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Dave’s Visit, Vigor Registration, & Upcoming Events

Posted in ILX, Legend, NSX, Vigor on August 9, 2015 by tysonhugie

Descending order mileage update time!

Odometer (Legend Coupe): 534,345

Odometer (Legend Sedan): 147,000

Odometer (ILX): 136,629

Odometer (Vigor): 104,540

Odometer (NSX): 100,859

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.

18 Comments »

15-Year Class Reunion: Roadtrip to Utah

Posted in ILX, NSX, Road Trip, Utah on August 3, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 534,196

Odometer (ILX): 136,373

Trip Distance: 852 Miles

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

View overlooking the city of St. George, Utah

13 Comments »

The 90’s Are Back

Posted in Blog, ILX, Legend, NSX, Road Trip, Vigor on July 12, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend Coupe): 534,030

Odometer (Legend Sedan):

Odometer (Vigor): 104,384

Odometer (NSX): 100,807

Odometer (ILX): 133,489

Total Combined Miles: 1,019,680

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?

Have a great week!

36 Comments »

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!

19 Comments »

Cruising Arizona’s “Catalina Highway” in 5 Performance Hondas

Posted in Arizona, Legend, NSX, Road Trip on April 12, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend Coupe): 533,178

Odometer (Legend Sedan): 146,723

Odometer (ILX): 121,263

Odometer (NSX): 100,060

Trip Distance: 307 Miles

Remember when car keys keys looked like this?

Honda Heaven. That’s what I experienced on Friday.

Most days at the office, I’m trudging through incoming email volume from 150-250 messages during my 9-hours at my desk. But every once in awhile, an escape from that harsh reality is just what the doctor ordered. Accompanied by 6 car-enthusiast friends (including James from Six Speed Blog and Jason from Driven for Drives), I headed for the sunny mountain roads of southern Arizona in search of what I’d call “automotive therapy.” Three hundred miles later, I wore a grin of contentment that clearly reassured me: that drive was totally what I needed.

Our special guest on this particular excursion was author Steve Lynch, pictured above. I first met Steve through a group of automotive journalists called Phoenix Automotive Press Association (PAPA) a number of months ago. He and I attended a roundtable discussion at the Phoenix Art Museum that centered around “how to write a book.” As it turns out, Steve is an expert on such matters as he is a published author. His 1997 book Arrogance and Accords details some of the inner dealings at Honda during the early 1990s when he was employed there. He later went on to spend 17 years working in Finance for Mercedes-Benz and currently writes for an automotive blog called The Truth About Cars.

Naturally, when I saw Steve pull up to a later PAPA event in his eye-catching Rio Yellow 2008 Honda S2000, I had to pick his brain a little more. We ended up deciding to coordinate a drive/story. And that’s what you’re here to see today.

The Catalina Highway which ascends Mount Lemmon just north of Tucson, Arizona is one of my favorite stretches of highway and I’ve talked about it a few times in the past on this blog, including August 2012 after I’d recently taken delivery of the ILX, and November 2013 when I took a 2014 Acura RLX there to review it. The thirty miles from the base of the highway near Tanque Verde Road to the summit at Summerhaven are full of twists and turns, and it’s only fitting that we equipped ourselves with automobiles that were up to the task. Here were our contenders for our Friday fun-day:

1992 Acura NSX 5-speed
1993 Acura NSX 5-speed
1994 Acura Legend LS Coupe 6-speed
1994 Acura Legend GS Sedan 6-speed
2008 Honda S2000 6-speed

Departing from the Phoenix area, the first 100+ miles of our drive were relatively mundane interstate commuting on Loop 101, Loop 202, and Interstate 10. I led the pack in the Legend coupe and set the pace for our 4-car caravan. After dealing with some heavy construction traffic on Grant Road in Tucson, we finally made it to our meeting spot with Steve who was already snapping pictures.

Steve had scoped out the drive route to Summerhaven beforehand – even going so far as to plan out a few potential stopping points along the way. The first was at Seven Cataracts, about halfway up – a dramatic overlook of the valley below with ample parking space which we had entirely to ourselves. The higher in elevation we got, the more pronounced the smell of fresh pine trees became. The temperatures and light breeze as we got to 6,000 and 7,000 feet made it the perfect weather for windows-down (or top down!) weather. We rowed our 5 manual-gearbox Honda & Acura cars to the 8,200-foot summit and then paused for a patio lunch session at a restaurant called Sawmill.

From there, it was time to play what we liked to call “musical cars.” Keys got tossed around. We looped back to Seven Cataracts as a way to give people the chance to car-swap and experience the other vehicles on the roster. While slow-moving traffic did at times slow our pace and we were mindful of the need to watch for bicyclists and the local sheriff, we still had enough chances to let our engines breathe at higher RPM and give our suspensions a workout. At the end of the day, we nodded our heads in agreement that there was certainly no “best” car of the bunch. Each one had its merits and its drawbacks. But there are certainly things that stood out from my driving impressions that I’ll share (and similarly, Jason and Steve will also be posting on their respective sites).

The 1992 NSX is what I can best describe as a “raw” driving experience. There’s no power steering so it’s heavy at slower speeds but undeniably direct and responsive once you get rolling. Body roll is nearly non-existent and there is nothing quite like hearing the roar of VTEC from behind your head when climbing the grades. It’s a challenge to get in & out of the low car without a bit of a strain. This car rolled 100,000 miles on the way back to Phoenix later in the afternoon. You’ll see a feature story on that soon.

Kelvin’s 1993 NSX is mechanically identical to my 1992 but has a different shift knob which I loved and a performance exhaust system that really gave the 270-horsepower 3.0 motor a nice growl. Kelvin’s got me thinking about exhaust systems now! At 144,000 miles, the car still drove as tightly as mine does at 100,000.

The 1994 Legend coupe must still have a few of its original elderly 230 horses alive, because the car was still able to easily pull itself up to the summit without a ton of downshifting. It’s a torquey motor and still sounds and acts healthy. The suspension on the car is original (and very noticeably so). While the ride is comfortable and quiet, the amount of body roll is excessive and the car exhibits understeer extreme when pushed in the corners. Steering feels overly assisted for a performance driving environment.

My 1994 Legend sedan was only driven 278 miles from last July to December. It sits in a storage garage and comes out once every few weeks for a walk around the block. This 300-mile drive was good for the car, I’m sure. I noticed a light puff of blue smoke when Jason fired it up at the beginning of the day – I suspect there is a valve stem issue brewing. But that Legend sedan became an all-day crowd pleaser. Everyone talked about how comfy the seats were and how smooth the clutch and gearbox were. The car is equipped with a Stromung exhaust system that Jason said did “drone” on the interstate a bit, but was fun to have on the mountain roads.

Steve’s 2008 S2000 was just as fun as could be. From the moment I hit that START button on the dashboard I knew there were good times ahead. Despite having the smallest motor in the group – only a 4-cylinder – it had 7 more horsepower than the Legends. Handling is light and the car can be “tossed” in any direction effortlessly. It’s a riot to let the motor rev into the higher range. Finally, there is simply no substitute for the feel of a top-down convertible on a perfect springtime day. I loved every second of it.

The takeaway from all of this – and something I think that Steve will convey in his upcoming article – is that these cars embody how it’s possible to inject a fun-to-drive demeanor and a healthy dose of performance into a car that is still comfortable enough to drive every day. Honda has always been good at this. Still, we all agreed, the company has been in a bit of a rut in this regard. Sure – the new NSX will hit the sales floors later this year, but most of us will probably never afford one. And the newly-announced Civic Type R will make a nice machine. But where is today’s Acura Legend coupe or today’s Acura RSX? Give me a fun-to-drive luxury sports coupe that is actually within financial reason. That’s all I’m asking. And to the Honda corporate folks who I know follow my blog, that’s my plea.

Many thanks to my awesome friends for coming along on this trip, and especially to Beau from The Shutter Co for sharing his professional photography skills. It’s thanks to him that we got most of the great shots featured herein.

Kelvin & Tyson – dressed for the occasion with our matching Formula Red twins

The 2015 Lexus RC350 was driven by James and acted as our photo/chase car. Thanks for bringing it!

Rolling shot of the Legend coupe

Pit stop at Seven Cataracts

Steve’s S2000 was blinding in the sunlight.

Nothing like seeing two Acura NSXs in your sideview mirror.

Lineup at one of the lookouts

Jason seemed to enjoy his time behind the wheel

James and Tyson at lunch

Making our descent

Mile marker near Windy Point lookout on Catalina Highway

Heading out again, this time as a passenger in the S2000

Following my Legend sedan back down the hill

Legend sedan

Stretching our legs along the roadside

Met up with Zac of Baker Brothers Garage back in Tucson

Group shot. Kelvin had already departed but this was everyone else!

Tyson, James, Steve, Beau, Jason, and Peter. Thanks guys!

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Detroit: 2015 North American International Auto Show

Posted in Blog, Car Show, NSX on January 14, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 532,287

Odometer (ILX): 109,718

Since 1899, Detroit has been home to one of the largest auto shows in North America. What kinds of cars were even around that long ago? As the operational headquarters for the “Big 3” automakers (Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors), Motor City has always been the logical place for the auto show to take place, despite the fact that frigid weather there each January is somewhat less than welcoming.

Up until 1965, the show was held at various locations in the Detroit Metro Area, like the city’s fairgrounds. But since 1965, it’s occupied over 1 million square feet of show space at the “Cobo Center” convention facility. Over 900,000 people attend the show annually during the week that it’s open to the general public.

This year, I once again attended as a member of the Redline Productions Media (RPM) team, which is headquarted in the Washington DC area and has created a name for itself in the automotive video review arena. Redline’s YouTube Channel has amassed over 24 million video views since its inception in May, 2012, and has over 85,000 subscribers. Editor-in-Chief Sofyan Bey hosts the series and occasionally invites other automotive journalists like myself to join in on the fun.

This marked my fourth time attending the Detroit Auto Show. It seems like just yesterday I was sitting on the front row of the Acura press conference awaiting the reveal of the 2013 ILX & NSX Concepts during the show in January 2012. Reminisce with me:

I had to laugh when I exited the rental car shuttle bus at Detroit airport to pick up my car on Sunday night. The attendant at Nationwide said, “Keys are in the cars. Take anything in the midsize row.” In a heavy snowstorm, I dragged my rollaway bag to the parking lot and soon learned that there were only two midsize cars available, and they were both Chevy Camaros.

I picked the red one and went on my way, wondering how I’d just managed to get a vehicle upgrade for free. It took only a few yards of driving before it dawned on me: The reason nobody had taken the Camaro was because rear-wheel-drive in the snow is far less than optimal! The short 4-mile drive to my hotel in snow-covered roads was a crash course (thankfully, not literally) in how to handle slick-road RWD driving dynamics. I had some fun with it, too.

The two days that I spent at Media Days were jam-packed with photography, filming, networking, and attending press conferences. In between all of that, I walked a total of over 10 miles walking from exhibit to exhibit! The showstoppers this year for me were the Acura NSX and Ford GT supercars, each wowing the crowd with its exotic design.

Aside from that, there were dozens of other noteworthy new-car reveals that I acquainted myself with. The Toyota Tacoma and Nissan Titan were long-overdue for new bodystyles which they finally received. Cadillac’s heart-pumping 600+ horsepower CTS-V made its entrance, and Buick launched its first convertible in 25 years (the “Cascada”).

The capstone to a great trip was the chance I had on Tuesday night to meet up with two old friends and make a new one. I met up near Michigan Central Station at Mercury Bar for dinner with my old buddies Hass and Waseem, then I headed to Royal Oak for a meet-up with Chris who I met via Instagram. Chris even threw me the keys to his 2007 Acura TL Type-S for a spirited jaunt up Highway 696! Thanks, guys for meeting up.

Below is the photo highlight story of how my trip to Motor City went. Thanks for coming along!

Video of the NSX reveal from my perspective, with multiple glances at Jerry Seinfeld seated ahead of me for good measure.

ILX parked at Phoenix Sky Harbor terminal 4 for a few days

Flight 15F – window seat overlooking the wing on my Southwest PHX-DTW flight

I left the Arizona sunshine for this?

My hot-rod Camaro V6 automatic rental with 9,500 miles on the odometer. Fun car, plenty of power. Blind spots were massive, and for some reason it tried dialing OnStar 6 times repeatedly for no reason. WTH?

Sofyan, Jackson, Tyson: the Redline Reviews crew en route to Day 1 of the auto show, just about to catch our ride on the Detroit People Mover (DPM) which costs $0.75 and takes a loop around downtown.

New Nissan Titan – finally.

New Toyota Tacoma – finally. Did you know that every 2016 Tacoma will come with a GoPro video camera mount on the inside, passenger side windshield? Toyota is offering this truck in a 6-speed stick, too, which I think is cool.

Infiniti Q60 Concept replaces the outgoing model which has been based on the aging G37 Coupe platform.

New Lexus GS-F sports sedan follows in the footsteps of the smaller IS-F, pumping out 467 horsepower.

Second-row seat at the 11:50 a.m. Acura press conference, awaiting the debut of the 2016 NSX.

Finally getting a look at Acura’s next supercar.

I dig the wheels, and I think that “Athletic Red” paint color is the same that was used when the TLX model launched a year ago.

NSX interior.

My phone went crazy for a few hours with texts from friends wanting a firsthand opinion of the new NSX. I got a kick out of people like my friend Nick in NJ who offered to split the cost of the car.

No NAIAS would be complete without a few “celebrity” encounters. Here are a few of the people I ran into.

Davis Adams, Honda Public Relations

Steve Ewing, Sr. Editor of Autoblog

Nyko dePeyer, Executive from Local Motors

Jon Ikeda, Acura Design

Donny Nordlicht, Cadillac Public Relations

Brian Cooley, Editor-in-Chief of CNET

Chuck Schifsky, Acura Public Relations

Steve Siler, Car & Driver / freelance author

Jason Mosery, Autoguide

Jason Richmond, Hondapro Jason and Sage Marie, Honda/Acura Public Relations

New Ford GT Supercar, during Sofyan’s intro. Twin-turbo V6, 600+ horsepower. Don’t get in its way.

2016 Audi Q3. I’m a sucker for this blue hue.

Look, it’s Canada! This is the view from Cobo Hall across the Detroit River to Windsor, Ontario.

NSX “swag” on display during Day 2. I must own that jacket someday!

More memorabilia.

The rest of the Ac fleet came out to play on the second day, too, including the 2016 ILX.

Exiting Cobo Hall after an exhausting, yet fun, couple of days.

Quick visit to Michigan Central Station. Once the tallest railway station in the world, this 1912 building has been abandoned since 1988. My Camaro looked pretty photogenic, too.

Dinner with long-time “Legend” friends, Hass and Waseem, who are local to the Detroit area.

And another shot of Chris’ TL-S. Hot ride even in cold weather!

Bright and early this morning (as in, 1:00 a.m. my time), I was getting ready for my return flight to Phoenix.

As I was running through the Phoenix airport, I saw this T-shirt for sale out of the corner of my eye and I stopped in my tracks. Doesn’t the font look a little bit like “ILX”?

Peace out until next time!

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CNET’s Top 5 Most Durable Cars

Posted in Blog, NSX on December 18, 2014 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 532,046

Odometer (ILX): 107,890

“Lord of Odometers”? Well now, I must say that’s a first! My coworker Derek coined that nickname for me in an email today at the office.

Derek bought his new Audi A5 Cabriolet in May, and I took it for a spin back then. It appears that he’s now mastered the art of pre-meditated odometer photos (learning from the best, of course!) as he pulled off this feat:

That’s right, my friends. Radio station set to “60’s on channel 6,” driving 6 miles per hour, with 6666 miles on the odometer and 666.6 miles on the trip meter. Now, if only it had been 9 degrees warmer it would have been 66 degrees Fahrenheit, too! Man, Derek was on a roll with this one. Congrats to him! For some of my odometer pics from over the years, you can see my post Odometer Photo Phrenzy.

Alright, all you high-milers. What makes and models do you feel are most likely to run the longest? Brian Cooley of CNET (who, BTW, I got to meet at the 2013 Los Angeles Auto Show!) has summarized the top 5 most durable cars according to data from RL Polk. The average car on the road today is 11.4 years old. Not surprisingly, Honda’s Accord tops the list. See for yourself:

NSX talk: It was three years ago, in January 2012, when the “Concept” Acura NSX debuted at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan. That same day, Acura showed us the all-new ILX compact sport sedan and the latest generation RDX SUV. I was in attendance for the festivities. Now, it’s finally time for the rubber to hit the road with regard to Acura’s latest NSX supercar. After extensive engineering & development, the production version of the twin-turbo NSX will roll out before the public eye on January 12, 2015.

I’m excited for the opportunity to attend, and you can bet I’ll do my best to snag a front-row seat for the occasion. For those of you who wish to participate from the comfort of your desk chair, you’ll want to tune in at 11:50 a.m. (Eastern time) to Acura’s YouTube channel. Here’s a teaser that’s been posted in the meantime:

Looks and sounds like a pretty mean ride to me. Have a great Friday & weekend!

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2theRedline Reviews: Acura NSX & Acura Legend

Posted in Blog, Legend, NSX on August 6, 2014 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 531,321

Odometer (ILX): 90,629

When Sofyan Bey, 2theRedline Editor, visited Phoenix a few weeks ago for the Death Valley trip, he took the time for an in-depth look at my cars. Having soared to nearly 60,000 YouTube subscribers in just a couple of years, Sofyan’s detailed and engaging auto reviews have become widely popular. Enjoy these special features he put together on my 1992 NSX and my 1994 Legends.

Thanks, Sofyan!

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1992 Acura NSX Review by RNR Auto Blog

Posted in Blog, NSX, Vehicle Reviews on May 13, 2014 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 529,431

Odometer (NSX): 97,831

Ruben’s done it again!

A few weeks ago, I shared with you the write-up that my friend (and fellow automotive journalist) Ruben put together about my 2013 Acura ILX. Later on, he took to the streets in my 1992 Acura NSX and his impressions are now posted online. For a more detailed history on my 2.5 years of NSX ownership, that background is here.

That first generation NSX, which debuted a full 25 years ago at the Chicago Auto Show, has been getting a lot of praise in recent months. Acura’s next iteration of its iconic supercar will have some big shoes to fill. Check out these great articles by Blake Z. Rong of Autoweek and Steve Siler of Yahoo Autos about some of the merits of Acura’s mid-engined, aluminum-bodied beauty queen that’s aged better than virtually any other vehicle.

Here’s the link to Ruben’s piece about the NSX on RNR Automotive Blog. Thanks, Ruben, for the feature story!

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Double Feature: HondaPro Jason & “Random Drive” Blog

Posted in Arizona, ILX, Maintenance, NSX on March 11, 2014 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 528,911

Odometer (ILX): 70,002

Having been ‘raised’ on 3,000 mile clockwork oil changes with my Legend, I’m really digging the fact that I don’t have to visit the dealership that often anymore with the ILX. Sure, the service advisors and amenities are top notch and I enjoy my visits, but the fact that I can go for 3+ months and (in this case) 8,580 miles on a single oil change is pretty dang awesome when you’re a busy person like me. I was $120 out the door for a “B13” service – 0W20 synthetic oil (my car’s 12th oil change), tire rotation, and an engine air filter.

As I was sitting in the lounge catching up on some work, my advisor Dana came up with me with my old air filter in a plastic bag and an eyebrow raised just slightly. “I think we’re going to want to change this one,” she said while showing me the filter’s black grilles. I smirked a little, “Yeah, I did a little off-roading. Go ahead and change it.” I guess that dirt-road trip to Castle Hot Springs a few weeks ago caught up to me after all.

Back on the road I went!

Today, I introduce you to my friend Jason Richmond. Along with so many of us, Jason is a committed enthusiast to the Honda and Acura brands. In fact, he took his brand loyalty so far as to create a special YouTube channel, Facebook page, and Instagram account dedicated to sharing news and features on “all things Honda.” It’s no wonder Jason prefers to go by HondaPro Jason.

His YouTube channel has amassed 10,000 subscribers and his Facebook page about 20,000 followers. Jason knows a thing or two about keeping his fans happy. He definitely appreciates a high-mileage car, too. As of last December, his own 1997 Civic EX coupe had 212,000 miles on the odometer when he sent me this picture.

And it still looks pretty dang nice for the year & mileage! A true testament to his care & maintenance.

Jason launched a contest recently wherein he asked his followers to accurately match a picture of an Acura Legend’s odometer to its famous owner. Of course, I knew right away he had posted about Ludacris. And I won a sticker! So thanks, Jason, for sending my winnings right on over! I installed my prize, this “Don’t Hate” sticker, on my 1992 NSX a few days ago.

For anyone who wants to get in touch with Jason, he’s at thehondapro@sbcglobal.net and he’s based at Schaumburg Honda in Schaumburg, Illinois.

In today’s other news:

You’ve all been introduced to my friend Cody and his 1993 Acura Legend L Sedan 5-Speed. My 2013 Acura ILX, by the way, has already surpassed Cody’s 22-year-old Legend in miles!

With the intent of sharing the story of cars and their drivers, Cody has launched a blog of his own. It’s called Random Drive.

Cody invites his readers from near and far to share their own stories of vehicle ownership. For some of us, a vehicle is far more than an A-to-B source of transport. It’s a friend, a travel companion, and a source of great pride. Be sure and click “Share Your Story” to submit yours.

Every car and driver has a story to tell and I want to hear and share yours! The vehicles that we use everyday are such an integral part of our lives and I think that each and everyone should be shared in a fun way. Help me share your vehicles history and story!

Cody recently featured a story on his old “junkyard find” 1997 Cadillac Catera, and he’s bound to have more fun car adventures to share. Add this one to the (growing) list of other blogs you all need to check out and subscribe to.

Fun final fact: Last Thursday at around 5:00 p.m. was the first time in the 21 months that I’ve been driving my ILX that I actually pulled up at a stoplight next to one. This was in Fountain Hills, Arizona on Shea Boulevard eastbound. The girl with big sunglasses in the Bellanova White Pearl ILX wouldn’t even acknowledge my presence. Didn’t she know how big of a deal this was for me? Oh well.

🙂

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