Purchasing 2007 CSX Type-S: General Clutch questions. please help!
 

Hello,

I went to check out and test drive a 2007 CSX Type-S today. the car was absolutely beautiful (Minus a few cosmetic issues; sun damage, minor rust in front of the wheel well), and the car's engine/performance were amazing.

Just a quick question about the clutch. I am currently driving a 2010 Manual Hyundai Santa Fe (Yes, it is a manual SUV), which the clutch is virtually butter. While I was test driving the CSX, the clutch seemed much more stiff, with it engaging nearly almost as soon as I release my foot. Is it normal for the clutch pedal to be relatively harder/more stiff in a CSX vs a Santa Fe? Also, the gear tree felt like it required more effort to physically shift between gears than the Santa Fe (I think the net describes this as "notchy", but im not sure if it fits my description).
I have driven a 2012 Civic Si many, many times and the tranny changed with more ease in the Si than the CSX I test drove today. Could the difference in clutch characteristics be attributed to the fact that the CSX is 5 years older than the Si, thus have a previous clutch build (And much more sportier than the Santa Fe)? That being said, I did not experience any slipping whatsoever, nor did I find it was "Too Difficult" to change gears all the way up the tree. It Required a little more concentration to not grind as the clutch pedal's travel was much shorter than the Santa Fe, but it definitely required more physical effort to change the gears. Could this just be the nature of the beast?

I am really considering making this purchase. I loved the way the car behaved, it was an honest dream. Disregarding the stiff pedal and the more relative effort to move the shifter, the car drove a lot more seamlessly than the Santa Fe (The drive was so smooth it almost felt like it was an automatic ffs!).

I just want to make sure these characteristics of the clutch aren't forecasts of any big clutch job soon to come after buying it. Want to gather as much info as possible

TL;DR - Is a stiff clutch pedal, and a stiffer time changing gears (relative to a santa fe) normal for a CSX Type-S? Or could it be an early onset of a potential bigger problem?

Thanks for your time, to whoever replies to this haa.

lol. anything?

Sorry. This forum is pretty dead and it is an RSX forum. I am not familiar with the CSX Type-S, but my 2002 RSX Type-S had its original clutch for 136K miles when the car was stolen. The clutch pedal force was always light and shifts were smooth. I did have to improvise bushings where the shift cables attach to the shifter when they wore out, as the shifter had a lot of play, but the shifting was very tight after the repair.

It sounds like the CSX you drove had an aftermarket clutch installed. A properly installed OEM clutch should shift like new.