The Vigorous Acura Vigor

September 18, 7:19 PMAutomotive ExaminerKyle Busch

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Seems as though someone has a grudge against the Acura
Vigor based on the comment they made on my article titled
“Kyle Busch’s approach – do you want to come for the ride…?”

So, with that in mind, I felt it was appropriate to do an article
showing just how good a car the Vigor is as well as my expertise
with automobiles.
 

The Acura Vigor - it is what it is!

LThe Acura Vigor
is a unique car and
that is why I like it.
Even though the
Vigor was
unfortunately
only imported to
the U.S. from
1992 – 1994, it
actually was in
production in
Japan from
1981 – 1995.

During all the years the car was manufactured, it went through three
model generations and the one that made it to the U.S. was the third
generation so I’ll base this article on that.

It is not very well known (except by auto experts) that the Acura
Vigor was the car that Acura (Honda) transformed into the Acura 2.5TL
and the Acura 3.2TL in 1995. This was done because the Vigor was
marketed as a mid-sized luxury car, and it was competing against cars
such as the Lexus ES300. The Vigor didn’t sell in big numbers because
it was overpriced in 1993 at about $28,000. The exchange rate of the
Japanese Yen was a factor in the car’s high price. However, in 1993
I test drove a new Acura Vigor and I was frankly impressed how the
quickly the car was up to 80 miles per hour on the Interstate.

The Vigor, even though it was marketed as a luxury car, was more
of a luxury sport sedan as it did not have much rear seat room and the
suspension was more on the firmer sportier side and the car handled
as such. Acura then made the decision to stop importing the Vigor to the
U.S. and started importing the larger, more luxury oriented 2.5TL and
3.2TL.

A unique thing with the Vigor is that the only engine available engine
is the 2.5 liter longitudinally mounted inline 5 cylinder. This engine is
very smooth! Acura actually purchased the engine design from Audi
(one Vigor listed on the Internet had achieved 800,000 miles which is
an indication of a strong engine). The mill has 176hp (today’s VW
Jetta straight 5 cylinder 2.5 engine has 150 hp) with an 8.8 second
0-60 time. When I drove the car through the mountains of Virginia at
70 miles per hour, the car achieved 30.7 miles per gallon. This is close
to the gas mileage of today’s mid-sized vehicles.

In all tests I researched, I found this vehicle to be one of the most reliable
cars that Acura produced at the time. It scored 5 out of 5 consistently in
most of the reliability tests I read. Also, the 1993 Acura Vigor had no
government recalls and only six minor Technical Service Bulletins.
Also, on the epinions.com website, there are 8 people that wrote their
own reviews as owners of 1993 Vigors, and all 8 people gave the car a
thumbs up and either a 4 or a 5 out of 5 rating!

So, I stand by my purchase of the Vigor. It is a car with good reliability,
decent gas mileage, reasonable performance, a sporty ride, and some
nice luxury appointments.

When I got home, I telephoned the private owner who sold me the car
and he said that he missed it. What else can I say? It’s paid for, and it
is a great drive for the money!

Kyle Busch is the author of “Drive the Best for the Price…” He
welcomes your comments or car questions at his auto web site:
www.DriveTheBestBook.com.