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My impressions were as follows: TSX is loaded with all the goodies standard so you don't have to worry about whether the dealer will have the car you want with the options you want (or whether he'll lie and say he ONLY has a loaded one and upsell you that way). Also, Acura doesn't run discounts so what you see is what you pay (minus a thousand or so). Therefore you don't have to sit and wonder if next month Saab (or GM) will come out with an even better incentive program. GM has unfortunately turned Saab into a department store - one sale ends when the next one begins. If you manage to buy during the two weeks when there is no sale - well, then you're the sucker of the year.
Now onto the cars themselves - Acura tooted this car as going back to their performance roots. As much as I may agree, the engine still lacks low-end torque and the suspension gets alittle bouncy around turns, despite its VERY stiff nature. This one confuses me to this day. My NG900 hold tighter with less body roll and the NG900 doesn't have a reputation for good handling.
On the other hand, its a highly refined car. You feel like a million bucks driving it around. The engine is smoother than many 6 cylinders out there and the tranny shifts quickly and smoothly. Also, since the car is relatively light it is very NIMBLE (esp the 6sp one).
The 9-3SS was a huge leap forward in refinement from the 9-3. In my opinion, its alittle too refined. The auto tranny was slow to shift, though very smooth. It did not allow for too much spirited driving as it easily gets "confused" as to which gear it should be in. Switching to steptronic mode helped but didn't solve the problem.
The suspension is awesome. Smooth over bumps but holds tight on turns. Steering, unfortunately, was abit numb for my liking. Brakes were miles ahead of my NG. Great feedback with short stopping distances.
So what did I buy? Neither - I ended up deciding it wasn't a good time to be dropping $27K on a car. Instead I bought a pre-loved 97 NG900 SET. If I absolutely had to pick one though: I'd go with the 6sp TSX. Its more of a drivers car, lower depreciation, and lower overall maintenance costs. It would carry higher insurance and I would be running the risk of some teenager running off with my rims, mirrors, emblems, etc to tack onto his 1987 Civic (who are you trying to fool?).
My 2 cents...
posted by 207.183.11...
, Mon, 14 Jun 2004 21:14:39, Tue, 15 Jun 2004 18:30:38, Tue, 15 Jun 2004 10:26:56, Tue, 15 Jun 2004 13:37:23
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