drivetofive

Weekend Road Trip: St. George, Utah, Snow Canyon State Park, and Strawberry, Arizona

Posted in Arizona, ILX, Road Trip, Utah on May 1, 2016 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 543,124

Odometer (ILX): 162,648

Trip Distance: 886 Miles

Sometimes the best part about planning a road trip is throwing the plan out the window and winging it entirely. What was intended to be a hiking weekend at Zion National Park with a dozen friends and family members ended up getting rained out and rescheduled. While I had been looking forward to checking out the 14-mile “West Rim Trail” hike, Mother Nature had other plans that included thunderstorms in Southern Utah.

Still, my friend Rob and I made the trip up to see what kind of fun we could dig up. And we found plenty. On Friday we worked from “home,” or in this case, from mom’s kitchen table and Wifi network while she served up waffles, “fruit pizza,” and other snacks to keep us fueled. I only wish my office had such amenities! That evening, we met up with an old friend Josh who I’d known since high school but hadn’t seen for over a decade.

Saturday morning started out with mountain of French Toast at Bear Paw Cafe on Main Street in downtown St. George, followed by a hike on the Red Hill (also called the “sugarloaf”) with Rob. The rain wasn’t yet coming down heavily so we scrambled up the rocks for a view overlooking the community.

sgu

Later that afternoon, we visited Snow Canyon State Park off State Route 18. Snow Canyon is a 7,400-acre park just outside St. George city limits that is part of the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. It has nearly 40 miles of hiking trails and was set aside in 1959 as a state park. Snow Canyon is one of my favorite places for automotive photography and videos. Rob and I hiked around the sand dunes for a little while before heading to a family BBQ.

snow_canyon_2

Thumbs up!

For the return trip to Phoenix, I wanted to introduce Rob to some other parts of Utah & Arizona that he hadn’t yet seen, so we opted to circle back to Phoenix via Flagstaff as opposed to back-tracking to Las Vegas where we’d come from. About 90 minutes into our drive we’d reached the 7,900-foot-elevation Jacob Lake Inn, a historic lodge just north of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. There’s a small gas station, motel, restaurant, and gift shop on the site. I couldn’t resist the grilled cheese sandwich so we stayed for a bite to eat before continuing on our way. Spy the ILX in the window reflection here!

The Colorado River looked a lot like chocolate milk when we stopped briefly for a photo at the Navajo Bridge along Highway 89A about 40 miles later. The old 1928 bridge has long-since been bypassed by a newer one, but pedestrians are allowed to walk out across it so we did that to get a good view of the river below.

Further adding to the adventure of our return trip was a sign along Interstate 17 just south of Flagstaff that stated “Road Closed 89 Miles Ahead.” Rob took a peek at traffic on his phone and confirmed that things were at a standstill near the Bloody Basin Road exit just a little north of Phoenix. So, we did some quick calculations and decided to make a detour at Camp Verde to Payson, which would add about 30-40 minutes to our trip but most certainly avoid any sort of delay from the road closure issue. That seemed like the most logical plan of attack, so we went with it, and I’m glad we did! Highway 260 from I-17 to the Highway 87 junction was a gorgeous two-lane windy road with very little traffic.

Soon we found our way in a few small towns on the outskirts of Payson, including one called Strawberry. Most homes in that area have log cabin architecture which adds to a cozy feeling in the community. Strawberry is also home to the state’s oldest still-standing schoolhouse, built in 1885, so we had to make a stop there.

“Old school.” Get it? Never mind.

By the time we got back to my place in Scottsdale, it was nearly 6 p.m. and we felt like we’d spent the entire day in the car, but we covered some beautiful ground and enjoyed the road trip! Below are the rest of my photos.

Thanks to PAPA member Larry Edsall for giving me this awesome mousepad!

Dinner with my buddy Josh

This is how long I’ve known Josh: We took these photos of our Hondas together in January 2001. Over 15 years ago! Mine was the red Prelude of course.

Prepare for takeoff!

Breakfast with mom, sporting my NALM shirt of course

Check out that French toast from Bear Paw Cafe!

View of St. George from the Red Hill

tyson_rob

Old tunnel into St. George that has been bypassed by modern roads, and now serves as a storage area.

Picking up my 5-year-old niece Vivienne

Family BBQ with my brothers Payton and Bentley, and mom

Rob getting cozy at the Jacob Lake Inn

Leaving the Navajo Bridge

Check out this Acura brand video entitled “30 Years Young” – pretty cool stuff!

12 Comments »

2017 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 Track Event in Phoenix

Posted in Arizona, Vehicle Reviews on April 27, 2016 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 543,115

Odometer (ILX): 161,603

There’s nothing like a little “horsepower high” to break up a mundane Tuesday! I escaped the office for a couple of hours recently to attend a track event at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandler, Arizona.

pass

The Ford Performance program – formerly known as SVT (Special Vehicle Team), and also formerly known as SVO (Special Vehicle Operations) is the company’s division dedicated to performance and race vehicles. Anybody else remember the long-gone 1998 Ford Contour SVT?

The performance program has recently undergone a lot of changes both in structure and in branding, and Ford has developed a new lineup of vehicles tailored around speed and performance for people who demand more get-up than the average Joe.

nicole_tyson

Many of those vehicles were on display at the track, all the way from the entry level Fiesta ST up to the supercar “GT” model which debuted recently and hasn’t yet gone on sale. Somewhere in the middle of that hierarchy lies the Mustang, and Ford’s engineers have gone to great lengths to make this one a viable contender against the competition.

briefing

Jim Owens, Marketing Manager at Ford Performance, gave our group of 25-30 individuals a run-down on the lay of the land. His organization’s goal is to instill the “addiction” for performance in consumers early on and work them through the product lineup as they mature and are able to move on to bigger and better offerings from the company.

interior

After some safety briefings and an introduction to the track layout, I was saddled up in the passenger seat of the 526-horsepower, 6-speed manual Mustang “Shelby GT350” beast and driven around by a professional driver from Ford’s race team based in Salt Lake City at Miller Motorsports racetrack. Finally I had the chance to do some of the driving myself. The rumble of the V8 powerplant was unlike anything I’ve driven recently. I found the clutch take-up to be intuitive and easy to balance. In a flash, I was already in 3rd gear and I stayed there for pretty much the entire driving portion, taking instructions from my passenger and doing my best to not make a fool of myself on the track.

tyson_mustang

I had a riot! The car revs willingly to the high end of the rev range because redline isn’t until 8,250 RPM. I had a great time pushing the car nearly that limit on the long straightaway and I found it to be a better-handling car than I’d expected. For a $48k entry level starting price, the Shelby GT350 is a helluva play toy for grown ups. Many thanks to Ford for the invitation to the event! Here is a short video showing brief highlights from my day.

Here are a few more photos from the past several days:

On Saturday morning, I went to Tucson and test-drove a clean 1994 Legend GS sedan 6-speed. Oddly enough, this car used to belong to my friend Ryan in Utah 5 years ago! I shared a walkaround video with him.

That afternoon, my friend Leif and I attended a historical tour of the sights in Phoenix surrounding a controversial murder case. Back in 1931, a woman named Winnie Ruth Judd killed her two best friends in a sort of dramatic love affair ordeal. She cut up the bodies, put them into large trunks, and shipped them to Los Angeles via the railway. She later was caught, convicted, and spent 40 years of her life in jail (though she escaped 7 times). What a story!

Our two-hour ride took us to some of the sights in town which were significant in the case, including the home of Winnie’s (married) boyfriend Jack Holleran which we went inside, and a drive-by of the original “murder house” in central Phoenix.

“Hip” Historian Marshall Shore led the tour

shore_luggage

Starting point was the historic (and also very hip) Clarendon Hotel

ILX with the Clarendon in the distance

The scene of the crime!

On Sunday, I had a lake day with friends at Lake Pleasant, a 12-square-mile lake formed from the Agua Fria river. We rented a couple of boats and spent the day exploring around. Here is the approach of Scorpion Bay Marina.

Half of our group on boat #2

I gave my friend Ira a scare. He tracks my location and saw me out in the middle of the water.

Part of the group. Living the Arizona dream!

There was some drama this week when my storage unit roll-up door was backed into.

Luckily, the car was far enough forward (plenty of room!) that nothing was damaged.

Hope everyone is having a great week! Getting closer to Friday!

11 Comments »

Press Preview: Pretty Pacifica in Paradise Valley

Posted in PAPA, Vehicle Reviews on April 22, 2016 by tysonhugie

Odometer (ILX): 160,923

When I showed up to my 15-year high school class reunion last August in southern Utah, I realized just how big of a business minivans are. Gotta tote those kiddos around! Graduating class of 2000: doing our part to populate the world. The scary part is that kids who were born the year I graduated, are now in high school themselves. Reality check!

Chrysler engineers know a thing or two about minivans. Of course they do – they invented the minivan, way back in 1983. My family never had one – the most kid-friendly vehicle my mom ever drove was a 1988 Jeep Cherokee. But I rode around plenty in minivans belonging to other family members, like my aunt Jodi’s ride right here with my younger brother Bentley out front. This van was pretty “pimped” out for its time. It had a VCR & TV in the back!

I first saw the new Chrysler Pacifica at the Detroit Auto Show in January. The Pacifica shares its chassis with the Dodge Caravan and touts over 100 available safety and security features. The Uconnect Theater rear seat entertainment system is a far cry from the VCR in that pin-striped Caravan my aunt had back in the 80’s. Chrysler marketing executives call this a “no-compromises” minivan for today’s demanding buyers.

tyson_james

On Tuesday, I attended a special event for journalists from the Phoenix Automotive Press Association (PAPA) held at a resort called Lon’s at the Hermosa, in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Chrysler representatives Scott, Matt, and Angela were on-hand to give our group of about 15 people a high level overview of the new Pacifica and its many merits. Two pre-production vehicles were there for demonstration and driving, ranging from a low-trim entry level to the fully-loaded “Limited” which rings in at just shy of $47,000 including destination.

left_rear

Chrysler has made extensive efforts to set itself apart from the competition – namely, the Honda Odyssey and the Toyota Sienna. While there are other minivans in the marketplace (Kia Sedona, etc), from a market share perspective the big players are the Honda and Toyota. Minivans in general sell about 1/2 million units a year, so even though a lot of today’s families have shifted to SUVs and crossovers, the minivan is still an important market.

Matt told us there were 37 “segment firsts” launched in the new Pacifica. Its 287 horsepower V6 and 9-speed automatic give it a power advantage over the competition – in fact, it’s 40 horses stronger than the Odyssey. Pacifica touts a 360-degree “bird’s eye view” camera system and three available sound systems, maxing out with a 20-speaker Harmon-Kardon surround system that is guaranteed to wake up the neighbors. Maybe owning a minivan isn’t as “un-cool” as society makes it seem?

odyssey_stickerr

Interior amenities are spacious and versatile as would be expected from a vehicle in this segment. The second row seats fold completely flat and the Pacifica can reportedly accommodate 64 4×8 sheets of plywood. I don’t know of any moms & dads picking up that much lumber at Lowe’s but it’s nice to know the capability is there. The 3rd row of seats have power reclining, the tri-pane sunroof gives a glimpse of the world above, and the vacuum – yes, Chrysler has copied the HondaVac – actually has a longer hose than the Odyssey does. “You can vacuum a boat you’re towing, or another vehicle in the garage next to it,” Matt explained.

dash

Next came the discussion of my favorite feature: the “Are We There Yet?” App on the “UConnect” entertainment system. Kids in the back seats can see on the TV screens ahead of them exactly how much longer they have until reaching their destination. If you’ve ever been on an airline and seen a real-time map update with current location and ETA, the idea is the same here. Pretty clever, I must say.

screen

remote

Driving dynamics impressed me. The shift knob is a rotary style dial that I twisted into Drive and hit the gas. I found the power to come on smoothly and the Pacifica accelerated briskly for a vehicle of its size. The touch-screen audio and climate systems would take some getting used to, but luckily some of the functions also have duplicative buttons & knobs for those of us who don’t want to deal with a screen. Everything is intuitively laid out, including the gauge cluster with a large digital speedometer readout as well as an analog gauge to its right.

left_side

The overall Pacifica package is a well executed attempt to take a larger bite out of that minivan segment pie. Clearly Chrysler has done its research on what buyers want, and I won’t be surprised to see this one being well received by families everywhere. Now, what’s the change interval on that vacuum canister? Every 3,000 miles?

Many thanks to Chrysler for the invitation and up-close look at its newest people-hauler!

Our group assembled underneath the umbrellas

Matt McAlear, Senior Manager, giving us the run-down

View of the 2nd row of seating. Fancy piping & leather!

A few folks from our group taking notes on what they learned.

Thanks for reading!

Few pics from this week:

Lonely parking – the way it should be!

Date night at Tempe Marketplace

Have a great weekend!

14 Comments »

Legend Spy Shot Roundup #7

Posted in Legend, NSX, Spy Shots, Vigor on April 20, 2016 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 543,106

Odometer (ILX): 160,842

Happy hump day. The garden hose came out and the ILX got a much-needed bath on Sunday morning.

Later in the day I took the Legend to a neighborhood in Chandler, Arizona that has a street named Tyson.

It’s that time again for some spy shots! Here are the previous roundups for your viewing pleasure. These are all thanks to you, my loyal Legend hunters, who continue sending them to me on a daily basis.

Tim gets the grand prize of all Legend spotters for finding Ayrton Senna driving a 1991 “Twilight Blue Pearl” LS sedan for just a few seconds during a 51-minute video. Tim, you’re a winner! Look at 27:49 in this YouTube video.

We’ll kick this one off with a non-Legend photo. My good friend Conor in New York spotted this fully A-Spec’d out TL!

And here we go with the Legends:

Vigors

NSXs

SLXs

Preludes

7 Comments »

Group Road Trip to Skull Valley, Arizona & Kyle’s Pontiac GTO 100,000 Milestone

Posted in Arizona, ILX, Road Trip on April 16, 2016 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 543,032

Odometer (ILX): 160,566

Trip Distance: 253 Miles

One of these things is not like the others.

garage

No matter how hard James tried, he couldn’t get his weekly test vehicle, a 2016 Nissan Titan, to blend in with the rest of the participants on this weekend’s half-day jaunt to the Prescott National Forest in north-central Arizona. Maybe that’s because the Titan is a 3.5-ton, 20-foot-long behemoth compared to the cars it accompanied. No matter; we don’t discriminate. In fact, it was fun to get a look at Nissan’s fancy latest truck.

group

It was a perfect day to get out of town (when is it ever not?) so we rallied the troops around 10:00 in the morning and 7 of us headed north in search of cool weather, curvy roads, and tasty eats. Sounds like a winning formula for my kind of Saturday. Our hodge-podge of vehicles spanned a variety of types:

Brad: 2013 Audi RS5
Jack: 2006 Acura RSX 5-speed
James: 2016 Nissan Titan
Kyle: 2005 Pontiac GTO 6-speed
Tyson: 2013 Acura ILX 6-speed

Chandler and Rob also came along for the ride, and they swapped between the cars throughout the day.

i17

This was a special day for Kyle’s GTO as it surpassed the 100,000 mile mark not long after starting our drive. Since interstate traffic was moderately heavy and we had 4 other cars in tow, Kyle opted not to pull over to the shoulder but Rob as passenger was able to capture the odometer reading just in time. Kyle’s car was by far the loudest of our bunch with its roaring exhaust system that probably activates car alarms with just its burble.

kyle_100k

kyle_100k_odo

It wasn’t long after our fuel stop in Wickenburg on US Highway 93 that we veered eastward on Highway 89. Looming ahead of us was what we call the Yarnell Grade: a sharp-curved stretch of highway with two lanes in each direction that climbs from about 2,000 feet in elevation to about 4,700 feet.

yarnell_grade

Some of the turns are posted as low as 25 miles per hour so it’s quite a technical piece of road. Sadly, this is where James had a distinct disadvantage in his pickup truck. I was still impressed at how well he tossed it around given its heft.

winding_road

A Corvette club had parked its cars all the way down the main street in the tiny town of Yarnell, so we didn’t stop there but continued on to the junction about 8 miles down the road where we would head toward our destination of Skull Valley. Nestled in the mountains on Highway 10 lies a teeny little town of 743 people. While amenities are scarce – in fact, just one market – Skull Valley is only 20 miles from the larger town of Prescott so it’s not entirely isolated from civilization.

tyson_skull_valley

The town’s name comes from human remains that were found when the area was settled. Those remains were determined to have been the result of battles between the Native Americans and the early settlers in the 1860s.

gto_rsx

We snagged a few photographs and watched a freight train go clanking by, then changed things up a bit by swapping cars. I took the keys to Jack’s RSX, Kyle took my ILX, and Jack took Kyle’s GTO. Right off the bat I noticed a few things about the RSX that I fell in love with. The overall visibility is amazing thanks to thin A-pillars and a low hoodline. I love how the gauges are set up with zero mph / RPM in the 6:00 position on the dial.

skull_group

Since Jack’s car is not a Type-S, that means it only has 155 horsepower as opposed to the 201 that the S got. But you honestly can’t tell! The car revved excitedly and its light chassis felt nimble. The 5-speed gearbox has that perfect Honda seamlessness to it, and on some of the steeper grades I downshifted to 3rd or 4th gears to get the revs up. The steering wheel has a small diameter and good feel, and perhaps what surprised me most was just how tight and quiet the cabin was for being 10 years old. It made my 7-year-newer ILX seem so loud in comparison.

But, apparently Kyle liked my music selections while he was driving it…

prescott

Rosa’s Pizzeria in downtown Prescott was the next destination for our hungry bunch, so we stashed our vehicles in a 4-story parking garage a few blocks away and wandered over to grab a table. Our waiter had it pretty easy since 6 of the 7 of us ordered the exact same thing for lunch: The “Rosa’s Special” Chicken Martini. Chandler was the only one who had to go against the grain and make things difficult.

lunch

We made a quick visit to Lynx Lake on the way out of town and it was bustling with people out for Saturday recreation, then completed our loop on Highway 69 and I-17 back to the Phoenix area.

lynx_lake

Hope you enjoyed coming along for the drive! The rest of my photos are below.

Northbound on I-17

i17a

Chandler as passenger in the RSX

My ILX as seen from the sideview mirror of James’ Titan

Check that out! Look: a Sugar Daddy and a Big Hunk

Fuel stop at Mobil in Wickenburg

Heading up toward Yarnell on Highway 89

Next stop Kirkland, then Skull Valley, then Prescott. I covered Bagdad in another post.

These pumps in Skull Valley were out of order.

Lunch spot in Prescott

rosas

15 Comments »

Seeing Double: Arcadia Green 1994 Acura Vigor GS Twins

Posted in ILX, Vigor on April 14, 2016 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 543,029

Odometer (ILX): 160,207

Odometer (Vigor): 105,500

together2

Feast your eyes on some “BG-30P” code paint deliciousness! This here is a double-dose of a color that we all saw back in the 90’s that has long since been replaced by today’s boring silvers, grays, charcoals, and…. yawn.

Several weeks ago I bought a new T-shirt on blipshift.com that says “Alive With Five.” It felt appropriate that I wear the shirt to a meet-up on Monday night with newfound friend Chris in Scottsdale, Arizona who happens to be an old-school Acura 5-cylinder fan just like me.

My friend Ryan made a snide remark about how little I will probably wear the shirt.

Bridging the gap between the Integra and the Legend, the Vigor split the difference between 4 and 6 cylinders with its 2.5-liter, 176-horsepower inline-five-cylinder motor. I shared some history about the model when I picked up my own Vigor last July in Denver.

This middle sibling was forever overshadowed by its larger, more popular, big brother the Legend. The Vigor enthusiast network in general was just a lot smaller. While the Legend community has been able to support enough interest to host an annual meet every year since 2005, the Vigor club members held regional meets until about the early 2000’s and then the fire died out. Consider the fact that there were more than ten times as many Legends sold as Vigors.

Acura Legend sales, 1986 – 1995: 477,831 units
Acura Vigor sales, 1992 – 1994: 43,908 units

The Acura Vigor Club was an online community started in 1998-1999, right around the time that I was spending my teenage years browsing Legend.org (still alive for archive purposes) and HondaPrelude.com (long gone). In January 1999, a “Yahoo!” group was founded for the Acura Vigor and Legend Club.

vig_club

More and more members began joining the community at acuravigorclub.com, with “Timely Topics” monthly DIY tutorials being posted by contributors and with meets being organized in select regions. In 2005, the website hit its peak with about 100,000 total hits, including one specific day in March that had over 900 views. Here is a (grainy, tiny, characteristic of those early days) photograph of a meet in Seattle in the early 2000s.

In the decade since, the website has become a ghost town. Last updates were posted in 2007 but by then the Vigor model was already 13 years old and a good chunk of the Vigor fanbase had likely moved on to the wildly successful new Acuras being offered on the showroom floor, like the crowd favorite 3rd generation 2004-2008 TL.

tyson

“Chris” was one of the rare, few people who took interest in the Vigor model when it was near-new. In 1996, he bought his car with around 25,000 miles on it. Over the last 20 years, it’s gone from daily driver, to weekend cruiser, to pretty much sitting around all the time – now that he has 3 other vehicles and a motorcycle competing for his attention. Thus the reason why he finally decided, at 200,400 miles on the odometer, he’s considering letting his pride and joy go to the next worthy owner.

together1

I was impressed with the condition of his car from the moment I arrived. It’s clearly been cared for. A mechancial engineer by trade, he’s performed all of his own maintenance over the years – everything, in fact, except for the tire installations and balancing. The timing belt was changed 20,000 miles (and 8 years) ago. The radiator and battery are new, and he says he’d trust the car to drive across the country without thinking twice.

engine

“Nice Vig,” was Chris’ comment when he saw my car. And, I definitely return those sentiments. We took his for a spin and it was interesting to get used to not kicking at a clutch pedal, but it idled, ran, drove, and braked as smoothly as could be – even with twice the miles that my car has on it. Hope you enjoy seeing some of the photos of his car that I captured during my visit.

Best angle!

My own Vigor in the background.

Front end is remarkably rock-chip-free for 200,000 miles

I need that spoiler!

The 2004 BMW in the driveway is one of Chris’ newer vehicles

Extra mats in the trunk! I need!

Cognac-colored interior has held up well, minus the driver’s seat & console lid.

Rare finds in this kind of condition.

And I happened to be passed by a 1991-92 Legend sedan whilst on my way home!

legend_sighting

A few other bits & pieces today to catch everyone up. Cruise on by TSXTravels.com, and say hello to my friend Josh who is now only a mere 8,000 miles away from the big 500,000 milestone on his 2005 TSX!

I got my tires ordered for the ILX. I ended up going with Michelin Primacy 215-45-17s for $725. They’ll be installed in early May just before the Alaska departure. Michelin has a $70 rebate going on right now so I figured the timing was right to go ahead and get them ordered.

Check out my new cologne from Nordstrom:

My friend Jason seems to think it should smell like leather & burlwood. No such luck!

My mom flew in last night to get her G35. Here’s a video she captured of me pulling up to the airport to pick her up!

And she delivered a diecast model car (Chevy Nova) to my nephew for me when she arrived home with her G35 this afternoon. My brother sent me this pic. Love that kid!

becks

Catch ya later!

22 Comments »

A Million Mile Accord, Alaska Trip Planning, & Jack’s New RSX

Posted in Arizona, ILX on April 10, 2016 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 543,021

Odometer (G35): 20,246 (Mom’s new car still at my house til Wednesday!)

Odometer (ILX): 160,000

Sometimes just a simple piece of paper can bring back so many memories. I was rooting through a box this week in search of something and came across a Bill of Sale dated March 19, 2005 – just a little over 11 years ago – from when I sold my first car for a whopping $250. Yes, it ran and drove! Funny how I felt the need to clarify “No Warranty” on a car that was 19 years old and had 194,000 miles on it. It’s a little irrational (okay, downright crazy), but I actually do miss my 1986 Celebrity from time to time. Especially that plush velour front bench seat.

celebrity_bos

It’s been an Acura used car lot at my house as usual. Joining the crowd here Scottsdale, Arizona comes this 2005 TL. I helped a friend of mine sell it today for $8,500 with just 83,000 miles. Non-navigation, tan interior, new Michelins. The buyer got a pretty solid deal!

I’m only 6 weeks away from departing on a 7,800-mile, 16 day road trip to Fairbanks, Alaska with my friend Jason. Yes indeed, it’s time to stretch our highway legs and see the north country. Beginning on Friday, May 20th, I’ll be taking you – Wifi access & blogging time permitting – on a trip through 7 states and 4 provinces in my (now-160,000-mile) 2013 Acura ILX.

This trip will be a re-creation of the same journey that my dad and I took exactly 10 years ago in my Legend. In fact, I’m going to do my best to capture photos at some of the identical locations, like this welcome sign to the Yukon Territory.

Planning is well underway, as I’ll be having the ILX serviced prior to departure. I’m also having new Michelin Pilot tires installed next month and I’ll be taking 2 spare tires. I’m an Eagle Scout after all, so “Be Prepared” is a motto that I live by, especially when embarking on such a journey. Jason is similarly busy getting his Mazda ready.

Yesterday I did a little junkyarding in south Phoenix and came across this miraculously straight 1994 Legend sedan in Desert Mist Metallic. It’s a shame the interior was pillaged before I got to it, because I bet it was in really nice shape. The entire dashboard, in fact, had been removed, but from the stickers on the windshield I know that it had 169,000 miles on it and came from Acura of Peoria. Wild guess: Some original owner traded it in with a blown head gasket and the dealership sent it to the junkyard because it needed engine replacement.

I also found an old 1990 Integra sedan that reminded me of my family’s first Acura.

On the Integra topic, here’s a first look at my next car. This is a rare 1992 “GS-R” model in Aztec Green Pearl, owned by my friend Lance in the Seattle area. Lance has been performing an extensive restoration on this 234,000 mile car over about the last year or so, bringing it back to stock condition by sourcing and installing OEM suspension, wheels, exhaust system, and other items. The results speak for themselves. You could eat off this 1.7 liter engine!

Stock ride height means there’s a lot of fender well gap, but it looks “right” for a 1990s period Honda.

Remember automatic seatbelts?

gsr_int

These photos were taken today at HondaFest car show that Lance entered.

Looks great! And I should have my hands on this one within the next couple of months.

I haven’t forgotten about the 1993 L sedan. It still needs quite a bit of work but it starts up reliably.

My friend Devan visited this week from Fort Worth, TX and we grabbed lunch on his birthday.

And my friend Jack became the proud owner of a 2006 Acura RSX. He’d been looking for a reliable, cheap, fun-to-drive commuter to replace his 2002 Lexus IS300, so this fit the bill perfectly. Here’s a photo from the test-drive.

Seller Jacob is also a friend of mine. I was glad to be able to facilitate the deal!

And Jack drove off as a happy camper in his 5-speed RSX.

Finally, here’s a mileage achievement story worth seeing. Planet Honda in New Jersey has taken into the showroom a one-owner 1990 Honda Accord coupe that recently turned its one-millionth mile. The car looks great! And we can’t help but draw similarities to Million Mile Joe who also drove an Accord of the same bodystyle.

Video link here:

Over and out!

10 Comments »

Weekly Updates & “Serial Number One” – 1967 Honda N600 Restoration Project

Posted in ILX, Legend, NSX, Vigor on April 3, 2016 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend coupe): 543,021

Odometer (Legend sedan): 150,233

Odometer (Vigor): 105,477

Odometer (ILX): 159,320

It was 39 years ago when Honda made its entrance into selling passenger cars in the United States. The company’s first model, a simple (and teeny) “N600,” was cute and efficient. Little did the world know that it marked the beginning of an automotive power-player that would sell over 123,000 units in the month of March 2016 alone. Honda is big.

One special car – the first – is currently in the hands of “Merciless” Tim Mings, a southern California-based mechanic who is heralded as THE subject matter expert on Honda’s early cars like the N600, Z600, and S600 models which were the precursors to today’s Honda lineup. Some of you may recall the special little Z600 that I test-drove last year from my friend Scott’s collection in Palm Springs.

I’ll be following this restoration project very closely and hope you’ll do the same!

I have an assortment of updates from the last week or so to share today. It should come as no surprise that I’ve been playing with cars as much as time allows, so I’ll let the photos tell the story and keep this week’s blog entry short and sweet.

My friend Armando and his pup Sable visited from California. We took the NSX to breakfast.

Armando is the proud owner of two Subaru SVXs, a Mazda, RX-8 and a Mazda RX-4

My family members from Utah visited and soaked up the sun for a few days.

My friend Jeremy visited from Utah as well for a few days and picked up a ‘new’ BMW X5 diesel here.

I made an attempt at installing some spare “A-Spec” wheels on the ILX but found out they were the incorrect bolt pattern (5 x 120 instead of 5 x 114.3), which means they came off an Acura RL instead of a TL. Shucks, no new wheels for me!

Night drive in the NSX

“Cars & Coffee” in Scottsdale, yesterday. This huge event draws hundreds of high-end cars, every first Saturday of the month.

Quick pic with automotive spy photographer Brenda Briddy who was there

After C&C I took the ILX to explore a remote area called Rio Verde, northeast of town.

Most of Rio Verde’s population lives in the 55-and-older golf community.

I made a quick stop at McDowell Mountain Regional Park. It has over 80 miles of hiking trails so I’ll need to plan another visit back soon.

Stopped by “Legends” automotive repair shop. (Notice the sign)

Fun fact: This location at 2412 N Scottsdale Rd was once the Valley’s first Acura dealership, 30 years ago.

I have to wonder if the people who currently own & operate the business even know that history.

Mom’s G35 is still awaiting its new owner. She’s flying down a week from Wednesday to pick it up.

I went and grabbed the Vigor. This car will probably go in for a timing belt change in the next few weeks.

At the grocery store, I happened to park next to a 1992-93 Honda Accord in my same paint color, code BG-30P “Arcadia Green.”

Twinners!

That’s it for now. Have a great week everyone.

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Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, Phoenix Ignition Car Show, & Mom’s New Infiniti G35

Posted in California, ILX, Legend, NSX, Road Trip on March 28, 2016 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 542,910

Odometer (ILX): 158,951

Trip Distance: 558 Miles

I attended a 60th birthday gathering for my friend Chuck last Wednesday. As I was just getting ready to head out for another commitment (my second of 3 appointments that evening), he made the comment, “One of these days I’m going to put Velcro on your chair so you’re forced to stick around longer than an hour.” Ha – sounds about right!

legend_desert_center_2

It was a double-duty mileage weekend out here in the American Southwest. My Legend coupe and my ILX both saw some highway use on a trip out to Southern California for sunshine and relaxation. Since the early 1900s, the desert city of Palm Springs has blossomed and grown as a destination for its hot springs, architecture, and tourism in the surrounding landscape. I’ve visited many times over the last few years and it’s an easy 4-hour drive door-to-door from my place in Scottsdale, Arizona.

legend_workstation

Ever the king of multi-tasking, I had to stop twice at gas stations and respond to some work emails. I was in my 1994 Legend LS since my friend, Justin, would be heading out later on in the evening in my 2013 ILX. The drive into the sunset was enjoyable and I made really good time. Even at over 540,000 miles, the Legend is still a great highway cruiser than revs at fewer than 2,500 RPM at 80 miles per hour.

tramway_sign

One of the attractions I’d been wanting to see in Palm Springs for a very long time is the “Aerial Tramway,” a 2.5 mile, 10-minute ride that climbs in a cable car from 2,600 feet to 8,500 feet in elevation. It opened in 1963 and climbs in elevation through a rugged canyon to the top of San Jacinto Peak. Justin and I headed to the tramway station on Friday morning and the wait time was about an hour until the next available departure at 12:40 p.m.

tram_car

The ascent wasn’t without some drama. I have both a moderate fear of heights and a slight degree of motion sickness, so after lift-off when the interior of the 80-passenger car started spinning around, it took me a minute before I could even feel comfortable opening my eyes to look outside. I remember being very grateful that there were a few windows open to let a breeze through so I could get some fresh mountain air.

view

For the $25/adult price of admission I felt like I got my money’s worth! The view from the Mountain Station at the top was spectacular (and weather quite a bit cooler than where we’d started). There are quite a few amenities including a restaurant and snack bar. We indulged in a $5 tray of nachos and some potato wedges before getting ready to hop on the next available car and make our descent.

tyson_in_tram_car

I got back from Palm Springs just in time for a car swap at home, then headed to the 2nd annual “Ignition” car show at the Arizona Fairgrounds in central Phoenix. There were probably 50 vehicles in attendance, spanning a wide range of types. The centerpiece was a 1960 Bentley, but at the other end of the spectrum was a $600 Chrysler LeBaron convertible (think “Planes, Trains, & Automobiles” movie car). I represented with the only Acura, displaying my 1992 NSX. Midway through the day, I was asked to say a few words about the car over the loudspeaker and the master of ceremonies commented on the signature on my glove compartment, which belongs to RealTime Racing driver Peter Cunningham.

Another highlight of the weekend was taking delivery of a new car for my mom. At the same birthday party referenced in my opening paragraph, I happened to be seated next to someone named John who I was meeting for the first time. John and I got engaged in “car talk” and I came to find out that he had just listed for sale his 2004 Infiniti G35 online. What blew me away was the odometer reading: 20,192 miles. On a 12-year-old car!

So my interest was piqued and I relayed the information to my mother who happened to be looking for a (larger, car-seat-friendly) replacement for her 2010 Volkswagen Eos convertible. Over the next 24 hours, she struck a deal with John and on Sunday, I showed up to take delivery of the vehicle on her behalf.

It was every bit as immaculate as described. It’s painted a brilliant Garnet Fire Metallic with Willow leather interior. Power comes from a 3.5-liter V6 engine with 260 horsepower and the transmission is a 5-speed automatic. Beyond the standard equipment, the car has the following:

Premium Package (Bose Audio, Glass Sunroof, Dual Zone Temp, and more): $3,200
Aero Package (Rear Spoiler, Diffusers): $550
Sport-Tuned Suspension Package (17″ Alloy Wheels, Sport-Tuned Springs): $425
Body-Color Splash Guards: $120
Price as Equipped: $35,045

When John drove the car off the lot with 36 miles on the odometer on March 20, 2004, it right away became his special occasion car. Neighbors would say, “You must have a date,” each time it would leave the garage. (His daily driver was a white Chevy S-10 pickup).

Over the last 12 years, he paid close attention to detail and maintenance, changing the oil and fluids himself. He has kept detailed notes on everything done to the car, and during our transaction he walked me through all the paperwork. Most used cars don’t even come with an original window sticker. This one not only came with that, but also with full books & records, a 4-page handwritten maintenance log, even a printed page from Infiniti.com from when John “built” his car online before taking delivery.

The car has found a good home and now resides in my garage for 2 weeks until mom flies down to get it.

Here are the rest of the pics from this action-packed last few days!

The Legend coupe in Desert Center, California

Morning view in Palm Springs

My friend Scott taking a spin in the ILX

Road ascending “Tram Way” to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

Staging area for the tramway with a man-made waterfall

View toward San Jacinto Peak

With Justin at the summit

Headed back down toward civilization

Hanging with other friends that afternoon, Chris & Vince

Out and about on the town later in the evening

Scott’s 1965 Mustang interior

Photos from the Ignition Car Show: Tyson and a Titan

Grassy lawn on the west side of the Coliseum

Old Pontiac Bonneville with only 14,000 original miles

And a few more photos from the day I got the G35 for mom

From the driver’s seat

Back at the house with the ILX

Interior still smells new

Tucked away with the NSX until mom’s arrival

Window sticker at $35,045

Other records and paperwork

27 Comments »

Salton Sea, California Road Trip Part 2: Slab City, East Jesus, & Niland Mud Pots

Posted in Blog, California, ILX, Road Trip on March 21, 2016 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 542,248

Odometer (ILX): 158,038

Trip Distance: 266 Miles

“Uhh, guys. We have a problem,” said Jason with a look of despair as we were just getting ready to hop in the cars and continue our Southern California tour last Saturday. I couldn’t think of what could possibly be the problem. My eyes immediately went to the tires of his car thinking he might have a flat. “I locked my keys in the trunk,” he told us. My mind started rushing with the complexity of the situation. Here we were, 4 miles down a dirt road in a teeny town with only 1,000 people, standing in a field next to some geothermal mud pots.

If it had been 30 years ago, we might have had to go into town and summon help the old fashioned way. But the solution was pretty clear and pretty flawless: James hit the OnStar button on the overhead console of his 2016 Chevy Malibu and summoned help. The representative was able to patch us through to an available locksmith about 30 miles away in Brawley. Meanwhile, we had about an hour to kill, so I sat in the backseat of the Malibu and took advantage of its WiFi hotspot and air conditioning vents since it was 90 degrees outside. Technology has really made even an emergency situation feel pretty dang convenient. Help came to the rescue:

We pick up today’s story after our visit to Salvation Mountain near Niland and take it even deeper into the “weird category.” Imagine a place where you can take a vehicle, tent, trailer, or even corrugated tin and pop up a dwelling and just stay there as long as you want. It’s the “last free place in America,” say some.

Slab City, USA. If you want to live in the middle of the desert, the land is yours for the taking. Jason, James, and I headed eastward on a dirt road from Salvation Mountain and entered a wide expanse of land that was littered – literally – with peoples’ belongings and makeshift residences. A man playing guitar atop an entrance sign looked like he might have been a permanent resident.

I’d seen a hand-painted sign promoting a library of some sort, so I decided to head that direction and see what we could find. The washboard road was dusty and I lost sight of James in my rearview mirror as I left his white Malibu in a cloud. But soon I saw a big painted arrow which pointed me in the direction of the library’s parking lot. “24 hour Library,” it said.

Here we met some locals. While browsing the books in this open-air shack, I saw a couch and a couple of chairs set up around a chess set. An old man in a cowboy hat came up and greeted us, cigarette in hand. “John,” his name we later learned, proceeded to give us a warm welcome to Slab City and provide the run-down on everything we possibly wanted to know. “You guys skateboard?” he asked. “You guys want to float the canal?” His stories were endless. The library, as it turns out was operated by a one-legged woman and her boyfriend named Caveman, who weren’t there that day. (“But don’t ask about her leg,” he said. “She lost it train-track hopping and that’s about all she wants to say.”)

For being set up in a shack, this library was remarkably well organized by topic or theme. A “Google Tree” contained the encyclopedia / reference section. John, and another guy who surfaced who was also named John, extended an invitation to the upcoming Prom Night in Slab City where they’ll have live music and other entertainment along with a “formal” (tongue in cheek) dance. There was a table spray painted “Free” with all sorts of garbage up for grabs. I asked John & John if it ever rained in Slab City (wondering how all the books are so well-preserved). They said it only happens a couple of times a year. They both heartily recommended we take the time to visit a place called East Jesus, down the road, so we headed that direction after getting our fill of the library.

“EJ” the sign led us, so I stirred up another clout of dust in my ILX and my fellow road-trippers and I entered the next quirky phase of our day’s journey. There was a literal fork in the road. I hit the brakes so quickly out of excitement that I activated the ABS system and skidded to a stop on the dirt road.

In East Jesus, it’s art for days. People have taken garbage and made things out of it. An old Honda Civic sedan at the entrance was covered in circuit boards and bullet shells. There was a wall of television sets with messages painted on them.

This was perhaps the most oddball collection of “stuff” I think I’ve ever seen. I’ll let the pictures and video tell the story here.

Jason, James, and I had lunch back in Niland at the Buckshot Deli & Diner. The hamburger meat is homemade and delicious, and I chugged two huge glasses of their lemonade. A sign on the wall read: Food choices: 1) Take it. 2) Leave it.

The last place on my “to-see” list was something I’d read about online called the mud pots. Just 6 miles from where we had lunch, but about 4 of those miles were on a dirt road. That had never stopped us before, so we decided to check them out. Mud bubbles up from the ground and sometimes shoots into the air. Over time, it has formed little mounds of dirt. It reminded me a lot of the geothermal activity at Yellowstone National Park.

I got a little too close to a fresh mud stream and ended up ankle-deep in it. My shoe was so heavy afterward. The other guys had a good laugh about it. The good news was that I had a pair of flip-flops in my trunk ready for just such an emergency.

Mud pot video:

It was around this time when we were just getting ready to part ways and Jason had his keys-in-the-trunk incident. A nice man in a pickup truck gave us bottled waters while we waited. I was surprised it took the roadside assistance guy no more than 5 minutes to get access to Jason’s car and get us back on our way after he’d arrived. James and I headed east on Highway 78 while Jason made his way to Interstate 8 and we split up the threesome. Our route took us through the Imperial Sand Dunes – also called Algodones Dunes – which span 45 miles in length by 6 miles in width.

There were lots of people out in off-road vehicles enjoying them. The highway itself was a bit of a roller-coaster with lots of dips posted 55 miles per hour but a lot of fun when taken at about 10 mph over that.

We dined in Blythe, California – reunited with Interstate 10 and our favorite diner, the Courtesy Coffee Shop. The grilled cheese was just what I needed to fuel me sufficiently for the final 2 hours of the drive back into Arizona and home to Scottsdale.

Here are the rest of my pics from our adventurous day!

Inside the library at Slab City