I was on the way home from school today and I thought I wold stop by the Ferman Acura Dealership and ask when the New TSXs would be in and if they got any on the lot. Low and behold... they had one left in the shipment of 3 they got in a few days ago. I walk into the seperate show room/garage, and nearly wet myself. A Perfect 2004 Acura TSX Black 6-Speed is there, waiting to be checked out. THe only thing it did ot have was NAVI and fog lights. It was priced at $26,990, plus the $300. I chat it up with the sales guy (Bruno) and give the car a thorough look over and inspection, playing with everything. HIDs too! I loved how the guages glowed dimly blue when you opened the door. He knew the car very well, how it an European Accord and all the details. I was impressed. The Interior fit n' finsh is amazing quality and the materials are top of the line. The Leather was also very nice and soft. The interior was the parchment color with real wood trim and not the black leather with aluminium trim like I had hoped, but still impressive. I have heard rumors of the back seat being kinda cramped, but I was pleasantly comfortable being 6 foot, as long as the seat wasnt all the way back. After I am dun chatting and checking out the car, the sale mananger comes up and ASKS, yes, ASKS me if i would like to drive it!!! I am only 18 too! I declined and said I wold want my friend and step dad to come along. So I got the business cards and went home, which is only 3 minutes away.

I come back with my step dad an hour because my friend was in class and we go for a test drive. We hop in the car, me in the passanger, step dad in driver and Bruno in the rear. We play with the gadgets some, the clutch, and shifter while the car warms up a bit. Step dad drives it on the interstate and in a parking lot, blah blah blah blah...Gets out, and it is my turn!

I hop into the drivers seat and play with the clutch and gearbox for a minute to get sed to it. The clutch was perfect, not to still and not to soft ( I also drove an 03 Honda Accord Coupe V6 6 speed today, HATED the gearbox and clutch, the clutch wsa way to soft and didnt wanna come off the floor). The shift almost seemed automatic as i threw it into everygear. Now I head for the freeway! I come to a stop and wait for the cars to get out of my wayn the on-ramp. I punch it and row through the gears and get on the freeway. Got up to 95mph and it was solid as a rock! Go off at the next exit and testes the brakes some, seemed better than most Honda/Acura brakes I have driven. I drive to an empty parking lot on the way back to the dealership. I sped up fast and took a few sharp turns, some while braking to test the vehicles VSA system, It worked quiet well! I was amazed at the turning radius and handling the TSX had to offer! It wold be a great car for the twisties! Acceleration was above Average. The engine was silent until about 4.5k rpms where is started to scream to the 7,100rpm reline before I shifted. This car actually had some TORQUE being 2.4 Liters and did not protest too much if I was in too high of a gear. In my opinion, it could use another 20hp at least, but dont get me wrong, it aint no slouch! I haven't rode in or driven an i-Vtec engine before. I am used to the SUDDEN power surge when a DOHC VTEC engine crosses over into the VTEC rpm. THe i-VTEC has 3 cam lobes instead of just 2, so the power increase is much more linear. Drove it back to the dealership and pulled it back into it showroom/garage and Bullshit with te salesman some more. He only asked us a few times politely to talk to the finance manager. We declined and sed we had to talk it up with the wife first. LoL. We had no intention of buying the car anyway.

Overall I give the car a 9.5 out of 10. It could have a few more horsepower, and there should be SOME exhaust tone as there was absolutely none in this car. I know these are personally preferences but who cares.

 

Good review - see ya over on www.acura-tsx.com So really ... when are you gonna get it?

 

NOt for a LOONNGGGG time

I gotta keep my CL till it dies on the side of the road.

 

Yes the accord clutch is a bit hard to get used to, but its a racing clutch with very short throw gears. Once you get used it to you youd love it, it fucking flies. Love the tsx too so much fun and quality.

 

To all of the TSX naysayers (of which I used to be one), this car is hot! I just saw one at my dealership up close and will take it for a drive tomorrow.

The only downsides I see to this car are: 1) it is a bit too small for me, 2) no V6 option and 3) same crappy tires-but this can easily be taken care of.

Aside from these, however, this is a rock solid car. It really is beautiful in person with perfect fit and finish. The interior is nicer than anything in the Acura lineup and has a very Mercedes feel to it. Real nice navi screen, great wood trim in the parchment interior and awesome aluminum in the ebony interior. I can't say enough about the interior. It is awesome. Back seat looks tight--not unexpected. There is also nice chromed out pieces on the exterior of the car that look great. It really looks very sophisticated.

I'll chime in on my test drive tomorrow. I think Acura will have a winner here if they didn't underestimate this market of buyer like they did with the CL. I honestly think this car competes with the Mercedes C230 series. The interior is flat out nicer than any bimmer 3 series--and probably the higher numbers as well.

 

JZ ... mind posting it over here and linking to it on a-cl if you want?

Trying to get some momo going on the site ... reviews are a good way ! I have to tell you ... I am counting the hours until I drive my TSX home. I came in to the test drive with pretty high expectations and they were still exceded. It drives like a small I6 because of the incredibly flat torque curve. I mean it is no CLS/TLS V6 .... but it will do. Did you get a chance to handle it through some twisties? All I can say is

 

This person's "test drive" is exactly why I bought a CL-S right off the truck. 4 miles.

 

I drove it very fast and weaved through an empty parking lot, squeeling the tires,, does that count?