2001 CL Type S / 2008 G37 S Personal Comparison
11-26-2009, 12:25 AM
#1
Rooting for Acura
Thread Starter
iTrader: (1)
2001 CL Type S / 2008 G37 S Personal Comparison
Preface: Grab a big bag of chips and 32 oz of your favorite drink. 
Cliffnotes:
I've had my 2008 G37 S Coupe for about 5 months and what a great car it is. I can't help but compare it to my gone but not forgotten 2001 CL Type S from time to time because the G reminds me so much of the CL. The second generation CL, although not inexpensive, was a bargain when it hit the streets in 2000. It had looks, respectable power, decent technology features, luxury features and an upscale badge. The G has all these things eight years later and like the CL it is not inexpensive, but it is a bargain.
I will start off by saying that the G is overall a better vehicle than the CL largely because of eight years of technological and automotive advancement. It competes with the 3 Series Bimmer far better than the CL aspired to do. It's styling is more bold (love it or hate it) than the CL's simple , rounded and slightly angled shape. I don't need to go into power and performance stats. You can read that stuff anywhere. The G37 S earns it's "S" more than the CL S did in terms of power and handling. However the difference from a non Type S CL and a Type S CL was 35 ponies and a few more "sport goodies" whereas the G37 S and the non S G37 has a horsepower delta of nada, nil, zero, zilch. Of course you get some nice "sport goodies" with the S though. Enough to make me get one, and I'm glad I did. It's a beast. I'm still trying to get used to driving a rear wheel drive car and breaking the back wheels (not entirely on purpose) until the Traction Control decides that the fun is over.
The CL S was not a beast. One thing it was though was a great package that even eight years ago would be a great car to drive today. After driving the CL S for 6 years (I actually had a CL P before it) and the G for 5 month I can say I miss a few things about the CL. These are simple things, but things that make me appreciate the CL for what it is. Here are a few things that the CL does better than the G. In no particular order here they are.
Walkthough Feature
The "walkthough" seat function on the CL was as simple as lifting the lever on the shoulder bolster and the seat went forward quickly. Moving back the seat back moved the seat back into position, quickly. On the G this same maneuver requires you to lift a lever and then press a button and the seat crawls forward with the slowness of a fast turtle. Placing the seat back into position requires that you press the button again after placing the seatback back into position. Again, slow.
Homelink System
The buttons for the Homelink system in the CL are dimly lit. The guys at Honda knew you'd be looking for the right button at night at some point. The guys at Nissan didn't consider that. That's right. I have to feel for the button closest to me (the one I programmed) at night in the G to open my garage at night. The buttons are all flush btw, so it makes it a bit interesting in the dark.
Light Sensing Rear View Mirror
I'm a huge proponent of, "if I don't need it all the time turn it off by default". In the CL the default for this feature is off. I didn't appreciate this little engineering marvel until I got my G because every time I start my car now, even at 12 noon in Texas with no one high beaming me the Auto-dimming function is on. I wonder how much it costs to replace a rear view mirror in a G? I don't want to find out so I turn this feature off pretty much all the time.
Heated Mirrors
I'll have to admit I can count the times I've used this feature on the CL on one hand and have fingers left over but I can count the number of times I'll not use heated mirrors on my G and need more hands, because just like a third hand I don't have heated mirrors either. They did come in handy on the CL when I needed them.
Tilt Mirror
Boy do I miss this feature! It makes parking sooo much easier. I'm just hoping I don't rash my gorgeous stock 19" one day because I can't quite see that curb.
Heated Seats
Yeah, that's right. I live in Texas, but it gets "cold" here like 10 days out of the year. Global Warming rocks! My CL's seats would continue to heat until I felt like my butt was on fire and I decided to turn it off. Well, the G's seat heaters regulate themselves like the Auto AC, turning themselves off when "hot enough" and turning back on when it thinks it needs to start heating again. Too much technology can be a bad thing.
Back Seats
The CL has respectable rear seat space for a coupe. The G's back seats prevent my co-workers from wanting to ride my car to lunch. Wait. That's probably a good thing.
Trunk
...or Boot for you Brits. Simply put it was an afterthought in the G whereas the CL, even though it is also a coupe has a nice size trunk. Smart design.
Speed Sensing Wipers
I miss this little feature. It gave the CL another hint of sophistication. I have the option to turn this feature on/off (default on) in my G but it does nothing. I think that feature is part of the technology package that I do not have. Some G owners swear that their's work, but I think they're smoking crack.
No Blind Spot
It's funny that the G's side windows are pillerless from the outside but there is a pillar in the inside that creates the blind spot from hell over the left shoulder. The CL has a visible pillar but the driver's door window is long enough to where this is not a huge problem.
At any rate, I can list a crap load of features / aspects of the G that I like a lot more than the CL, but again it has the 01 CL by 7 - 8 years. Plus that isn't the intent of this little novel. I guess I was bored enough to share these thought that only a few people may read in it's entirety.
With all that the CL had going for it, as far as coupes are concerned, Acura let Infiniti do to it what Intel did to Motorola. How could you birth the iconic Legend Coupe and not be a major player in the coupe market today?! Shame. After owning a 89 Accord LXi Coupe, 93 Accord SE Coupe, 01 CL P and 01 CL S I thought I'd be a Honda man for life. We'll turns out that I'm more of a coupe man than a Honda man. Let the best coupe win. I drive a G37 and am loving it but I'm I'm still rooting for Acura.
kr
Cliffnotes:
- I like my G37
- It reminds me a bit of the CL
- I miss a few things about the CL
- With all being said the G37 is still the better car
- Acura is stupid for not developing it's coupe
- I'm still rooting for Acura
I've had my 2008 G37 S Coupe for about 5 months and what a great car it is. I can't help but compare it to my gone but not forgotten 2001 CL Type S from time to time because the G reminds me so much of the CL. The second generation CL, although not inexpensive, was a bargain when it hit the streets in 2000. It had looks, respectable power, decent technology features, luxury features and an upscale badge. The G has all these things eight years later and like the CL it is not inexpensive, but it is a bargain.
I will start off by saying that the G is overall a better vehicle than the CL largely because of eight years of technological and automotive advancement. It competes with the 3 Series Bimmer far better than the CL aspired to do. It's styling is more bold (love it or hate it) than the CL's simple , rounded and slightly angled shape. I don't need to go into power and performance stats. You can read that stuff anywhere. The G37 S earns it's "S" more than the CL S did in terms of power and handling. However the difference from a non Type S CL and a Type S CL was 35 ponies and a few more "sport goodies" whereas the G37 S and the non S G37 has a horsepower delta of nada, nil, zero, zilch. Of course you get some nice "sport goodies" with the S though. Enough to make me get one, and I'm glad I did. It's a beast. I'm still trying to get used to driving a rear wheel drive car and breaking the back wheels (not entirely on purpose) until the Traction Control decides that the fun is over.
The CL S was not a beast. One thing it was though was a great package that even eight years ago would be a great car to drive today. After driving the CL S for 6 years (I actually had a CL P before it) and the G for 5 month I can say I miss a few things about the CL. These are simple things, but things that make me appreciate the CL for what it is. Here are a few things that the CL does better than the G. In no particular order here they are.
Walkthough Feature
The "walkthough" seat function on the CL was as simple as lifting the lever on the shoulder bolster and the seat went forward quickly. Moving back the seat back moved the seat back into position, quickly. On the G this same maneuver requires you to lift a lever and then press a button and the seat crawls forward with the slowness of a fast turtle. Placing the seat back into position requires that you press the button again after placing the seatback back into position. Again, slow.
Homelink System
The buttons for the Homelink system in the CL are dimly lit. The guys at Honda knew you'd be looking for the right button at night at some point. The guys at Nissan didn't consider that. That's right. I have to feel for the button closest to me (the one I programmed) at night in the G to open my garage at night. The buttons are all flush btw, so it makes it a bit interesting in the dark.
Light Sensing Rear View Mirror
I'm a huge proponent of, "if I don't need it all the time turn it off by default". In the CL the default for this feature is off. I didn't appreciate this little engineering marvel until I got my G because every time I start my car now, even at 12 noon in Texas with no one high beaming me the Auto-dimming function is on. I wonder how much it costs to replace a rear view mirror in a G? I don't want to find out so I turn this feature off pretty much all the time.
Heated Mirrors
I'll have to admit I can count the times I've used this feature on the CL on one hand and have fingers left over but I can count the number of times I'll not use heated mirrors on my G and need more hands, because just like a third hand I don't have heated mirrors either. They did come in handy on the CL when I needed them.
Tilt Mirror
Boy do I miss this feature! It makes parking sooo much easier. I'm just hoping I don't rash my gorgeous stock 19" one day because I can't quite see that curb.
Heated Seats
Yeah, that's right. I live in Texas, but it gets "cold" here like 10 days out of the year. Global Warming rocks! My CL's seats would continue to heat until I felt like my butt was on fire and I decided to turn it off. Well, the G's seat heaters regulate themselves like the Auto AC, turning themselves off when "hot enough" and turning back on when it thinks it needs to start heating again. Too much technology can be a bad thing.
Back Seats
The CL has respectable rear seat space for a coupe. The G's back seats prevent my co-workers from wanting to ride my car to lunch. Wait. That's probably a good thing.
Trunk
...or Boot for you Brits. Simply put it was an afterthought in the G whereas the CL, even though it is also a coupe has a nice size trunk. Smart design.
Speed Sensing Wipers
I miss this little feature. It gave the CL another hint of sophistication. I have the option to turn this feature on/off (default on) in my G but it does nothing. I think that feature is part of the technology package that I do not have. Some G owners swear that their's work, but I think they're smoking crack.
No Blind Spot
It's funny that the G's side windows are pillerless from the outside but there is a pillar in the inside that creates the blind spot from hell over the left shoulder. The CL has a visible pillar but the driver's door window is long enough to where this is not a huge problem.
At any rate, I can list a crap load of features / aspects of the G that I like a lot more than the CL, but again it has the 01 CL by 7 - 8 years. Plus that isn't the intent of this little novel. I guess I was bored enough to share these thought that only a few people may read in it's entirety.
With all that the CL had going for it, as far as coupes are concerned, Acura let Infiniti do to it what Intel did to Motorola. How could you birth the iconic Legend Coupe and not be a major player in the coupe market today?! Shame. After owning a 89 Accord LXi Coupe, 93 Accord SE Coupe, 01 CL P and 01 CL S I thought I'd be a Honda man for life. We'll turns out that I'm more of a coupe man than a Honda man. Let the best coupe win. I drive a G37 and am loving it but I'm I'm still rooting for Acura.
kr
11-26-2009, 12:46 AM
#2
I think between the auto trans recall, plus how the CL didn't sell nearly as well as they wanted it to (at least according to Wikipedia...
) they probably didn't want to take a business risk in continuing the CL line.
However I remember reading that Acura planned to make a coupe version of the 4G TL.... it looks like that was maybe scrapped for the ZDX...
) they probably didn't want to take a business risk in continuing the CL line.However I remember reading that Acura planned to make a coupe version of the 4G TL.... it looks like that was maybe scrapped for the ZDX...
11-26-2009, 01:15 AM
#3
If they made a coupe of the 3rd gen TL, I would have bought that over my CL any day of the week..........
Things I like about my CL-S
30+ MPG on the highway even at 72mph
quiet ride
comfortable seats
everything within easy reach and clearly labled
Engine still got the kick even in 2009
Things I don't like
1. Thin leather
2. Rims bend like jello
3. Some plastics in the car become brittle over time and need to be replaced
Things I like about my CL-S
30+ MPG on the highway even at 72mph
quiet ride
comfortable seats
everything within easy reach and clearly labled
Engine still got the kick even in 2009
Things I don't like
1. Thin leather
2. Rims bend like jello
3. Some plastics in the car become brittle over time and need to be replaced
11-26-2009, 09:52 AM
#4
Punk Rocker
I wouldn't worry about using the rearview mirror. We had a 92 Seville with this feature and the thing worked fine for 15 years until we sold it. Mine is always on.
Also, you are right about the speed sensitive wipers. They do nothing on my car either...
Also, you are right about the speed sensitive wipers. They do nothing on my car either...
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11-29-2009, 09:22 AM
#12
Rooting for Acura
Thread Starter
iTrader: (1)
The G is a bit harsher than the CL, but that doesn't bother me. I think that is to be expected. I experienced more of a difference in ride comfort when I switched from a CL P to the CL S. I think the non S G37 rides a lot smoother with the 18" wheels and non-sport suspension.
j/k
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