Michigan check-in & spotting by blodi pt.2

I don't know guys perhaps it is my advancing age but I'm feeling the cold these days more than I used to and that's with good technical gear. I think we may need to move to a warmer climate. I'd like to hibernate like our NSXs for the winter.Best,Jeff
 
Jeff, you been talking to Mark too much. It is a balmy MI winter. Wait, it's still fall.
 
jorligan said:
Jeff, you been talking to Mark too much. It is a balmy MI winter. Wait, it's still fall.
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Spot on! We ain't seen nothing yet! Although it got snowy and cold about 3 weeks sooner than prior years. Had to pull the storage switch early.


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I've got two put away for winter.

Sure felt good today to get 20 miles in.....though it is worrisome to drive 4-6 PM due to all the deer moving. Only saw two today, running across well in front of me. Friday's weather is supposed to be pretty decent.
 
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You know it's Wintertime in MI when you walk into the garage, and are met by the glow of 6 tiny green battery tender bulbs ;^D
 
And speaking of batteries I can't believe how long the Sears Die Hard in my car has lasted. The prior owner (from Arizona) was good enough to give me the bill from when he bought it. I've had my car 9 years now and the battery died 1 year after I bought the car. Sears honored the warranty and I paid a minimal amount for the replacement. It is now 8 years and battery still going strong. I use a battery tender while car is in storage but the last few years during driving season car has not seen more than 1,000-1,500 miles/year. Good quality battery and guessing the location contributes to long life -- not baking in a hot engine compartment.Best,Jeff
 
That's awesome Neal! I wish I could of went in my NSX but due to slipping clutch and broken front lip, I went for a drive in my buddy's GT4 instead. Some of you have met Rami in our drives. I really like how easy it is to drive, I love the sound of the exhaust.
 

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Hass said:
That's awesome Neal! I wish I could of went in my NSX but due to slipping clutch and broken front lip, I went for a drive in my buddy's GT4 instead. Some of you have met Rami in our drives. I really like how easy it is to drive, I love the sound of the exhaust.
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Hass that is awesome if you are riding with Rami in that Porschkee GT4 this fall - man do I remember his exhaust growl on US-23 northbound two summers ago as he got onto the freeway and we completed a tour together! :smile: :smile: :smile:

Your clutch and lip, you'll get those fixed :biggrin:
 
yes, the lame dick session has been quite active tackling issues of paramount importance and relevance.

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The demise of Suburban Acura is very simple. Fisher gave up the franchise due to slow sales which of course impacts the profits coming from the service department. One of the sales guys told me they simply could not compete with the $350/month leases on competitive vehicles from the likes of Ford, GM and FCA that are available to employees and those with friends/family discounts. BMW is looking for volume and offers pretty good lease deals from what I understand and if your choice was to spend $500/month for a V6 SH-AWD TLX or the same money or a bit more for a loaded 3 series BMW the vote more often than not was to go German. When Acura was asked to come to the rescue via subsidized/subvented leases Acura was not inclined to offer such assistance.

Just look around. Some of you might recall the days of the Gen II and Gen III (/99-03 and /04-08, respectively) TLs when there were just tons of those cars on the road. How many Gen IV (/09-14) TLs and TLXs do you see now? Very few. There is a very good reason for that. The Gen IV had very polarizing (read: awful) aesthetics and the TLX has a horrible transmission, is too small as compared to the old TL and the FWD cars handle very strangely. These cars are nowhere near as good as the Gen III TL IMHO. How many MDX/RDX do you see as compared to other manufacturers' SUVs? Not so many. Let's not even talk about the RLX and the ILX. I have to wonder if Acura is headed to the same place where Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Plymouth are now located.

I received the same letter as Haas well as some discount coupons from Suburban Honda accompanied by a letter indicating that any Acura would be happily serviced (other than warranty work) at the Honda store. Mike Michalik (NSX expert and all round excellent tech) and at least one of the other Acura techs (Mark if memory serves me correctly) are now over at the Honda store. If any of you wind up taking your NSX to the Honda store for service I suggest you work with Jeff Smith if he is still there (used to be at the Acura store and good guy -- doesn't play the upsell game that some of the service advisers like to) and then ask to speak directly with Mike so you are comfortable that no one other than Mike touches your car -- very important. Look on the bright side, some of us got a free oil change coupon.

Happy New Year!

Best,
Jeff
 
Not surprised... my sales experience at that location was putrid. Tried to by a car there...twice... without success due to lack of a polite or competent salesperson. Not what I have experienced from other Suburban stores (where we purchased the QX50 and the XE-S last year).

Main thing: Mike lands on his feet and available for Team NSX!

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pjr300 said:
Not surprised... my sales experience at that location was putrid. Tried to by a car there...twice... without success due to lack of a polite or competent salesperson. Not what I have experienced from other Suburban stores (where we purchased the QX50 and the XE-S last year).

Main thing: Mike lands on his feet and available for Team NSX!

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Patrick Happy and Healthy New Year to you and your family! I'll refrain from lengthy comment re: sales team at the now defunct store but things changed a lot since my purchases/leases of Gen II and III TLs. There used to be a salesman -- first name was Tom -- I forget his last name. He was a former policeman. So great to deal with. I bought/leased at least 3 cars from him and after the first one I wouldn't even show up at the dealership. I'd just call him, tell him what I wanted and he'd check inbound units or order the car for me. There was little in way of discussion about price as it was always all incentives and invoice or less. Totally trusted him. I considered the TLX (before I drove it and determined it was not to my liking) and had some price discussions with the new crew over there -- too much game playing for my taste.

As for Mike I expect he will be fine. We are good friends and should he depart the Suburban organization I will know where he winds up. The bigger issue for us NA1 guys is what happens if Mike ever decides to leave the greater Detroit area!

Best,
Jeff
 
<iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-0" src="https://www.instagram.com/p/BjWEdr_B6rl/embed/?cr=1&v=12&wp=485&rd=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nsxprime.com&rp=%2Fforum%2Fshowthread.php%2F100920-Michigan-check-in-amp-spotting-by-blodi-pt-2%2Fpage158#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A243.19999996805564%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="531" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-0" scrolling="no" style="background: white; max-width: 540px; width: calc(100% - 2px); border-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219); box-shadow: none; display: block; margin: 0px 0px 12px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0px;"></iframe>To pay respects to loss of Suburban, here's a shot I grabbed after a meetup there. Featuring one of Neal's stable as the centerpiece!
<script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>
 
I bet that is a picture from the new NSX drive event that was held at Suburban summer before last. I was fortunate enough to drive early in the rotation before it started raining.

Let's hope Acura gets its mojo back. John Ikeda who is now the head banana at Acura (he was the lead designer of the Gen III -- 04-08 TL so he clearly is capable of designing a good looking car) talks a good game but other than the new NSX I find their entire present lineup devoid of anything interesting that I would consider buying. Hoping for better offerings but not holding my breath. The TLX type S is not going to do it for me. The car needs a complete re-do IMHO.

Best,
Jeff
 
That instagram photo is incredible!

RacerXwing said:
<iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-0" src="https://www.instagram.com/p/BjWEdr_B6rl/embed/?cr=1&v=12&wp=485&rd=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nsxprime.com&rp=%2Fforum%2Fshowthread.php%2F100920-Michigan-check-in-amp-spotting-by-blodi-pt-2%2Fpage158#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A243.19999996805564%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="531" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-0" scrolling="no" style="background: white; max-width: 540px; width: calc(100% - 2px); border-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219); box-shadow: none; display: block; margin: 0px 0px 12px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0px;"></iframe>To pay respects to loss of Suburban, here's a shot I grabbed after a meetup there. Featuring one of Neal's stable as the centerpiece!
<script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>
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Eric. NEED a good res copy of that photo of IOP in front of Suburban Acura. Dang that already brings back memories! And, it was a h*ll of a thunderstorm that June night :eek:

Next:

- NSX at ROLEX 24 at Daytona weekend upcoming here:

https://sportscarchampionship.imsa.com/events/2019-rolex-24-daytona

- Meeyatch's resurrection of Zanardi # 34 featured here on Hagerty newletter dated 1-15-2019:

https://www.hagerty.com/articles-vi...m=email&utm_content=19_January_16_HagertyNews

- We visited Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in Pahrump, Nevada, today. It was a part of NSXPO 2010 (Las Vegas - the Southpointe Casino Resort Hotel was the host location) where the NSXPO track days were conducted. Just Corvettes on their track today. Southpointe remains very nice, but of course the southern Las Vegas Boulevard "Strip" has now grown southward to it. We ran west from Pahrump, NV, into CA, then south from Shoshone, CA/ Tecopa, CA, back to I-15 via Furnace Creek Road to Excelsior Mine Road to I-15. Good thing it was a rental (2019 Nissan Sentra with only 1140 miles til we got a hold of it!) - got that bad boy broke in dirty - lots of washouts, rugged rock / stone / sand roads and for 45 miles saw only wild burro dung and three (yea, 3) other vehicles. Returned to Las Vegas via I-15. Snow on all mountain tops higher than 6 K feet. Mount Charleston and Charleston Peak were incredible - nothing like that in Michigan :biggrin:

https://www.springmountainmotorsports.com/facility


- ESTFest is returning to the Oakwood Resort in Grand Bend, Ontario, over our Memorial Day weekend holiday. There is a chance of having some track time on Friday evening. We welcome this as attending ESTFest via transiting Trawna and/or Hamilton for points east or south on Friday/Sunday PM's is such a traffic fiasco. Mark your calendar and watch the NSX Club of Canada (NSXCC) site for details.
 
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Est Fest returning to Grand Bend is a big deal, we really need to show up in force to thank them for bringing it back to our favorite location!
 
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