"Honda?" the man said?










(Now if Soichiro were still alive, and recalled the non-conversation with 2 Yanks, of a few decades past.. well maybe my next cycle could be a road version of that er V-[2+3].. At least it wouldn't have oval... pistons - like their last fantasy of fiddling HP vs. stupid FIM formula, regardless of the cockamamieness (what's that word, dans Fran\ufffdais?))

Since they made only 32K of these in '92-'94, guess the badge hasn't reached public consciousness. There's even a website where the current crop of experimenters use 'pre-cooled plenum chambers' and otherwise fiddle with the base excellent components. Seems.. it's about to be a Collector Car (!?)
And the name kinda begs for rearranging the letters on the boot/trunk whatever:

VIAGRA? (old coot car)
VIGORISH? (gambler's nemesis)

(Can't expect CRC to know about *all* the models worldwide, ever: but I Do expect. ;-) Dunno if they made variants of these in other than US (with diff. badge?) but am told there was a Coupe version, sold only in Japan - which would have been my 1st choice natch..

[link|http://www.kbb.com/kb/ki.dll/kw.kc.rp?kbb.CA&95452&11&94vigor|Herewith Gort]

So anyway.. diffrunt strokes. Featurez:

170+ HP - blows away the other exc. fours both in lo-speed torque (where you run 90% of the time) and in smoothness - that counterbalance works. Consumer Reports - the nearest we have here to pretty unbiased 'opinions' (if you correct for their 'farmily POV') BUT real and sufficient user data: lists this and Integra with just about 0 defects, highest Brownie-points in all categories. (Irrelevant to me if.. it happened also to be as boring as say, a Toyota Corolla or as softly-sprung as an Accord etc. But it Isn't those things. It aims to be a real GT)

When my friend got the new '93 Integra, I inspected minutely. The level of finish was to me ~astonishing for any 'consumer' product. Engine compartment looked as finely finished as a motorcyle - and as compact and thus inaccessible :( - pretty much the Price for aerodynamics and modern crumple-rate people protection. Ex - just the door inner-panels: perfectly conforming to contours and 100% sealed against weather into the cab - or the door innards. In 9 years - she has paid $0 for Anything but maintenance. One plastic vent 'air director' was replaced under warranty. Nada else. Most importantly, the (var-rate) steering, road feel, braking - even the logic of the auto-trans - simply worked as I would want them to. Closest thing to a Tektronix Oscilloscope (!) No difference today, 9 yrs. later. And the V. was ~40% more bucks new, than the Integra.

Well.. now the fun begins.. what did I miss? checking But for now - it worketh and.. it goeth and stoppeth rilly Well. And have to look at tach to see if it's still idling. 'GS' means it has all the toys known to womankind incl sliding moonroof.. and the CD to play some trumpet by the young Russian genius, Sergei Nakariakov.. on the maiden voyage home. All nicely audible at 80+ clicks. A Hobbit would appreciate this flavor of magic...


Ashton
Hey the ABS works too - gotta find some ice !!
But the stupid #%^*# space-saver 60 psig 'spare tyre' sux..

as Meerkat describes - seems a peculiarly ex-US form of Microsoftian BS.

No one here has any doubt that Acura IS a Honda - and no more nefarious a moniker than say, GM making all those mere skin-deep changes on a few basic platforms. Ditto "Infiniti" and "Lexus" - it's a Toyota! In a TL review at kbb, guy wrote -

This car has spirit. Perhaps it's the spirit of
Soichiro Honda in this all-new Acura 3.2 TL.
Mr. Honda died in 1992, but officials from
American Honda's Acura Division say the TL
embodies his philosophies of performance,
styling, luxury and value. He strived for
perfection in all his cars and many of them
were significant mileposts in the history of
the automobile.

I do tend to deem Soichiro as a cut above most every other Auto-mogul. He began at the bottom and built his company on at least ~principles to the idealized blurb above. Maybe he was Henry Ford 2: The Quality Guy, somehow even retained through huge quantities too, as people copped to the difference (?) But then, neither do I imagine I know very much about the man behind the er Legend (though that also speaks for itself ;-) 'Least... I heard his voice! on the phone once - and the Co. response to our query was 1st Class: take it in - we'll fix it. Period, no ifs, 'warranty' legalese yada yada. (So, I'm prejudiced by one anecdotal fact from experience)

On Vigor:
Driveshafts emerge about dead center of cyl #3 - where, is obv. visible as er C/L of the wheel. (D'ohh) Tran seems spread about the bottom somewhere + behind, though I have yet to see cutaway, get manuals etc. Recall seeing some sort of 'stepped' trans housing in a Acura blurb once, suggesting that it indeed is partly below, partly behind engine.

Size comparison: not much larger than the Saab 99GL - 'least as it fits in my garage. The leather *cough* encased manual says LWH = 190, 70, 54 inches = 4.83, 1.78, 1.37 meters. Oddly no curb weight; prolly on a body sticker - there are several. No doubt Accord base, but different suspension goodies and obv - power module; dunno about WB - relatively iggerant of Accord stuff. Didn't consider one. Vanilla and a bit too squishy, however well constructed.

Still a bit amazed at the cleanliness of everything, including underside (he only wiped down the engine compartment - once saw what some 'cleaners' do to the protective alloy coatings, so eschewed washing the guts.. - fanatic, as I said). Now if all those &^$%& transistors will keep on keeping on... {sheesh} there's damn little you can fix on these suckers or even diagnose w/o some gadgetry. It's a plot to keep the $80/hr parts replacers in speedboats and UAVs. Now as to the design of 8 yr. old airbags VS the newer kinder, gentler ones -?-

Oh well. In for a penny - I can be sure that, even a 30 mph collision will bend enough sheetmetal, pop airbags etc. as to become expen$ive, while saving little Me-Me-Me. That's a priority I can live with. [/trite pun]


Ashton

(Thanks, that about sums it up - still can't believe my luck on the 'condition')

And then.. day I picked it up - a full-blown nasty cold (which I get rarely.. maybe 2 yrs ago) So sittin here with the required 8 glasses of water/day, yucky Goldenseal and ... awfulness.

Not even enough energy to twit a crypto-fascist (if we had any).
{sniff}

Poor Me :(

(Maybe just Nature's way of delaying gratification?)


Ashton