t_in_maine

And to keep it going, I spoke to my salesman today, and he thinks my car is on the truck that arrived today. I won't be able to take delivery until either Saturday or Monday, but what a feeling to know it's in! Placed the order on 1/8/06.

Mine being another RBP...

swirlie

Sweeeet.

I am so glad mine was in the first shipment and on the lot when I went. I waited in anticipation for the official release date to really start looking and just happened to drop in the same day the truck arrived with the cars. I was going crazy waiting for my LEDs, I don't know if I could have survived a long wait for my car.

waTSX

Damn, Excited! I thought I was bad doing it once a week, in winter no less. People always give me funny looks. I just don't know why!

tsx_tony

i test drove it, fell in love with it.

and i loved the color..but i chose nbp

lol

swirlie

My camera just can't capture the glow of the LEDs properly...

These map lights are actually really white in person:


You can see a bit of glow on the ground. It's more intense in real life:

TSXdawg

Thanks swirlie. You commented that the map lights were not very bright. Do you think that the LED's are actually bright enough to read say a map or something in the dark?

swirlie

Haven't tested that out yet. It's not often I have to read something at night in my car... and what I read most often has its own backlight. I would guess they're bright enough to read with.. just not well. Think of it as being "fancy restaurant ambience lighting" level. You can read the menu, but I wouldn't read a novel.
Give me a few days and I'll try to remember to test them out.


PS. Just noticed somebody gave our thread a 1 rating... somebody's jealous.

excited

Been real busy this week to check the site, but I did have a chance on Wednesday to go to West Side Acura "Meet the Service Department". It is an evening where they talk about Acura vehicles, about servicing them and they take you out into the shop and you look at your respective car and answer any questions that you may have.

They raise up the cars and you get a chance to look under them, they also have an air bag demonstration (which was cool ) and an demonstration on the seat belt retraction from an RSX.

Throw in some beverages and cookies and some door prizes and it wasn't a bad evening. It surprised me some of the questions some of the people had and how ignorant they were of cars.

I hope to have some really great pictures of my RBP TSX in a few days and I will post the best ones. I hopefully will have some new good observations of the TSX as well.



Excited

helraiser

once a week car washing? try 7-8 times a week. i've only ever let the sand, salt and grime sit on my car for a day. I'd wash her on my way back from work and if I went out and she got dirty I'd run her through a car wash again. Figure I'm spending about $100/mo or so washing her.

Can't wait for summer then I can park her and get on the bike.

Report on the Tein H-techs... look great but I hit bumps and they feel a bit rougher than before. I generally avoid them all, even the ones that are only look 3" deep. NBP for life!

waTSX

7-8 times a week? Sorry, helraiser, that's not something to be proud of. That's borderline obsession And if you're running your car through a car wash, you're probably doing more harm than good. Handwashing is one thing. Giant, spinning brushes slinging around gray water is another.

swirlie

Update:
Finally got some testing in. As I guessed, it's bright enough to read with. Definitely still usable, but I wouldn't want to be reading a novel with them. A nice thing about it now, as I found out last night, is after you're parked for awhile and have gotten used to the dark, turning on the dimmer LEDs makes for an easier transition on your eyes because it's a softer glow. No more walking out of a matinee and being blinded by the sun.

helraiser

it's true, i'm obsessed with keeping my baby clean! it probably is going overboard but i can't bear to see her brown instead of her natural color - NBP heh

I usually go with the wandwash (jet spray) or if I do use the carwash then I use the touchless one (jet spray as well).

Gooker1

Alrighty, so I washed my car on Saturday b/c it was sunny out and it didn't look like it was going to rain. So...guess what - yea, it rained that night! D'oh!!!

You know how when you buy the car, before they prep it, they have to remove the plastic covering from the body, and sometimes it leaves a residue? Is it best to clay the car to remove the leftovers?

On another note, I took in the car to fix the rattle in the steering wheel column and the windshield. Lucky for me, the service guy knew what the problems were on both cases. He even said I was the second windshield case in a week.

swirlie

So far I haven't mentioned here yet of my general philosophy of "I hate people"... until now. I hate people. That's based on all the idiots I see driving and such. (Like all the people I saw get busted for DUI and have their vehicles towed on St. Patties Day.)

After getting home to the safety of my garage the other night, I was sitting down and taking off my shoes (as it happens, I'm positioned right in front of my car, with the hood at eye-level) and, as I usually do, I'm lovingly looking over my car. And I notice something. Some bastard backed into my car with a trailer hitch! Luckily for me, though, it was only on the front license plate and it wasn't a hard hit. I don't see any scratches on the bumper around or behind the plate frame, unlike when it happened with my old car. All I can see is the dent in the plate itself. So there's one benefit of having a front plate....

So yeah, it sucks, but I was lucky nothing really happened.
I hate people.

At least my gf was there to console me. She's one people I don't hate.

Gooker1

Crud - I took my car in on Monday to get the steering wheel rattle and the windshield rattle fixed.

It's been 3 days now, so I'm hoping it's fixed today. When they ordered the clips for the windshield, they only received 3 instead of 4! So they're hoping to get that 4th one today and have it fixed by this afternoon.

They ran out of loaners, so I'm sporting a white nissan sentra...damn I miss the tsx!

excited

Just came back from a 3000 km/1864 mile round trip to the Sunshine Coast area in British Columbia. Had an interesting drive, a great trip and got three rounds of golf in. Got to stay at a friend's log cabin in a beautiful location.



Here is my review of the TSX:

Fuel Consumption

Without getting into the controversy of how accurate or optimistic the TSX's fuel economy calculator is, the TSX lived up and perhaps exceeded all of my expectations. On the highway, with two passengers and a fully loaded car (two sets of golf clubs, some food, clothing for a week, bedding and towels) I achieved over long stretches 6.6 L/100 kms which is 42.8 miles/gal (imp) or 35.6 miles/gal (US). Overall for the entire trip which included city like driving, the TSX averaged 7.5 lites/100 km 37.7 miles/gal (imp) 31.4 miles/gal (US). I was extremely pleased with it.

Michelin Pilot Alpin PA2 winter tires

I was extremely pleased with these tires, but ironically not in heavy snow. When we left on our trip last Saturday, we left during a major snow storm where the roads had not been plowed yet. The TSX and the tires did okay, but there were times I wished I was in my 4x4.

During the trip we experienced all kinds of road conditions except freezing rain, drove on dry roads, through snow, heavy slush, wet roads and roads that were very wet with large puddles from heavy rain. The tires were very good through all of this. I was very impressed with the wet traction through the heavy rainfall. There was no hydroplaning.

I would give the tires the following ratings out of five:
- heavy snow 3.5
- light snow and slush 4.0
- wet traction 4.5
- dry traction 4.5
- quietness 5.0

Performance

Power - it had lots of power. Great to pass with on the highway. The scary thing is the speed it would get up to very quickly while passing. Many times I would look down and I was going 160 kph / 100 mph while passing. With the power there was no problems going up the steepest mountain climbs.

Ride - Very smooth ride, it was a pleasure to drive.

Handling - My wife's favourite saying as I drive through the mountains in my other vehicles was "I'm tilting" as we went around the tight turns at speed. Not once on this trip did she say those words. Enough said about the handling.

Comfort - The TSX finds a fine balance between firm support and comfort. I was never tired or sore after any of the drives, the longest being the 12 hour drive from St. Albert to Vancouver. (Which was a great time considering the conditions I drove through)

Navigation

The navi was a real treat. Not only did it do it's job of helping us to find a few locations, it was also a great companion on the trip. It gave a great overview of what was ahead tracking our progress. It showed all of the lakes and rivers along our route which was interesting. One cool thing it that it showed the route between islands in a dashed line from one ferry port to another.

The clock changed time zones automatically as we past the time zone line going west, although interesting enough on the way back east, it waited a couple of hours before automatically changing back.

The one thing that it didn't do was show the locations of gas stations in some of the smaller locations along the route, but it was surprising how much it did have in isolated locations.


Clear Bra

Thank god I had the clear bra on. When heading west out of Kamloops, climbing the steep hill enroute to Merriton, the roads were filled with heavy slush, but to make matters worse they were also full of small stones (perhaps for road repair). The combination was deadly as the heavy slush acted as a medium to carry and throw the stones into the air. My windshield got a few pits, but the clear bra protected the paint on the front of my TSX. I'm positive without it I would have had several paint chips in my finish.

HID Headlights

This was the first time I drove extended time during the night as I drove the last 6 hours at night on my way home. The HID's were terrific for me as we drove through moose and deer country from Blue River to Hinton. I did however get flashed by opposing drivers several times, which I had not experienced before. Perhaps the heavy load at the rear of the car raised the level they normally shine at.

Stuff

The TSX carried a lot of stuff with the rear seats down (the seats being able to fold down was a big reason why I chose the TSX over the TL). It handled two gold bags, one with a cart and all of the other stuff I mentioned earlier on. It's was perfect for my wife and I.

The iPod link was great as we listened to iPod tunes through much of the trip.

We didn't see a lot of other TSX's on the trip but it is sure made for BC highways.

Here are a few pics from the trip. I didn't get the one true fantastic picture I wanted, but it is tough on a winter trip to match up a clean car, with the light and the scenery.







I was able to get it shiny for these three pics














Excited

swirlie

haha, no wonder there was a severe lack of posts from you recently.
Nice writeup and pix!

excited

While I was away I was able to view the posts, but couldn't answer. I was using my work's laptop and the internet police do not care for forum chatting.

I missed a couple of comments I wanted to mentioned. I have added them in blue font:

Here is my review of the TSX:

Fuel Consumption

Without getting into the controversy of how accurate or optimistic the TSX's fuel economy calculator is, the TSX lived up and perhaps exceeded all of my expectations. On the highway, with two passengers and a fully loaded car (two sets of golf clubs, some food, clothing for a week, bedding and towels) I achieved over long stretches 6.6 L/100 kms which is 42.8 miles/gal (imp) or 35.6 miles/gal (US). Overall for the entire trip which included city like driving, the TSX averaged 7.5 lites/100 km 37.7 miles/gal (imp) 31.4 miles/gal (US). I was extremely pleased with it.

Michelin Pilot Alpin PA2 winter tires

I was extremely pleased with these tires, but ironically not in heavy snow. When we left on our trip last Saturday, we left during a major snow storm where the roads had not been plowed yet. The TSX and the tires did okay, but there were times I wished I was in my 4x4.

During the trip we experienced all kinds of road conditions except freezing rain, drove on dry roads, through snow, heavy slush, wet roads and roads that were very wet with large puddles from heavy rain. The tires were very good through all of this. I was very impressed with the wet traction through the heavy rainfall. There was no hydroplaning.

I would give the tires the following ratings out of five:
- heavy snow 3.5
- light snow and slush 4.0
- wet traction 4.5
- dry traction 4.5
- quietness 5.0

Performance

Power - it had lots of power. Great to pass with on the highway. The scary thing is the speed it would get up to very quickly while passing. Many times I would look down and I was going 160 kph / 100 mph while passing. With the power there was no problems going up the steepest mountain climbs.

Ride - Very smooth ride, it was a pleasure to drive.

Handling - My wife's favourite saying as I drive through the mountains in my other vehicles was "I'm tilting" as we went around the tight turns at speed. Not once on this trip did she say those words. Enough said about the handling.

Comfort - The TSX finds a fine balance between firm support and comfort. I was never tired or sore after any of the drives, the longest being the 12 hour drive from St. Albert to Vancouver. (Which was a great time considering the conditions I drove through)

Navigation

The navi was a real treat. Not only did it do it's job of helping us to find a few locations, it was also a great companion on the trip. It gave a great overview of what was ahead tracking our progress. It showed all of the lakes and rivers along our route which was interesting. One cool thing it that it showed the route between islands in a dashed line from one ferry port to another.

The clock changed time zones automatically as we past the time zone line going west, although interesting enough on the way back east, it waited a couple of hours before automatically changing back.

The one thing that it didn't do was show the locations of gas stations in some of the smaller locations along the route, but it was surprising how much it did have in isolated locations.

The other cool thing about the navi was when we headed into Kamloops for the evening. A little ways out we look up a hotel we were looking for, up came the address and phone number and pressed the call button and made our reservations. We did the same thing for our supper reservations. Brought up the phone number for our favourite resturant, pressed the call button and our reservations were soon made.

Clear Bra

Thank god I had the clear bra on. When heading west out of Kamloops, climbing the steep hill enroute to Merriton, the roads were filled with heavy slush, but to make matters worse they were also full of small stones (perhaps for road repair). The combination was deadly as the heavy slush acted as a medium to carry and throw the stones into the air. My windshield got a few pits, but the clear bra protected the paint on the front of my TSX. I'm positive without it I would have had several paint chips in my finish.

HID Headlights

This was the first time I drove extended time during the night as I drove the last 6 hours at night on my way home. The HID's were terrific for me as we drove through moose and deer country from Blue River to Hinton. I did however get flashed by opposing drivers several times, which I had not experienced before. Perhaps the heavy load at the rear of the car raised the level they normally shine at.

Wipers

Although the wipers work very well in the rain, they are not great for the winter. I find that where they sit at rest tucked away, is right where the snow and ice accumulates. It is not long before the blades become icy and ineffective. For next winter I will see if there are any options.

Stuff

The TSX carried a lot of stuff with the rear seats down (the seats being able to fold down was a big reason why I chose the TSX over the TL). It handled two gold bags, one with a cart and all of the other stuff I mentioned earlier on. It's was perfect for my wife and I.

The iPod link was great as we listened to iPod tunes through much of the trip.

We didn't see a lot of other TSX's on the trip but it is sure made for BC highways.



Excited

waTSX

Nice write-up, excited! The RBP definitely is very sharp, and you had some nice backdrops in which to get photos. Those winter wheels you have don't look half bad.

The TSX is a very versatile performer, and you just proved it by taking a long trip while hauling people and gear. Some complain about the cars size, and that I just don't understand.

I'm impressed with the fuel efficiency you got.

excited

Thanks

We have another longer trip planned for May to the San Fran area and hope to see some of the Oregon and Washington coastline. The great fuel efficiency will be welcomed on that trip and the cargo capacity will be tested.

This last trip has brought me to my first service time as I am near the 8000 km/5000 mile mark. The service guys recommend using regular oil for the first two services so that will time my third service near next winter which will be a great time to start using the synthetic oil.



Excited

waTSX

If you haven't taken that Washington, Oregon, Northern California trip in the past you will love it. Some great scenery (Oregons bridges come to mind) and some great opportunities for driving excitement with the TSX, esp. if you stick to the coastal routes.

Takes longer to drive US 101, but it's well worth it. Sounds like fun. I've been thinking of doing the San Francisco trip myself this summer, my old stomping grounds, to catch some SF Giants games and enjoy the City.

The TSX is begging for some twisties.

excited

We have different philosophies on life (I like people and think most are good) but I understand you anquish over your TSX being backed into. Perhaps the person looked and never saw any damage to your car and then left thinking no harm no foul.

Anyhow, I wouldn't feel very good even I got a slight scratch on my TSX so I know how you feel. I'm glad that there was no real damage. (I'm still glad that in Alberta we aren't required to have the front armour. LOL)



Excited

excited

I have been lucky, no windshield or steering wheel rattle although my driver's seat squeak is back. I will get them to look at it again tomorrow during the service.



Excited

excited

It was nice being in the warm weather during the trip. Some of the flowers were out and it was quite a contrast from here. Since winter arrived here in March it doesn't want to go away. It may be another month before it gets warm enough to do the next polish and wax.





Excited

excited

I just got back from the dealers and I will report on what they did for the seat squeak in the Problems and Fixes Disucssion. They gave me a new free replacement cap for my block heater cord, changed the oil on one of my two free services and washed the car.

I watched them as they washed the car. They first sprayed on this thick foam which the service agent said worked really well, they then washed it with a long brush in straight motions, rinse it, then used a long California water tool like implement to get the water off the surface. It worked really well. I know some members don't like anyone else washing their cars, but I didn't see anything that would really hurt it.

The only bad thing is that the roads are very mucky and it is impossible to go even a block without the TSX being seriously dirty no matter what colour car you have.



Excited

TSXdawg

Great review, glad to hear that the TSX is such a good travellin' car. Nice to see that you made it out to the "wet" coast. Nice cabin...which island did you stay on?

excited

Actually I just stayed a little outside Sechelt overlooking Half Moon Bay. Very peaceful. We did have two days of sun there and then followed the sun to Kamloops.

I love BC, it is very beautiful, great climate when it is not raining, although I don't know if I could afford a house there as the average cost of a home in the lower mainland is almost three times the average cost here.

The TSX was very smooth and quiet and had all the power you would need. I look forward to our next trip.

I would love to get on to one of those closed courses just to see how fast the TSX goes. A number of times without realizing it I have got it up to 160 kph (100 mph) while passing. It is so smooth and quiet you don't realize how fast you are going.



Excited

helraiser

Great writeup! Definitely good to see she performs well on highways. I hope she won't mind towing my number 1 love around though - my sportbike. Still looking for a trailer for that heh.

Beoshingus

jpt

Is there some new way of hiding text I haven't figured out yet or is ninja-sign abuse just becoming more common lately?

waTSX

^^LOL! I think the latter. Hell, it took me quite a while to figure out what the ninja sign meant in the first place.

Beoshingus

What are you talking about?

swirlie

Beoshingus is rather jealous of our thread and keeps wanting to PW it up.

I say it, but I usually don't mean it. Though, yesterday, I had good reason to mean it. I was going through an intersection that turned yellow as I was entering it.. and not 1, but *2* people turned left in front of me. I came within a foot of hitting the second dumbass (in a POS car, no less). Despite what others have said about the TSX brakes sucking, I'm definitely glad they worked well that time.
The sheer stupidity of this person: he was behind a big SUV with ABSOLUTELY no possibility of being able to see if the intersection was clear or not, especially since he was facing uphill.

Anyway, one collision narrowly avoided. I can only hope it's the last... (Not bloody likely, but I can dream.)

excited

There are lots of drivers out there that make mistakes, I think I may had made one once, maybe. LOL

Without a doubt good defensive driving skills are required a few times a year to keep out of accidents.

Well West6mt has said more than once that I like to take pictures of my TSX, well today in the mail I received a picture of my TSX that someone else took.

Unfortantely the picture was of me speeding and I will have to pay my first ticket while driving in the TSX. I guess it wasn't a question of if, but rather when. It is so quiet and smooth. The photo radar vans/suv's are everywhere here. At least there are no points associated with the ticket'



Excited

jpt

Doh! bummer about the ticket excited. See if you may have a legitimate statutory defense (in some speed-camera places the ticket will be waived if you sign an affidavit saying you don't know who was driving it at the time).

I am still waiting for my RBP/Eb 6MT+nav. Expect about 2 months to go -- if it isn't late =/

excited

It was me, so I will pay the ticket. No biggie.

I either have to be a little more cognizant of my speed or have a sharper eye out for those dreaded shutterbugs.



Excited

excited

My gas was getting low today and it said that my remaining range was 8 km ( 5 miles). I was tempted to test it, but chicken out and fillled up with 4 k remaining.

My Escape goes for another 80 kms (50 miles) after you hit empty, but I have owned cars that once you hit empty that's it. I had a feeling that the TSX is closer to the latter.



Excited

acn684

nah excited...the tsx actually has a 3.5 gallon reserve...its wierd...look at how much you filled. The capactiity of the tsx is actaully 17.1 gals...i ran to 0 once, it kept dinging and i just gave it some gas at the station. It filled only 14 gals...so im assuming theres at least 2 gallons still left in there, maybe a gal or so is in the gas pipe to the engine?

Beoshingus

WHO is post-whoring it up?

swirlie

Gallons? What are these strange 'gallons' that you speak of? Officially, the tank is 65 litres.

That sucks about the ticket, excited. We haven't had photo radar in years here. It was used for a couple years, but too many people complained. That, and overall speeds didn't really change. What happened was that there was an initial flurry of tickets and the reactionary slowdown of a lot of people... but once people started learning, speeds crept back up and the number of tickets didn't really increase. It just became localized slowdowns when people saw the vans.

Speaking of photos, spring is here. I think it's about time for a claybar. *crosses fingers for a full weekend of sun (and clear weather afterward, so I can enjoy it)*