro Jason (pictured with me above) made his arrival into the McCarran Airport from a Chicago flight. Jason has made a name for himself as “THE” Honda guy over the past few years since his YouTube channel launched in 2012. Today, he has 32,000 subscribers and 27,000 followers on his Facebook page. Jason’s flight arrived around midnight, so I played Shuttle Driver for him as well as for Jeff of Temple of VTEC.

Tuesday’s two key events for me were two Honda press conferences: The first was at 9:30 a.m. to showcase Honda’s latest news in off-road / Baja racing with an all-new Honda Ridgeline pickup truck, scheduled for its first race in less than two weeks. The second was a 20-minute presentation at 1:00 p.m. by Acura Senior Vice President Jon Ikeda as well as Creative Director Dave Marek. Jon and Dave introduced two exciting vehicles to the crowd of media and industry personnel who were assembled there.

The first car was Ludacris‘ 1993 Legend, newly reborn since a June 2015 accident left it damaged on the right rear quarter panel. I had some Q&A time with Dave after the conference and received some insights into the specifics of the build. His intent was to bring the car back to its former glory as well as add a few touches to make it even better. He succeeded in every aspect.

Among improvements to the Legend are the following:

H&R Springs
Eibach Camber Kit
18 Inch Rays Wheels on Bridgestone Potenza Tires
Wilwood 6-Piston Front / 4-Caliper Rear Brakes
Fresh Paint and Leather
Pioneer AVIC 8 / ONEX Head Unit with Apple CarPlay
Alpine Subwoofer

The second car was a vivid orange 2016 ILX, outfitted with a body kit, an aggressively modified suspension and custom wheels – as one would expect at SEMA. The details extended to the interior where the stitching on the seats and steering wheel was matched in the same orange color. The ILX, which was customized by Galpin Auto Sports, will be given away as part of a charity event for the Ludacris Foundation which since 2001 has provided tens of thousands of hours into service projects and youth development activities.

I had to stop and catch my breath for about 20 minutes while I charged my phone and scarfed down a $13 piece of pepperoni pizza in the food court. Then it was back to battle where I wandered around to see a few more sights and meet up with friends. By 4:30, Jason and I departed from the hustle and bustle to prepare for an exclusive evening activity with the Honda and Acura executives. We were able to participate at an intimate dinner at MGM Grand’s “Hakkasan” Nightclub with a dozen or more of the company’s highest-ranking leaders. They were incredibly approachable and I enjoyed the dialogue and the food! Honda threw a big “soiree” later that evening out on the dance floor, and hundreds of people came out to party.

On Day 2, I woke up to rare rain in Las Vegas and made my way to the AAPEX Show, similar to SEMA and containing a lot of the same content, but located at the Sands Convention Center several blocks away. The main reason I needed to drop in was that I’d learned Irv Gordon was in attendance. Irv achieved fame by logging over 3,000,000 miles on his red 1966 Volvo P1800. That feat was enough to put him in the Guinness Book of World Records. In fact, he’s been the world record holder since 1998 when his car had only 1.69 million miles on it. I wish I’d met Irv, but sadly the Castrol booth only featured his car.

My last stop before skipping out of town was next door to Castrol at the Car-Freshner display where I got a whiff of the new 2016 scents. The product specialist on duty invited me into a phone booth of sorts, where I pressed a button and the smells activated. My favorite was definitely “Copper Canyon.” Now, if only they invited “scratch & sniff” computer monitors so you could all be smelling it with me!

My Legend rolled 540,000 miles on the way home to Phoenix. Fitting, since it was also November 4th of exactly 4 years ago when the car rolled 500,000 at Acura’s red-carpet party. Thanks for joining for this year’s SEMA trip. Enjoy my photos and a short video below!

Here’s a pit stop on Highway 93 where I stopped between Kingman, AZ and Hoover Dam. Irv’s picture on top, mine on bottom!

With Acura Public Relations Manager, Jessica Fini

Having a seat in Ludacris’ Legend!

Creative Director Dave Marek, myself, and Public Relations’ Allie Mayer

Dave explains the ins & outs of the Legend build with some Legend fans

I presented this note to the Acura team and asked them to leave it inside the car somewhere for Ludacris.

Close-up on those beefy front brakes

Galpin ILX rear 3/4 view. I dig that spoiler!

The 2017 NSX in “Nouvelle Blue Pearl.” Stunning!

Other sights from SEMA: This “Car Capsule.” Who else desperately wants one of these as much as I do?

Very clean Toyota Supra

Monster truck outside

Meeting up with my buddy Joey from the Atlanta area

Acura VP Jon Ikeda

RealTime Racing’s Peter Cunningham, and my friend (fellow Legend owner) Tommy

This was my first time seeing the newly-launched 10th-generation Honda Civic sedan. Nice!

Pretty wild custom Honda HRV

Cruising down the Vegas Strip. 4.1 miles long, with 62,000 hotel rooms!

Walking over to the nighttime event at MGM Grand

Romeo and Lou, fellow Legend fans

Rainy morning at my motel on Wednesday in Las Vegas

Getting up close & personal with Irv Gordon’s 3-million-mile Volvo

And lastly, that awesome Car-Freshner booth!

22 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 »

Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah: Peter’s 200,000-Mile TSX Party

Posted in ILX, Milestones, Road Trip on August 24, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 534,427

Odometer (ILX): 138,509

Trip Distance: 1,112 Miles

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

Thanks for joining!

28 Comments »

Sunday Group Drive: Long Loop to Lynx Lake, Arizona

Posted in Arizona, ILX, Milestones, Road Trip, Vehicle Reviews on April 27, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 533,182

Odometer (ILX): 123,824

Trip Distance: 243 Miles

“My Bugles spilled all over!”

That was James’ flustered exclamation immediately upon exiting his Ultrasonic Blue Mica Lexus NX200t on a pullout of Highway 89 on Sunday morning. This particular road is unlike most of our state highways for a few reasons: It delivers seemingly endless twists and turns, the corners are banked, and the pavement conditions are as smooth as can be. For any car enthusiast, all those factors can only mean one thing: Wheeeeee!

So, as James took the corners aggressively in his “cute-ute” SUV to keep up with me in the ILX and Peter in his 3-series station wagon, his open bag of Bugles chips that was sitting on the floor repeatedly got rolled over by a rogue water bottle. And James, hands white-knuckling the wheel at 10:00 and 2:00 positions, was powerless to stop it from scattering crumbs all over the place in the process.

It was all worth it, and this Sunday drive did not disappoint. This was a small group with 3 unique luxury cars:

2002 BMW 325iT (Peter) – $36,250 as tested
- 5-speed manual
- Sport, Premium, and Cold Weather packages
- 2.5 liter Inline-6
- 189 horsepower
- 190,155 miles
2013 Acura ILX (Tyson) – $31,980 as tested
- 6-speed manual
- 2.4 liter 4-cylinder
- 201 horsepower
- 123,824 miles
2015 Lexus NX200t (James) – $43,398 as tested
- 6-speed automatic
- F SPORT and Navigation packages
- 2.0 liter 4-cylinder
- 235 horsepower
- 2,901 miles

From our home base in Scottsdale, we made our way northbound (Loop 101 -> Interstate 17 -> Highway 74 -> Highway 60) and our first stop was for fuel and snacks at the Mobil gas station in Wickenburg. That’s where James got ahold of those Bugles which later became the strewn-about crumbs in his back seat.

Peter’s 5-speed 3-series took the lead with Jack playing the role as copilot. As soon as traffic and road conditions permitted, the white station wagon quickly left me in its dust. Thanks to its custom upgraded H&R Sport suspension and 18″ low-profile tires, the BMW was well-suited for the twists & turns of Highway 89. The ILX, too, seemed to be right at home in that environment. Jack drove it for a stretch and commented on how superior Honda’s stick-shifts are. (A shame, since as of the 2016 model year, Acura has nixed the option). Between Wickenburg and Prescott, the highway ascended about 3,300 feet in elevation; rowing between 3rd and 4th gears it was fun to hold the motor in the higher RPM range and make use of VTEC technology.

Prescott welcomed us with light rains, refreshing pine-scented air, and cool mountain temperatures. There was only thing one left to make it a perfect road trip: tasty food. And for that, we went to the Lone Spur Cafe on Gurney Street in historic downtown Prescott.

Since it would be on our way home anyway, we decided to hit up Lynx Lake for a few pictures. I last visited both Lynx and Watson lakes in the Prescott area in February in the ILX. When we turned off Highway 69 at Walker Road, I noticed that there were even a few snowflakes on the roadside as we headed toward the south shore of Lynx. We were glad to have sweatshirts. I know all my readers up north are rolling their eyes at how we Arizonans crank our seat heaters to “HI” when the temperature dips below about 70 degrees.

James let me take the wheel of the Lexus for the drive home from there.

Coming from a lower-slung sporty sedan, I expected the NX to be a little less agile around the corners due to its higher center of gravity. What I instead discovered was that the NX “thinks” it’s a car, and behaves accordingly. If I had closed my eyes while driving (not recommended!), I could have easily mistaken the ride & feel for a sedan, and that is impressive considering the vehicle’s heft and profile.

Lexus tries hard to put all the controls at optimal locations. I noticed that the cruise control stalk (tucked away behind the lower right side of the steering wheel) is the same one that my mom’s 2003 Lexus GS430 had. Hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix/change it! The rest of the cabin is a nice place to spend time. I liked the red stitching on the dashboard (part of the F SPORT package) and the abundance of soft-touch materials surrounding the driver.

Among other adds for F SPORT are the sport-tuned suspension (which we definitely put to work), perforated leather-trimmed steering wheel, cornering front fog & driving lamps, special door scuff plates, and active sound control (“ASC”). That feature is a bit of an oddity: It’s a dial mounted to the dashboard below the steering wheel that controls the level/intensity of engine sound coming into the cabin. Oddly enough, the NX even has a G-meter. Those are all nice efforts to make the vehicle fun and sporty, but something tells me its primary buyers are folks who probably aren’t going to care. I picture the NX spending more time fighting for parking spaces at the mall than doing any kind of technical driving. I have to wonder how the NX would fare on an extreme road like Bloody Basin.

All-in, I enjoyed driving the NX200t more than I thought I would. At 80 mph on the freeway, there was almost undetectable wind noise. We streamed Bluetooth audio from James’ iPhone and the 8-speaker audio system rocks out (thanks for reminding me that Bloodhound Gang exists!). We got dumped on by a cloudburst coming down a curvy section of Interstate 17 between Sunset Point and Black Canyon City. Even though the NX was wearing summer tires, traction was grippy and confidence-inspiring. The windshield wipers (front and rear) did a great job of sweeping away the rains and I must say I really enjoyed the higher ride height of a crossover and the visibility it gave to what was going on around me.

Many thanks to James, Peter, and Jack for coming along and to the folks at Toyota/Lexus for giving James access to that sweet NX so it could join us for the drive. That about wraps it up for this weekend’s adventure. Thanks as always for coming along! Photo gallery below.

Westbound on Highway 74, following the Lexus

Peter’s E46 takes the lead

ILX spotted in the sideview mirror of the NX

Just about to start our climb from Wickenburg to Prescott

Mile marker near Yarnell on Highway 89

Quick pullout off the highway

Arrival in Prescott

Walking a few blocks to our lunch spot at Lone Spur Cafe

Lunch bunch at Lone Spur

Peter knew just the right angles to get on his wagon pictures

Lining up the cars

Beauty shot

And hey, check out this milestone I hit a few days ago! 123,456! If it had been one degree warmer, it could have almost been a perfect capture.

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1992 Acura NSX – 100,000 Miles Achieved

Posted in ILX, Maintenance, Milestones, NSX on April 16, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 533,180

Odometer (ILX): 121,438

I couldn’t have asked for a more fitting time or place for my 1992 Acura NSX to turn over its first 100,000 miles.

My friends and I were just finishing up an exhilarating run up southern Arizona’s Mount Lemmon, last Friday, April 10th. As the NSX odometer’s numbers crept steadily upward like digits on a Vegas slot machine in slow-motion, I watched as the “1” started peeking its way up from below. Digital odometers will never be as fun as those old “rolling” kind!

Followed closely by my Legend coupe (driven by Peter) and Legend sedan (driven by Jason), we turned west on Pecos Road from Interstate 10 as we came into the south end of the Phoenix area. Just 5 miles later, I had to pull over to the shoulder for this short video clip:

I’m a historian in every sense, so if you’ll bear with me I’ll share a little about my NSX and its life since its February 1992 date of manufacture in Japan. I’m the fourth owner of this NSX. The first owner made his purchase on September 29, 1992 and had the car for almost 5 years. The second had it for only a year. The third owner had it for over 13 years, and then I came along. I first test-drove the car on Sunday, December 11, 2011 while my friend Matt and I were in the Bay Area for a Metallica concert. It had 80,441 miles on it.

Love at first sight?

The following Saturday, December 17th, I flew back to San Jose and sealed the deal with a certified check and a handshake. The car had 10 more miles on it by then, and I drove away at 80,451 as the new proud owner. My first fuel stop was at Gas N’ Go on Blossom Hill Road in San Jose. I paid $3.65/gallon for 12 gallons of Premium and went on my way. Yes, I saved that receipt.

I listened to the Top Gun soundtrack on cassette tape (it came with the car) for a good portion of the 721-mile drive home.

I’m still in contact with all 3 prior owners. In fact, shortly after I bought the car, I snail-mailed some current pictures to its original owner, William, and he responded gratefully with the following comments:

That is indeed my NSX. I really was interested in owning one from the time they came out, but the feeding frenzy drove the prices out of reason. I drove it on the weekends and sometimes on Friday to work. I was racing Formula cars at Laguna Seca at the time, so I drove it to Monterey once a month and parked it with the Ferraris, the Porsches, and the occasional Lambo that the other racers would bring.

Its second owner, Gary, also had some fun at the very same track:

I did manage to race that car on an open track day at Monterey’s Laguna Seca racetrack and I guarantee that the weakest part of the car was the driver! How many cars have you had that can be driven through traffic jams and then spend the day racing around the track at 8000 RPM, and then step back in for a wonderful return home trip. Most of the other participants had to trailer their cars to the track and have all the spares they felt they needed to keep the car going. Two Corvettes had such brake failures that the ran into hay bales at the end of the long straight.

The day before the track day I managed to spin the car four spins while trying to enter a curving onramp near my home. Mostly because I needed to replace the Yokohama tires that really wear out too quickly and with bad grip at the rear the car really starts acting more Porsche-like and hard to handle. New Dunlops were perfect timing for the next day on the track and never again spun out the back end.

Up until that the day I picked the car up, it had lived 100% of its life in the San Francisco Bay Area. I bought the car as a 30th birthday present to myself in December 2011 and brought it to its new home in Arizona. Since then it’s been with me on a number of adventures. Here’s a lengthy post where I shared a bunch of those.

What does it cost to own and operate one of these old cars? As mentioned, I took delivery at 80,451 miles. Today, the car has 100,060. So, I’ve put on 19,609 miles and I’ve spent $2,347.14 keeping it on the road. That means it’s cost me 8 cents per mile. Keep in mind that we’re of course excluding the cost of fuel, registration, insurance, and emissions testing. This is strictly a maintenance cost.

Unlike on my Legend coupe, I don’t have “all-inclusive” records back to new on this car, but I do have quite a chunk of paperwork in a 3-ring binder that I’ve taken the time to log and that I continue to track on an ongoing basis. Here’s what I have record of on this car since it was brand new:

18 oil changes (I currently use Castrol GTX 10W30)
4 batteries
1 timing belt & water pump change (Jan 2011 @ 78,239 mi)

Aside from that, there have been various other repairs over the years. The big ticket items were a $1,700 repair due to a “snap ring” issue (common a certain subset / production run of these cars) at 37,000 miles and a $2,500 repair at 65,000 miles that included mostly brake work. Total maintenance cost on record (remember, I’m certain that I don’t have a piece of paper for everything that’s ever been done to the car) for 100,060 miles and 22 years of service is $16,498.55. That comes out to 6 cents per mile over its entire lifetime.

Here’s my detailed spreadsheet if anyone is interested in the nitty gritty.

The car currently has a few maintenance needs which I’ll be addressing prior to the NSXPO event in Palm Springs this October.

Passenger rear inner CV boot leaking
Oil pan gasket leaking
ABS pump accumulator faulty

I’m lucky to have the country’s premier NSX service & repair facility right here in my own backyard. Science of Speed in Chandler, Arizona has made a name for itself as the place to have NSX service or upgrades performed. Every time I’ve been into the shop, there are at least a half-dozen NSXs up on the lifts getting something done to them.

On the topic of milestones and maintenance:

The ILX drove 9,015 miles in the little over two months’ time between February 3rd and April 11th. It went in on Saturday for an oil change, tire rotation, and replacement of the alternator belt — a $275 service at Acura of Tempe. It sure is nice being able to go three times as far on an oil change in the ILX than I was used to doing in my Legend.

I took a quick shot of “old” and “new” ILXs on my way out. You can see the subtle differences in the rear bumper and the taillights between the 2013 and the 2016 models.

Cheers!

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