The Strange But Cool Acura Vigor: Honda's Abandoned 5 Cylinder

Did you know that Acura had a 5 cylinder luxury sports sedan in the 90s? Today we talk about that time when Honda made an Audi.

Chapters:

0:00 - Acura's rising success and the need for a new mid level sedan
1:54 - Pre-Acura JDM Years: The Honda Vigor
3:03 - Acura Vigor (1992-1995)
7:07 - Acura 2.5TL (1996-1998)
10:00 - Honda abandons the I5 G-Series

[Pyrothecat]

I bought my Vigor over a month ago. It has 400, 000 km and a 5 speed. It’s one of the most unique driving experiences I’ve ever had, and the fact that it still drives smooth after being in storage for 10 years, blows my mind. Your video was awesome too. I love learning about this strange car

[btrdangerdan]

These videos are up there in quality with tofers car tales and my old car

[Zecrid.]

Got sent this because I own a 94 Vigor lol

Very well researched and detailed! But you forgot one very niche detail about the g series, The S2000 nearly got the five cylinder. If you look at the concept car of the S2000, the Honda SSM, it has a DOHC VTEC G20 inside it! But Honda obviously didn't go that route sadly :(

[manbatmiso]

I feel like one of biggest fans of manual hondas and acuras ever they’re amazing… I’d still drive a manual swapped RL or Ridgeline even 😂 Glad I found your channel!

[showsiff]

As a car-crazy kid in Ireland in the 90s, we didn’t get Acura but I do remember a police appeal for information about a car stolen from Americans who had recently moved here called an Acura Vigor and wondering what the hell those words meant! We got a lot of used Japanese market Hondas (because we’re also right hand drive), many of which would’ve been sold as Acuras in North America

[JonathanLittle]

I need to see an engineering break down on the vigor and 2nd gen legend, 1st gen TL. Why did they have longitudinally mounted engine, and why did they not keep developing it, especially with as common as awd is now, s2000 closest we came to a rm or fr Honda

[eykwgjt]

I owned a 93 real with the peanut butter interior 5speed. It was so nice to drive and the low end torque was amazing. It was very fun to drive too. Great video keep up the good work.

[aymaneoubad]

Fun fact: Honda did make a turbo version of the 5 cylinder engine. They also did make a V8. They put it in the JGTC500 HSV-010 cars that replaced the NSX on the ring.

[comet]

I own a 92 and I absolutely love it. With a solid exhaust system it’s one of the best sounding sedan in my opinion.

[tomcat]

I wish it was 1992 in the automotive world- so many choices! I firmly believe the early 1990's was the peak of automotive design. A great review of the Vigor too.

[andreanah]

I had the GS model and my favorite was that it had the multi disc changer in the trunk!!! every time the hood was opened mechanics would scratch their heads ( 5 cyl) 😅.

[mitchellbaxter]

I had a black '94 with a tan leather interior that I bought at a great price. It had been used as a demo, and they drove it off the showroom floor into the parking lot for me to test drive. it was sharp, quick, and handled great, and I loved it. The backseat was small, making it more of a four-door 2+2 than a four-seater, but that fit my needs.
I drove it until the first engine died (in 2009), then bought a used engine from Japan for $750, had my mechanic install it, and drove it until that one died too, somewhere around 220, 000 miles on the car. I had it towed to my mechanic, who said it was done for.
I called a scrap company that paid me $175 to tow it away, and drove to my mechanic the night before to clean out the glove compartment and center console, and sit in it one last time.
And yes, I had to wipe away a few tears writing this.

[sethk]

This is an absolutely phenomenal video. I just wanted to point out a fun quirk and I’m not sure you care or not but the Lexus model that you showed at 5:16 when talking about the competition is actually a front wheel drive model as well being that it is the second generation es300.
Edit:OK 10 seconds later I see you did know what car it was lol.

[touv]

Always loved how the Vigor looked like.

[moetile]

My most favorite car I have ever owned and definitely the funnest to drive. It just looked cool. 93.. Acura Vigor. White, black tuxedo leather interior, custom wheels and spoiler on the trunk.

[incyphe]

Honda never could quite figure out how to do luxury interior. It was always a class below Lexus.

[violetstill]

I owned one a couple of year's ago. It was a 92 with 50k miles on the clock. I bought it from a very elderly old man who barely drove it since he bought it brand new back in the day so i got lucky, it sat for a while so i had to restore and replace some parts but i had it running like a top in no time. I didn't even have the car a year before someone ran a red light and struck me. I was devastated when i lost the car since my brother had 2 of these and i had a lot of memories with the Acura Vigor. A month after that a buddy felt bad and sold me his Acura Legend which I still own today.

[xx_ironman_xx]

I wonder if it’s possible to make a dohc cylinder head for this engine 🤔 and imagine if this engine had dual vtec like the h and b series engines 😳

[katzicael]

Here in New Zealand I had a JDM 96 Inspire - same G25A power. With the exhaust it came with from Japan, it almost sounded like a flat-4 the way it idled. Loved it, it was such a wonderful sounding engine and the ride was Wonderful.

[kevinftw]

I've been somewhat of a Honda-Acura collector and have owned 200+ of them since I got my license 10 years ago. I owned a 1996 Acura TL 5 cylinder fully loaded that I restored mechanically and cosmetically.. the original paint shined like brand new, engine would come alive with a flick of the key, 25 mpg city 29 on the highway and it just turned over to 112k miles when I was cruising around in it going home from a doctors appointment when a new driver ran a stop sign doing 2-3x the speed limit of 25 and totaled it.. very sad day but I walked away from the accident with no injuries. I miss the car to this day and would love to own another one like it. Never had any problems with it at all A.C system was original and blew ice cold, never burned or leaked a drop of oil and you could glide down the highway at 70-80 not feel a single vibration or shake throughout the wheel or the whole car. I did everything I could to avoid the accident.. my car took the hit better then the 2018 Honda Civic that hit me did.. the whole engine bay was gone while I had fender-hood and bumper damage. Even the airbags had a high quality feel to them 🤣 sadly it went through auction.. I should've kept the car.