6spdmanual

Pretty good review.
http://www.vtec.net/articles/view-ar...ticle_id=39455

Klamalama

Just checked out the 2 videos and I concur with the conclusions completely.

The CL's shortcomings are tires and total weight. Tires can be replaced but the weight is part of the "luxury" package.

The positives were dead on: great clutch; steering; comfort; torque; hp; quality. Overall, the CL's forte is great balance of its 3 primary factors performance:luxury:value.

As the reviewer said, it's perfect for those that drive at .7 to .8 (that suits me fine). It's not a track car.

EricL

With tires and other goodies you might want to change the .7/.8 to .8/.9 -- but, it doesn't feel as comfortable as a well setup Bimmer in unknown terrain...

It wasn't designed to have the springs "welded" shut...

acur8ly

iTrader: (1)

that video of the cls owning the rsx was worth the download time

Nashua_Night_Hawk

What is 8/10th?

OTH, This guy knows the problem and knows the solution:
1) Tires: 235/40/18 or 235/45/17 on lightweight rims ($2000)
2) CT Sways ($300)
3) CT Springs (optional, recommended on good roads only!)
4) CAI ( ICE, AEM, or Injen) ($200)
5) Headers (CT on the 6-speed or OBX/CT on CLS-5 yeah 30HP, 15lbft claimed), ($600)
6) UR Pullyes.... not for weak hearted guys ($500)

$33K + $3,600 still less than Fully loaded G35! or any 330ci!!!
You are all set and still below the competition

GreenMonster

Very good article. I like the final paragraph the best:

"But if you have a weekend race car, this car an outstanding daily driver and long distance touring coupe. And for the money, its a real bargain. <snip>
Hey Acura, how about throwing this engine package into a RWD coupe and shaving off a couple hundred lbs? Put me on the waiting list right now if so."

If Acura would put the 3.2 6spd in a RWD coupe (w/ the current styling of the CLS), they definitely would have a car that could also serve as both a daily driver and track car. If the current CLS was RWD, I would aready own one.

John - considering buying a '03 CLS-6spd

V6POWER

On the drag video, they didn't show the end of the runs with the track time.

purplehaze

i dont know if u guys read the cr and driver first review on the 6spd..but here are a few quotes..

"This cars handling closes the rear wheel drive VS front wheel drive gap by a BUNCH"

"This car handles with precise confidence on the mountain roads"

"the only place to go from here is the m3 but u wont get quite as close at this price"

I bought the 6 spd and i stand by this review.

PH

purplehaze

AND ALSO...can someone tell me what this 8/10th stuff is?

dhlesq

I think they mean driving at 8/10 of the limit of the car.
As in, 10/10 has a huge pucker factor and 11/10 puts you into the wall or over the edge of the cliff.

Nashua_Night_Hawk

the problem is how to figure 8/10 or 11/10th...

EricL

Yes... however, the 11/10ths is "silly"...

A analogy could be found in handling jet fighters -- the idea is to be able to fly as close to the edge without losing control. The same applies to cars.

And it will all be "biased", to some degree, by the driver's experience with the various platforms.

And, this is relative but... if your driving F1, CART, etc, you better believe that wining is being determined by who is driving at .999% of max performance -- a slight bobble could make the difference in the outcome. Even in F1, you will see certain cars that just look "balanced" in all areas of their G-circle limits, and there are others where the driver is sweating to just stay close (it looks like they are fighting with the car).

There are some cars that are just naturally balanced from the factory or with a number of mods. The time for a given section of road will be very close with "experienced" drivers and it will make the dirver look good doing it. There is also an issue of how HARD it is to get the last few percent out of a car, and, IMO, it is easy to drive "near" the limit without problems. OTOH, I can't drive this car, the CLS, like my 50/50 balanced RWD, but the RWD got years of sorting out. That car could be driven at 99.9% and looked so easy (because it was so easy to balance in every kind of dry turn and surface that were encountered).

The balance of the car changes at speed, but when driving within limits is easy to keep under control.

There have been a couple of folks that have taken the CLS pretty far to try and make it into a track car, and it was near impossible to rotate the car on demand...

I'm not saying the car isn't great for what it does. And, in wet conditions is quite nice compared to my RWD.