The only unfortunate part is, they cheaped out a bit internally so they don't hold up quite like the rest of the J series. My understanding is they got a cast crankshaft rather than forged, and a few minor other things. Overall VERY good, but it did get the GM bean counters involved. Doesn't mean I don't want one. Cause i definitely want a first gen redline, if not I would settle for a manual AWD element.
@@whitneythe6thgenaccord680 I've worked on a few of the J35 powered Vue's and can answer that the engine is paired with a Honda transmission and not a GM slushbox. Servicing is the same as that on a MDX from the era. same fluid as well.
19:55 you just KNOW John Davis from Motorweek would approve! He had an ongoing decades long criticism of automakers who didn't put a full complement of gauges in their cars. And he hated digital dashes too. Great Easter Egg!!
It failed in the market due to high price compared to Hyundai Grandeur which was a co-developed with Mitsubishi (1st gen was straight rebadge while the 2nd one had Mitsubishi tech and Hyundai design) But, it was such a great car.
@@marcco954,nope ,quite successful & was sold from 1994 thru 2000 & was basically a US spec Acura Legend, everything was mutually interchangeable except the badges,,it had to complete with another Daewoo rebadged ultra luxury car called the "Chairman " which was a Ssangyong Mercedes Benz S platform......the Daewoo Arcadia was actually a better build car & many are still on the road, unlike the Chairman
My dad had a Rover 825 Sterling and for the 8 or so years that he had it there were no issues at all. I drove it a few times as a teenager and it was a lovely car to drive. So refined.
I currently daily drive a 1991 Sterling 827 SL, probably one of an extremely low number in the US that do. I bought it in 2023 and did need to get work done to it to be roadworthy, but I haven’t had any major issues with it since. It is interesting car with a lot of cool quirks and I love driving it. Disappointing though since it gets a very limited amount of attention as no one else has any idea what it is. (The bridge icon thing on the upper left of the dashboard is how you turn on the cruise control then activate it on the steering wheel.)
There's a green Sterling that I've seen running around Lancaster, PA a few times recently; it's a miracle that this thing still exists, and I'd bet good money that it's legitimately rarer than many multimillion $$ exotics.
@@robcarney3200 I took pictures last time I saw it. It's a green 827 SLI (no clue the year), but it's got PA plates and no roof racks. I guess there's a second one running around here? Either that or the person who worked on your car has one or two of their own. Small world!
@@1080ikeah yeah, I know who the owner is, and I know this is a bold claim, but it’s currently the only other one I know is road legal other than my own. It’s owned by an employee of the “Sterling Fixer” who is based in Lancaster
@@robcarney3200 After a quick Google, I actually know the shop! I never knew the owner specialized in obscure British orphans! He's actually got a couple examples listed on his for sale page; I think the one I've seen around town is the 1989 model with 125k that he has listed as sold. I guess this is the one the employee bought!
So, I am home visiting my folks for the holidays and asked them what those mechanical tumbler clocks/"Groundhog Day" clocks were called back then. They said that they might have been marketed with special names, but that regular people just called them "digital". We associate anything "digital" these days with computers and electronics, but they said that back then you called them digital simply because it had the numbers on it. They went on to say that it used to be that you would just refer to a clock with hands on it as simply a "clock" while one with the numbers only ( and not hands ) was a "digital clock". My Dad thought maybe it was digital watches with LCD displays in the early 80's started to change the perception of digital to be more associated with LCD displays. ( and computers of course )
I don't like how they RESOLD those like in the 2010s or something. They TOOK away ALL the other electronics and just sold the TUMBLER part by it's self RE-mounted and re-wired so the digits would STILL flip over. That made me REALLY mad. (Not the good mad and not the crazy mad. Just plain old mad.)
I currently daily drive a 2004 Saturn Vue Redline AWD V6 probably one of an extremely low number in the US that do. I bought it in 2019 and did not need to get work done to it to be roadworthy, but I haven't had any major issues with it at all. It is interesting car with a lot of cool quirks and I love driving it. Disappointing though since it gets a very limited amount of attention as no one else has any idea what it is. (One of the cool features to the redline was the optional phone line that was able to be added through OnStar and also how after the car is turned off after highway driving it will start its fans again to cooldown.)
Here in Australia,Holden sold the camira which was a 1st gen aska and they also sold the 1st and second gen gemini. With both models being ended in the late 80s
Ah, the Sterling 825. With an electrical system from Lucas the infamous "Prince of Darkness." The lights always worked just fine in daylight and warm weather. They leaked where few other cars leaked and interior and exterior bits and pieces would fall off, often without any human intervention whatsoever. How Rover got it so wrong when Acura got it so right is a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, inside a stalled Triumph Spitfire!
Your just a mouth piece relaying the voice of others I had a forty year old Land Rover with Lucas 1960's electrics even had fabric braided wiring and it only suffered a few electrical issues in many years which were quickly easily and cheaply repaired ignition switch -didn't fully fail was £5 brand new and took 10 mins to do sidelight wiring - green bullet connectors some grinding paste and brake cleaner 10 min fix the floor mounted dip switch- wd40 couple of mins switching it fixed it and the dynamo died so I fitted a mk4 escort alternator I had lying around Lucas btw removed the voltage regulator and I had the strongest electrical system I've known It could sit for a couple of months and the old girl would fire no worries and if flooded or out of fuel she would crank and crank till running. Oh another one my friend left the ignition on listening to tunes and melted the points I put some old ones on and we were away. It even soldiered on for years with the ballast resistor wired wrong robbing the coil of full charge so fear not of Lucas but fear the reaper they take all forms!
@@dieselstreet8057 How amny dealers did you know who sold the Sterling. I personally knew two here in NY. Within weeks of delivery the cars were coming back with major and minor problems from electrical malfunctions to windows falling off their tracks and hood and trunk lids that were misaligned and/or wouldn;t close. As for yourt Land Rover - Great! That's one SUV out of tens of thousands. And melted points from leaving the auxiliary switch on, a burned out generator and the rest of the catalog of "minor" electrical ills you cite just prove the utter crap that Lucas electrical sytems were. Apparently my experience was more extensive than yours. From a TR3A to a TR4 to a Spitfire. All had electrical issues, some small, some not so small. Fun to drive, but I wouldn't take any of them on a long road trip. Compare that to the 2001 Mazda Miata that I drove for four years without a single electrical or any other glitch. A good friend of mine has a 1990 Miata with well over 150,000 miles on it and aside from routine fluid changes all he's ever replaced were tires and brakes. A few years ago when he moved from NY to Florida he even drove that over 30 year old Miata and shipped his SUV! I wouldn't do that with a new car with a Lucas electric system. For final proof Lucas was mercifully merged out of existence while Bosch remains one Germany's largest employers.
How you only have 7k subs 😮. Most underrated channel on UA-cam 🤘🏼. Thanks for the video man. This was an awesome watch honestly. I'm excited to see more like it from you.
The domanis 4wd drivetrain would be insane to use on ek or eg, could be such an interesting build if you are lucky enough to find one and import one haha
Hi bro, I'm watching your video. When you are talking about, the Gemini. You have forgotten to mention The Holden Gemini, in Australia, back in the 70's and 80's. I had a 80's Gemini 1800 motor which was originally a 1600 motor. I thought I would let you know. Keep up the good work 👍
There's 5 more "Ronda's" (rover honda) you missed if you want to cover them: the "HH-R" 400/45 which used domani underpinnings and was based off the European M series Civic, the Australian exclusive Rover Quintet based on the Honda Quint, the Australian market Rover 416i based off the first generation Integra, The Rover 600 series which was based off the 5th generation European Accord which is related to the Ascot Innova and Finally the Rover R8 cars 200, 400 and Coupe also known as the "Tomcat" its related to the Concerto however unlike JDM built Concerto's it used a different suspension set up that the European market Concerto's adopted. I digress, Keep up with the good work. fyi not a rover fan usually but I like the "Ronda" era cars
Few points of interest. The XX platform was a collaboration between the two companies, not merely a Honda with Rover badges. The 600 was indeed a re-skinned CD Accord which was related to the Ascot Innova though there were some key differences. A notable one being frameless windows on the Ascot Innova. The CD Accord also used the L series Rover diesel engine with the gearbox on the opposite side as per the Rover set up for the diesel and petrol turbo powered cars (L and T series.)
Most Rover fans aren't fond of the Ronda era, though mostly for the dull as ditchwater FWD slush, and the fisher price interiors on most models, a vast climbdown from the standard setting P5 and P6.
Not really true. Collaboration between Honda and Rover was formal. Rover was not in position to dedicate resources to be an equal partner. The end result was similar to Ford - Mazda relationship - in reverse. Officially, Mazda 323(3) and Ford Focus 'shared' the platform. The fact was that it was a Mazda chassis (platform) all round, not to mention that Ford simply rebadged MZR petrol (gas) engines to Duratec. The difference was that while Mazda used Mitsubishi Electric for the electrical components, European Focus used Siemens (made by various subsidiaries in Eastern Europe, which is why Focus had electronics issues). Or a early Mondeos. Mazda chassis, Mazda engines... heck, even Jaguar X-type used 'Mondeo platform' :) Fun fact, hybrid Mondeo used Mazda's 2.5 liter MZR engine long after Mazda began using Sky engines. And it got worse, the last Ford Probe was a Mazda MX-6 with a Ford body.
I currently have a 2006 Saturn vue at 250k miles. Still doesn't burn oil and has had religious oil changes and timing belt. Great engine plenty of power in this v6
I've watched a few of your videos, I enjoy your editing skills and commentary. And the John Davis cameo when talking about the Rover's gauges is classic. 😅
All second gen Rover 800 V6, including sedan, used Honda V6 engine up to 1996, the Rover KV6 engine wasn't ready before the 1996 facelift. I have a 1993 Rover 827Si sedan, a great car and I love it, but it includes a lot of electric problems
I've had half a dozen Saturn Redlines and they are the best kept SUV secret out there. The non-Redlines are cheap as dirt, the Honda engines are bulletproof and they are one of the better looking SUVs made.
@@steve5772 I only got mine to replace a terrible Mk3 escort. It was the Honda reliability that was the attraction and it lived up to its reputation, never let me down..
I remember cars in the 2000s with B-Series swaps often had "Honda Inside" stickers styled like the Intel logo. The Saturn Vue should have come equipped with one of those stickers!
15:35 this car looks very much like the toyota celica of early 80s. Specifically the generation starting in 1982. That was a very interesting watch and i learned a lot if honda trivia from this. Would love to see you do the rest of the rebadge.
the amount of him saying isuzu pulling out of the passenger car game is crazy they still make exactly two cars called the MU-X (pronounced Myoo-X)and the D-Max which are a SUV and a pick up they used to make an MPV called the Panther but that was primarily sold in south and south east asia
Yep, these SUVs you mentioned are actually sold in the Philippines and South East Asia as a whole. Plus the Panther is called in the Philippines as the Isuzu Crosswind, which is also available in India which is a Chevy btw called the Chevy Tavera over there.
4:17 led me down a rabbithole because it says irmscher on the License Plate which got me really confused. Apparently irmscher tuned a lot of Isuzu Models back in the late 80s/ early 90s and must also have been a Car Dealership for Isuzu back then before they became known as an Opel/Vauxhall Tuner and Producer (They have their own Production Line that produced some special Models over the Decades). They're from close to where I live in southwestern Germany that's why I know them.
I can't believe that the phone number for the dealer that was going to be under the new brand "Acura" @16:53 is still in service and is still a Honda dealer in NJ! I was wondering where that picture was from, because that place looked terrible lol. It looks a little better now.
A couple more things about the vue, because it was so light the 0-60 time with the honda v6 was about the same a Porsche cayenne, and not relevant to this video but when you got the 4 cylinder with a manual trans, the shifter they put in that thing was absolute magic, it felt like there was a giant magnet pulling the shift lever into every gear change
Over here in the UK the first gen domani was both sold as a rover and a honda, they were sold as a civic here and had a full VTi spec with a b series and LSD, it also was available as an estate (wagon) even in VTi trim, I currently drive a 1.5 D series vtec one and it's a lovely old car
9:43 The Valve cover with the spark plugs in the front would denote that it has vtec....And if you look really closely you can almost see a solenoid at the top left of the valve cover. However the power output is correct for a one point five single overhead cam non vtec. The 15E denotes the 92 hp, (at least in the states, might have made an extra 10hp because of Japan's jungle juice and different ecu.) E meaning economy, it's probably the same engine in the vx hatch.
Calling the Vue a Honda product and built on "GM architecture" is pretty crazy. The engine was Honda, that's it. The platform was built off S-Series inspired cues like spaceframe + plastic panels. The interior was reminiscent of the S-Series, as was the retro-futurist styling. That plastic kept the weight in the S-Series down to less than an NC MX-5 as a sedan/coupe/station wagon and it kept the Vue lighter than some mid-size sedans. People uninitiated with Saturn sure have some wild opinions about what they were. Buy and large they succeeded at what they were trying to do, which was to modernize GM. Granted, their usefulness was outlived by about 2007, but to discredit their entire run as "Fisher Price" and "Cost-cutting" is ignorant. They were out to improve GM and sell good cars and they did that for a full generation.
@AcuraAdvice ok, sorry for the aggression. I took it that you did very little/poor research on the Vue based on what you said about the interior especially, as it was basically just the S-Series interior adapted to an SUV. And said interior-- combined with the plastic body panels unique to Saturn (that make it quite far from a Honda product)-- helped lighten it up to be comparable to a mid-size sedan, as well as keep its fuel economy ratings about 10 mpg higher than competing Ford and GM products of the time. I think it's inaccurate to write off Saturn in the early and mid-2000s as past its time. The ION land speed record, Vue's moderately good performance in the market, and the iconic halo car in the Sky meant that at least until 2007 the brand had new angles to offer. I would not call the Vue even tangentially a "Honda product" for using a Honda engine. It was an introduction for a new period of Saturn in which it would share and refine other designs to make different and capable products.
In the mid 80s I was delivering parcels in the affluent area of Cheshire,1 of my daily deliveries was at a computer periferals company, I was shown a rover sterling for sale &shocked by the price; the car was 2 years old and for sale at £2,700 which was a 90% reduction on a new one
You forgot one that was a Honda & sold by a GM division in South Korea, the 1994 -2000 Daewoo Arcadia which was a exact clone of the US spec Acura Legend sedan 1991 & most parts was mutually interchangeable except for badges, sometimes the Daewoo Arcadia would actually have a airbag that says Acura,,headlamps, taillights,wheels ,body panels & engines was Acura/ Honda
Fun Fact: the Honda Ballad was first badged as a Triumph (thus was derisively nicknamed *Tronda* at the time), before being rebadged as a Rover (thus was the car *Ronda* was coined from) after AR realized the Triumph name didn't fit after all... not that it fitted 🤦♂️. Should have just badged the Ballad as an "Austin Acclaim" or "Wolseley... Wizard"? 🤔; no amount of PR would've convinced people that the Ballad was a proper Triumph or Rover.
The Honda Domani was also sold as the MB Civic in Europe and was also sold as the Rover 400 and 45 as well as the MG ZS, Rover and Honda worked in partnership to build the MB Civic, the previous generation Rover R8 200 and 400 series where also sold as the Honda Concerto
I was waiting for you to mention the Isuzu Oasis, a rebadged Japanese manufactured Odyssey. The Japanese Import Oasis continued to be offered for model year 1988, while the 1988 Odyssey was redesigned, made in the USA with sliding rear doors. My 1986 Odyssey bought new, was just sold with 340,000 miles on it.
As someone who lives in a household with two first gen vues (2004 and 2006, both with the j35), they're actually pretty amazing cars. talk about a surprisingly roomy vehicle. Also, once the vue hit the 2nd gen, it became awful. they replaced the j35 with their own 3.6 v6, which if you watch The Car Wizard, you'd know to avoid that engine like the storm.
Wow. Sterling. Now that's a name I haven't heard in a minute. I remember when they came over to the States. They were a pretty classy ride here in SoCal.
Great video. Thanks for the ride down memory lane. My Dad gave me his ‘87 Sterling 825 SL in ‘95. The Honda engine was durable but everything else was falling off. I found out the front corner lights were Cadillac parts. Traded it in for a new ‘96 Civic hatchback. Drove JLo around in the Sterling when we dated. We’re Zendaya’s biological parents so she might’ve been conceived in a Sterling.
If you do another video there are many more Rovers to include. Rover Quintet. 1984 to 1989 Rover 200, 1989 to 1995 Rover 200/400 version of the Honda concerto, 1995 to 1999 Rover 200 that used a shortened Honda Concerto chassis and other components. Same thing with the 1999 to 2005 Rover 25, 2003 Rover Streetwise and 2001 MG ZR. Then there's the 1995 to 1999 Rover 400 that's based on the civic. Same with the 2000 to 2005 Rover 45 and 2001 MG ZS. The 1993 to 1999 Rover 600 joint development with the Honda Accord. Even the 1995 to 1998 Rover 100 used Honda indicator stalks and other odd components. Same with the 1995 MG F and 2002 TF and even late 90's Mini's. Honda also sold a rebadged Land Rover Discovery and they were thinking about selling a rebadged 1995 Rover 200 as a Honda. In the early 90's British Aerospace wanted to sell the Rover Group to Honda but Honda was dragging it's heels and didn't want to increase it's shares in Rover. So BAe stabbed them in the back and sold Rover Group to BMW in 1994 without telling Honda that it was going to do so. Even though they were development partners
The 2004 Saturn Redline Vue is the first car my wife and I bought together after we got married. We had it until our third kid and loved every minute of ownership. Our local dealership was some of the best people we have ever dealt with in the car world. I am still friends with the old manager. I sadly do not have the vue anymore but still have my 06 ion redline and will never part ways with it.
The body problem with the Sterling was that the cathodic paint dip process was accidentally reversed. The body was supposed to have a positive electrical charge, but it was negative and the paint was positively charged. Most of these cars rusted out extremely quickly because of that issue.
My 03 v6 manual accord is not communicating with ecu. The fuse assembly has a controller inside that must be bad. Honda had a recall on them try and see if they’ll give a new one
Don't forget the Toyota Matrix/Pontiac Vibe/Toyota Voltz. Vibe rebadges the Matrix like Prizm/Corolla, and Voltz rebadges the Vibe for Japan. And the Chevy Cavalier was once in Japan too.
I was seriously considering a Sterling 825 I found on Facebook Marketplace as a project. I wonder if anyone makes a more reliable wiring harness for the car (and lots of replacement switches).
My Daughter bought a twice wrecked 2006 Vue 6 years ago for $1200. It has three different colors of body panels, a busted sway bar, radiator from a 5speed, no ac condenser, bad struts and runs like a sewing machine. The worst thing ever was a nickel lodged under the shifter. In fact, the dipstick is off as well as several other parts revealing that it actually has a donor engine from an odyssey. 😂
It's hilarious to know that Opel and Saab are rebadged BMW "base models", but the Saturn and other GM products had Honda/Isuzu bodies, and either Opel or Honda engines. 😅 Probably their best idea, ever. Loved my 2.2L inline 4 S-10, and I always said: "This doesn't look like an American engine ... It looks German to me." My grandpa argued the Chevy logo on valve cover proved otherwise. Well, those were BMW/Opel motors, and explains why they were strong, reliable, easy to work on, fuel efficient, and full of electronic sensors.
I swear that half of the presentation about the 825 was telling us how the car was literally disassembling itself. Even with that I actually saw one of these on the roads, and it was *actually working*☠. Anyway, really nice video!
MG/Rover and Honda partnership gave some almost indentical models, My Rover 45 2.0 iDT is the same car as Civic 4/5 doors, same engine, transmission, chassis etc...interesting to know for parts
The button mentioned on the rover at 19:37 was for when you go into a tunnel...it's a shame that button had stopped being provided to drivers by the time the princess had her accident.
Isuzu Oasis and Isuzu Vertex I didnt cover, I didnt want to do more than 5 in one video or video would get too long and lose watch time and not perform well. If people are interested im happy to do another video covering those models.
As an owner of a 2007 Vue Redline with the Honda J35, I can honestly say they are amazing !
Does it have a Honda transmission as well or does it have a GM transmission paired to it?
I love the Vue. I think it's that year. They look kinda 'Euro' from the front.
The only unfortunate part is, they cheaped out a bit internally so they don't hold up quite like the rest of the J series. My understanding is they got a cast crankshaft rather than forged, and a few minor other things. Overall VERY good, but it did get the GM bean counters involved.
Doesn't mean I don't want one. Cause i definitely want a first gen redline, if not I would settle for a manual AWD element.
@@whitneythe6thgenaccord680 I've worked on a few of the J35 powered Vue's and can answer that the engine is paired with a Honda transmission and not a GM slushbox. Servicing is the same as that on a MDX from the era. same fluid as well.
@@whitneythe6thgenaccord680 they have Hondas MJ7 for FWD or MJ8 for AWD. full honda drivetrains! i got 3 and ones supercharged!
I would love to see a third video on rebagded Hondas! How about a video on Honda Minivans and SUVS( American and Canadian versions).
Aka the Isuzu Oasis.
Acura EL. Been driving a $100 one for eight years...
19:55 you just KNOW John Davis from Motorweek would approve! He had an ongoing decades long criticism of automakers who didn't put a full complement of gauges in their cars. And he hated digital dashes too. Great Easter Egg!!
Korea also has a rebadge called the Daewoo Arcadia, which is a honda legend
It failed in the market due to high price compared to Hyundai Grandeur which was a co-developed with Mitsubishi (1st gen was straight rebadge while the 2nd one had Mitsubishi tech and Hyundai design)
But, it was such a great car.
@@marcco954,nope ,quite successful & was sold from 1994 thru 2000 & was basically a US spec Acura Legend, everything was mutually interchangeable except the badges,,it had to complete with another Daewoo rebadged ultra luxury car called the "Chairman " which was a Ssangyong Mercedes Benz S platform......the Daewoo Arcadia was actually a better build car & many are still on the road, unlike the Chairman
@@daewoopartsand the chairman was based on the old mercedes w124 platform
My dad had a Rover 825 Sterling and for the 8 or so years that he had it there were no issues at all. I drove it a few times as a teenager and it was a lovely car to drive. So refined.
I need a Sterling 827 in my life.
Fast back or limousine?
@@marcusott2973 Cultured people would take the Fastback.
@@katzicael
Salloon for executive express feelings!
I own one come get it off my property
Trust me. You really really don't 😂😊
Very entertaining videos , love to hear them when I’m driving . It’s amazing to hear what cars or brands are collaborating to produce cars.
“It’s so roomy I deliver pianos in my spare time” why did I laugh at this ?
I currently daily drive a 1991 Sterling 827 SL, probably one of an extremely low number in the US that do. I bought it in 2023 and did need to get work done to it to be roadworthy, but I haven’t had any major issues with it since. It is interesting car with a lot of cool quirks and I love driving it. Disappointing though since it gets a very limited amount of attention as no one else has any idea what it is. (The bridge icon thing on the upper left of the dashboard is how you turn on the cruise control then activate it on the steering wheel.)
There's a green Sterling that I've seen running around Lancaster, PA a few times recently; it's a miracle that this thing still exists, and I'd bet good money that it's legitimately rarer than many multimillion $$ exotics.
Holy shit dude, NH plates and roof racks? That’s my car. I had to ship it there to get work done.
@@robcarney3200 I took pictures last time I saw it. It's a green 827 SLI (no clue the year), but it's got PA plates and no roof racks. I guess there's a second one running around here? Either that or the person who worked on your car has one or two of their own. Small world!
@@1080ikeah yeah, I know who the owner is, and I know this is a bold claim, but it’s currently the only other one I know is road legal other than my own. It’s owned by an employee of the “Sterling Fixer” who is based in Lancaster
@@robcarney3200 After a quick Google, I actually know the shop! I never knew the owner specialized in obscure British orphans! He's actually got a couple examples listed on his for sale page; I think the one I've seen around town is the 1989 model with 125k that he has listed as sold. I guess this is the one the employee bought!
So, I am home visiting my folks for the holidays and asked them what those mechanical tumbler clocks/"Groundhog Day" clocks were called back then. They said that they might have been marketed with special names, but that regular people just called them "digital". We associate anything "digital" these days with computers and electronics, but they said that back then you called them digital simply because it had the numbers on it. They went on to say that it used to be that you would just refer to a clock with hands on it as simply a "clock" while one with the numbers only ( and not hands ) was a "digital clock". My Dad thought maybe it was digital watches with LCD displays in the early 80's started to change the perception of digital to be more associated with LCD displays. ( and computers of course )
I don't like how they RESOLD those like in the 2010s or something. They TOOK away ALL the other electronics and just sold the TUMBLER part by it's self RE-mounted and re-wired so the digits would STILL flip over. That made me REALLY mad. (Not the good mad and not the crazy mad. Just plain old mad.)
I currently daily drive a 2004 Saturn Vue Redline AWD V6 probably one of an extremely low number in the US that do. I bought it in 2019 and did not need to get work done to it to be roadworthy, but I haven't had any major issues with it at all. It is interesting car with a lot of cool quirks and I love driving it. Disappointing though since it gets a very limited amount of attention as no one else has any idea what it is. (One of the cool features to the redline was the optional phone line that was able to be added through OnStar and also how after the car is turned off after highway driving it will start its fans again to cooldown.)
Here in Australia,Holden sold the camira which was a 1st gen aska and they also sold the 1st and second gen gemini. With both models being ended in the late 80s
We also got our own rebadged integra. The rover 416i, seen one the other day in my town and couldnt believe some still exist
Ah, the Sterling 825. With an electrical system from Lucas the infamous "Prince of Darkness." The lights always worked just fine in daylight and warm weather. They leaked where few other cars leaked and interior and exterior bits and pieces would fall off, often without any human intervention whatsoever. How Rover got it so wrong when Acura got it so right is a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, inside a stalled Triumph Spitfire!
Your just a mouth piece relaying the voice of others I had a forty year old Land Rover with Lucas 1960's electrics even had fabric braided wiring and it only suffered a few electrical issues in many years which were quickly easily and cheaply repaired ignition switch -didn't fully fail was £5 brand new and took 10 mins to do sidelight wiring - green bullet connectors some grinding paste and brake cleaner 10 min fix the floor mounted dip switch- wd40 couple of mins switching it fixed it and the dynamo died so I fitted a mk4 escort alternator I had lying around Lucas btw removed the voltage regulator and I had the strongest electrical system I've known It could sit for a couple of months and the old girl would fire no worries and if flooded or out of fuel she would crank and crank till running. Oh another one my friend left the ignition on listening to tunes and melted the points I put some old ones on and we were away. It even soldiered on for years with the ballast resistor wired wrong robbing the coil of full charge so fear not of Lucas but fear the reaper they take all forms!
@@dieselstreet8057 How amny dealers did you know who sold the Sterling. I personally knew two here in NY. Within weeks of delivery the cars were coming back with major and minor problems from electrical malfunctions to windows falling off their tracks and hood and trunk lids that were misaligned and/or wouldn;t close.
As for yourt Land Rover - Great! That's one SUV out of tens of thousands. And melted points from leaving the auxiliary switch on, a burned out generator and the rest of the catalog of "minor" electrical ills you cite just prove the utter crap that Lucas electrical sytems were. Apparently my experience was more extensive than yours. From a TR3A to a TR4 to a Spitfire. All had electrical issues, some small, some not so small. Fun to drive, but I wouldn't take any of them on a long road trip. Compare that to the 2001 Mazda Miata that I drove for four years without a single electrical or any other glitch. A good friend of mine has a 1990 Miata with well over 150,000 miles on it and aside from routine fluid changes all he's ever replaced were tires and brakes. A few years ago when he moved from NY to Florida he even drove that over 30 year old Miata and shipped his SUV! I wouldn't do that with a new car with a Lucas electric system. For final proof Lucas was mercifully merged out of existence while Bosch remains one Germany's largest employers.
The two dashboard controls are, left, heated seat , right, European style graphic for Cruise control master switch
It’s possible, but, there’s a “Seat Heat” button on the center console already- and it does not use that icon.
K24 swap AWD Domani! Why aren't these more popular?!
4wd B18?!
How you only have 7k subs 😮. Most underrated channel on UA-cam 🤘🏼. Thanks for the video man. This was an awesome watch honestly. I'm excited to see more like it from you.
The domanis 4wd drivetrain would be insane to use on ek or eg, could be such an interesting build if you are lucky enough to find one and import one haha
Hi bro, I'm watching your video. When you are talking about, the Gemini. You have forgotten to mention The Holden Gemini, in Australia, back in the 70's and 80's. I had a 80's Gemini 1800 motor which was originally a 1600 motor. I thought I would let you know. Keep up the good work 👍
Now I'm curious to see if anyone in Canada has done a 4WD swap on a 1st gen EL.
I still miss my 2006 Saturn VUE V6. It was a great suv, and very peppy.
There's 5 more "Ronda's" (rover honda) you missed if you want to cover them: the "HH-R" 400/45 which used domani underpinnings and was based off the European M series Civic, the Australian exclusive Rover Quintet based on the Honda Quint, the Australian market Rover 416i based off the first generation Integra, The Rover 600 series which was based off the 5th generation European Accord which is related to the Ascot Innova and Finally the Rover R8 cars 200, 400 and Coupe also known as the "Tomcat" its related to the Concerto however unlike JDM built Concerto's it used a different suspension set up that the European market Concerto's adopted. I digress, Keep up with the good work. fyi not a rover fan usually but I like the "Ronda" era cars
I think a part 2 with these mentions would be a great idea.
Pplp😅😅
Few points of interest.
The XX platform was a collaboration between the two companies, not merely a Honda with Rover badges.
The 600 was indeed a re-skinned CD Accord which was related to the Ascot Innova though there were some key differences. A notable one being frameless windows on the Ascot Innova.
The CD Accord also used the L series Rover diesel engine with the gearbox on the opposite side as per the Rover set up for the diesel and petrol turbo powered cars (L and T series.)
Most Rover fans aren't fond of the Ronda era, though mostly for the dull as ditchwater FWD slush, and the fisher price interiors on most models, a vast climbdown from the standard setting P5 and P6.
Not really true. Collaboration between Honda and Rover was formal. Rover was not in position to dedicate resources to be an equal partner. The end result was similar to Ford - Mazda relationship - in reverse. Officially, Mazda 323(3) and Ford Focus 'shared' the platform. The fact was that it was a Mazda chassis (platform) all round, not to mention that Ford simply rebadged MZR petrol (gas) engines to Duratec. The difference was that while Mazda used Mitsubishi Electric for the electrical components, European Focus used Siemens (made by various subsidiaries in Eastern Europe, which is why Focus had electronics issues). Or a early Mondeos. Mazda chassis, Mazda engines... heck, even Jaguar X-type used 'Mondeo platform' :) Fun fact, hybrid Mondeo used Mazda's 2.5 liter MZR engine long after Mazda began using Sky engines.
And it got worse, the last Ford Probe was a Mazda MX-6 with a Ford body.
I currently have a 2006 Saturn vue at 250k miles. Still doesn't burn oil and has had religious oil changes and timing belt. Great engine plenty of power in this v6
I've watched a few of your videos, I enjoy your editing skills and commentary. And the John Davis cameo when talking about the Rover's gauges is classic. 😅
Thank you! I'm a big John Davis/MotorWeek fan which I'm sure is obvious from my videos!
All second gen Rover 800 V6, including sedan, used Honda V6 engine up to 1996, the Rover KV6 engine wasn't ready before the 1996 facelift. I have a 1993 Rover 827Si sedan, a great car and I love it, but it includes a lot of electric problems
I own a 2007 Saturn Vue with the 3.5L Honda engine and trans, and it's been a great vehicle with room for the family.
I've had half a dozen Saturn Redlines and they are the best kept SUV secret out there. The non-Redlines are cheap as dirt, the Honda engines are bulletproof and they are one of the better looking SUVs made.
The redlines are surprisingly quick also, especially the stick shift ones
@@Gravel_Ridge_4wd Umm...they never made Saturn Vue Redlines with a stick.
@@atikovi1 idk if it was a redline, but my neighbor had a V6 Honda stick Vue
@@Gravel_Ridge_4wd Only the 4 cylinder Vue could be had with a stick, and only with FWD.
My uncle had a first Gen Saturn Vue, he loved that car.
Mine got stolen 😞
That part at the end with the Rover
And the repairs. 😂
Hondaformers, more than meets the eye
Hondaformers, Hondas in disguise
LOL... Makes me wonder which brand would be the opposing team....
It has to be General Motoricons
I had an Acclaim HLS in the early 90's.. One of the best cars I ever owned...
Dad had one in the late 80's, he loved it. He's got terrible taste in cars
@@steve5772 I only got mine to replace a terrible Mk3 escort. It was the Honda reliability that was the attraction and it lived up to its reputation, never let me down..
Isuzu Geminis were sold in Australian as the Aussie GM make Holden from the 70s to early 80s.
I remember cars in the 2000s with B-Series swaps often had "Honda Inside" stickers styled like the Intel logo. The Saturn Vue should have come equipped with one of those stickers!
A fully built 4wd EL would be awesome.
Wait so they were essentially making 4wd 1.6 ELs for export in Alliston?? And we didn’t know?
15:35 this car looks very much like the toyota celica of early 80s. Specifically the generation starting in 1982.
That was a very interesting watch and i learned a lot if honda trivia from this. Would love to see you do the rest of the rebadge.
22:22 Forbidden Integra 😳
I never knew that the Saturn View had a Honda engine. And the Triumph is a very thinly disguised Honda Civic but I actually like it!
I remember that commercial with David Alan Grier.
13:15 These are "Rotary Digital" clocks, but the flip clocks are "Solari" clocks. Love those!!
btw Honda Domani turned into europian 1996 Civic MA series (was something between 5 and 6G). And also it was a Rover too.
This was a dope video!
the amount of him saying isuzu pulling out of the passenger car game is crazy
they still make exactly two cars called the MU-X (pronounced Myoo-X)and the D-Max which are a SUV and a pick up
they used to make an MPV called the Panther but that was primarily sold in south and south east asia
I miss Joe Isuzu...
Yep, these SUVs you mentioned are actually sold in the Philippines and South East Asia as a whole. Plus the Panther is called in the Philippines as the Isuzu Crosswind, which is also available in India which is a Chevy btw called the Chevy Tavera over there.
THE 3.0 T0 3.5L HONDA IN THE VUE, GAVE IT THE BEST WT/HP RATIO, HAD ONE FOR YRS BUT NEEDED 4X4 NOT AWD
"The Triumph Acclaim succeeded where even the TR7 had failed... and killed off the Triumph marque's [crediblity] for good." - Jeremy Clarkson
I really love the body style of these cars. I would love one with a B series and awd.
4:17 led me down a rabbithole because it says irmscher on the License Plate which got me really confused. Apparently irmscher tuned a lot of Isuzu Models back in the late 80s/ early 90s and must also have been a Car Dealership for Isuzu back then before they became known as an Opel/Vauxhall Tuner and Producer (They have their own Production Line that produced some special Models over the Decades). They're from close to where I live in southwestern Germany that's why I know them.
I have the Car &Driver magazine when they reviewed the Saturn. It's titled "Saturn finally broke down and got a Honda!" 😂
I can't believe that the phone number for the dealer that was going to be under the new brand "Acura" @16:53 is still in service and is still a Honda dealer in NJ! I was wondering where that picture was from, because that place looked terrible lol. It looks a little better now.
19:44 the symbol with the bridge means cruise control engagement switch. it’s a picture of a highway, and that’s where you would use cruise control.
A couple more things about the vue, because it was so light the 0-60 time with the honda v6 was about the same a Porsche cayenne, and not relevant to this video but when you got the 4 cylinder with a manual trans, the shifter they put in that thing was absolute magic, it felt like there was a giant magnet pulling the shift lever into every gear change
Over here in the UK the first gen domani was both sold as a rover and a honda, they were sold as a civic here and had a full VTi spec with a b series and LSD, it also was available as an estate (wagon) even in VTi trim, I currently drive a 1.5 D series vtec one and it's a lovely old car
9:43 The Valve cover with the spark plugs in the front would denote that it has vtec....And if you look really closely you can almost see a solenoid at the top left of the valve cover. However the power output is correct for a one point five single overhead cam non vtec. The 15E denotes the 92 hp, (at least in the states, might have made an extra 10hp because of Japan's jungle juice and different ecu.) E meaning economy, it's probably the same engine in the vx hatch.
Groundhog reference was gold!
A delight to find , general car ,production , that is not AI, voiced or sourced , thank you , quality human work ,
Thank you!
Calling the Vue a Honda product and built on "GM architecture" is pretty crazy. The engine was Honda, that's it. The platform was built off S-Series inspired cues like spaceframe + plastic panels.
The interior was reminiscent of the S-Series, as was the retro-futurist styling. That plastic kept the weight in the S-Series down to less than an NC MX-5 as a sedan/coupe/station wagon and it kept the Vue lighter than some mid-size sedans.
People uninitiated with Saturn sure have some wild opinions about what they were. Buy and large they succeeded at what they were trying to do, which was to modernize GM. Granted, their usefulness was outlived by about 2007, but to discredit their entire run as "Fisher Price" and "Cost-cutting" is ignorant. They were out to improve GM and sell good cars and they did that for a full generation.
I like early Saturns! I didnt say that about their entire run, but I think by the early 2000s Saturns were starting their decline.
@AcuraAdvice ok, sorry for the aggression. I took it that you did very little/poor research on the Vue based on what you said about the interior especially, as it was basically just the S-Series interior adapted to an SUV. And said interior-- combined with the plastic body panels unique to Saturn (that make it quite far from a Honda product)-- helped lighten it up to be comparable to a mid-size sedan, as well as keep its fuel economy ratings about 10 mpg higher than competing Ford and GM products of the time.
I think it's inaccurate to write off Saturn in the early and mid-2000s as past its time. The ION land speed record, Vue's moderately good performance in the market, and the iconic halo car in the Sky meant that at least until 2007 the brand had new angles to offer.
I would not call the Vue even tangentially a "Honda product" for using a Honda engine. It was an introduction for a new period of Saturn in which it would share and refine other designs to make different and capable products.
Honda youtuber glazers are the worst.
And Toyota
@@HAKX5shut up!
I think he likes the Honda Domani LOL I mean, a AWD B-series car? I'm in!
Those gen Legend coupes are absolute masterpieces
The same VUE had 3.5 L TOYOTA V6 engine for 1 year....
In the mid 80s I was delivering parcels in the affluent area of Cheshire,1 of my daily deliveries was at a computer periferals company, I was shown a rover sterling for sale &shocked by the price; the car was 2 years old and for sale at £2,700 which was a 90% reduction on a new one
You forgot one that was a Honda & sold by a GM division in South Korea, the 1994 -2000 Daewoo Arcadia which was a exact clone of the US spec Acura Legend sedan 1991 & most parts was mutually interchangeable except for badges, sometimes the Daewoo Arcadia would actually have a airbag that says Acura,,headlamps, taillights,wheels ,body panels & engines was Acura/ Honda
Love the John Davis reference at 19:56. IYKYK😂😂😂
The airbag went off too😂😂
Fun Fact: the Honda Ballad was first badged as a Triumph (thus was derisively nicknamed *Tronda* at the time), before being rebadged as a Rover (thus was the car *Ronda* was coined from) after AR realized the Triumph name didn't fit after all... not that it fitted 🤦♂️.
Should have just badged the Ballad as an "Austin Acclaim" or "Wolseley... Wizard"? 🤔; no amount of PR would've convinced people that the Ballad was a proper Triumph or Rover.
The Honda Domani was also sold as the MB Civic in Europe and was also sold as the Rover 400 and 45 as well as the MG ZS, Rover and Honda worked in partnership to build the MB Civic, the previous generation Rover R8 200 and 400 series where also sold as the Honda Concerto
I was waiting for you to mention the Isuzu Oasis, a rebadged Japanese manufactured Odyssey. The Japanese Import Oasis continued to be offered for model year 1988, while the 1988 Odyssey was redesigned, made in the USA with sliding rear doors. My 1986 Odyssey bought new, was just sold with 340,000 miles on it.
I'm going to do another video like this where I cover some more models including the Oasis
The "Groundhog's Day" clock is also digital. It's just electromechanical, rather than electronic.
As someone who lives in a household with two first gen vues (2004 and 2006, both with the j35), they're actually pretty amazing cars. talk about a surprisingly roomy vehicle. Also, once the vue hit the 2nd gen, it became awful. they replaced the j35 with their own 3.6 v6, which if you watch The Car Wizard, you'd know to avoid that engine like the storm.
More rover / sterling content PLZ
Wow. Sterling. Now that's a name I haven't heard in a minute. I remember when they came over to the States. They were a pretty classy ride here in SoCal.
Great video. Thanks for the ride down memory lane. My Dad gave me his ‘87 Sterling 825 SL in ‘95. The Honda engine was durable but everything else was falling off. I found out the front corner lights were Cadillac parts. Traded it in for a new ‘96 Civic hatchback. Drove JLo around in the Sterling when we dated. We’re Zendaya’s biological parents so she might’ve been conceived in a Sterling.
from which cadillac?
If you do another video there are many more Rovers to include. Rover Quintet. 1984 to 1989 Rover 200, 1989 to 1995 Rover 200/400 version of the Honda concerto, 1995 to 1999 Rover 200 that used a shortened Honda Concerto chassis and other components. Same thing with the 1999 to 2005 Rover 25, 2003 Rover Streetwise and 2001 MG ZR. Then there's the 1995 to 1999 Rover 400 that's based on the civic. Same with the 2000 to 2005 Rover 45 and 2001 MG ZS. The 1993 to 1999 Rover 600 joint development with the Honda Accord. Even the 1995 to 1998 Rover 100 used Honda indicator stalks and other odd components. Same with the 1995 MG F and 2002 TF and even late 90's Mini's. Honda also sold a rebadged Land Rover Discovery and they were thinking about selling a rebadged 1995 Rover 200 as a Honda. In the early 90's British Aerospace wanted to sell the Rover Group to Honda but Honda was dragging it's heels and didn't want to increase it's shares in Rover. So BAe stabbed them in the back and sold Rover Group to BMW in 1994 without telling Honda that it was going to do so. Even though they were development partners
6:38/6:39 This Isuzu Gemini was sold in Hong Kong
I used to be in love with that chick from the Saturn commercial 😍😂
Mannnn. The US could have used the Domani and the 1.6 EL.
I unironically love the looks of the Vue, looks like it would be rad to trick out if it was in NFSUG2
The 2004 Saturn Redline Vue is the first car my wife and I bought together after we got married. We had it until our third kid and loved every minute of ownership. Our local dealership was some of the best people we have ever dealt with in the car world. I am still friends with the old manager. I sadly do not have the vue anymore but still have my 06 ion redline and will never part ways with it.
19:38 a quick google says it's a cruise control, which is weird because it looks like the German signage for the Autobahn.
Ahh thank you!
The body problem with the Sterling was that the cathodic paint dip process was accidentally reversed. The body was supposed to have a positive electrical charge, but it was negative and the paint was positively charged. Most of these cars rusted out extremely quickly because of that issue.
lmao "fisher price interiors" that got you a sub.
19:40 the "bridge" button is actually the cruise control on/off button..
Thanks! a few ppl have told me that now.
My 03 v6 manual accord is not communicating with ecu. The fuse assembly has a controller inside that must be bad. Honda had a recall on them try and see if they’ll give a new one
The vue redline was suprisinly quick for its weight and time of release plus the whole redline series was pretty cool expecially the ion redline
I was hoping you’d say the 1st gen Santa Fe was a rebadged Honda. Just got one and it’s smoother than any Honda I’ve ever owned !
How few Pontiac sunbursts were there!?! Domani had an optional in-dash minidisk player too if i remember correctly
I knew of about three of them. Just like the Geo Prizm was to Toyota corolla.
Don't forget the Toyota Matrix/Pontiac Vibe/Toyota Voltz. Vibe rebadges the Matrix like Prizm/Corolla, and Voltz rebadges the Vibe for Japan.
And the Chevy Cavalier was once in Japan too.
I was seriously considering a Sterling 825 I found on Facebook Marketplace as a project. I wonder if anyone makes a more reliable wiring harness for the car (and lots of replacement switches).
19:42 ball chiller, old cars used to have a vent under the steering wheel
They need to bring that back
I have a 97 aska in Texas. I have t found another this body style in the USA.
My Daughter bought a twice wrecked 2006 Vue 6 years ago for $1200.
It has three different colors of body panels, a busted sway bar, radiator from a 5speed, no ac condenser, bad struts and runs like a sewing machine. The worst thing ever was a nickel lodged under the shifter.
In fact, the dipstick is off as well as several other parts revealing that it actually has a donor engine from an odyssey. 😂
It's cruise control on the rover 800 its the same icon used on every car today
Great video ❤❤❤❤❤
It's hilarious to know that Opel and Saab are rebadged BMW "base models", but the Saturn and other GM products had Honda/Isuzu bodies, and either Opel or Honda engines. 😅 Probably their best idea, ever. Loved my 2.2L inline 4 S-10, and I always said: "This doesn't look like an American engine ... It looks German to me." My grandpa argued the Chevy logo on valve cover proved otherwise. Well, those were BMW/Opel motors, and explains why they were strong, reliable, easy to work on, fuel efficient, and full of electronic sensors.
I swear that half of the presentation about the 825 was telling us how the car was literally disassembling itself. Even with that I actually saw one of these on the roads, and it was *actually working*☠. Anyway, really nice video!
A somewhat ironic example of bias, given that the US has quite history of quality control problems 😂 .
great documentary
MG/Rover and Honda partnership gave some almost indentical models, My Rover 45 2.0 iDT is the same car as Civic 4/5 doors, same engine, transmission, chassis etc...interesting to know for parts
Fun video. Thanks!
My man keep saying "EEZOOZOO" with his whole chest.
The relationship between Rover and Honda is a video in its self.
The button mentioned on the rover at 19:37 was for when you go into a tunnel...it's a shame that button had stopped being provided to drivers by the time the princess had her accident.
Do believe the 1.5l option in the 94-00 Gemini was the same as the north American civic HX, weird d15 eco
I think the isuzu Oasis is missing on this list? unless you dont label it as a car, which yeah its an mpv/ lil van
Isuzu Oasis and Isuzu Vertex I didnt cover, I didnt want to do more than 5 in one video or video would get too long and lose watch time and not perform well. If people are interested im happy to do another video covering those models.