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Acura RSX (All years/types)
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By the way, here is my experience with the car only for your reference. I test drove both the Type-S and the base RSX 5-spd, and I feel the base RSX is just as good. The Type-S is definitely quicker and more fun to drive but the base RSX is, in my opinion, more suitable for everyday driving (The peak torque comes up 2000 RPM earlier in the RSX and is only one lb/ft less than the Type-S; the 1st, 4th and 5th gear ratios are the same as the 1st, 5th and 6th in Type-S with same final drive). The delivery of the power of the car feels very similar to my 95 VTEC Prelude and 01 Type SH although it's not as powerful. I don't compare the handling of the RSX with my Preludes since there's no comparison. Here I have to tell you folks one more time that the Prelude is the king of the front-drive automobiles and please don't argue with me on that. The gears shift very precisely and positively just as you would expect from a Honda (by the way, the RSX uses cables now instead of the traditional Honda's direct rod type linkage). Again, I have to tell you folks that Honda makes the best manual gearbox in the automobile industry so stick to the manual transmission if possible. The 5-spd SportShift sure sounds very attractive and it allows you to shift like a manual, but remember that it still uses torque converter!
So what did we learn today? We learned that when buying a new car we definitely need to shop around, and not to be intimidated by the salesman.
Thank you for reading.
This price is $1,200 over invoice and more than $1,000 under MSRP. I'm glad it's not as crazy as the MDX in terms of pricing.
One man's opinion.
What are they expecting? That a 200hp FWD car should actually be faster than an AWD car with 227hp turbo?
I agree with joe...2 completely. If you want to accelerate, drop it down a gear or 2 and become rev-happy. But if you want a pleasant, quiet, non-speeding-ticket-inducing cruise, the top gear should keep the car quiet. Does anyone know how the Celica GTS' and M-B C230 6th gears sound & RPM at when doing 70-75 compared to the RSX-S' top gear?
On other issues of design and manufacturing of large scale production cars, I think the German manufacturers are better than most other Japanese brands including Honda (at least on most of the issues like interior and exterior design, ergonomics, luxury, build quality, use of materials). On top of all these, most of the cars are fun to drive . Only areas I think the Germans are behind Honda are long term reliability and price. (Note: my definitions: build quality - Proper installation of components, tighter gaps between panels etc. Reliability - probability that a car or its components will not experience a breakdown, mechanical or otherwise, over a period of time. )
May be I am partial to German cars. Would you please elaborate on what you think other manufacturers should learn from Honda?
I agree with you 100% on hatchbacks.
Now on a note of frustration with car shopping in general. The C230 gearing is much to my liking but both the RSX and Celica (yes its very good) have much better shifting and clutches.
The C230 clutch engages like an on/off switch. Makes it difficult to down shift smoothy. And no, all you boy racers, it should not take all your concentration to match revs or double clutch to do this on a routine basis in a supposidly refined automoble.
In my earlier post I was not trying to blast BMW. I was trying to blast Nissan, Toyota (all except the Celica), MB and Audi. All of whom could learn something from Honda in the manual tranmission category. Makes me wonder if their engineers test drive other manufacturer's models to see what is possible.? Or are they only concerned about their automatic customers.? I'll get off the soapbox now.
Now I've got to test drive it. I need patience since I still have about 9 months to go on my current lease. I wonder what this message board will be up to by next May in terms of the cumulative messages posted.
Most important aspects of ergonomics are the seat and steering wheel position. Germans are masters when it comes to this. Doors also play a part in ergonomics. And when I mean ergonomics, I mean both the driver and passenger ergonomics. I will accept that Honda's (Japanese in general) have simple and functional switchgear design although the switchgear of Integra was not upto usual Honda standard. I also found Integra wanting when it came to seating for driver and passenger. While its good to have floor level seating in terms of driving dynamics, I hated it when I sprained my lower back. Even before I sprained my back I could not sit in the seats for long during long trips. I just hope the RSX has better seating.
fxashun - My friends that drive Benzes and BMWs have never complained about confusing switchgear in their cars. They say it took them time to learn the features. But once they learned it they say they never had a problem with the controls.
The interior of a 3 series Bimmer does not fit my 6'6" frame as well as a Civic but to others it fits like a glove. And the seat to wheel to controls position is like a trademark nearly all Hondas share. Accord, Civic, Prelude all "drive like Hondas". I don't fit the S2000 but I also don't fit the Z3 very well either. The interior of the Z3 does not look or feel like the $30k vehicle it is in. And the interior of the 5 series LOOKS great but when I drove it I had to pull out the manual to figure out what the bank of look alike buttons did. It's not intuitive or logical in thier placement.
Here's a comparison I did for a few cars that can be seen as competing vehicles(in descending order, info from edmunds EPA numbers):
Range in Miles (City/Highway)
-----------------------------
Comaro Z28 319/470 <-------BEST
Celica GT-S 334/464
Eclipse GT 328/459
Subaru WRX 318/429
RSX Type-S 317/409 (Integra GS-R was 330/409, RSX base is 327/499)
IS300 Auto 315/403 (much better city than GTI)
VW GTI VR6 290/406
Mustang GT 279/388 <-------WORST
Looks like RSX-S comes in mid-pack.
I guess they figured that if you want a real cruiser, get the CL-S which gets 327/499 (which is better than any of the above).
If we could only have it all.......
But this also brings up another point. Why don't car websites have links for feedback. Most don't. Why don't they want to know what people think of their cars? Asking those that have already bought is not good enough. It seems to me that its important to know why potential customers (test drivers) DID NOT BUY.
To many idiots running market research out there.
The RSX does not have a super tall 5/6th gear because it would make climbing inclines at highway speeds difficult. This is still only a 2L engine, and at slower RPMs, is no more powerful than any other 2L.
I agree, but I think you are referring to torque (low torque in 6th at low RPMs). No torque, no constant pulling power (at one speed). No horsepower, no constant acceleration power (these are relative to the change in speed). That's just the way I look at it (and I might know a thing or two being an Engineer).
This weekend I took the Type-S up and around some hills in the Texas Hill Country. I couldn't stay in 6th to save my life, I had to drop to fifth in order to get enough power to climb the hills. I never had this problem when I had a 205 torque, 210 hp turbo 2L. And when I dropped gears in that, I really shot up the hill. This is also reflected when I load the vehicle down with some friends (or when I use to tow a trailer).
beowulf7,
It's funny you mention the running time on the CD tracks, I just noticed this problem last night. I really haven't played around with it much, but I did notice this annoyance. I'll play around a bit to see if you can select it somehow.
P.S. I just hit 1000 miles on my Red Type-S last night (it's now 1000 miles and/or 3 weeks old), and everywhere I stop, people stop and gather to ask me about it.
Torque gives engines flexibility, unfortunately we're confined.
What possible use could knowing how far into / how long a track is when you're driving ?:-\
If top gear was made to be taller, wouldn't that affect top speed due to drag? The rsx-s is drag limited at top speed not rev limited. A taller top gear may bring top speed down further. Could this be why engineers have made top gear what it is? A car with tons of hp and torque could afford a much taller top gear without sacrificing top speed.
I will never see top speed in my rsx-s (delivery in 6wks), but we all know that it is a selling point to many buyers.
I got so excited about the post with carsdirect being 1000 below MSRP I went right to it. In my zip code (upstate NY) they came in at 1000 OVER MSRP. Don't forget to twist the poker after insertion. I need to move to FL...