Overall I am satisfied from Acura.

Folks dont forget this. Acura is part of Honda which is a public company. Honda's sales are 52.8 billion dollars with Net Income of $2.17 billion. The company has 3.56 billion dollars in cash in the bank.

The #1 objective of a public company is to create value for its shareholders. Which means it has to make money, etc.

What do I mean? Look at the number of vehicles that ACura sold. The numbers came a day before they introduced the 2003 CL and CLS.

The cash cow for Acura is the TL and the MDX. They make 110,000 of the 170,000 vehicles that Acura make. What does that have to do with the CLS introduction?

Well, that means that the CL will always be a close derivative of the TL. And we all know that the TL is a close derivative of the Accord because the Accord is the cash cow for mother Honda. For a car like the Accord to be a cash cow, it has GOT TO be FWD. Period. AWD as an option maybe, but FWD as a base for sure. FWD cars make more sense from a business perspective. They are less costly to produce and easier to design.

Blah, blah, blah. So what's your point? Are you gonna talk about the 2003 CLS?

Yes, but we have got to set the above straight before we make any comments on the CLS that came out today. We have got to understand what the CL means to Acura and what Acura means to Honda to make statements.

So specifically about the CL now. ACura sold less than 19,000 CL and CLS cars in 2001. That is pathetic at best.

THEY SHOULD NOT EVEN BOTHERED WITH THE MANUAL 6 SPEED TRANNY IF YOU ASK ME!

This car mean very little to them from a business perspective.

One might say: Well, Acura better make the CL a better car if they want for it to MEAN something to them.

The answer to that is that we have got to look at the Luxury Sports Coupe market to decide if the CL SHOULD mean much to Acura. And although I am not gonna get into that in detail, let us all agree that people in American BUY 4 DOOR CARS MORE THAN THEY BUY 2 DOOR CARS.

The above last statement makes the COUPE MARKET a "LESS SIGNIFICANT MARKET" for auto manufacturers. Remember, it is all about money and in this industry money comes from SELLING IN VOLUME. Cars are a commodity at this point. IT is very tough to make money in this business at this point and it is getting harder. Too much competition, etc.

Bottom line, I think that ACURA DID MORE THAN ITS FAIR SHARE TO BETTER THE CL/CLS WITH THESE CHANGES FOR 2003. I cant believe that they managed to make the car actually lighter. I know it is probably the tranny but the car got a other things like a thicker windshield in 2002 and other things we dont see I am sure.

As for cosmetic changes, I think they are all subjective. I actually like the wheels. BUt about the same as ours. So there. Taste is taste.

ABout the LSD. I dont know. Maybe it was too expensive or impossible to combine the LSD with the VSA and have both. I am sure though that Traction Control is sitill there. ANd an Active LSD combined with TC will keep the car more than safe.

It looks like they paid a LOT of attention to the clutch and its linkage, etc (Multi-cone synchronizers, Self-adjusting clutch with dual-mass flywheel,Short-throw shift linkage). ANd on top of that it is beautiful and the shifter and its immediate area looks A LOT like that of the NSX. That is a good thing.

They added two hydraulic engine mount dampers to counter engine movement. I mean, that must have cost them a TON. Unless the TL got it and we had to get it. Remember, altering operations in an assembly line environment is a very expensive thing to do. The smallest change in assembly of an item could add a lot to the final cost of the final product.

ABout the fog lights. Maybe they are using the openings as ports to cool the brakes. Maybe. After all, the weak point about our brakes is that they fade at high speed hard braking. Of course they could have addressed that with changing the compound the pads are made off, etc but if Acura has a 4 year contract with their pad vendor for this specific type of pads, they must find other ways of addressing an issue or dont address it at all. In my opinion, the front spoiler looks more aggressive without the fog lights.

And finally, the small touches like:
Auto-up driver's side window
Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH)
Perforated leather door inserts (I love how these look by the way)

SHow that Acura really is working hard even with the details.

I think we got more than the attention we give to Acura as CL owners. And that attention can be counted ONLY, less than, 19,000 times. That is pretty sad for ASKING FOR TOO MUCH.

 

Sometimes someone in the Company gets to do a pet peeve project. It's not all about profit.

Like me. Looks for a phone coming out with Sprint PCS next month that we obviously don't need; but I wanted it. I wanted because I knew a few customers out there wanted it too and would appreciate it. So we got a few.

Somebody wanted the 6-sp manual perhaps. I think you have that kind of flexibility when you're not dealing with the money-maker sku.

As for Acura listening to their customers, I was always sure they would and do. No big company today can afford not to. It just doesn't make sense.

 

and here we have yet another one who thinks hes too good to share his opinions in the same thread as everyone else

you and shawn are too much. crack me up!

 

All my BITCHING & MOANING posts about the Slush-Box and now your MAD about ONE review post.

SHEEZZ !!!!!

Shawn S

 

Hey Shawn, if I somehow turned up in Hellertown this spring, could I get an extended test drive in your 6 speed?

 

All what I can say, I am satisfied with CLS as is now....

Howrver my next car has to be:

1) 4-doors... Yeah a baby is on the way!
2) 350 HP
3) 4-wheel drive
4) SMG
5) NAV
6 cost less than $40G, loaded.

I am stepping up to the next level, if acura does have such car so be it, otherwise I would shop elsewhere....

 

Sure…..but I’ll be riding shotgun to make sure I don’t need a new clutch at 5,000-miles.

Shawn S

 

Where do you expect to find all that under $40k?

 

I’ve been sending a hand written note to Acura every single day since July of 2000 requesting the 6-Speed.

I guess they built it to shut me up !!!

Shawn S

 

By 2004, I hope someone will build such car at $40K.

 

Hey, I drove sticks for 10 years so I know what I'm doing. But I haven't driven one in 2 years with the exception of a few minutes around the parking lot in my friend's Prelude. I might have to test drive a few RSX's before testing out a CL just to get a feel for it again. I hope its like riding a bike in that you never forget how. That's one reason I want a 6 speed CL ASAP. The longer I drive an auto, the more I feel like a puss. Real men drive sticks!

 

Good thing I didn't do that, my hand writing is hardly legible...

 

While you're at it, why don't you buy a hover car that runs on water? Congrats on the baby.

BTW, gavriil, the objective of a company is to make money. They shouldn't have made the six speed? If a company doesn't expand and experiment (so to speak) with this kind of thing, it will never truly learn what the customer wants.

Real men drive manuals, if you perceive the slim difference. Happy shifting!

 

I’ve kept up my practice by driving the wife’s 5-Speed Integra every once and a while, but I’m sure I’m a little rusty myself.

Shawn S

 

I've drive almost 100% sport shift. I wonder how long it will take to purge my brain of that nonsense. Believe it or not, my left foot often still pulls up in anticipation of needing to clutch. Once a stick driver, always a stick driver.

 

By 2004, I hope the econmy would be out of resession and booming then $40k will not be a problem.

As long as some car is built to my spec, I am sure I would find a way to pay the piper...

 

I just don't see anyone building a car with those specs for $40k. I'm thinking $50-60k and German.

 

That's exactly what I was thinking, not within the next 3 years at least.

 

I know I am gonna be rusty, but before I sold my 01 CLS I used SS and pretended to have a clutch to try to recall what the timing was like I have driven a manual for the 10 years before that though so I think it will be like riding a bike ... especially with a Honda/Acura clutch and shifter

 

TO add a 6 speed to a car takes an investment from Acura. It costs them "XYZ". For them to recover that money they have to sell an "X" number of cars. Only selling in volume will get Acura out of the woods from an investment like that. Now look at how much volume does the CL sell in. 19,000 cars in 2001 when they sell 450,000 Accords. Both in N. American only. Acura might as well lose money with the 2003 changes if sales wont go up.

THat is what I meant.