I'm cruising down I-95 at an easy 80mph behind some slow guy in the fast lane when this dude behind me flashes his blazing xenon lights. I pull to the right lane just to see who this dude is that flashed me. It looked like a damn Passat, so I gate shifted down to 3rd and blasted by him.

I'm thinking this shit is over. There ain't no way a little 150HP car is getting anywhere near me. All of a sudden this car is blazing down the road catching up to me!! I downshift again and pull away but he kept coming! Once again I overestimated the VW and upshifted too soon. I started dying off at around 125mph and he was pulling slightly away by a fender before we came into traffic.

Okay, he took me by surprise the first time but this time I'm kicking his ass. We ease through traffic until it's wide open freeway again. This time he pulls away but I stay in 3rd longer just before the rev limiter kicked in and I pulled right past him. After about 4 carlengths I shut down and he came blasting by me. I kept up because I wanted to read the labeling on the back trunk lid. There was no lettering on the rear trunk lid except for the Volkswagen symbol.

Okay, I realize there's some things I did wrong with this encounter. First of all, I'm only halfway through servicing my car. I had the tranny drained and refilled 3 times and replaced the air filter and cabin filter. I also dropped in some new synthetic. I realize, firstly, that I do need new plugs and secondly, I was running shitty gas. But hey don't beat up too much on me. I just made a 900 mile trip and didn't feel like using tip top gas everytime I refueled.

Even with me upshifting too soon I should have still pulled strong all the way up to 140mph but this time the Acura just didn't push quite as hard. I'm also thinking this dude's car had to be modded. I researched every engine Volkswagen put out for the Passat. The 2006 only pumped out 200HP max, so that dude HAD to have some mods.

 

Okay, nevermind. The 06 had an optional 3.6L V6, 280 hp, 265 ft.-lbs. torque with standard 6spd tranny. Even the 4 cylinder is turbocharged but still only 200hp. It makes more sense now that I had so much trouble with a damn Passat. STILL, if he was struggling that hard at 125mph I could have still blazed his ass.

 

You probobly raced the 2.0T with 200HP. Those are very quick for their size and still run low-mid 15's. The 3.6L runs low-mid 14's with trap speeds around 100MPH and probobly would have beat you down on the freeway.

 

It could've been the 3.6. I had an encounter with one myself last year.

https://acurazine.com/forums/acurazine-clubs-meets-15/instead-meet-how-about-185951/

 

Either way, 2.0 liter turbo or 3.6 280HP, I wouldn't be caught dead in a Passat. Once again, the fact that we can still take on newer cars and keep up with if not beat most of them says alot about CLS. Just think about it: The CLS was really just an NSX with a back seat and a trunk. Acura's original target when they created the CLS was the BMW 330i and you can STILL beat a 330i several years later with the SAME car.

 

Or it was just a TL with two doors..

 

dont forget its a german car. they are pretty much all built to run autobahn speeds non stop with out breaking a sweat. so 125mph and up is its comfort zone.

 

Oh yes you're right. And they also came out with a 4 door NSX in 2001 right?

 

I know Volkswagen. I had a Scirrocco back in the day when they decided to jump from a 1.8 to 2.0 liter and went from 13 inch to 15 inch wheels. I used to murder the Camaro Berlinettas in the S curves.

 

SS what mods you have? My AT with I/H pulled on a 3.6 Passat FWD on the highway from 55-85. It wasn't exactly effortless, she (yes, SHE) was right on my tail. They do have around +30 tq on us, but people forget that headers also increase up top tq along with hp. Look on stock vs header dynos and you'll see that while the stock tq falls off above 5500, the header tq just plateaus. According to Comptech, headers (+mufflers?) = 32whp peak on an AT, so that has to be around 300hp at the crank - and the FWD's weigh a good 80lbs more than us, while the AWD's are even heavier.

 

Yes the CLs is just a TL with 2 doors (and a bit better seats/tail lights/exhaust). I would say the 1995 6MT Legend Type II Coupe is more like an NSX with a backseat and a trunk - same C series engine except DOHC VTEC compared to SOHC non-VTEC(270/290 vs 230hp), longitudinally oriented engine (same as Super GT version of NSX), same size calipers and rotors as NSX, 6MT when the NSX only had a 5MT for 95...OTOH the 6MT CLs and NSX have LSD.

FWIW my Legend was faster 0-60 than the AT CLs, and still hung right with the I/H CLs from a roll...

 

That's not the perspective I'm looking at. I'm looking from the perspective of, firstly, what is offered next in line under the NSX during CLS's time. The 95 legend isn't even from the same decade let alone being discontinued long before the CLS came along as well as only pumping out 230HP. Secondly, the only other sport-oriented coupe (emphasis on COUPE not SEDAN) Acura offered is the RSX and it's a four cylinder.

Between the time of 1991 to 2002 the NSX pumped out between 252 to 290HP. The CLS is right in the middle with 260HP. If you want to say the CLS is just a TL minus two doors you may as well say the Legend type II is a Legend minus its two doors.

 

I have no mods and I underestimated the Passat's top end performance (or maybe because it took his tubby ass that long to catch up) because I blew him away by several car lengths between 80 to 120mph. I was sitting there twittling my thumbs waiting for this guy to catch up, which is why I upshifted too soon.

 

Yes it's fair to say the Legend Coupe is just a 4D- 2D, although the 6MT and Type II was offered in the sedan, unlike the 6MT not being offered in the TLs (shame on Acura). The Coupe was the top o the line version though with traction control, and I don't believe the GS sedans came with fog lights. Keep in mind the Legend II 6MT was the most powerful/quickest H/A car besides the NSX until the CLs/TLs came out. I know your thinking ITR, nope, it's been tested several times with my buddy who used to have one. The Legend II was like the OG type S, the Legend coupe provided inspiration for the CL. The Legend II coupe can be likened to the Lexus SC400 (LS coupe), MB SL500 (S class coupe), BMW 840 (7 series coupe)...except for the whole V8 thing

 

Just my late two cents, I beat a Passat 2.0T, from a Dig (utter destruction), and from a 35mph roll (uhhh, i inched away till my 115 governor), so it'd have to be a V6, or maybe an upgraded turbo.

 

Some stupid teenage chick on her cell phone (how do I have 2 new vw encounters that are both with females?) was riding my ass in a new 2.0T Jetta on the highway not too long back. So me being the enthusiast that I am had to hit the VTEC and let her know...even though they are only 200hp, it surprised me with the 6MT and 3250lbs how quick it was at 55+. Still not that fast all things considered, but surprising. Direct injection engines FTW! Why H/A first showcased this in 1999 and still hasn't put it into a production car is beyond me.