So I took my car to the dealer for the moonroof squeak TSB and took advantage of the opportunity to test drive the 2003 manual.

OK. This is gonna be short cos I wanted to concentrate on the tranny and the feel and that's it. The rest is secondary anyway (except the LSD).

I remember someone saying that the auto car felt stronger at the bottom end. And I felt the same thing. At 1500-3500 rpm, the manual car feels slower. My car is stock with 18000 miles and it is 2 years old now with the same tires.

The manual car feels more rigid probably mainly due to the 2 extra engine mounts which I saw when I opened the hood. I was not trying to find the limit of the car in the turns so I cant comment on the LSD. But the car overall felt the same from a handling perspective. I mean, not much has changed anyway. I can feel though that my car needs allignment soon. Dealer said he charges $99 for it. Ouch!

I did a standing start with the car. Dropped the clutch from 4500 rpm. MUCH more grip from the tires. Probably due to my tires been older and of course the LSD. Overall it looks like spinning the tires with no Traction Control wont be a problem.

The tranny was super accurate although notchy in the beggining. Probably needed some warming up? The clutch was light and yes it did grab fast and kinda low but no prob. After 20 shifts, I was already getting the hang of it.

Overall, my conslusion is that it is not even worth thinking about a replacement. So I feel good that I dont have to do through that and wait another year to see how the G35 Coupe will be and possible other cars.

 

I forgot to write about somethign that I have never heard of a dealer doing ever before, nor expected them to.

When they called my name and game me my key, they also gave me an envelope. In that envelope there were 3 things 2 of which were papers.

One was the usual, "we did this and that to your car". The other was saying that someone will be calling me later to rate their service and had a bunch of service parameters listed (greeting, time to completion, etc.).

Now the third thing was a cassette. Yeah, the type you put in your radio.

When I got to the car, I played it. I hear this guy calling my name and introducing himself as the technician who worked on the car. Then he proceedes in describing the problem and then what he did to the car, step by step. Finally, he thanks me for selecting them for doing the service and asks to give him a call if I have any questions.

Wow!

By the way, that was McGrath Acura Of Westmont, IL on Ogden Ave.

 

Good review, and that Technician/ Cassette thing is very cool !!

 

Have any of you experienced that before? Or heard of it?

 

thats fuckin' weird, I've never heard of such a thing

 

Finally, a review that makes me happy about keeping my auto CL. Everyone may not agree with that review, but for those of us who can't afford to trade up to the 6 spd, it's nice to read.

 

The reason the auto feels faster at the bottom end because the final drive is like 4 something while the manual is like 3 something.

 

Sorry Zapata (its me again) thats not correct. If you list the product of the transimission gear and the final drive the overall ratios are (first four gears)

manual: 12.9, 8.1, 5.6 4.1

auto: 11.3, 6.9, 4.5, 2.9

The manual has lower ratios in all first four gears.

 

No it is hehe The gearing is higher in the manual however the final drive(most important in the "low end") is higher in the Automatic than it is the Manual.

http://hondanews.com/Forms/acura/CL/...ia***-***acura(directory)CL(directory)***.ws4d?acura/CL/results(r)_text.html

Automatic / Manual
2.563 / 3.933
1.552 / 2.478
1.021 / 1.700
0.653 / 1.250
0.470 / 0.976
na / 0.771

Final 4.428 / 3.286

 

Sorry but I multiplied the gear ratio by the final drive (whichever it was) in both cases. Try it. Your wrong the bottom line it the mulitplication of gear and final drive in both cases. You dont understand gearing.
Oh Product means the "multiiplication of"

 

Why are you talking rubbish?

Overall gearing is higher on the manual than the auto!

for any same MPH speed between the Auto and the manual, the rpm (engine speed) in manual would be higher than the auto!

Ratio of 6-speed to Auto:

1st) 12.9/11.3 = 1.141
2nd) 8.1/6.9 = 1.174
3rd) 6.6/4.5 = 1.466 ( You feel the difference here! )
4th) 4.1/2.9 = 1.413 ( You feel the difference here! )

Therefore, the 6-speed would redline faster and needs to change gears more!

Think about it first, then post

 

Doh, wrong thread...

 

Geeze ppl......i understand gearing. :P You think about it. Did you bother to read the post? That lack of pull or the "feeling" of it is because of the final drive ratio is lower in the 6MT than the 5EAT. That's why mercedes don't do so hot off the line because they final drive ratio is lower. Dragsters on the other hand prolly have high 4 something to 1 final drive ratio. You think about it and then post

 

I'm not talking rubbish. my numbers (the multiplication of the gear ratio and final drive) are correct for both the manual and the auto. The overall numerical ratios are lower (taller gearing) for the auto. I said manual has lower ratios. I meant lower gears. I have understood gearing before you were born.