TLXinTX

As much as I love Acurazine (and I'm here every day), I also made visits to vtec.net a daily ritual for general Honda news and discussions. But it's been timing out for me for the past week or two.

Can anyone else get to it? Or is it just me who's banned? :-D

thoiboi

https://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/vtec.net


looks down

Blues Legend

I came here to see in anyone else has had the same problem.

I rarely visit there these days, but still drop in occasionally.

I've tried emailing Jeff Palmer, hoping everyone's OK...

I'm unsurprised if they have decided to close it - forums like that seem to have had their day, regrettably.

CCColtsicehockey

Forums have sadly died and facebook groups are a horrendous replacement for them.

Hopefully, Jeff is ok but as you said would not be surprised if he decided to throw in the towel.

Legend2TL

Sad but true, however some of the FB groups are fairly good with excellent moderating. I'm on two for my Honda Interceptor motorcycle and vintage (1970's & 80's) stereo equipment and both are pretty good.

TLXinTX

One of the most entertaining threads was regularly updated by a longtime member who -- if I'm putting it as gently as possible -- views the world through a very different lens. I hope that guy is OK.

Legend2TL

acuralegend.org is still online hence with not alot of activity. I learned alot on there from fellow 1G Legend owners.

One of the craziest threads out there is the Ferrari Chat forum and the one member who shoehorned a V12 (Ferrari 400i motor) into a Ferrari 308. This member is quite eccentric and got banned a few times.
https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/th...begins.170171/

zroger73

Temple of VTEC may have been the Honda enthusiast forum at one time, but it seemed like a leaking time capsule to me for years. There was some interesting content and discussions on a different level than many other forums and groups, but the interface was so awful that I was discouraged from participating.

Seems to me that it existed primarily as a media outlet so that the forum owners could gain access to Honda press vehicles.

Acurazine isn't much better when it comes to forum software. I assume it's still using the old vBulletin software that has been replaced with much more modern and useful software from Xenforo.

CCColtsicehockey

I just feel search is pretty terrible on FB in general which is a huge problem. With forums, you could point Google search to the site and look for things if the forum search was bad. I also miss following along on people's build threads which are no more a thing either with FB groups.

Blues Legend

Precisely!

A lot of the intelligent/well-informed posters gradually drifted off so it became a bit of a peanut gallery by the end.

Also, TBH, Honda got a bit boring for a long time so I can understand their changes of allegiance.

I was fun whilst it lasted.

They did look at transferring to a modern plank, but due to the mass of historical stuff, it was an impossible task.

Always a shame to lose that - a bit like when Photobucket broke the internet.

zroger73

I tend to be pretty nostalgic at times, so I hate to see all that information disappear.

All of my posts from Usenet newsgroups in the 1990s are still accessible and have been archived in so many places that they'll probably live forever.

Back in the early-2000s, I was active on RegalGS.org - a popular forum for Buick Regals. Over the years, it changed owners and platforms, but the old posts were carried over. Eventually, it disappeared. If all those posts still exist, they're on someone's hard drive in a basement that will likely never spin up again.

On the subject of Honda, my first one was a 1982 Honda Z50R - the first of what would eventually become nearly 20 Honda and Acura automobiles and motorcycles. Only being able to afford low-end Ford, GM, and Dodge automobiles for years, I admired and respected Honda's quality, simplicity, efficiency, durability, and reliability from a distance. I finally purchased my first Honda automobile in the mid-2000s and went on to own a dozen of them. Six of those were Ridgelines - my favorite model. Unfortunately, the characteristics that led me to fall in love with Honda long ago began to fade as the brand strayed from those core values in an effort to appeal to a wider audience that is more focused on price, styling, performance, and features. Each new Honda I purchased seemed to have lower quality with more problems than the last.

I finally ended up leaving Honda for Mazda. Because of my history with the brand, Honda reached out and made a very generous offer to bring me back. I couldn't refuse, so I bought another Ridgeline.

In January 2023, I stumbled across news of a $13,000 price drop on the Tesla Model Y along with a $7,500 federal tax credit. I had never seriously considered buying an EV before that time, but my brother-in-law was. Knowing that he planned to buy one in a couple of years, I informed him of this news which prompted him to accelerate his purchase and immediately order one.

At that time, I was going to wait until his arrived and if I liked it, I would order one, too. As I learned more about Tesla and the Model Y over the next week, I decided to go ahead and order one for myself. Because of the demand caused by the huge price drop, wait times were in excess of three months. Mine finally arrived a week or two before my brother-in-law's even though he ordered a week before me.

I didn't immediately sell my Ridgeline because I had never owned a Tesla or any other EV and didn't know how one would work out for me in the real world.

It took only a few days with the Model Y to realize my gamble paid off. I sold the Ridgeline and have put 23K trouble-free miles on the Model Y over 15 months. I enjoy the Model Y more than any other of the nearly four dozen automobiles of different types from different brands in different price ranges that I have owned.

After driving a Tesla every day for over a year including daily driving where I can charge at home and long trips where I charge at Superchargers, I have no plans to ever purchase another gasoline-powered vehicle.

garoto

I’ve been a member of the ToV since the early 2000s. I feel like if it was going to shut down, they most certainly would’ve announced it and given a heads up. So strange.

Blues Legend

Hi, Garoto. I've not received a response (or bounce-back) from Jeff, which is a bit concerning. He might merely have been bombarded with concerned emails from those of us with his address - hopefully...

I'd like to hope that they've been hit with a massive DDOS or something due to RolledanNSX actually revealing too much, rather than being a victim of the illness/death pandemic.

Perhaps the ancient server simply committed seppuku and it's not worth fixing.

Zroger73; yes, I find myself looking at historical websites from times when I found cars interesting/exciting - I love old brochures and stuff. Having driven a Honda N-one and an Anyone recently, I do get why some people like BEVs. The latter probably would be a 'perfect' car in many regards. They just ain't me, so to speak...

Mind you, I hardly drive my old dinosaurs anymore, either.

garoto

it’s the no email response + silent instagram account that has me a bit worried. I hope all is good.

Blues Legend

Indeed - I don't do antisocial meeja, but the lack of updates (or absence thereof on a websearch) does suggest something untoward has occurred.

Here's hoping all is well...

Longhorn3

I think Jeff just got tired as some of the posters went off the rails. He had stated before that web visits cratered when Honda stopped catering to the enthusiasts. I will miss it, it was the go to place for me to get Honda news and post Honda news.

SleekSilver

Well, that's crazy. I just tried to visit to catch up on some Honda news and found it was down as well. I visited a couple times a year starting around ~1999 or so. It will be missed.

Blues Legend

Probably a question of economics - I just realised I've not donated for a few years!

Plus the peanut gallery...

garoto

It's likely lack of members at this stage, it has been pretty quiet. I was surprised that there wasn't any type of an announcement or similar, but who to announce to if it's only 5-10 people visiting.

Honda has in fact stopped catering to the enthusiasts, unless you're willing to fork $60k on an ITS or CTR, which is hardly "enthusiast market" as far as Honda goes. And the 1.5T on the Si and Integra are enthusiasty but that's about it. I was looking into potentially getting into an Integra 6MT or an Si, but with the sticky steering issues, introduction of Google Tracking to the Si, and removal of native XM radio, plus ridiculous price increases and absence of any color choice in the '25 Si, its looking like a non-starter.

Blues Legend

One might have thought so (would save concerns...) but quite a few small sites that I used to enjoy have simply ceased to exist without warning.

UnlmitedSi

Also very concerned, no responses via email or cell. If anyone discovers the actuality of the situation, please do update this thread. Would hate to bother his family since there has never been any previous communication. Much love to the few that have gathered here.

TLXinTX

Glad to see I'm not the only one missing the Temple of VTEC.

Another odd thing is that about a week before it went offline, I noticed the site's certificate expired. I sent Jeff a DM over Instagram to let him know. He didn't reply, but it was quickly renewed by the next day. It's just strange that he would have bothered renewing the DNS certificate if he was going to take the site down soon thereafter.

Curious3GTL

This is old school but maybe send his house a letter? If you have the address and send a letter someone will eventually get it.

alexsoriano1

Hi,
I was in touch with Jeff Palmer by email on July 3rd, asking about what had happened to TOV, and this is the response I received from him,

On 7/3/2024 10:54 AM, Jeff Palmer wrote:I am not sure. Ad dollars shrank to the point that it was no longer covering the hosting costs. I have been covering the costs out of pocket off and on since covid hit. Prior to that i had already put $20k into it in 2019 or 2019 alone

Maybe if I can find a sponsor that will cover the hosting costs we can fire it back up.

Thanks,
Jeff

alexsoriano1

Hi,
I was in touch with Jeff Palmer by email on July 3rd, asking about what had happened to TOV, and this is the response I received from him,

On 7/3/2024 10:54 AM, Jeff Palmer wrote:I am not sure. Ad dollars shrank to the point that it was no longer covering the hosting costs. I have been covering the costs out of pocket off and on since covid hit. Prior to that i had already put $20k into it in 2019 or 2019 alone

Maybe if I can find a sponsor that will cover the hosting costs we can fire it back up.

Thanks,
Jeff

P.S. I was superchg2 on TOV.

silverTL6

iTrader: (2)

My suspicion was that life had simply taken priority over the website, as there were many model announcements, media test drives, etc. that he hadn't posted about on the front page in recent months, even before it went offline.

Then perhaps something catastrophic happened to it (seems we may have our answer above), which was the final straw for him. But yeah, sad to see it go if it really isn't coming back, as there were many topics / info available there that often wasn't posted here.

Though I certainly won't miss some of the trolls or weirdo's there (even if some of them used to share interesting but questionable insider info)

fiatlux

What I'd like to know is how AZ still stays up and running since traffic has slowed to a crawl as well.

silverTL6

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, I would've thought the influx of new Type-S models and Acura's newfound focus on performance would've created more traffic here. Alas, it's a ghost town compared to the 3G TL days. Sadly enough, FB / Instagram do seem to be the new "it" places, as impersonal and annoying they are to use.

Also, why aren't there generation-specific sub-forums here for Integra and ZDX? That likely hasn't helped with bringing in new Integra / ZDX owners.

alexsoriano1

I guess Jeff will probably no longer be a member of the press corps for new Honda / Acura products, but I suspect that he will continue to drive his 500 hp CTR, S2K, and be free of the responsibilities of TOV.

Longhorn3

Thank you for following up, and its what I thought. Vtec.net was an upside-down proposition. The pop ads were not enough revenue.

Longhorn3

What vehicles does Acura sell more of? CUVs. I do not see soccer moms reading Acurazine to catch up on the latest news on their RDX and MDXs.

Longhorn3

If he fires it back up, who will know? Let's admit it, Vtec.net had a good run, I was there for over 20 years, and learned a lot about Hondas and the car industry in general. If you are reading this Jeffx, a sincere thank you.

alexsoriano1

When Honda's biggest news for 2025 is the Civic Hybrid, it's easy to see why the enthusiast may feel left out, although the Hybrid might out accelerate the Si!

silverTL6

iTrader: (2)

Fair enough, though I was mainly referring to Integra / TLX posts, which if any have fizzed out into who bought one, how much they paid, or how well they're selling. Not exactly the exciting, enthusiast-focused discussions it once was. Pretty sad since both of their S variants perform better than the 3G TL ever did, but I suppose it's a matter of too little too late.

fiatlux

Already been confirmed that the Civic Hybrid is faster than the Si (and Integra)

alexsoriano1

and 50 mpg city!

STL

Thanks for posting this! I also wondered if Jeff was okay. I really thought he would post a "goodbye" message prior to shutting things down. We emailed back and forth few times over the 25ish years I was on ToV (but I didn't get any reply to my last one). IIRC, it was ToV where I learned of the SSM that eventually became the S2000. At the time I was considering buying a older, used NSX (for a non daily driver) but instead waited for the S2000. I still own it today; she turned 24 years old a week or so ago.

alexsoriano1

My Si will be 19 years old in December and our Accord EX will be 25 years old at that time. At 105k, I think the Si is just now getting broken in!

STL

Nice. I have a 2006 Acura TSX 6MT for my daily. It has 170k miles so I am looking to replace it in the next year-ish -- probably with an Integra. For better or worse my S2K only has about 43k miles on it.

zroger73

Honda in general became a big, meh yawn for me. There's no longer anything exciting, interesting, or significantly different about them.

My first Honda was a 50cc motorcycle when I was a kid. I would go on to own nearly two dozen Honda and Acura automobiles and motorcycles over the decades.

In the later years, one of the last unique vehicles Honda had was the Ridgeline - I owned and enjoyed six of them, but the quality kept going down, the model became stagnant, and more unibody pickups became available.

I don't regret (most) of the Honda and Acura vehicles I purchased. I had more knowledge about Honda than any other brand, but today's Honda is quite different from the Honda I felt in love with many years ago.