drivetofive

Quick Overnight Trip to Hollywood, California

Posted in California, ILX, NSX, Road Trip on September 9, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 534,436

Odometer (ILX): 140,832

Trip Distance: 796 Miles

Happy hump day!

It wouldn’t be a proper 3-day holiday weekend if I didn’t try and squeeze a little roadtrip in somewhere. A friend of mine who I hadn’t seen for about a year and a half was playing at the “WeHo Sports Festival” at the University of California – Los Angeles campus and I took the opportunity to cruise out to LA and meet up with him for a night on Saturday. WeHo is short for West Hollywood, and the WSF event attracted a total of over 2,000 athletes competing in 10 different sports. My friend, Jeff, had flown in from Calgary, Alberta, to play soccer.

The 400-mile I-10 westward voyage on Saturday morning was uneventful and even a little boring – my only two stops were for fuel and snacks at 339th Avenue in Tonopah, Arizona, and then again at Washington Street in Palm Desert, California. I did roll 140,000 miles though, so that was exciting.

I found my way easily to the UCLA campus off Highway 405 and Sunset Boulevard. UCLA has over 43,000 students, making it nearly twice the size of the student body of my undergrad institution in Utah. The campus itself sits at the base of the Santa Monica Mountains and covers 419 acres of land. I thought it was very well laid out and clean.

Unfortunately, Jeff’s team didn’t perform all that well but I still enjoyed spectating from the sidelines in 80-someodd degree weather. It’s the first time I’ve been able to use my cheapo $6 foldable camp chair that’s been rolling around in the trunk of my ILX for the last six months. After fighting Highway 101 traffic for about 45 minutes en route to our hotel (welcome to LA!), we met up with our other friend Jack, then enjoyed a night out in Hollywood glamour (or lack thereof, in our case). I talked a little about Hollywood during my blog post from last August when I attended a party out there.

On Sunday morning, Jack and I wandered from our hotel down Hollywood Boulevard to the TCL Chinese Theatre. On the way, we crossed the “Walk of Fame.” Even by 10:00 in the morning, the streets were already bustling with selfie-stick-wielding, foreign tourists. For a minute, I felt like I was on The Strip in Vegas, because there were guides passing out pamphlets and trying to sell me on a $49 tour of the city. I respectfully declined (I had to get my car out of the paid parking lot by 11:30).

The Walk of Fame consists of over 2,500 pink stars embedded into the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard. Each one contains the name of someone famous, and I recognized the names of a few actors, musicians, and directors as we wandered around. About 20 new stars are added each year.

TCL Chinese Theatre dates back to 1926 and has been home to hundreds of movie premiers over the years. It’s currently home to the third largest commercial movie screen in North America. But what brings thousands of tourists to the facility every year is the concrete out front: Here, you can see over 200 handprints, footprints, and autographs of famous people that have been immortalized on the ground.

Beverly Hills, 90210: It’s a location that’s been made famous thanks to TV and movies, and it’s pretty posh for sure. Driving along westbound Sunset Boulevard, you see posters alongside the road frequently saying “STAR MAPS!” and encouraging you to pull over at some roadside stand and get a guide to (I’m guessing) where the movie stars live. I didn’t take the time. Even as I type this entry, Weezer’s song “Beverly Hills” is stuck in my head. I was surprised to learn that the median income there is only about $90,000 – I might have expected it to be at least in six-figure territory.

As has been widely publicized in the news, California is experiencing a huge drought right now, and the impact is even hitting the folks in Beverly Hills. The streets’ medians have had their sprinklers shut off, allowing the grass to die off and turn gold. I saw a huge billboard along one of the interstates that said, “Let Your Grass Go California Gold” with a photo of a dead/dying lawn.

I rolled home Sunday afternoon, exhausted from such a quick adventure: Arrival in LA at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, departure at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday. Would you expect anything else from me? In & out. Places to go and people to see. Thanks for joining!

A rare sight of traffic freely flowing on northbound, 8-lane, Highway 405 in Los Angeles

Meeting up with Jeff at the UCLA campus

Route (really round-about route, suggested by my phone) to our hotel from UCLA

Anddddd, of course. Parked traffic on the 101 freeway thanks to an accident.

ILX street parking

Wandering past the Hollywood Wax Museum on Sunday morning

Following Jack’s red IS300 on Hollywood Boulevard – and he happened to be next to an ILX

Spotted a Prius towing a U-HAUL trailer on eastbound I-10 on my way home. I wonder how many MPGs he was getting.

Coming up soon: The Legend coupe and the NSX are heading to Torrance, California this weekend for a special event at Honda Headquarters. You’ll read about it here before too long!

In preparation, I hauled 2 new rear tires over to Discount Tire for install…

Rolled 101,010 miles…

And fueled her up!

21 Comments »

Press Preview: Ford F-150 “Pro Trailer Backup Assist” Demonstration

Posted in PAPA, Vehicle Reviews on September 6, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Vigor): 104,556

Odometer (ILX): 140,793

Shout out to my buddy Cody from Random Drive for the sweet Drive to Five logo!

For a couple of summers in the mid-1990’s, my family spent most weekends at the lakes near our home in southern Utah. We’d load up my dad’s 1994 Ford F-150 with as much gear as it could handle, latch on our two Yamaha WaveRunners, and crawl into that teeny extended cab for a ride over to Lake Mead or Lake Powell. Even then, before I was a license-holder, I noted in appreciation how handy my dad was at driving with a trailer full of toys.

Hey, check out those shades! Man, I was a nerd. Still am?

The winner of all trailer-towing competitions was most definitely our friend Mike. He drove this TWO-TRAILER “train” to Lake Powell once with his PowerStroke Ford 3/4-ton pickup. What is the overall length of this thing?

Quad cab (long bed!) full size pickup + massive Maxim boat + dual jet ski trailer. How did he ever get that all down the road?

If you’re like me, you might get a little anxiety when asked to back up a truck & trailer. It doesn’t happen very often, but when it does, it can take multiple attempts to get it just right – and it can lead to a little frustration, not to mention embarrassment. Imagine showing up at the boat ramp and wiping out against the dock or completely miscalculating the water entry angle.

“Trailer backing” is not something taught in any Driver’s Ed class that I’m aware of, so for many of us, the first time we were dealt that task was in a real-world situation. Ford has gone to the drawing board with this problem and developed a solution.

That solution is called Pro Trailer Backup Assist (PTBA). Step by step:

The trailer is connected to the truck (Ford has developed technologies to help with even this aspect, including a multitude of cameras that lessen the need for a “spotter.”
The dimensions of the trailer are loaded into the truck’s computer – it allows multiple “saved” trailers which can be named. i.e. “Boat” or “Cargo.”
A checkerboard-like sticker is placed facing upward on the tongue of the trailer. This is scanned/read by a rear-facing camera on the tailgate of the pickup.
From “Park,” the driver engages PTBA via a button mounted on the lower instrument panel.
Using mirrors, the back-up camera, and the old fashioned “turn your head around” method, the driver removes his or her hands from the steering wheel, shifts into reverse, and allows the truck to idle backward.
Trailer direction is controlled via the dash-mounted dial – right to turn the trailer right, left to turn the trailer left. The truck’s wheel spins on its own – quickly at times – to make needed adjustments. Releasing the dial entirely causes it to center again and back the trailer straight rearward in its current line.

How’d I do? Well, my training was limited. I started out by playing a touch-screen “game” inside the tent where I used my fingers to direct a backing-up F-150. I passed that test without destroying a truck or trailer, so walked outside feeling pretty confident.

“Which one do you want to back up?” asked Nick from Ford’s agency. I scanned the parking lot. My choices were: ATV trailer, small travel trailer, larger travel trailer, or… on the horizon, I saw the big enchilada: a 22-foot-long “Supra” ski boat. Yes, that’s the one I wanted.

I saddled up inside a white “Limited” trim level F-150 for my real-world demonstration. When Ford says “Limited,” it’s true. The VIN / production number of the trunk is printed on a placard atop the center console. But exactly how many “Limiteds” will be sold? Ford representatives didn’t know. The truck rings in at around $60,000 as-equipped and is powered by a powerful yet fuel-efficient V6 “Ecoboost” engine. Tech specs aside, the purpose of Tuesday’s exercise was to experience Ford’s PTBA system in a controlled environment.

Nick joined me in the cab of the pickup and I performed a couple of “un-assisted” backing exercises. It took a bit to get my bearings, but I sorta-kinda got the hang of it. I didn’t try anything too technical, though. “Now,” Nick said, “Turn on the backup assist.” I followed his instructions and got rolling. It’s pretty intuitive, that little dial. The degree to which I turned it would correspond with the severity to which the trailer would cut left or right. And the good news is that even when you go “hard” with the dial and crank it full-tilt, it still won’t let the trailer jackknife. Somehow, Ford’s engineers have thought of everything. (And it’s earned them 5 patents)

So, with some level of skill, I managed to back that ski boat into a narrow parking space at a 90-degree angle. And with that, I was awarded a short video for my efforts and a keychain & baseball cap as parting gifts. Thanks, Ford, for showing me the latest in truck tech!

LOOK AT ME GO!

Hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend! I just got back in town from Hollywood, CA in the ILX (full write-up to come).

I had the chance to get these two out for a lap around the block this evening.

Happy Labor Day!

6 Comments »

140,000-Mile Maintenance Cost Comparison: Then & Now

Posted in ILX, Legend, Maintenance on September 2, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 534,432

Odometer (ILX): 139,755

A 2013 Acura costs half as much to maintain long-term as a 1993 Acura. And I can prove it.

Let’s talk about maintenance costs. I love to ‘geek out’ about facts & figures, so bear with me here. My friends and I frequently comment about how owning an old Legend gets pricey – like this recent dialogue with Kevin from Georgia, who I’ll see at NALM in a few weeks:

Well stated, Kevin. And we love our expensive hobbies like your 1994 LS coupe. Last Wednesday, I dropped another $250 on maintenance for the ILX. This got me wondering just how much the car has cost overall to keep on the road since new. That total is $4651.26. Considering that it has 139,755 miles on it, the cost-per-mile comes out to 3.3 cents. Here’s a detailed spreadsheet look at my ILX’s complete maintenance history since new (on June 12, 2012 @ 16 miles on the odometer).

If the ILX has taken $4,650 to get to 140,000 miles, how much did my other cars cost to get there? Luckily, on 4 of my 6 current Acuras (most of you haven’t ‘met’ the most recent – but you will soon), I have complete records back to brand new. And for each of those cars, I’ve created an Excel spreadsheet just like the one you’re looking at for the ILX, so it’s an easy calculation.

1992 NSX: This car only has 101,000 miles on it, but has already cost $16,908.74. [17 cents per mile]

1993 Legend sedan: Cost $9,777.44 to get to 140,000 miles. [7 cents per mile]

1994 Legend coupe: Cost $7,403.56 to get to 140,000 miles. [5.3 cents per mile]

Conclusion: The average cost of getting a 1993-94 Acura Legend from zero miles (brand new) to 140,000 miles was $8,590. When compared with what the ILX has cost me so far ($4,651), this is a substantial savings – especially considering 20 years of inflation! Did you know that $8,590 in 1994 dollars is $13,831 in 2015 dollars?!

So why is it that my new car is so cheap to keep on the road? How can it be that you’ll spend HALF as much getting your new Acura into the 100,000+ mile range today as you would have spent in the 1990’s? I have a few ideas:

Cars are more reliable in general. Fewer things break. Contributing factors might be: Enhanced durability testing techniques, higher quality materials, more rigorous development processes over the last 20 years.
Scheduled maintenance intervals are longer. While my Legend grew up on 3,000-mile oil changes, it’s not uncommon for my ILX to go 3 times that distance thanks to longer-lasting “0W20” synthetic oil.
Fewer “major” services. The Hondacars of yesteryear required strict adherence to a 90,000-mile change interval for timing belt & water pump replacement. My ILX, on the other hand, has a timing chain, which requires little/no upkeep. This is a $1,200+ savings for me every 90,000 miles!
Improved technology. Thanks to the many computer systems at work in today’s cars, we leave it to the car to tell us when it needs something, rather than leaving it to a mechanic who may just want extra money.
External conditions: Are roads less likely to put wear and tear on suspensions today than they were 20 years ago? Am I a more careful driver than my Legends had when they were new?
Or is it that the Legend was simply a more complex car than my ILX is (it did have two additional cylinders) and thus was inherently more involved to keep on the road?

There’s so much to consider, but these are just a few ideas that I had. I know we have a lot of other road warriors in the audience out there. What do you think? Are cars of today more economical to maintain than cars of yesterday?

Chew on that while you look at this safari-ready, lifted 1998 Acura SLX that a friend sent me.

Finally, the Phoenix area has been getting hit hard this week with late-summer “monsoon” thunderstorms. We had a pretty severe one roll through town on Monday night.

I was out to dinner with a friend in Old Town Scottsdale when I noticed that every time the restaurant door swung open, people were ducking indoors to seek cover, soaking wet. The rain outside was coming in sideways and the wind was howling. Sadly, when I went back out to my car, I saw that a dumpster had rolled into it.

The pics were taken AFTER I had rolled the dumpster away and folded the dented sideview mirror back out.

Somehow, miraculously, the mirror took the only impact and the door has zero damage. The dent mostly popped out and I threw some touch-up paint on it Tuesday. This will have to do for now!

Poor car has been through a lot in the last year – I got backed into overnight at a Motel 6 parking lot in Las Vegas, a busted out rear window in Salt Lake City this summer, and now this. Always an adventure! Hope everyone is having a good week!

24 Comments »

Saturday “NSXPO” Planning Drive: Palm Springs to Idyllwild, California

Posted in California, NSX, Road Trip on August 30, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (1993 Legend): 178,323

Odometer (ILX): 139,512

Trip Distance: 657 Miles

Did you know? We’re only about 6 weeks away from what’s slated to be the biggest gathering of Acura NSX owners in history. NSXPO 2015, scheduled for October 8-11 in Palm Springs, California, sold out in only 8 days with 250 registered attendees. These people are coming from all across the country – as well as internationally – to celebrate the NSX’s 25-year anniversary with fellow enthusiasts.

There were just fewer than 9,000 Acura NSX models sold in the United States during the car’s 15-year production run. That makes them pretty rare (for comparison, Honda sells over 30,000 Accords in any given month), but NSXPO has been a tradition for over 10 years now and continues to draw a crowd.

One of the activities during our busy 4-day event schedule will be a 100-mile scenic drive through the San Jacinto Mountains just southwest of Palm Springs on the “Palms to Pines Scenic Byway.” The drive loop is comprised by 3 main roads: Interstate 10, Highway 243, and Highway 74. I’ve already taken a “test drive” of this loop (last year) but wanted to give it another go now that we’re getting close to showtime at NSXPO.

There are many logistics to be fine-tuned. Have you ever tried taking a group drive with even just a few cars? Someone needs to stop for fuel. Someone gets stuck at a light. Someone takes a wrong turn. Things can get turned around in a hurry. Now, expand the scope to involve upwards of 200 vehicles. There are special considerations were are taking, even potentially including police escorts. We want the driving event to be fun AND safe for all attendees.

On Friday evening, I drove out to Palm Springs via I-10 westbound and arrived in time for dinner with my good friends Scott & Sandy. On Saturday morning, I met up at the NSXPO host hotel, Agua Caliente Resort, with the following folks:

Scott in his red NSX – 47,000 miles
Rahul in his red NSX – 96,000 miles
JC in his yellow NSX – 98,000 miles
Les in his black NSX – 138,500 miles
Chris in his burgundy TSX Sport Wagon – 15,000 miles
Me in the silver ILX – 139,000 miles

Newest car in the bunch, and I still had more miles than anyone else! Chris rode along with the rest of us and even took a turn at the wheel of Scott’s car. Unlike last October’s test-drive, we decided to take the loop counter-clockwise this time. That meant our first leg would be via I-10 westbound to Exit 101 for Hargrave Street which connects to HIghway 243.

The highway narrowed to a two-laner as we started making our way up the grade. For being a Saturday morning, I was surprised how little traffic there was. I was also surprised how polite the other drivers were about pulling over to the turnouts when they recognized faster moving traffic (us) in their rearview mirrors. Road conditions were great and we had fun with our mildly-aggressive ascent up the mountain. Les became concerned about a fuel smell at one point and we took a break to investigate. He ended up continuing on and his NSX was fine for the rest of the day, however.

We dined at Jo Ann – a burger place in the center of bustling Idyllwild. Parking was a bit of an ordeal, even for just 5 cars, so we decided it will be best for NSXPO purposes if we tell our 200+ participants NOT to stop there for food or drink, but to continue onward. Les & JC headed back toward Banning & Orange County, while Scott, Chris, Rahul, and I continued on to the junction with Highway 74 and descending back into Palm Springs.

For a time, I got to ride in Rahul’s car and it was a real treat. Rahul’s NSX is special because it’s a limited-edition 1999 “Zanardi” edition, custom designed by Alex Zanardi, professional race driver from Italy. It’s one of only 50 cars that were built in that configuration – with fixed roof, upgraded suspension, unique wheel design, and other enhancements over the stock NSX. Rahul’s car is #16.

Here’s the numbered plaque behind the seats:

Continuing down the mountain:

Last stop on my Palm Springs visit was a check-in at Scott’s warehouse/museum. We happened to line up 6 Acuras outside and it seemed only fitting to take a photo. I got to drive his immaculate 1988 Legend L coupe with only 81,000 original miles on it, as well as his latest acquisition, a 1996 Subaru SVX with only 52,000 miles on it. Both cars drove amazingly.

Drive time home to Phoenix was about 4.5 hours and despite some extreme weather I made it with time to spare. Check out this dust storm I drove straight into, just west of Buckeye, Arizona on Interstate 10.

Here’s what it looked like from inside the storm.

Thanks for coming along for the ride, and enjoy the rest of these pics!

Short video of our Acura lineup at Scott’s:

Friday night arrival at my hotel on Indian Canyon Road

Parking in Idyllwild

Photo by Chris – getting ready to head back out after lunch

1992 & 1999 NSXs

Chris, Tyson, Scott – looking straight into some very bright sunlight

Lineup of Acuras at Scott’s storage facility

I suggested to Scott that he acquire the following cassette tapes to play in his 1988 Legend.

Rick Astley, George Michael, Whitney Houston… this is a star-studded lineup!

I agree with this graffiti on I-10 near Desert Center, California. Enjoy the drive!

Sunset in my sideview mirror to close out a great day. Thanks again for coming!

19 Comments »

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

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

Odometer (Legend): 534,427

Odometer (ILX): 138,509

Trip Distance: 1,112 Miles

On any given week, I would guess I receive about a dozen “odometer” related pictures from friends and family. Recently, a few of those were Ruben’s Honda Pilot hitting 180,180 miles with 90 degrees on the outside temp, Ian’s Volkswagen Jetta GLI hitting 33,333 miles with 111 degrees on the temp, and Ivan’s Acura RL hitting 270,000 miles. Have I trained these people or what? Someday I’m going to compile all of the submissions into a massive blog post in order of mileage.

I think the Mac-Daddy of all odometer achievers has to be Alex from Florida who has sent me next two. What are the chances he could pull both of these off in his Scion xB?

78 miles per hour
87 degrees
78,887 miles on the odometer

Then:

28 miles per hour
82 degrees
82,228 miles on the odometer

Clearly these took some pre-planning! Alex is the man.

Special recognition goes out to Josh from Idaho who captioned this odo shot with “Counting. Like a Boss.” His 2005 Acura TSX recently rolled the 456,789-mile mark with 123 on the trip meter. Nicely done, Josh.

Make sure and follow Josh’s pages for TSX Travels on Facebook and on Instagram to keep up to date on his progress toward hitting 500,000 miles on his car!

Speaking of TSX milestones, today’s feature is right along those lines. We’re here to talk about my friend Peter’s 2004 Acura TSX 6-speed that passed the 200,000 mile mark on a weekend road trip in south-central Utah.

Named for Mormon pioneer Ebenezer Bryce who settled in the remote area in 1874, Bryce Canyon was named a national park 1928. It receives about 1.4 million visitors annually and covers about 36,000 acres. Despite its name, Bryce is in fact not a “canyon” because it wasn’t formed from erosion from a central stream. Rather, it was formed by “headward” erosion which has to do with an origin moving away from direction of stream flow. Can the geologists in the blog-reading audience please chime in and explain this to those of us who are clueless?

Peter picked Bryce as the destination of choice for his 200k celebratory road trip. The first leg of our trip was to St. George, Utah where we’d be meeting up with seasoned road-tripper Jason from Las Cruces, New Mexico (Driven for Drives) and also joined by James Lee of Six Speed Blog. Peter and I departed from north Phoenix in the early afternoon on Friday in two silver Acura sedans: his TSX and my ILX.

Our timing was sheer perfection, as Peter & I arrived at my mom’s place just minutes before Jason got there (Jason had started his 8-hour driving day out in Grants, New Mexico). Mom had lasagna, salad, and fruit ready for us to satisfy our appetites. It wasn’t until about 4 hours later that James arrived in a 2015 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid which he was road-testing for the week. Mom had to get in on the action by pulling her 2010 Volkswagen EOS into the mix for our 5-car photoshoot on Saturday morning.

We set sail northbound a few minutes later in 3 sport sedans: The ILX, the TSX, and the 6. We had about a 130-mile one-way drive to the entrance to Bryce Canyon ahead of us.

Thanks to the elevation gain from St. George to Cedar City, the temperature dipped down out of the 90’s – a great reprieve to those of us who’ve been enduring triple digits since May. By the time we headed east on Highway 14 toward Duck Creek, Peter only had 10 miles left to spare until the big 200,000 mile mark. We knew already that the road would not have much of a shoulder to pull over on, but we decided to press on and see where the milestone would happen anyway.

Peter kept me posted via walkie-talkie as his TSX crept closer to the rollover, and we pulled over just briefly for a few shots at the exact location where it happened. Couldn’t have asked for a nicer backdrop!

200,000 on the dot:

The happy owner!

It was time to rip through the gears and continue our ascent. Once we finished climbing Cedar Mountain, we’d arrived at a little over 8,500 feet and the temperature was a brisk 69 degrees. You’d better believe I had all 4 windows down and the moonroof open to savor every second of that environment. After some enthusiastic twists & turns in Highway 14, we stopped briefly for a bathroom break at Duck Creek Village. The place was crawling with off-road enthusiasts and at least a hundred ATVs lined the main street with shops & a small cafe.

From there, we connected with Highway 89 and headed north for about 25 minutes until arriving at Scenic Byway 12, one of Utah’s most famous stretches of road. We started seeing frequent signs about Bryce Canyon so we knew we were getting close. There were two small tunnels along the way. We opted to take all 3 cars into the park @ $30 each which was kind of a poor financial move, considering the 4 of us could have easily piled into one vehicle. But for the sake of completing the road trip, we all wanted to have our own cars inside Bryce Canyon for any potential photo-ops.

I summoned everyone for a pow-wow in the Visitor Center parking lot so we could pull out our maps and figure out the next stops. I proposed a visit to Sunset Point just a little bit down the road. As soon as we found parking there, we walked out to the edge of the cliff and beheld a huge expanse of red rock formations for as far as the eye could see. It was stunning to say the least.

The sandstone towers are called “hoodoos” and were formed by years and years of erosion. That erosion is, in fact, still actively taking place. The National Park Service recommends making follow-up visits to the park because the terrain can change in just a short matter of time. I noticed a trailhead that said there was a 1.3 mile loop we could take. We all had a pretty good amount of energy to burn off from sitting in the cars for the last couple of hours, so we headed down into the canyon on the tight switchbacks that descended at steep elevation. The base of the canyon reminded me a little of Antelope Canyon due to its sheer walls and cooler temperatures.

Here you can see a piece of a trail weaving down into the depths of the canyon.

The not-so-fun part was climbing back out of the canyon, as it took only a few minutes to realize the grade was steeper than it looked, and we hadn’t packed any water with us. We definitely broke a sweat. Thankfully, we were just a 2-minute drive away from the historic Bryce Canyon Lodge and its restaurant. The Lodge was completed in 1924 and is a National Historic Landmark. It was one of 4 lodges built in the Union Pacific Loop Tour. I sampled the Grand Canyon Club and it was delicious.

From our dining table, we could see a thunderstorm brewing outdoors and within a few minutes, it was pouring rain outside. The open windows brought in a breeze of fresh mountain air and it was better than any scent Glade has ever produced! We didn’t even care that the rain would put a damper on the rest of our park visit. We decided to check out Rainbow Point, the highest point in the park at 9,105 feet. The road through Bryce extends for another 15 miles south beyond the Lodge, and we took it to its end.

Thunderstorms are serious business in Bryce Canyon. Lightning strikes have claimed the lives of four visitors in the last 23 years! Rain (and even a little bit of hail – in August!) kept us from venturing too far out at this viewpoint, but we did enjoy a couple minutes from this area. Kind of like Clark Griswold at the Grand Canyon.

We did a little car-key switcheroo after that, and I drove both Jason’s 6 and Peter’s TSX. The Mazda, at 167,000 miles, drove as smoothly as could be. I enjoyed the V6 power and the 5-speed transmission. Peter’s TSX is a sport-tuned masterpiece: The gearbox has a short-throw shifter making gear changes extremely quick and precise. Handling has been enhanced thanks to a professionally lowered suspension. The car drove tightly despite its 200,113 miles!

Jason split ways from us at the Highway 89 / Highway 14 interchange, and Peter, James, and I went back up over Duck Creek on Cedar Mountain in a torrential downpour. Road conditions got so dicey I had to slow way down and keep the wipers on full-blast. Oh, and my wiper blades on the ILX SUCK! They’re the originals – and Peter pointed out to me earlier in the day that the rubber has become totally detached. I’m adding that to the list of things to address in this week’s “B1” maintenance service appointment.

Back in St. George, it was time to spice things up a bit so we took mom’s red EOS to dinner. I decided to show the guys my favorite pizza joint in town: Pizza Factory. It did not disappoint! And the following morning, we headed out in the TSX, ILX, and Sonata for Phoenix by way of Las Vegas on our return drive.

Thanks to all who made this fun weekend adventure possible, and a huge CONGRATS to Peter on passing the 200,000 mile mark. Here’s to many more! Video of a few weekend highlights here:

The rest of my photos are here. First, my Lunchables.

Peter in the sideview mirror.

I have Jason & James “tracked,” location-wise, so I was able to see where they were.

Dinner at mom’s place on Friday night in St. George.

Photoshoot!

Location of Peter’s 200,000 mile mark

Duck Creek Village along Highway 14, east of Cedar City

Peter’s TSX wears two of these stickers proudly!

Red Canyon, just east of the Highway 89 / Highway 12 junction

Your truly – acting as tour guide

Peter and James making their way down the trail

Sweaty hikers but feeling pretty accomplished

Obligatory warning about not falling off the edge of the cliff

Warning sign at eastern entrance to Highway 14 which would take us up Cedar Mountain

Silver sedans after driving through the massive mountain thunderstorm

Back in blue sky country, headed to dinner in the EOS

James took a spy shot of this 2016 ILX passing me on Highway 93 on the way back to PHX

Thanks for joining!

28 Comments »

Intermission: Die-Cast Model Car Update, Upcoming Events

Posted in Arizona on August 20, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 534,423

Odometer (ILX): 137,344

I’m about through my 9th summer in Arizona and every year I get a little bit more accustomed to having my metal shift knob “brand” my right palm with the imprint of a 1-6 gear pattern. We broke a couple of records in the past week or so – 117 degrees Fahrenheit or some nonsense like that. I kind of lose track after it gets above about 105. Besides, I’m sitting in an air-conditioned (read: frigid) office for 9 hours during the workday and I can’t even see the sunshine over my 7-foot-tall cubicle walls, let alone feel it.

Summer is in full swing, and with that I mean I’ve been too busy to even focus much on posting regular updates here.

Here’s what we have to look forward to in the coming several weeks:

This weekend: Road trip to Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah
Next weekend: Road trip to Palm Springs & Idyllwild, California
Labor Day: Surprise! No plans yet for the 3-day weekend
September 12: Honda S2000 Event (details TBD, this one isn’t announced)
September 23-27: National Acura Legend Meet in Houston, Texas
October 8-11: Acura “NSXPO” in Palm Springs, California

Sneak peek of the landscape in Bryce Canyon:

So I hope you’ll come along for the ride as we make the rounds to some of these fun activities.

In the meantime, it’s been about 18 months since I last looped you all in on my project involving 6 die-cast model cars that have been sitting on my rooftop since December 2009. For the last nearly 6 years, those cars have seen the wrath of Phoenix weather: persistent heat, drenching “monsoon” rainstorms, and those famous late-summer dust storms that we giggle and call “haboobs.”

So from glistening 1:18 scale metallic paint & chrome, my unfortunate test cars have now faded, yellowed, and weathered as one would expect. I climbed up on the ladder this afternoon when I got home from work to see just how bad things have gotten. The BMW 3-series driver side door was wide open. I closed it back up – not that it’ll help keep the interior any nicer, seeing as how it’s a convertible.

Here’s how my Maserati looks. This one is on a west-facing side of the chimney. It clearly sees direct sunlight a lot.

Whereas the ’57 Thunderbird, right in front of it, looks amazing. It’s by far my best survivor.

The BMW 3-series lost a headlight sometime in around 2012. The red seats are baked brown.

The SL500’s front grill has deteriorated almost entirely.

The Aston Martin isn’t too bad. It gets shaded in the afternoons.

I think the ’57 Nomad might be my favorite. The way the paint has chipped away and the chrome has yellowed makes it look like a real abandoned car. I get a “Christine” feeling when looking at it. Who else here loves the Stephen King movie?

It’s as if I can hear “Bad to the Bone” playing when I look at it.

It looks like a real 58-year-old car. Someone suggested that when my science experiment concludes (end date: TBD), I should take one of these cars and “restore” it. Do I have any hobby modelers in the audience who are good with a paint gun?

As for current events, I had a few fun friend encounters this week. I rolled out to Gilbert, Arizona in the Legend to check out a friend’s newly-built home.

Thanks, Todd, for the tour! I’ll be back for the pool party!

I also had a visit from my friend Asim who’s based in Washington, D.C., but was in town for work. I went to start the NSX so we could drive it to Roka Akor restaurant in Scottsdale (great sushi, btw!) and it wouldn’t start. It cranked all day long but seemed like it wasn’t getting fuel. Feeling a little defeated (and a lot embarrassed) I told Asim, “Well, we’ll have to take the Legend. It starts every time.” And it did.

I’m a little proud of myself for figuring out – and fixing – the NSX starting problem all on my own. I found out in some googling that the “main relay” is a common weak point. The solder joints inside the relay get broken or cracked, causing the connection to be lost and thus the fuel pump to receive no power. I followed some instructions and located the relay behind a panel inside the cabin, just behind the seats.

I had the relay re-soldered by a friend (but ordered a $70 new one, for good measure), reinstalled it, and the NSX started up on the first crank! I treated the car to a hand-wash last night.

Slippery when wet. Still cleans up decently for having 100,900 miles on the odometer.

Also this week I got to meet up with my friend Michael who formerly joined a Drive to Five group drive in his BMW 7-series. He’s since sold the 7 but stayed within the BMW family. Look at his GORGEOUS 1987 BMW 635csi. 118,000 miles on the odometer and every record since new. I promise — I saw them. Michael pulled out an inch-thick portfolio from the glove compartment dating back 28 years. Unreal. He let me take the car for a spin and it drove incredibly for such a vintage car. The A/C blew colder than my 2013 ILX!

Lastly, I had to laugh when a friend showed me this ad for an immaculate 2000 Acura Integra GS on Ebay. The car is clean and all, but you know what my favorite part was? The guy has created a binder for his service records. Even the cover of the binder has a sketch of the car, a title in appropriate font, and the dates for original purchase and second owner purchase. I need to meet that guy.

Safe travels, happy Friday (soon!) and enjoy the weekend.

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Sunday Drive to “PHOENIX” Marker, and Some 2016 NSX Sightings

Posted in Arizona, ILX, NSX, Road Trip on August 12, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 534,350

Odometer (ILX): 136,770

Trip Distance: 67 Miles

Lots of cities & towns across America have letters or numbers painted on mountainsides nearby to represent something symbolic. My hometown in southern Utah has a huge white “D” on the hill since St. George is “Utah’s Dixie.”

But, there aren’t many towns that have an entire 7-letter word spelled out in massive 100-foot-tall letters! For anyone who’s driven nearby on Loop 202 or northbound on Ellsworth Road, you’ve probably seen this view (you’ll have to click/zoom at top left):

Located on Usery Mountain in Mesa about 20 miles east of Phoenix, a giant “PHOENIX” marker is made of rocks that have been painted white. It took a Boy Scout troop over 5 years to assemble them in the early 1950’s. Most of the information that I found stated that the marker served as a guide for aircraft at the time, similar to the concrete arrows found across America.

Unfortunately, access to the PHOENIX sign is a little tough right now. I made it almost all of the way there and then ran up against a metal gate with not one, but 3 padlocks attached to it. Those, along with the plentiful “NO TRESPASSING” signs, kept me from trying to get any closer.

I did the best I could to capture a photo with my car, of course.

From there, I looped around toward Saguaro Lake on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

I promise, I was having a good time!

These cliffs at sunset are brilliant. I need to get back out there at the right time of day.

Sending some hearty congrats out to TWO friends who’ve joined the ranks of “Bellanova White” Acura TLX ownership in the last week or so. Ed in North Carolina went with the 2.4 liter. Here it is parked next to his roommate’s 3.5 RL:

And Ira in Oregon traded his TSX 6-speed in on a new 3.5 liter TLX SH-AWD.

A stunning purchase if I do say so. Well done, guys!

Let’s have some NSX Talk for a minute. This guy Sheldon has a mileage achievement to share that’s pretty dang impressive. His NSX has logged 400,000 miles!

Tuesday was a special day for the Arizona NSX fanclub since we learned that two production-spec NSXs were headed our way as part of a testing shakeout during the “#AcuraNSXOnTour” campaign. My sources had told me to be at the Acura of Tempe dealership between 3-5 p.m. So, I drove my own 1992 NSX to work, thinking I’d leave directly from there to head to the dealership in the afternoon. What I didn’t anticipate was extreme weather:

My poor car saw rain for the first time in my 3.5 years of ownership. Oh well! As my friend Mike said, “Don’t worry about it. It’s not like it’s going to melt or anything!” Very true, Mike.

The arrival of the 2016 NSX models was delayed, and the ETA was pushed back to 7 p.m. An anxious crowd of about 20 people started assembling at the dealership around that time. Current NSX owners comprised the majority of the group, though most didn’t have their NSXs with them.

One attendee was a guy named Stewart from Fountain Hills who has never owned an NSX but who was specifically invited by dealership management who is interested in getting one. He’d better get in line! I don’t know how many cars will be allocated to each dealership, but I heard that there will be only 8 NSXs produced per day at the Ohio assembly plant.

By 8:30 p.m., I’d waited 90 minutes and the NSXs hadn’t arrived. I had to take off because I was already late for a dinner engagement. I received a text message just minutes later from my buddy Jhae who was still waiting – I’d missed the arrival by just a teeny bit of time. No worries, I stopped by this morning with my friend Kelvin and we had the cars all to ourselves inside the service bay.

The red one looked clean, but the black one had clearly spent a lot of time on the road. It was covered in dust and the front end was buggy.

Still, I’d take one! Would you choose the red or the black?

Hope everyone is having a good week. Before you go, check out these awesome roads in a short “Dream Roads” video put together by Infiniti! I’m determined to visit some of these.

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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.

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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

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Quick Pics in Tempe, Arizona & Vigor Maintenance Update

Posted in Legend, Vigor on July 30, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 534,153

Odometer (ILX): 135,367

I took a little lap around Lakeshore Drive at Tempe Town Lake on Wednesday after work. Nobody was out (it was a little too hot).

In the background here is the Mill Avenue Bridge which dates back to 1931 and continues to carry traffic across the Salt River.

As a “road history” fan, I learned something during my research about the Mill Avenue Bridge. It was preceded by an even earlier structure – the Ash Avenue Bridge – just to the west. This photo shows the Mill (left) and Ash (right) bridges in the 1920s.

The Ash Avenue Bridge, built in 1911, offered a critical first link across the Salt River but was short-lived. It was far too narrow to accommodate two lanes for automobiles, and it was irreparably damaged by a flood in 1919. The bridge was finally closed in 1933, two years after the Mill Avenue Bridge was finished, and eventually was demolished in 1991, except for just this tiny piece on the south bank which now has a pedestrian patio/viewpoint on top of it.

This October 2013 article by Jay Mark shares more about the very interesting history of this important piece of road. It was built by convict labor! During the two years it was under construction, 15 inmates escaped. What a grand plan that was. Haha.

I’ve enjoyed showing off my ‘new’ Acura Vigor to friends in the 4 weeks that have gone by since I picked it up on the 4th of July in Denver and drove it home to Phoenix. This past Sunday, I met up with my friends Chuck & Patty who have a custom 1988 Legend L convertible. It was warm weather for top-down cruising, but that didn’t stop them from getting brunch at Pier54 in Tempe!

Later that same day, my friend Jason from New Mexico rolled through town so we got some Hawaiian BBQ.

The Vigor already undergone quite a bit of transformation both mechanically and cosmetically. This week, it received a fresh tint job thanks to Desert Shield in Tempe, Arizona. The purple, bubbled, hazy film on the windows has been professionally replaced with a charcoal 30% all the way around. I’m very happy with the results.

From a maintenance perspective, since I had purchased this car knowing little (read: nothing) about its prior history, I pretty much had to start from scratch. Tait Johnson, otherwise known as “Hon-Man,” has operated a repair shop in Tempe since the late 1990’s that specializes exclusively in Honda & Acura automobiles. One glance at the parking lot upon arrival and I knew that I’d found Honda Mecca. There were at least two dozen Honda or Acura cars in the parking lot.

I had Tait’s team go through the Vigor with a fine-toothed comb to see what they felt needed addressing. In the end, they did identify a few things.

Blockage in Evap Drain Hose: This was causing the A/C condensation water to drip on my feet / floor mats rather than underneath the car. Fixed free of charge.
Valve Adjustment: This Vigor had a nagging “tick” that left me a little concerned. Tait’s team got it purring like a kitten.
Distributor Shaft Seal, O-Rings, Cap & Rotor: Per recommendation, this fixed a leak.
Timing Belt Inspection: Any Honda lover knows that timing belt maintenance is one of the most critical part things to keep in mind for long-lasting engine life. In most cases, the interval is every 90,000 miles. I once had a 1991 Honda Prelude Si that broke its old/original timing belt and bent some valves in the process. That engine was toast afterward. Tait found that the Vigor’s belt has in fact already been changed, though there was a concerning aspect of the install – one “guide” is installed backwards and the water pump that was used is a low quality unit. At some point in the coming weeks, I may do a full timing belt package with Tait for peace of mind.

At 104,392 miles, I got the car back after these items had been addressed and cruised home happily. Thanks to my friend Hy for recommending such a great shop.

On the upcoming list of items to address, though somewhat back-burner:

Exhaust System: From the get-go, the Vigor has been a little louder than I think it should be. I suspect that even though the body doesn’t show any signs of rust-through, the car’s exhaust system probably has some wear & tear from spending 20+ years in Colorado where winters are fairly brutal. Midas quoted me around $500 to get it back to new.
Leather Re-Do: My friend Donald works for a high-end upholstery shop in Scottsdale and said he’s confident he could easily replace the panel of my driver side seat bolster that is worn out. And not to worry – he’ll match that “Cognac” colored interior to perfection!

So, in coming attractions: I’m about to hit the road in the ILX this afternoon and head to sunny St. George, Utah (~800 miles round trip). The occasion? High school class reunion! The Pine View High School class of 2000 is ready for a 15-year regroup. It’s hard to believe it’s been a decade & a half. See you on the flip side. Bonus points if you can find me in this photo from one the dances my senior year.

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