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Acura RSX (All years/types)
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Comments
I sit corrected.
:-)
ok, North America :P
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Sheesh, the '06 Civic SI is going to be equipped exactly as the current RSX-S is powertrain-wise and suspension-wise, AND it will have a standard limited slip as well! All for less money, probably, since it is likely that as a Civic it will have standard cloth and optional leather.
This is a car that will be available in three months. A whole year before RSX/Integra gets any sort of update. It will also be the first Civic ever whose base price goes over the $20K mark, I bet.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Not to get picky, but I wonder if the RSX is sold in Mexico. :confuse:
So Acura would then have no 2-door cars except for the exclusive NSX. :surprise:
Well, by the time I'm done w/ my RSX (hopefully it'll last me another 5 years of good use!), I plan to go AWD anyways, be it w/ Acura or another make.
Then another francais pulls in with a sweet HB called a Cherolet Ortho not made in USA according to the owner.Best fit and finish I ever saw GM put out.
So my question is how do you buy a car in Canada an AcuraType S in order to get the heated seats?
My dealer wants me to puchase a TSX but, to me it's a chick car.( shouldn't of said that ) I live in Maine so is it a hassle to buy over the boarder? Merci mes amies.
They called the SRT-4 the brute you would never want to drive on the street, characterized the Cobalt SS S/C and Ion Redline as acres of cheap plastic and numb steering with little feedback (and a hard unsophisticated ride in the case of the Ion, large long car driving feel in the case of the Cobalt), and liked lots of things about the WRX but hated the "Wait-all-day" turbo lag.
The RSX was slowest through the slalom but had the best skidpad and by far the most sophisticated ride and nicest interior. It is funny, their remarks pretty much hit the best and worst of this car right on the head, as far as how I have come to think of it (one of the downsides was suspension that became a little crashy over the worst of the potholes). By FAR the best shifter of the lot, in fact C&D is slightly infatuated with the RSX's shifter and holds it up as the example all sticks should aspire to in other car ratings, even much more expensive cars from Europe. And still one of the nicest interiors in its price range/class, even after four years plus.
I was thinking about it, and all the cars here were fairly old. They didn't include a Mustang, which they should have, although I think it would have been embarassed in the handling department (but probably would have been a better all-around car than the Dodge and Saturn). The WRX has been updated twice in four years, with no major revision, but decent interior upgrades both times. No powertrain changes though. The SRT-4 has had power upgrades but no other changes in three years. The GM cars are the newest, so to score fourth and fifth just goes to show the General still misses the point of cars like this.
I will be sad when the RSX disappears, but I guess that just puts us owners in possession of something kinda rare, eh?! ;-)
I doubt the whole five year run will get much over 100K cars, maybe 125K or so. Doesn't hold a candle to the Integra sales of the mid-90s, but doesn't mean you never see them anywhere either. :-)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
:-P
The cars of course, drive exactly the same as they did before, including the RSX-S, which seems to be winning lots of comparos lately, especially against the Cobalt SS S/C...
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
:-)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
As for pick-up, well the BMW has got it beat on torque at low revs - RSX is a car you have to rev to get the power out of, and in so doing it can be a TON of fun. But it is not the best candidate for stoplight racing, if that is your gig.
There is a fair amount of road noise, and a just-adequate stock stereo, as the two main drawbacks to this model. The shifter is the best in the biz, as is the handling like I said. Back seat is tight - it's really a two-seater with two extra emergency seats.
The BMW is nice because it is rear drive. RSX is front drive, and it is fairly easy to lose traction at the front when you're taking off from a stop, if you try and do it fast.
Apart from that, I dunno. I love this car. Canyon carving is my favorite little hobby, and of all the cars I have owned this one takes the cake for speed through the twists and turns. Steering is heavy, precise, just the way I like it. Brakes are excellent.
At your age, both these cars will be immensely expensive to insure, I am afraid.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Thanks in advance.
It is NOT a drag racer. Neither is the Solara V-6.
You want a gutsy coupe with a ton of power right off the line, Mustang GT is the one for you, no question. If even that won't satisfy, the BMW M3 should be your next stop.
If that might be a little more guts or a little more money than your spec, you would do well to check out the new cars from VW Group (currently the base A3, base A4, and base '06 Passat, soon to include VW GTIs and Jetta GLIs) with the new 2.0T motor - it is a powerful work of art, and the turbo lag of the old 1.8 is gone.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
The engine was design to run at a certain air flow rate so until you start tweaking engine internals, an exhaust (which evacuates the air from the engine) won't give much gain and may even hurt your performance....unless you want more noise then I would say the exhaust upgrade is for you.
Intakes: I notice you're from southern Cali so you deal with heat quite a bit. The problem with the intakes you are considering is that they take air in strictly from the engine compartment. V2's and other short ram intakes like the Injen can have what is called "heat soak" and suffer from poor performance due to the hot engine compartment. Also, short rams tend to be much louder than stock so I don't know if that's what you're after.
For you I would suggest a cold air intake which has a longer tube and takes air in from outside the engine compartment. Injen makes one and so does AEM....another type is the Comptech Ice box. There are other makes and models but those three are the most popular. They provide the most gains in torque and HP as far as staying all engine.
You will modify the car and then it will have problems, perhaps as serious as you mis-shifting and blowing up your engine. Then you will take it to your dealer and they will say your mods voided your warranty. This has happened to several people.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Posture: I've been a VW driver for the last 25+ years, having owned bugs, a Rabbit, a Jetta, a Scirocco, and a Passat - all of which were very comfortable for distance and local driving (okay, the Bugs were lame and the Scirocco could have been roomier), and I've found the RSX seating position entirely different from the VW's. Not bad different, but just more legs-stretched-out and low to the ground sort of different. Posture wise, I'd say It feels a lot like the British cars a friend has. It did take time to get used to, but the seats adjust sufficiently to provide plenty of variation.
Ride: I wanted a car that handled well, thus the RSX-S. It is a bit stiff, courtesy of the sport suspension, but on smooth roads, it's not objectionable. Road noise is also tolerable on smooth roads. Mechanically, the car is as solid as they come. There are no rattles and the shifter is as precise as anything the Germans make. However, I recently took a trip north through Tennessee, and in several areas the highway changed to sectioned concrete which was badly neglected. In fact, it was @&#! terrible! At highway speed (70+ mph), the rhythmic vibration nearly shook my fillings loose. I'm sure it would have been better if the car hadn't been so heavily loaded. It finally got to the point that I had to slow down and do the legal limit. Road noise on rough concrete is also more than desired, but I do still have the original tires, which most regard as very noisy.
Engine/responsiveness: Power with the S isn't lacking. If I need to blow by a slow poke on the highway, it's usually not even necessary to downshift. Although many regard the engine as short on torque, there is plenty for normal commuting (the car weighs less than 2800 lbs). The 200 horsepower comes in handy on long hills. The RSX pulls strongly where I used to have to downshift other cars. In driving locally through the daily gridlock of Atlanta, the need to shift isn't as constant and annoying as many people make it out to be. Keep in mind that the RSX-S redlines at almost 8 grand. That's a lot of flexibility to decide whether you want to shift or not. If you want it quiet - shift up. Otherwise, just let it rev a bit. Does this abuse the car? I don't think so. To this day the car still purrs at idle like it did when it was new, no valve taps or tics. I've never had to add oil between changes, and my oil change intervals have grown longer. I use Castrol synthetic blend or Syntec, which when I changed it at the first 3K interval, drained out perfectly clean. It looked as though I had just changed it! I've stretched the interval to 5,000 miles now, but the oil still drains out fairly yellow. I'm finding it had to accept that this engine runs so tight, but that's what the oil says.
All in all, there are certainly more comfortable cars on the road, but it's hard to find a car that's as comfortable as a couch, rides like it's on rails and is powered by a rocket. The RSX is a great compromise. Just watch out for those ragged roads.
On pavement that is less than glass-smooth, the RSX is a lot less jittery than the Celica, controlling body motions better.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I tried at one of the bike stores.the guy said that he MIGHT try one for around $600(I thought its too costly). Every time, I've to take my bike, I need to fold my rear seats, which I'm uncomfortable to do.
Anyway, It might not be a great help for me at this time of the year as I live in MI.
Any help/experience is highly appreciated.
.
Why do you find putting the rear seats down a pain? That was my plan so I'd appreciate your thoughts on this.
I have an '03 RSX Type-S that I bought in March of '03. I have approximately 57,000 miles on the car so I have a lot of experience with the RSX.
If you are looking for a soft, super quiet commute than the RSX is not your car. The suspension is stiff, you feel some of the bumps and there is noise when you are on the highway. My father, who is retired did not like the ride but he's used to quiet, smooth sedans. However, I love driving my car. The leather seats wrap you up and hold you in place. The tight steering response lets you react quickly to everything on the road. You can cruise casually in 6th gear or you can downshift and work your way thru traffic or thru a curvy country road with confidence. The 8K redline makes downshifting a lot of fun. I recently replaced the stock tires that came with my car, which were horrible, with Toyo Proxes. I feel ever more secure on the road. The pleasure I get from driving the car far outweighs any negatives, which are minor, that the car may have.
I often drive the car on long trips. I don't find the long rides uncomfortable. I will hit a road side stop and stretch on long trips but that is mostly because I'm in my 30s. After 20 odd years of playing sports and beating up my body I need to stretch the creaks out of my bones. I would probably have to do that with any car on a long trip.
I test drove a Celica GT when I was shopping for my '03 RSX Type S. To be honest, I wasn't that impressed with the Celica. When I was younger the GT was always considered to be a pretty nice car. I was a little surprised. As soon as I test drove the RSX I knew that was the car I wanted. I previously owned a '00 Integra GSR so I might be a little biased towards Acura. The Toyota did not tempt me to switch.
how is the shifting in the rsx type s compared to the celica gt you drove? i hear alot of ppl complaining about the celica gt's manual tranny. they say they feel like they are gunan stall it everytime and it has no pick up and what not but to me i never feel liek im goin to stall and i mean the pickup isnt that horrible....could you tell a considerable difference between the 2? obviously the rsx is goin to be faster but how much, and how much better or worse is it in any other way? i have never driven the rsx type s
I said it as a pain because I can't carry any other stuff inside my car comfortably I need to carry two bikes(mine and my wife's).
But, we might be able to circumvent this problem, if some one can suggest a hitch and something to hold behind the car, I'm not sure whether this works.
Again, the customized one costs $600(roughly).
I shall post if I come across something.
Many, many, many people have complained about a serious grind when shifting into 2nd and 3rd gear.
Others have blown up their engines by downshifting into the wrong gear.
Of course, many people who buy an RSX are young and have no idea what they are doing. I am 60 and shift my 2003 base RSX very smoothly, and the car is an absolute joy to drive. Do I ever love this car!
Maybe the gates in the 6-sp shifter are closer and that makes it easier to mis-shift.
If you look on the internet, you can find other RSX web sites that discuss the problems I mentioned.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Maybe they will come up with a two-door version of the TSX and call THAT the next RSX, but spiritually it won't be. Integra has never been such a large car, and its reflexes would certainly suffer with such an enlargement. I fear that what will actually happen is Integra will retreat from the American market, where bigger is always better, to places where a car with Integra's reflexes are more appreciated.
And the new base model Acura will be the TSX.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
As for the restyling/replacemnt of the rsx, I wouldn't worry about it too much, because Acura has always stayed true with its base car being relatively fun.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
About me: I previously owned a Mitsu (Eclipse) GST, and I've owned my RSX-S since July '01 with 08 miles on the odo. I use to be a well respected individual on the Edmunds forums when I owned the MitsuGST with all the knowledge I had of it. I loved my GST, except that it was constantly falling apart (but the engine was solid). I currently love my RSX-S, and it is entirely the opposite of my old car, the engine and Transmission is constantly falling apart (but the car is absolutely solid). Nothing has gone wrong yet with the body of the car, except for the normal faint squeeks and rattles here and there (not like the annoying loud ones in the MitsuGST). As for the drivetrain, I've never had the transmission problems, but everyone else I know does, I've only had multiple engine problems. Just recently it developed a leak on a bad power steering line, where the factory weld was just to thin, and power steering fluid is spraying out of it. RSX-S now has 40K miles, over 4 years old, and the warranty is out (at 4 years, 50k miles). Oh well, I still love the car. I am very pleased.
As for much happier and more exciting news, there is a huge support and following for the RSX-S. There are constantly people that come up and tell me how good my car is and how it looks. I was at a Walmart recently, and a couple guys by a Nissan Armada where drooling over it, and asked if it was a BMW. I told them it was an Acura, and one guy asked what that was. I told him it's the luxury division of Honda, but still made by Honda, so it's a good car (except for the faulty drivetrain). I was surprised they had no idea, but they where impressed when I said Honda, so maybe it should be a Honda Integra. :confuse:
Lastly, there are huge gatherings across the US for people that are excited about the car; kind of like they do for Saturn. Here's the latest one, here in Texas:
http://forums.clubrsx.com/showthread.php?p=6861646#post6861646
This was good news to me because I already have Yakima rack parts out the wazoo from previous cars, so all I'll need is a new set of clips ($38) and I'm good to go. But unless I'm carrying a bunch of other stuff or more than two people, I'll usually just toss my bike in the back. I haven't checked yet with the RSX, but based on experience with Civics and Accords, it should fit fine with just the front wheel removed.
I'm really amazed at this engine. I've been driving a '95 Honda Accord EX with 5-speed manual for the past 10 years, and got used to its engine which was smooth up until 4000 rpm, then got increasingly strident up to its redline at 6250. The RSX Type S engine is completely different...gentle and throaty below 3000, kind of rough and noisy right around 3000, then actually gets quieter and smoother the higher you go. The highest I've dared to take it so far is 6,500 rpm, and jeebus, it was flying. This thing loves to rev, but it's so docile around town.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
So....I'm thinking of getting the Pirelli P Zero Nero (I used to have Pirellis on my Integra) since it seems they are the best combo (for my taste) of dry, wet and snow conditions of the performance tires. I choose to use all seasons year round, so I do not consider winter snows an option.
So...my question is: has anyone here tried the P Zero Neros and what was their experience?
FWIW, I think the MXM has an above-average noise level (at least, for a Michelin), and I'm looking at the Bridgestone Turanza as a possible replacement for mine.