drivetofive

Odometer (Legend):  529,846

Odometer (ILX):  84,912

I stumbled with droopy eyes off a United Airlines flight at Terminal C in Newark, New Jersey at 6:14 a.m. on Saturday morning.  It felt like 3:14 a.m. to me on Arizona time, but my exhaustion was quickly put to rest when my friend Conor pulled up to the passenger pick-up area in his beautiful Satin Silver Metallic 2004 Acura TSX to provide the finest in luxury transport services.

Our destination was none other than the Big Apple:  Conor and my other friend Brad rolled out the red carpet for me on a two-day trip to New York City this weekend.  My last trip to Manhattan had been nearly 3 years ago.  I tried to convince Brad and Conor that I knew my way around but I would have been truly lost without them.

All it took was one step out of Brad’s place at 95th Street & 2nd Avenue after catching a quick power nap, and I said, “This weather is amazing!”  I hope each and every one of New York City’s 8 million residents had been enjoying it as much as I was.  By the way, that’s double the population of Los Angeles.  Saturday was an action-packed day of sightseeing and exploration, with key visits to Central Park, Grand Central Station, and Times Square.

Here are a few photos from our adventure.

The ILX took a chill pill in the East Economy lot at Phoenix Sky Harbor.

Awaiting my redeye flight from PHX-EWR:  A full two hours early and wondering how I’ll ever be able to sleep on the plane.

Early morning Saturday arrival in Newark.

In a sea of yellow cabs, one car stood out:  it was Conor’s silver 2004 TSX.

Driving through the Holland Tunnel which opened in 1927 and connects Manhattan with Jersey City, New Jersey.  It’s located underneath the Hudson River.

Arrival at Brad’s place on 95th Street after our tour through town.

A full 30-40 degrees cooler than home!  I enjoyed every second of this weather.

This is how you get around in NYC.

For some reason this subway map is so much more overwhelming to me than a road map!  Stop here, transition here to another train, be mindful of special hourly constraints, so much to keep in mind.  Just give me some car keys.

Tyson, Brad, Conor before brunch at a neat place called “Trend” located on the Upper East Side.

Central Park was bustling with activities, including a wedding and a couple of festivals.

We wandered up to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir.

Times Square with thousands of tourists.  The woman to my right was not amused by being in my picture.

Grand Central Station, which receives 21.6 million annual visitors.

Bryant Park

ILX sighting!  I ended up seeing a few of these around.  In all our wanderings, though, we only saw two Legends:  A blue 1991 coupe and a gray 1987 coupe — both in Brooklyn, and both within a block of each other!

Dinner at Grimaldi’s Pizzeria in Chelsea.  Highly recommended.  But take note:  It’s cash-only!

Sunday morning, a trip to Conor’s place in Brooklyn Heights, complete with some important reading material.

… and a look at the “shrine” of Acura memorabilia in his living room.

Brooklyn Heights Promenade — the best view of NYC in my opinion.

Awakening Vanessa the TSX from her slumber for my shuttle ride back to EWR airport.

Bon voyage!

Last view. Vanessa, incidentally, turned over 128,000 miles en route that afternoon.

I had a blast this weekend and I extend my thanks to my great friends for their hospitality!

Odometer (Legend):  528,802

Odometer (ILX):  69,050

I saw the below picture shared on Instagram recently.  It’s a high-mileage odometer shot from an older Honda Civic “Wagovan,” so naturally I was quite interested and I immediately liked the photo.  But, what caught me off-guard was one of the comments from this person’s followers.

“What’s the marker at 55 for?”  Oh, these young ones need to be educated!

What we’re talking about here is the National Maximum Speed Limit Law.  Enacted in 1974 in the United States, it prohibited highway speeds above 55 miles per hour.  The hope of legislators (Richard Nixon signed the provision) was that the gas savings would be substantial.  This was a time when gas shortages were at high tide.

As an emergency response to the 1973 oil crisis, on November 26, 1973, President Richard Nixon proposed a national 50 mph (80 km/h) speed limit for passenger vehicles and a 55 mph speed limit for trucks and buses. That, combined with a ban on ornamental lighting, no gasoline sales on Sunday, and a 15% cut in gasoline production, were proposed to reduce total gas consumption by 200,000 barrels a day, representing a 2.2% drop from annualized 1973 gasoline consumption levels.  Nixon partly based this on a belief that cars achieve maximum efficiency between 40 and 50 mph and that trucks and buses were most efficient at 55 mph.

Man, I’m sure glad I wasn’t of driving age in the 1970s and 1980s to experience this! Did you also know that between 1979 and 1981, federal legislation required that speedometers could only go up to 85 mph?

The National Maximum Speed Limit law saw some changes in the late 1980s, and in 1995 it was overturned entirely, giving speed-limit-setting power to the individual states.  Today, speed limits vary widely.  Rural stretches of Interstate 15 in my home state of Utah are now 80 miles per hour, and there’s a 41-mile stretch of toll road in Texas with an 85 mile per hour limit.  That’s quick!

Now you know 🙂

Tonight, my friend Justin and I attended the Phoenix Suns vs. Los Angeles Clippers basketball game at a Kia-sponsored event.  The view of the court was pretty sweet from our suite.

Though the game’s 104-to-96 Clippers win outcome was disappointing for us Suns fans, the company was great.  The other event invitees were fellow automotive journalists based in the Phoenix area.

I also had the privilege of meeting Orth Hedrick, Vice President of Product Planning at Kia.

Thanks to the folks at Kia for the invite!

Odometer (Legend):  527,050

Odometer (ILX):  54,797

Consider these times that it takes a stock-equipment car to go from a standing stop to the finish line of a 1/4 mile dragstrip:

• 1994 Acura Legend coupe:  15.7 seconds
• 1992 Acura NSX:  13.9 seconds
• 2013 Nissan GT-R:  10.8 seconds

This weekend, my brother raced a 1995 Ford Lightning pickup truck that achieved a 9.0 second run!  That’s enough to blow the doors off just about everything I’ve ever had the pleasure of driving.  I can’t imagine what those G-forces must feel like.

I’ve just returned from a trip to the Lone Star State where I attended the 2013 National Hot Rod Diesel Association (NHRDA) “World Finals.”  This long-awaited event was an opportunity for my brother Bentley to showcase the race truck that his company, H&S Performance, put together over the last several months.  H&S specializes in diesel powertrains and is at the cutting edge of development on ways to squeeze every last ounce of power out of diesel vehicles.  The H&S team ended up bringing home 3rd place at the event, and they’re motivated to bring home the gold next year.

Though my Acura ILX and Acura Legend got a break this weekend, I still had plenty of fun playing with cars & trucks.  The ILX spent a few days at The Parking Spot, an off-airport parking complex near Phoenix Sky Harbor.  I spotted an old Vineyard Gray Metallic Legend on the way in.

And I said adios to my silver chariot as my shuttle bus took me away.  Flight 551 awaited me from Phoenix to the Dallas-Ft Worth Int’l Airport.

My dad flew down from Utah and connected with me in the terminal to join for the Dallas leg.

Rental ride:  Red 2013 Kia Rio with 29,400 miles on the odometer.  It screamed “economy” loudly, but it did have satellite radio and power windows.  Notably missing from the option list?  Cruise control.  Ouch.

We were also missing an engine temperature gauge.

For $11 a day, I we couldn’t complain.  MPG averages were in the 35-36 range, so that was a welcome feature!  Right away, we met up with my friend Brad at Mi Cocina in Irving for some fine Mexican cuisine.  Brad’s local to the area and told us the best ways to get around in the construction-mania that abounds in the Dallas “Metroplex.”

Friday morning, we met up with the H&S crew who were headed to the Texas Motorplex racetrack.  Here, my youngest brother Payton was enjoying the view from atop the trailer that hauls the race truck around.

While the race team was making preparations for some qualifying runs, my dad and I took a couple of hours to explore Dallas.  The skyline ahead of us on I-35E included the “Reunion Tower.”  See the tower in the center of the frame with the round ball on top?  It stands 561 feet tall and has a restaurant inside that opened in 2009.  At night, the ball is illuminated by 259 LEDs and it’s quite a sight!  This fall, an observation deck will be opened.

We made our way back to the speedway and started feeling more and more puny in our Kia Rio.  Truck after truck came into the parking area to compete in the drag races.

Determination?  Just being cheesy here.

We got to work unloading the race truck.

Low clearance made this a challenging operation, but the truck came out unscathed.

Left to right:  Tyson, Payton (brother), Craig (dad), and Bentley (brother).  Motor oil runs through our veins.  We all love cars.

And perhaps the most important introduction of all:  This beast of a truck.

It started out as a white 1995 Ford Lightning, but morphed into a matte black meteor.  To name a few upgrades:

• 4500 lbs Race Weight
• 6.7-Liter Cummins Diesel Engine
• Triple Turbos (capable of producing up to 130 PSI boost pressure)
• 4R100 Transmission
• Dynamite Diesel Performance (DDP) Injectors
• Nitrous Oxide
• Air Dog Lift Pump
• H&S Motorsports Stroker Pump
• Dual CP3 Injection Pumps
• Mini Maxx Tuner custom tuned with MCC software

The truck pulls 1.8 – 1.9G on launch, does 0-60 in under 2 seconds, and is the quickest 6.7L Cummins powered vehicle in the world.  Here, Payton (who’s the designated race driver) rolled up to the staging lanes as a member of the “Pro Street” class.  The blue golf cart following the truck, though decently fast, was not competing in the event.

With each run, we had to quickly identify opportunities for improvement or solve problems as they arose.

Every race was logged on a computer with various data points.  Payton spent a great deal of time reviewing the results and identifying red flags so that the race team could make adjustments to the truck accordingly.

The fastest run that I got to see the Lightning make was a 9.188 second finish at 151.68 miles per hour.

Just seconds later, ominous looking storm clouds let loose and the track closed down for the remainder of the day.

Dad, Payton, and Bentley took a powwow and discussed next steps.

A race team from Thailand came over to admire the H&S truck.  These guys had air-freighted an Isuzu diesel pickup all the way from around the world to compete in the World Finals!  Their truck was powered by a 4-cylinder but ran the fastest time in the entire event – an unbelievable 8 seconds.

Sharing tech tips and stories, via an English-Thai interpreter.

We had to huddle inside the trailer or underneath the canopy while the rain continued coming down.

Dad somehow ended up barefoot after his shoes & socks got soaked.

Though the event was rained out that day, race finals were pushed to the following day.  Unfortunately, my dad and I were scheduled to fly out so we missed it.  Payton ended up in 3rd place at the event, with his 9.003 at 146 mph.

Congrats to Bentley, Payton, and the rest of the H&S crew on a great run! Here is a short video capturing some of the moments on film.  I’ll post a link to a much more professional/official clip as soon as it’s released.

Edit:  Here’s a better video by H&S.

Finally, here are the last few pictures I took over the course of the weekend.  I enjoyed seeing this blue Acura TSX parked next to me at the track.

And enjoyed a great evening with my local Dallas friends Scott and Lance.

Lance drives a 2014 Hyundai Equus that’s the ultimate ride.  He invited me to fire it up.  The instrument cluster screen came to life, and the car lifted up on its air suspension.

This was one classy ride!

It was great to get home to Phoenix this morning and have a chance to unwind.

… and also a relief to see that we’ve dipped below 3-digit temperatures for the first time since May.

Reunited with my ILX.

It sure felt nice rowing through my own gears after having that Kia for several days.

Thanks for coming along on the trip!

Odometer:  507,401

Here’s an oldie from February, 2004.  The coupe had 125,000 miles on it.  The picture was taken at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, Calfornia, after a 28-Legend “West Coast Meet.”  At the time, I had my 18″ x 8″ Mille Miglia wheels installed.

Had a bit of service performed on the old Legend this past week – just an oil change and some manual transmission fluid replacement.  In the meantime, though, I was able t0 cruise around in this fresh looking 2012 Acura TL with only about 1,500 miles on the odometer from Acura of Tempe.  I stopped by the best hole-in-the-wall Mexican food place in Scottsdale:  Fiesta Burrito.  The rolled tacos & guac are pretty divine.

Not a bad looking car from this profile.

This past weekend I flew to Salt Lake City to spend a bit of time with some friends.  Due to the short timeline, I opted for a flight rather than driving up the trusty old Legend.  I did, however, still get to roll around with a familiar car thanks to my friend Branson who let me take his Cayman White Pearl 1995 LS coupe out on the town for a couple of days as my “rental” car.  The amenities in this car beat an Enterprise compact any day!

Soaking up a few minutes of sunshine while doing shopping in Salt Lake City with my mom as well as my friends Jeff and Matt.

On Sunday night after flying back to Phoenix, I  took a drive to LA for work.  It’s about a 400-mile, 6-hour journey.  The view on I-10 westbound was awesome…

… until I ran into one of the worst construction-induced traffic jams of my entire life between Palm Springs and Banning, California.  The 4 lanes of freeway went down to 1.  I was alerted to this fact about 30 miles ahead of time by a sign on the side of the road, but thought it could in no way be that bad.  It was bad.  Horrible, in fact.

Even after a small “win” of having found a small frontage road that paralleled the interstate and moved at twice the speed, I later regretted having tried to divert from the freeway when I had to re-enter it and inched forward at a snail’s pace along with hundreds of other cars trying to merge.  I think I put 100,000 more miles on my poor car’s clutch just enduring this massive delay (along with about 3,500 people).  I later learned that the entire fiasco stretched over 20 miles and was due to late concrete arrival during some pothole fixes.  Nice work, Caltrans!  Aside from this, the trip to LA was an easy ride in the old Acura.

One of my sources for mileage inspiration many years ago was a man by the name of Lloyd Laycook of Kanab, Utah – not far from my hometown in St. George.  Lloyd became a bit of a celebrity in the longevity world when he took his 1990 Lexus LS400 to 555,000 miles.  The car was subsequently purchased by one of the Utah dealership and to this day remains on display there.  When I first heard Lloyd’s story, I actually sought him out and gave him a call to talk about his travels and success story.  Just shows you that with meticulous care, there are lots of cars out there that are capable of hitting miles in the 5’s.

I have to give a quick shout-out to my friend Wes at Highline Import Auto.  Wes has been there when I’ve needed him for jobs in the past on all of my Honda and Acura cars.  This past week I had an emergency alternator replacement in the Legend at 506,970 miles and Wes handled it on short notice.  This is now the third alternator that coupe has had, including its first.  The last one was an Autozone “Duralast” model that got me down the road for about 106,000 miles.  Huge thanks to Wes and his team for taking such good care of me in a pinch.

Finally another lesson in proper parking since I’m a fanatic.  End space, pulled far to the edge!

Back home to PHX tonight!