Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see May lease deals!
Options
Acura RSX (All years/types)
This discussion has been closed.
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
Start calling/emailing local dealers to see what they're doing. I'm sure clubrsx will have other dealers that are charging msrp.
Don't give up and pay over msrp. No car's worth that.
I was able to find a dealer ( Serramonte, CA ) which was selling the car just a tick below MSRP. I was given a price of $2.23k for an base RSX, with auto and leather. Since California's weather is decent year round, I was wondering if the leather was completely necessary. I really like to have it since it is an " Acura " car, but yet...is it worth it for the car. I dun want to look like a Civic with leather, it's just sad to make your car look cheaper than the seats. lol
Given their collective experience, I'm confident that C&D's editors are adept at techniques required to obtain maximum performance fron the vehicles they test.
Whatever the reason, I think the RSX looks great with leather seats--it's not at all a case of "leather on a Civic". The quality of the interior trim is very high and classy and can only be complemented by leather.
If you really like it, go for it!
I might expect this from Honda, but Acura?
I remember 10 or so years ago interiors came in an array of colors. Then they came in just tan/gray/black, but at least the entire interior was that color. Then they came with the dash and center console always black. Now it looks like they come with no choice at all.
Pretty soon we'll be able to get any exterior color we want, as long as it's black.
:-(
http://www.thehollywoodextra.com
Scroll down to my (red) link, to the "car page".
What the...? The 2003 Accord looks exactly like the redesigned Altima!
I just noticed that the Lexus RX300 picture looks a lot like the current model...I think someone used a photo imaging program.
the rsx is an amazing vehicle, but has many flaws that could have easily been foreseen and fixed at almost no cost to honda.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
I thought you guys where going to come up something substantial. These aren't flaws, there character. I only wish other cars had as little of this, as this car has. Who wants a car that's perfect but unreasonably priced (BMW for example)...Or a car with everything, plus a good price, that's just falling apart (Pontiac for example).
With little to complain about, what's left. I guess we'll just have to go buy one for ourselves so we can take a closer look and nit pick about everything we find.
If you're looking for a car with character, buy a WRX wagon: I'm ordering mine this Friday to replace my GS-R. Adios, Acura. It was fun while it lasted.
another thing, remember the thick shifter knob in the gsr? now it is a delicate little piece of thin plastic.
than
So the cars will behave similarly at low-med rpm levels (looking at the torque curves, the base should even have a slight edge here) but as you accelerate and the rpm's mount, the Type-S will be able to keep accelerating in gear long after the base needs to shift.
Common terminology for that is that the Type-S has a "better top end", or that the base "runs out of breath".
I believe them to both be outstanding cars each in their own way. The characteristics I'm looking for in my next car make me lean toward the RSX, but that's just me.
What annoys me about the whole RSX vs. WRX debate is when champions of a particular car start misrepresenting facts to support their argument.
One obvious example is people who say the handling of the RSX must be inferior to the WRX or Celica or whatever because it used MacPherson struts in front. Such people must be very proud to be able to maintain such high standards of ignorance. The Celica uses MacPherson struts in front too, and IIRC the WRX uses them at all 4 corners.
thanx
You can't go wrong with either model. And if you want to play "chicken" with Honda, you can wait and see if they'll bring over the type-R.
Question for everyone: Acura has the types S and R. Jaguar also has S types. Is this some sort of luxury auto lingo?
http://www.zhome.com/ZCMnL/tech/torqueHP.htm
I like the RSX but am waiting to test the 2002 Altima - 240 hp V6 - available in manual - 2 adults can fit in the back. And have you guys seen the pictures?! It looks like an Audi TT in sedan form. Check out www.nissandriven.com
Besides, at the 2% over invoice that I'm paying for the WRX, I can live with the wacky styling. Not that the WRX looks all that much worse than the RSX, particularly when you're being hit for full MSRP on the RSX.
Can someone tell me if all the RSXs have bigger tires in front as opposed to the back or is this some modification the owner made to his car?
Either way, big front tires/smaller rear tires looked very funny. Overall, I liked the looks of the car, but there are a few styling points that looked a little out of place. But hey, I drive an Echo so what do I know about styling. ; ) Definitely a larger car than I thought it would be.
Getting a look at it makes me wonder what rental car company might have one to use for the weekend.
For some odd reason the marketing wizards at Acura deemed it wise to sever the last attachment Acura maintains with its short 15-year history. Losing the Integra name, Honda pushes the entire Acura line toward the absolutely asinine nonsensical letter combinations some MBA must believe Americans associate with luxury and quality. Guess, what Mr. Skippy Hoogledorf, Dartmouth MBA? People did associate the Integra name with quality, reliability and value. Contrary to whatever your focus group told you, useless letter combinations carry no more panache than a name with well over a decade of built-in goodwill. Unlike the model designations of competitors like Mercedes, BMW and to a much lesser extent Lexus, Acura's names mean nothing. RSX? Well that stands for...RSX. Just like TL is well a TL. Compare that to BMW's 325, where the 3 is the model series, and the 25 stands for the 2.5 liter inline six (gorgeous engine, by the way).
Enough complaining about the Integra's...oops, RSX's new name. What about the car? Well as the whole world knows, the RSX and its former brother the long in the tooth Integra are both based on a Civic platform. With the old Integra one never really saw the Civic platform peeking through. The same cannot be said of the all-new 2002 RSX. The moment one lays eyes on this over-priced claptrap there exists no doubt it's a Civic coupe with slightly sporty styling. The frontend's lights may not be a match for the Civic's but the family resemblance from the edge of the lights to the end of the front fenders is more obvious than Angelina Jolie's Frankensteinian cosmetic surgery results. The rear fenders on are also just as slab-sided as the Civic coupe's. All told, the car's essentially a spiffier version of a Civic on the outside.
The interior? I wish I could leave it at cheap, but that'd be doing a disservice to the likes of Kia and Hyundai.
To read the whole review, visit my site: http://www.blue-guy.com/roadtests/2002acurarsx.html
He even goes so far asto claim that the trunk is small. 18 cu ft is small? That's just one of the more obvious absurdities in the review.
Blueguy.com: Not recommended, 2 thumbs down.
All I have to say is that your review is pathetic, and the site reflects it. Also, be careful with copyrights.
When your views on things are in line with some kind of audience then maybe your site will get off the ground.
For a better nonprofit start-up review site, visit:
http://home.netvigator.com/~europa/Main_Menu.htm
I found it web-surfing once upon a time. It reviews cars on a worldly prospective.
As for the hood and hatch. I feel either the hood should be aluminum, thus light, or it should be strut mounted. For a car in this class, one should get these minor perks. The hatch, to me, felt like a ton of bricks, both up and down.
Exterior: 6 - The exterior redesign is pretty conservative. After 8 years with no changes, I expected a little more flair. A slightly aggressive front end with an indistinguishable back end hatch. It looks a lot like the Civic coupe. Not bad, but not radical. The underbody spoiler makes the car look foolish in my opinion, so does that sunroof visor.
Interior: 7 - The interior quality is slightly upscale, but it's easy to see where the corners were cut. The steering wheel felt small for some reason. The radio controls are small and the sound quality of the stereo was just OK, nothing special. Head room is at a premium, leg room isn't great. I felt a little claustrophobic in this car and I'm only 5'9 so that's saying something. The seats are comfortable and sporty though - really nice touch. Leather and cloth are both decent quality, but leather in a $20-25K car is a waste in my opinion. Good room in the hatch, no room in the back seat.
Ride: 6.5 - I took it on a few long stretches of road and was able to open it up a little bit. The overall ride was taught, but left me wanting more. Steering, suspension, and handling was tight and precise for a Japanese car, but you certainly aren't going to mistake it for a Benz, Audi, or BMW. Body roll is more noticeable than I expected for a brand new FWD model. That was disappointing. Acceleration is good, but not great. The i-VTEC gets the car up to sixty pretty quickly and the high revs sound cool, but any way you slice it, a 4 cylinder is a 4 cylinder. It lags in around town driving and torque should be higher. Finally, that manual aspect to the auto trans is a waste. I thought it would be fun, but it doesn't compare at all to a regular manual trans.
I ask you this in all seriousness (NOT insulting) because you have a great deal more time spent behind the wheel of an Integra than I ever will...
You drive a GSR. Its replacement, the RSX Type-S, appears to outperform it in every measurable way, and yet you criticize the RSX as being a "car for the masses". How? What's wrong with it? Is it any more or less a car for the masses than the GSR was?
Exterior: You call it bland I call it classy. True, its a subtle charm but, on the opposite extreme, the new Celica is an example of a aggressive styled car that, to me, looks like some adolescence's fantasy sketch. I rejected it solely on its looks which is a shame, it might be a nice car, I just couldn't see myself driving it.
Interior: OK, not great. I'm 6'1" and I fit, but it was close. I get the feeling that all that trendy titanium trim is going to look dated in a few years. Also I'm betting that the texture dash is going to be a pain to clean. But on the positive side all the controls were nicely laid out and in easy reach. I think the addition of an automatic climate control in a car at this price is pretty cool.
Ride: This is what its all about, and this is what sold me on this car. Tooling around the streets and on the highway was a blast, the rsx felt tight and sporty, surprisingly nimble. True, I could have used more torque but once you get into the high revs the pedal response is very good. It was especially fun to drop it down to 3rd gear on the highway and blast off, you can easily drive up to 80-85mph in 3rd without even threatening the 7900rpm redline (6800 for base models). By the way: I had fun with the automatic sport shift but I'd have to have it awhile longer before I could pass judgment.
Just my $.02 but this car had everything I wanted and nothing I couldn't live without at what I feel is a very decent price. I called today to order my RSX in Desert Metallic.
By the way the Integra is supposed to have a family resemblance to the Civic. In most countries there is no Acura nameplate there is only Honda so the "family" resemblance connects the brands just as with most foriegn makes.
The RSX is unquestionably quieter and faster than the Integra (although it doesn't seem to stop any better), but the driving experience and feel of the controls do not have the same "right now!" response of my GS-R. The car's reflexes have been dulled, and there is too much "wanna-be" luxury content on the inside that does nothing to enhance the car's driveability. I'm willing to put up with the Integra's skateboard ride because of the benefits it pays to me in the twisties (just make sure the seat is good enough to filter out the small stuff).
I will continue to adhere to the "Integra Ethic" of functional performance. Give me a car with no pretensions about what it was built for (both the S2000 and WRX come to mind). I don't need leather AND automatic climate control AND a weak-in-the-knees Bose audio system to make my drive time more rewarding. Don't you think that Acura decided to equip the RSX-S like this in an effort to both expand its appeal (beyond buyers like myself) and also to help ward off defections of previous Integra owners to other brands?
I cannot fault Acura/Honda for wanting to sell more cars. Unfortunately, in the process of making the RSX more appealing to a larger group of potential buyers, it is less sharply-focused than the car it replaces.
The cars from Acura (NSX excluded, of course) just don't hold any appeal or excitement for me anymore. They no longer drive like they are more than the sum of their parts.
diploid--Honda already builds "cars for the few" with both the Accord Type-R and Civic Type-R. Honda's refusal to bring these great cars to the US market is the fault of their Acura division.