Not exactly a racing story, but...

Met up with tankmonkey and we drove each others' cars (I drove his Austin Healy Sprite as well). I must say that overall I am impressed with the CL-S. I know what it runs at the track, high 14s and once in the powerband, it really goes.

The 40-80 acceleration is fantastic. It's not a push you back in your seat feel, but a steady climb through the RPM band. At around 5 grand where your typical car starts to fall on it's face, the CL-S keeps steadily performing. That VTEC is no joke. I was telling tankmonkey that it had the feel of a centrifugally blown car in that way. Not really as far as the actual acceleration, but again, in the way it keeps climing up top. My Cobra also has a 7k redline, so I know from experience that this is a good thing.

Yeah, I would say a 6 speed would be a nice thing to have with it. However, I would prefer a 6 speed in any vehicle. I did not really use the sport shift mode, but rode with tankmonkey driving and was impressed by it. Much less lag in the shifts than your average slushbox, both in and out of sport shift.

Interior quality was top notch, IMO. Seats were very comfortable and though all of the features are not really a priority for me (I do not commute to work and drive 75% of my miles on the weekend), there were a ton of them for a ~$30k car and they were pretty impressive.

(Racing Stories qualifier) - I would not hesitate to tussle with 95% of the cars out on the road in the CL-S, especially if you are talking a highway roll-on.

 

Nice review...hopefully it may push you to the darkside.

 

Darkside? Now why in the world would I want to drive a Camaro?

Now the Old Ford paied with the Acura would be nice.

 

so, where's the austin-healey review, eh?

 

Sweet. great review. Glad you had a positive experience.

 

nice review
anybody who wants to kick you off this board can kiss my A$$

 

Black Cobras and CL-Ss are win,
Kicking me off the board is lose.

 

cl-s and cobras are l33t.

w00t.

 

All your r0x0r's are belong to us?

 

nice review..

me like it

 

glad you liked our boaty cl pull. how does the handling compare to a cobra?

 

Well, it depends on what "handling" means to you. I didn't do any slaloms or anything, but it seemed very good as far as chassis roll, no excessive wheel hop, smooth.

To me, the thing that I liked about the "handling" was the comfort/civility of it, that coupled with what is still good power/acceleration. My Cobra with it's offroad pipe, heavy duty clutch and drag radials is obviously not the most civilized car on the road when it comes to daily commuting, so the CL-S is a stark contrast.

For me, "riding on rails" is not that important. My Cobra is what most people would consider very capable in stock form as far as AutoX, road course, etc. and can be modified to be an excellent performer in those areas, but I do not race in those types of events, so I am not the best authority to judge performance handling.

 

hey, we made it into the parking lot at houston performance without flipping the car onto the sidewalk, so the handling must be all right...

tankmonkey (looking for hp sign): "so where is this place?"

pull_t (gesturing to the driveway we just passed): "here!"

tankmonkey (hitting the brakes, cutting the car hard right): "crap!"

cl-s (turning, stock michelins mewling like kittens): "screeeeeeeeeeeeech!!!!"

 

Hey Pull T, GREAT review ! Everyone who's had their car awhile should read it. Good reminder on why we bought it. I agree on the 95% also. We know who not to mess with, Cobras would be near the top of the list !