TSX69

Forgotten Cars:
Honda's Long-Lost 5 Cylinder Engine & the Acura Vigor

Welcome to Forgotten Cars, where we highlight fascinating cars and engines that are obscure, unrecognized and lost to the passage of time.

Even if you're not a diehard Honda person, you probably are at least a little familiar with their family of engines. You likely know the legendary B-series 4-cylinder motors from the Civic and Integra, or its replacement, the K-series, or even the F-series from the S2000 and other cars.

But unless you owned a very particular Acura in the 1990s, work at a Honda repair shop, or are some kind of hardcore Honda fan, you may not know about the G-series. That was their family of not-very-well-known 5-cylinder engines.

Wait, Honda made a 5-cylinder engine? They did for a few years. Coming in either the 2.0-liter G20A or 2.5-liter G25A, the motor only saw duty on a handful of sedans in the 80s and 90s, during that era when Japan was flush with cash and car companies were diversifying their lineups like there was no tomorrow.

The 2.5-liter G made it stateside in the form of the Acura Vigor beginning in 1992. The little-remembered sedan was Acura's 4th car, slotting in between the bottom-level Integra and the top-level Legend in both size and cylinders. (Way up top was the NSX, which no 1 has forgotten about.)

What can you really say about the Vigor? It's pretty standard fare Acura from that era: It handled well for a front-driver, it came with a stick, it was classy in kind of a boring way, but it didn't really look all that different from an Accord. Other somewhat interesting features included frameless door windows. I always thought it looked like the car you beat up in the Final Fight bonus stage.

But the Vigor's engine was certainly on the unique side. The idea behind 5-cylinder engines is that they combine the power of a 6 with the fuel economy of a 4. It doesn't always work out that way, and sometimes, the reverse ends up being true.

You Tube

The G was a 20-valve, fuel-injected SOHC engine with an aluminum block and head. If you wanted VTEC, you had to look elsewhere. But it produced decent enough horsepower numbers for its day — 176 horsepower at 6,300 RPM and 170 ft-lbs of torque at 3,900 RPM. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the motor, besides its oddball cylinder count, was the fact that it was longitudinally mounted as if it were powering a rear-wheel-drive car. (The Acura Legend's V6 was positioned the same way, too.) Mounted far back, it gave the car nearly 50/50 weight distribution.

Why did Honda use a 5-cylinder motor? They argued in their commercials and promotional videos that their 5 was smoother than a 4 and lighter and supposedly more efficient than a 6. Regardless of its quirky Audi- or Volvo-ish engine, the Vigor wasn't a hit for Acura. Reviewers at the time dinged its uninspiring styling (the Los Angeles Times said you ran the risk of losing it in a parking lot), poor rear seat room, and the fact that it was within $3,500 of the roomier, more powerful, better Legend.

The Vigor was never a car that really stood out in any way, and after only 3 years, it was dumped in favor of the TL, which was bigger but equally boring. I'm no fan of Acura's alphanumeric names, but Vigor wasn't all that great either. It sounds like something Buick would try and push on people in retirement homes. The TL also had the 5-banger.

But the time the 2nd-generation TL was rolled out in 1998, the G engine was gone, never to be seen again. And it was the last time Honda would experiment with a 5-cylinder motor. Why didn't they continue it? I'd love to know that myself, but the fact that it was never a major hit for them probably has something to do with it. It may not be the most exciting Forgotten Car of all time, but it's an interesting relic from when Honda was much more apt to take risks with their cars than they are these days.

If any of you have experience with 5-cylinder Acuras, feel free to weigh in.

Mr. Maker

iTrader: (4)

I loved the Vigor.

KaMLuNg

iTrader: (5)

ahh the memories

https://acurazine.com/forums/1g-tl-1996-1998-101/got-new-member-family-%2A%2A%2Aupdated-pics-part-2%2A%2A%2A-597993/

Jakes_tl

I always liked the vigor. Really wish Honda would have kept the 5 cylinder. The inline cylinder always has great torque.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

So is that a flat-five, inline-five, or a V5?

https://acurazine.com/forums/acurazines-hall-fame-284/new-me-i-bet-you-guys-also-acura-amazing-k-how-i-got-owned-395005/

MTEAZY

Back when drug dealers drove Acuras. There was a black Vigor with limo tint and chrome wheels moving around my area. I used to think that thing was so cool haha.

Will Y.

I liked the Vigor's size and looks, but thought the 5-cylinder was a silly engine for any car, whether Acura, Audi or Volvo.

That thread was TOTY material!

Black Tire

I remember way back of the TV commercials for the Intgera and Vigor. The used their F1 cars in their commercials back then.

ThermonMermon

my buddy used to have a vigor in stick. pretty fun.

the vigor was shoehorned in between the Integra sedan and the legend. i suppose you could have called it the TL of its day (if the legend were the equivalent of the RL). unfortunately, for the Vigor, there really wasnt much market share left at the time, since it was acura's car that competited most closely to the quickly popular 4DSC boxy Maxima...and the vigor fell short in most metrics. many that made the decision to "go japanese" back then seemed to be much more easily convinced to upgrade to a legend, or shop for a maxima / lexus ES. The vigor just wasnt in the equation.

one thing that always interested me about acura then was the clear division of interior quality. snapshot 1995, and look at the interiors of the Integra sedan, vigor, and legend. Tier 3, 2, and 1. so drastic, they almost seemed like they were built by different car manufacturers. they sliced up their market shares between line-up tiers in every aspect - size, quality, finish, design. unlike today's "same sausage, different size" model.

Mr Marco

I just couldn't get past the name. Too stupid.

MTEAZY

I hear the TT-RS turbo motor is very good. The VW engine it's based on is crap.

neuronbob

I thought the Vigor was badassed back in the day. I was a medical student when they came out. One of my neurology attendings bought one just after I started residency and showed it to me one day. Being an Acura fan back then (mostly Legendo ), I was impressed with the 5-banger and the sound it made.

Man, those were the days to be an Acura fan!

Costco

I've heard it's a nightmare to do a timing belt job on one.

MR1

I never had a Vigor but did have three five cylinder cars. Audi 5000, VW Quantum (Passat), and Audi 4000S Q. All would be considered slow in acceleration, but could cruise easily at 90 MPH all day long. as I recall, they accelerated like 4's and got gas mileage like 6's, a real disappointment.

I think a variation of that engine is what VW is using today, not interested. I also believe that all manufacturers got the same results as VW/Audi and that's why fives have mostly gone away.

MaxMike93

Weird that I saw this thread earlier and one pulled up right as I was leaving work today

Barev

My parents bought one brand new when they came out and eventually passed it on to my cousin when he got his license some 150k+ miles later. They bought it a little bit before I was born so I spent most of my younger life growing up with that car before they replaced it with a 1999 3.5RL.

Legend2TL

The history behind the Honda/Acura Vigor is interesting.
The Vigor and Accord names were used on same the chassis that was sold at the same time in Japan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acura_Vigor

mrmako

I used to see Honda Vigor's a lot in Japan in the early 90's. Always liked the luxury but light sporting car that itwas.

Moog-Type-S

I thought we all wanted to forget that 5 cyl. mess

Ken1997TL

Diss the Vigor all you want. It probably sounds better than all of your cars

Ken1997TL

It's all about packaging.

An inline five takes up quite a bit of room. You might as well just put in a V6 for the same space. And V6's and I-4's are more 'pedestrian' and therefore cheaper to manufacture.

synth19

My cousin had one with 3 spoke chrome wheels. It was awesome. Thought he was such a G.

Brandon24pdx

I remember them. Never quite understood why they made two cars so similar though. The Legend was the one to get if you wanted a 4 door. It wasn't a bad car in it's own right though. Lacked an audience or focus I guess you could say.

Ken1997TL

Japan taxes their cars based upon engine displacement. It explains MANY of their cars that we find here to be relatively similar.

A 3.2 liter engine (Legend) is going to be taxed quite a bit more than a 2.0 or 2.5 Vigor.

mrmako

Exactly. That is why my Saber (2G TL) was a 2498 cc (2.5L) to save on taxes. Also, they use an outer dimension (car length and width) to determine if it's a 300 plate or a 500 plate along with the engine size (and output power too).

terdonal

A black Vigor was my first Acura and after reading Car & Driver where they said it was an invigorating drive I came up with my personalized plate that I have used ever since.

oo7spy

This thread is intriguing. Driving a Legend for 7 years, I never understood the reason or capability behind the Vigor.

UA6

Interesting.

Black Tire

Don't ever post this photo again. I find it really offensive!

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

^

Moog-Type-S

Well this thread just got ruined thanks to a ZDX.

terdonal

Could have been worse, I could have posted a pic of my ILX.

Moog-Type-S

So YOU are the guy that Acura consults when they want to design new vehicles.

terdonal

Yup, you can thank me for all or none of the below I have owned.

Vigor
Integra GSR (2)
CL (2dr)
CL typeS
RSX typeS
TL
TSX 6 mt
TSX auto
RDX (2)
ZDX
ILX

terdonal

Yup, you can thank me for all or none of the below I have owned.

Vigor
Integra GSR (2)
CL (2dr)
CL typeS
RSX typeS
TL
TSX 6 mt
TSX auto
RDX (2)
ZDX
ILX 6 mt

terdonal

That's okay I find you offensive.