prballard

I am a proud owner of a 93 Vigor GS, my second one. My first was a 92 that I leased. Acura had great deals in the 90’s on roll-over leases and I went from a Vigor to a first generation TL, to a first generation CL. I have always had a soft spot in my heart for my fun to drive to Vigor. So three years ago a bought a used one with 100k miles. I haven’t had a moment of trouble out of the car 43k miles latter.

OK, most people probably think the idea of this thread is nuts. I mean really, they haven’t made a Vigor for 10 years. But, back in the early 90’s Acura really made an effort to please the driving enthusiast. The Legend Coupe and Sedan where refined and reliable, the NSX was new and sexy, and the Vigor was a hell of lot of fun to drive. Obviouslly the TSX is not a replacement for the Vigor, but in my particular case it is.

Hear is a side-by-side comparison of the Vigor and the TSX, judge for yourself:

………………...92 Vigor GS, 5sp……..……04 TSX, 6sp
Engine……2.5 L Longitudinal I5…….2.4L Transverse I4
Horse Power….176…………………….…..200
Torque…………...170………………………..166
Curb Weight…..3274……………….………3241
Weight Ration..60/40……………………...60/40
Wheel Base……110.4……………………...105.1
Track (ave.)…….59.6……………………….59.6
Turning Diam…..36.1………………….……40.0
Length…………...190.4……………………...183.4
Width………….....70.1……………………….69.4
Height…………....53.9……………………….57.3
Head Room (fr.) 38.0………………...…..37.8
………….....(rear) 36.2……………………….37.3
Leg Room, (fr.) 43.7…………….………….42.4
………….....(rear) 30.3……………………….34.2
Hip Room, (fr.) 51.4……………….……….54.4
………….....(rear) 52.1……………………….54.4
Shldr. Room, (fr.) 53.5……………………….55.4
…………......(rear) 53.0……………………….53.5
Tires…………...….205/60R15……………..215/50R17
Gas Milage….....20/26*…………………….22/29

* - I always get 27 mph on trips.


I have been waiting for a long time to find a FWD car that out performs and is as fun to drive as my Vigor with all the Acura reliability and refinement I have come to expect. I believe I have found it in the TSX.

OK guys, this is my last repeat thread from "the otherside". I promise.

larchmont

We're not complaining.

TinkySD

Yeah the more useful info the better! When you factor in the tsx is really cranking ~ 210hp and 180 lbft it looks even better.

prballard

Well, the Vigor's numbers are also very underated. They are really about 200hp and 190 lbft of torque. They were underated because they didn't want to hurt the sales of the Legend.

larchmont

You know, I never understood stuff like this. What about hurting sales of the Vigor?

And, the Vigor never really caught on, maybe partly because of stuff like this. And pretty soon the Legend wasn't doing too well either, but that's another one of my most unfavorite stories.....

(signed, "Loved my '88 Legend")

sheik28

Did you do the math? Is there any math? How do you come to this? I am not debating, I am only curious for bragging rights with my friends. I want proof to back up what I say.

kystone

My brother-in-law still has his '91 Vigor w/ over 150K miles. Still running strong... But now he's looking into a 350Z.

TinkySD

This estimation is from the dynos that we have actually seen for the 6mt. 170-179hp at the wheels along with 150-155lbft to the wheels. The torque output is obviously underrated. The best way to look at horsepower is compartively. TSXs are dynoing ~2-5hp higher than rsx-s(while having heavier/larger wheels and tires) and the mazda6s rated at 220hp is really putting down like 175-180hp.

What happened is honda wanted to claim 90 % torque from 2000-7100 rpms so they picked a torque figure where that was true. Peak torque in the tsx is actually from 2500-5000 rpms with torque gradually falling off to redline. When the vtec.net forums are back up i'll get some links.

sheik28

Really cool info.! THANKS!!

wiz

Yeah, a friend of mine used to have a Legend and she had this mechanic who worked on nothing but Honda's and Acura's, and also raced his suped up Honda's at the racetrack. He also drove a 1992 Vigor, and whenever he was working on her Legend, he would let her drive his Vigor. It was a fun car, and the TSX does remind me of it a lot.

prballard

They didn't sell a '91 Vigor in the US. They first model year was 1992. They did start to sell them in 1991. I believe it was a Spring arrival just like the TSX. I believe they made a '90 and '91 Vigor in Japan, but that was an earlier model.

larchmont

We are awesome, aren't we?

BTW: Is that you, or just Tom Hanks or something like that?

prballard

Do you mean my photo? That is me (a few pounds and about 5 years ago). That was the only photo I had handy to make an avatar. I never did have one on "the otherside".

provench

Yo man ... I am sure you have heard this befoe, but you seriously look like:



Are you of Irish decent?

prballard

I think I like the Tom Hanks reference better. I have a little Irish blood on my mothers's side, but mostly English. My family has lived in KY since the late 1700's. Please no hillbilly jokes, I am not from the mountains. My wife is from that part of the State, however.

prballard

Since we are getting off topic. What country of origin is the name Provencher?

larchmont

Let me take a swing at it (I remember from old threads):

French(-Canadian). Right?

provench

French for sure ...

But I have been in NC since I was 2 ... so not even sure I can relate to my waaaaay back French heritage. And my family came over to Canada pretty early on to get away from France - haha

kystone

My bad. He got it in '91 as a '92 model. Thanks for the correction.