Chrisbert

What about MSRP? Any word? Seems like it should be cheaper than the Auto.

soopa

soopa

yes one of few cars.

but to play devils advocate...

215hp in a 5spd pushes those 18's around.

so stop bitchin

Generationz

better !!!!???!!!

are you crazy im relieved yo the new one looks just like the old one other then the missing fogs and crappy rims as far as the colored in headlamps and the split taillights i prefer the all red and no color ...


oh and manual well thats for some folks but i wasnt lookin for that when i bought this one anyway and seriously the bowling ball aint ugly i like it im adding brushed aluminum to the rest of the dash maybe later on this year

Generationz

me too

aLeX123

will the price stay the same or is that going up...also when does it arrive at the dealer....i wannna see if i can see any difference in power with 6speed manual

rondog

iTrader: (1)

Thank God thats it. I actually like my 2001 better. just give me a lip spoiler, grille kit and a body kit. The rims and exhaust are already gonna be changed and the headlights look cheap (unless they're on a black car!). Don't care too much about manual and the 3/10ths of a second. only thing I like are the tail lights, but i don't think they're woth $500 friggin bucks like the tl's in the dealer.
whew! am I glad...

WebToker

I have a really good feeling they will be selling fog lights and body kit as a dealer installed option, like the spoiler.

Samer007

I wonder if the taillights and headlights are swapable, I mean from the 2003 ---> 2001,2 so I can do the swap and prtend I have the 2003 .

Im happy though, that there is'nt much differnt, because
1. I can not afford to buy a new car,
2. I would never get a manual (I dive in heavy trafic alot).

I know im selfish but oh well.

soopa

yes it seems all the parts (exterior) will be swappable.


as for swapping the 6spd/e-brake... GET DA FRIG OUTTAAA HEEEERA!


but let me reitirate what ive said a million times for you people who refuse to read...

if you want the tails, swap them.

if you want the headlights, just paint your 01-02 stock housings. thats all acura did. much cheaper then buying new housings.

same goes for the door handles and the grill... if you want them body color, bring them to a body shop to get painted.

kuuligan

i know several ppl asked this b4, but it seems like it never got answered..so ANYONE KNOW PRICING for the 6MT??
my dealership keeps telling me the 6MT is LIMITED production??!! true or false??

some sorta reply would be appreciated ...$1k deposit...here i come =)

Rod

I figured the changes for 2003 would be minimal, other than the 6 speed, but I guess I'll comment on them just like everyone else has on this long ass thread.

First off, it's nice to know that Acura is listening and gave you all the manual. Especially the fact that you all seem to be very pleased with the gearing. This isn't an issue for me though because I'd only get an automatic for my daily driver. But hopefully they continue to listen and give us an SMG style tranny soon.

The addition of the LSD is also very nice, but I wonder if it'll work on the auto.

I don't really like the changes to the front end. The black housings look cheap IMO and don't go well with this car. They look much better on cars with a sporty look, whereas I think the CL has more of an elegant/classy look. They'd also probably look better on cleared headlights, but having clear, black, and amber sections looks nasty to me. But at least they didn't go with the droopy lights. I don't think the body-colored grill goes well with this car either, chrome keeps with the classy theme, but it's not too bad on lighter colors. Also, the roadlamps should've been left in there. As useless as they may be, I still think they look better than having an empty whole, but maybe real foglights will finally be an option for 2003.

I'm undecided on the rear lights. I think both look good, but favor the all red ones from the 2001-2 models. I do like the exhaust tips more as I've always prefered the rolled-tip look, which I think looks much classier.

I'm also undecided on the body-colored door handles, but think that the chrome ones do give the car a classier look. I also prefer the look of the smaller, body-colored mirrors whic were introduced on the 2002.

I must say that I'm disappointed with the new wheel design for the Type S model. I really like the rims on the 2001 Type S, for stock wheels of course. I think the reason why I don't like the new wheels is that they look smaller since the spokes don't come all the way out to the tire and this car needs big ass wheels to look nice. But then there's always aftermarket 19s. I do think Acura should've offered 18s as an option, especially for the 6-speed. How about the SEMA wheels? I do like the wheels for the Premium model a bit more.

I could also do without the OnStar "nipple." It does ruin the car's lines.

As for the interior changes, I wonder if the new hand brake will also be incorporated into the auto. Doubful, but it would be nice. I had also been wanting to see how aluminum trim would look on this car and I agree with the many who say that they prefer the bowling ball trim we currently have. I guess it's also too sporty as opposed to elegant. And I never liked that Acura "A" on the steering wheels, I like mine much better.

Overall I'd have to say that Acura may have achieved it's goal of making the CL look sportier, but I don't think they should have. I bought this car because of it's more elegant look. This is exactly what they intended to do since they imitated many of BMW's sport-package trends, but I wonder how the CL's target market will respond to these changes. And I really mean the auto's target market and not the 6 speeds which probably prefers the sportier accents. Maybe some of the changes should've only gone into the manual to make it stand out more.

samhamed

My wife's CRV 00 has the same rims. love my scratched ones. tail light suck. love my 01 cls. will trade when dual... 400 hp is out. I read this post every day. never were as tired and spend much time reading. you guys are the best.

codehead

If you're going to the LA Auto Show solely to check out the CL, you will be disappointed. They have a white one that doesn't appear quite ready for prime time--looked like it was missing trim in the rear wheel well (or does white sans mud flaps always look this bad?) and little fit & finish things. The interior (parchment) had the manual stick & hand brake, but no aluminum trim other than that immediately surround the stick (it had wood grain). And I was looking at the interior through the locked door and rolled up window. Yep, I could sit in a Maserati Spider, a Jag, or an M5 (truly, the best feeling I had in any of the cars I sat in), but as for the CL, "They might open it up Monday."

And everyone here knows more about the 2003 CL they the people in the Acura booth.

Yeah, I went to the preview night. A impulsive move, after seeing a segment on TV with almost nobody there, and well, Shaq was back, so the Lakers game was a given opponent-spanking. I got there about 8:45pm, and the lady says, "The food's gone, so we're discounting admission to $50"--so it was a bargain. I was completely dragging as 11pm neared--the place was so empty you had no problem seeing everything in two hours, and the good stuff twice. I'll upload a couple of pix as soon as I cut them down from 4-mega-pixels to something more realistic for download.

Wxguy95

You mentioned you got the impression the 2003 wasn't ready to roll quite yet. From what you saw, do you have the impression that fogs will magically appear at some point down the line and they prehaps just haven't quite gotten to those yet?

I was a little dismayed to see the darken lenses in the front. How do they look to you in person? Are they a little better than in the picture?

mattg

I like the 6spd, limited slip, and interior. Otherwise I like 2001 better. Are those CRV wheels?

codehead

OK, first I won't bother posting the pix because I see that soopa posted press pix of the same car on the previous page while I was gone. The only sifference in mine is that the is nobody in the background (seriously, it was empty enough that if you shot a picture across the hall at any given time, there might not be a single person in it). I missed the edit period, so I couldn't amend my post...

Fogs: the were little intake-looking black vinyl inserts in the fog-lamp holes. I couldn't tell if they were functional in any manner, and suspect not. They seemed to be just pressed in place in this car. That is, I pulled gently with my finger and the bottom half was coming out--I don't know if the top part was attached fimly or not, and didn't want to pull any harder. Overall, i like real fogs, but I'm less used to the look of the CL that owners here are, so the overall look didn't bug me terribly. I'd like to see real fogs there though.

The front lenses didn't look bad to me. I could pretty much go either way, but this might be a tiny improvement if anything. It, along with the body-color grill surround (and the chrome that was there in previous models did bug me, especially for certain colors like black) maybe visually squares the front end up a little. That is, the blacked lenses square the outside corners, and the removal of chrome visually reduces the pointiness of the front end.

And I don't mind the rims at all. OK, first, I don't expect to be knocked out by stock rims, but at least these have a little dignity. I liked the old rims fine too, but I might like these better. Just an opinion from someone who's not as used to looking at the old rims as much as some here.

So is are the metallic accents on the door panels and console for the black interior only? As you can see, the white CL-S at the booth had wood grain.

Wxguy95

Codehead, thanks for the reply to my Qs...and post those pics...we are all looking for as many nice pics as possible. Heck, post yours large enough so that we can have some wallpaper of the new CL

I agree its a little confusing about the interior. The pachment gets wood trim everywhere except around the shifter. So you get parchment, grey, wood, and silver colors in the interior. I think for that alone I would pick the darker interior.

The more I look at it the more I'm starting to like the changes. Can't wait to see it live and in person.

codehead

Before I saw soopa's posting, I tried to attach a jpeg to my message and it didn't seem to happen--I'll figure things out in the morning when I'm more lucid (not sure if I have attachment rights).

Yeah, agreed on the interior. I had wrestled with the choice before, and had pretty much settled on black, but with the arrangement as you say, it's a no brainer for me--black it is.

For the exterior, it was originally black, but I'm leaning pretty heavily on blue now.

There were some other cool things to see at the show--other nice production cars, the concepts, the classics, and even the green car & black Challenger (that's the fun one to see) from "The Fast and the Furious".

QwiQ cLs

Is it possible to order the tail lights and the aluminum trim for the inside????????
I LOVE THOSE 2 things only!
those rims look gay imo........

tankmonkey

the titanium/aluminum trim is only for the ebony interior, evidently.

the fact that the metallic trim is only on the shifter in parchment cars is consistent with the the treatment on the 2001-2002 cars (the auto shift bezel has a metallic finish but the rest of the interior uses "plood").

sucks that you couldn't sit in it, though.

tankmonkey

the titanium interior trim idea, I suspect, came from the same place as nissan's titanium interior trim idea: the german cars. :P

the type s has had 17in rims since introduction in 2000 (as a 2001 model)

the 2001-2003 cl type s still makes more hp than the 2k2 max, right?

of course, I would hope, for nissan's sake, that the 6 speed max is faster than the 6 speed type s, what with the max's 200 lb weight advantage and the extra torque the max generates from its larger engine...

either way, it's a pretty good time to be an import car enthusiast.

soopa

codehead: post your pics. its always good to see more pics even if their of the same car. some high res shots would be nice too... e-mail them to me if you can't get them attached.

the board only allows attachments up to 640x480. but you can link images in that are as big as you want.




maxima boy: to say that Acura is stilling design traits from Nissan is ludicrous... especially considering that none of Nissans ideas are their own. Their all stolen from someone else.

Pretty much everything done to this CL follows other newer Acuras, like the RSX, but even more so... it follows the JDM Acura's, all of which have had these design traits for YEARS. (blacked headlights, cleared lenses, body color accents)

I would say that if Acura is trying to replicate anyone, it would be BMW... I think this solely because of the new wheel design. But you could say that blackened headlights and titanium trim have been a BMW design trait since the beginning of time... so... it could be.

JRock

...

Let me try again:
I gotta say it would be cool if ...

(It's called wishful thinking.)

4pumpedCL

Notice the new CL also has the engine in the front of the car...SAME as your 2k2SE. Acura stole that idea from Nissan too!

Zapata

The final gear for those who were wondering is 3.286.

AkuraCLS

ok now how many people think they are accually gunna trade in there cars (or sell them for that matter) to get the 2003 6sp when it comes out? Oh yah, one more thing. i bet you BOSE STILL BLOWZ! ehhe if they were really listening, they woulda changed that shit in someway and added more bass..but i bet you they didnt a nice 8" sub like the tl woulda been nice, even though i would change it out, it would give me a good place to put a new one...

codehead

Overall, I like the color grill surround (didn't like the chrome on some colors in particular)...

codehead

Yeah, it really was that empty at preview night... very nice...

s2ktaxi

If I were in the market for a 2 door coupe, the CL-S is a few things short of perfection (though I'd probably get it anyway):
1) it needs a suspension tuned to the likes of an RSX-R or RSX-S at least
2) they should have included VSA with the HLSD - the JDM Preludes have it
3) they should have made it a 5 seater
4) they should have made it lose more weight
5) Maybe introduced a Type R

A few comments:
1) the blackout headlight look has been common in JDM cars for almost 10 years - the first I remember was the '92 Prelude G4 (black housings in Japand and rest of world, chrome in the US and Canada)
2) the interior changes (metal look trim, shifter, door panels, etc) are just right
3) those wheels look heavy - literally.

That said, I hope they apply the changes to the '03 TL-S - I'll be waiting in line to trade the MDX. In the meantime, the RSX, S2000 and NSX will have to do

s2ktaxi

Maybe the Bose sub in your CL-S's are miswired like the ones on the first 17,000 RSX-S's...

codehead

Sorry--focus was on another part of the car--but you get the idea: Does the wheel well usually look this crappy? it even caught the eye of the Acura guy I was talking to. A few fit & finish things on this car looked not-quite production, as mentioned in a previous post.

joeandcarol2

As a reply to one post. No I don't think I'm one in a million. Most european sport sedans have taller gearing in 5 and 6th. Even Porsche does this. And as for the Japanese competition. The new Altimas and the 6 speed Maxima have taller gearing in the 5th and 5th and 6th. If you are cruising along at 75 and you are turning 3500 rpm it gets awful annoying awful quickly. I think most of the members of this forum are the one in a million folks. When going from a 5 speed to 6 speed manual most of the car makers have opted for a compromise. A little bit closer gearing and and little bit of a taller top gear. Best of both worlds. Maybe Honda/Accura got too much of an earful from the racer crowd. What Im looking for is a good handeling, smooth shifting powerful sport sedan that is fun to drive on both twisty 2 lane roads and the interstate. I'm not trying to race my fellow 25 year old who is sitting in a Maxima. I will calculate speeds at 3000 rpm for both the new CL and some of its competition and post. For those of you who are not interested in "insane" gearing.

joeandcarol2

I have done some calculations based upon a calculated tire diameter for a 215x50R17 tire. Usually these type of calculations are about 5% too fast when actually measured on a track. I am assuming the final drive ratio of 4.428 and the gear ratios posted by Zapata. If these ratios are no longer thought to be correct, please let me know and I will correct my calculations. The speeds posted are the speed in each gear at 3,000 rpm.

1 3.933 13.05 mph 17.42 final ratio
2 2.478 20.71 mph 10.97
3 1.700 30.19 mph 7.53
4 1.250 41.06 mph 5.535
5 0.976 52.59 mph 4.32
6 0.771 66.57 mph 3.41

this means that at 75 mph the engine will be turning 3,380 rpm. Compare this to the 02 CL-S which turns 2,060 rpm at 75 mph. Remember that these speeds are probably about 5% slower in reality.
I call this truely "insane" gearing. I hope that I have the wrong gear ratios for final drive ratio. By the way, I get 3.41 (4.428x0.771) not 3.286

s2ktaxi

These are very close to the RSX-S

joeandcarol2

I have just realized that the final drive ratio is 3.286 and not 4.428. I apoligize. An earlier post indicated 4.428 (and its tough to get through every post in this thread). I am MUCH HAPPIER about the gearing. The corrected speeds (at 3,000 RPM) are as follows;

1 3.933 17.59 mph
2 2.478 27.91 mph
3 1.700 40.69 mph
4 1.250 55.33 mph
5 0.976 70.87 mph
6 0.771 89.71 mph

wonderful!!!!!!!!!!
Remember as I said in my last post the actual measured speeds tend to be about 5% slower.

Shawn S

WTF are you guys talking about ???

Shawn S

joeandcarol2

The acceleration should be significantly better than the 01-02 auto version. Now that I am past by gearing crisis I will also comment that I agree with most and think that the 01-02 tailights and wheels are nicer. (I really liked the older tailights. I thought the rear end was the best part of the car). But I think this is a small price to pay for what I am sure will be a great transmission.

soopa

Ya I like the full red tails better too... but... I dont think the half clear are bad. I think many will prefer them.

I could go either way...

I too love the rear end of this car. SEXXXXXYY

Zapata

i think what s2ktaxi is refering to the old school vette gearing. 323 gears. Yeah, what the CLS will lose in drop from 4.2, it will make up because of the short short first gear and LSD(i think) correct me if i am wrong. Scalbert, EricL, etc.,