patek007

..So i been bitching around how precious and lovely my cls'01 was, the silky exhilaration of vtec and up to 104mph in the damn 3rd gear [up or down/shift, if you know how to do this right ..], but that is NOT what made me jump ship just a few days ago...
It's the damn Acura Customer Moron Service, cases pending over a year, 6+ times fixing the damn 3rd break light.. and still the chasis 'cringes' slightly and the damn housing rubs against the glass and the more people in the car - the more it screeches... it's the damn noises in my door panels that mechanics just fret over every time they saw me... without knowing that damn 'new' panels do NOT fit the same as '01 used to fit... as well as 'ignorance' from the service Management... Strangely, it was NOT the tranny, although I got the lubricater installed per the recall - my tranny drove fine, althlough a bit 'jerky' when downshifting gears.. especially 3rd to 2nd... If above would be resolved I would NEVER had traded the car...
Something possesed to try g35c once again.. i.e. I tried it almost 1.5 years ago.. when the new, fresh of the boat once arrived - for some reason or another I was not impressed... or was it a pre-production demo sample that wasn't performing up to par... But almost 2 years later I made sure to try it in 3 diff. dealerships... And the damn thing was such a BEAST... And the exhaust note... and the leaps and bounds it does over new TL... hack even my cl-s could do one over new TL ... Honda is NOT what Honda used to be... Acura is a Lexus-wanna-be, but WITHOUT luxury service, nor enough refinement that it's been known for.. for AGES.
To make the long story short... It was a no hands down trade... The sales gent was nice... I tell him... I do not give a rat's ass... what you will do for my cl-s... just do 2 things - no money out of pocket... and similar payments... - so he got me a 4 yr. lease... for 15kmiles/year.. since the car is a bit more then I paid for my cls.. And the 'only' reason he could do it... which other dealers couldn't - was that it is an auto-year end.. and even though they do move them and quite - I see shitloads of them on LA streets the last few months... this guy KNEW how to treat me... and cater to my every want & need...
Just wanted to share my impressions - comparisons, which I immediately noticed in only 2 days...
G35c has an uncanny ability to let you enjoy MORE drive.. for the buck.. what I mean is... cls was so creamy & silky.. that you do not notice and all of a sudden you are going 50mph from stop... while in g35c, with all the 'craziness' and thrust... and even more exhilaration, yet the actual speed is LESS in reality, which obviously increases the fun factor way more... The g35c he had to unload fortunately for me had the 18'' wheel package installed... so now I can take corners literally at 90degree angles... Hack there is NOT enough rubber on the wheels to squeek !! YES... cls is smoother... silkier... more luxurious... and more 'convenient' inside the cabin... Yet it cannot be even compared... with the exhiliration g35c indeed provides... The thrust output is MONSTEROUS... to the level of intimidation... but then I realize.. even though I do not have the brembos options... this thing stops way quicker then cls ever did... In fact, the abs logic on the cls is quite 'strange'... I remember a few times when breaking hard.. from hi speeds... the car would jerk from side to side... while still stopping of course... G35c is a bit thirstier I noticed.. .. usually I was getting 20-21 with hard driving miles in cls... here I am getting 16... although this is a 'lease'... so the 'breaking' period.. out the window [ie. it is suggested.. not a requirement ]... One noticiable difference is that the tranny switching up/down on g35c is smoother then on cls - I do not feel the switches - therefore I do not 'sense' which sportshift speed I am on.... One drawback.. is in using LCD vs. LED/cls in dispalying the speed number. Other then that.. Please forget the new TL, forget the existing IS300 - there is NOTHING that compares to g35c at this moment... Yeah.. I could have waited for is300 v8 if it ever goes on sale here, yet we are not getting any younger.. so we better live & go out of our minds form excitement NOW and later... as oppose to later ..

Finally... for anyone contemplating 'change'.. and an 'upgrade'... g35c IS MORE THEN IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!! I sound hypocritical, since still miss my cls.. being a 7th generation honda folk, yet ENOUGH WAS ENOUGH... Honda failed me in customer service, their capabilities in resolving issues such as noise, etc. and their indifference to their loyal customers. Even though g35c is 'brutal force' machine... it made me return to the feeling of actually not be able to wait until I get to drive that little beast of mine... and with both windows down... The exhaust growl - it's as this thing is 'talking/breating' to me .... This is the EXACT g35c afterDrive smile .. or should I say during ...

For anyone interested in the 'numbers'... I used equity from the 15,800 he offered me for cls to get $452/month 48 month lease w/ 15kmiles/yr, with everything except navigation in the car.... This was almost exact [slightly less] what I was paying for cls - so to me it's more or less was like a close swap... with $0 out of pocket.
Lastly.. for the ones.. who are SICK of their 'issues' w/ cls's while still loving their cars... give g35c a try... i.e. 'beat' the crap out of that gas pedal.. and see how 'excited' you'll feel .. Just make sure you SHUT OFF a/c, radio, sales guy/gal .. roll down both windows... so you could hear the thing... and see why 50,000 of us had 'diverted' and counting... oops.. make it 50,001 ....
Now is a good time, i.e. end of auto-production year... so dealers are slightly more flexible on these. P.S. EVERY g35c' VIN starts with a 'J'... meaning... it is a rare piece which is still made solely in Japan.... And of course no time belt - all chains, 1st ss speed access, compass, etc ...

AQUI NO!

good car all, i'm usre it won't let u down, but $458 a month is only a few bucks less than the monthly payment on my car. that's just too much money for a car that isn't even yours, but hey don't let me rain on your parade and get out there and enjoy the drive

patek007

Yes Yes... you're 'reliving' my thoughts... but consider what is of 'comfort', i.e. like a huge locomotive.. if you get the thing going - it is easier to move - same here... I paid for Acura for quite some time... and with similar payments that is NOT too much for this car. Keep in mind this thing is red HOT... i.e. other dealers laughed at me... i.e. they showed me invoices of folks paying $650+ to own these... now that I'd consider excessive... But when someone such as myself does NOT like to shell out hard earned saved cash out... that is as good as it gets..
In my personal case - there was another factor... I realized that this was the 2nd time.. where I'd own the car for 3-4 years... and if I could 'sustain' the same payments with no money out - just 'switch' to a new car... while losing about half on the 7yr/100k miles of service contracts ... But hey... we learn on this one. If psychologically you'd allow yourself to 'always' pay for the car... you can enjoy new autos sooner then later... and if you really love it after a few years and it keeps it's performance promise - you can even buy it out... and still get a service contract to feel 'safer' .
The 48 months lease is very convenient, i.e. since infinity's warantee is 10k miles MORe then Acura.. i.e. 4yr/60k, so it my 15k/year allowance completely covered.. bumper to bumper.
To each it's own ... and you're NOT raining on my parade at all... Drive the damn thing.. hard... I am serious... and you'd 'forget' [ ] about the payments [provided they are automatically withdrawn ].

patek007

One other thing I'd want to mention... - don't be 'fooled' by the 'ownership' of an auto. While it is TRUE that if you plan to own it for more then 3-5 years - then by all means go ahead and own... yet if one wants to upgrade to something nicer in 3-4 years - then shelling out huge down payments while the thing quickly depreciates is quite a loss... So it is a matter of perspective... and the money that I save on a down payment when doing the lease... Of course the trick is to find the lease with the most minimal drive offs..
To me what else it came down to... - it's been some time since I felt so 'alive' after driving anything... I do not know what pill the Nissan is taking... yet it is working... for now. As well as I just was slowly 'blowing' my top... at the Honda's incompetence & evident 'stagnation' with TL as proof.

einsatz

Not sure I'd call the TL stagnated.
And the G35c isn't for everyone IMO. When I test drove it when looking for a replacement for my CL I was very disapointed. The interiors were all wrong in terms of looks and ergonomics, and the navi sucked. The power and handling is great through, and the brakes are awesome.
What made me walk out in disbilief was the fact that I couldn't fit in the rear seats. I'm 5'10", and my head was tilted down because the top hit the rear windshield. And my legs barely fit , I had no legroom at all. The CL was pretty damn comfy in the back.
And don't get me started on the trunk!

It's a ncie car but for that much $ it's hard to justify buying it. Still, if I had been after a lease like you were, I'd definitely ignore a lot of the problems and think of it as a tradeoff since I'd only have to deal with it for 3-4 years. It's no wonder why the car is the best leasing car!

Scrib

Paragraphs, paragraphs, paragraphs...



And you should have gotten a stick.

bkknight369

interior is my only complaint with the g35c...but the exhaust tone is just orgasmic

jimcol711

"YES... cls is smoother... silkier... more luxurious... and more 'convenient' inside the cabin... "


i enjoyed reading your write up, however your quote above is ridiculous.....while some people dislike the interior of the G35, no matter how you slice it, the CL-S interior is a pretty plain jane typical honda interior. at least the G35 makes an honest effort to present itself as a luxury automobile. the new TL interior is how the CL-S SHOULDVE been. the CL-S interior is barely one rung up on the ladder over the 1998 accord that it is based on.

2003type-s6

Exactly.

Chaptorial

LOL I like that.

Congrats on the new car man and best of luck with it.

And Auto > *

patek007

I appreciate all comments - since you guys KNOW what you're talking about... i.e. after a few more days... the 'negatives' do come out... in comparison to cl-s . The trunk of g35c is dismal, I cannot reach behind the seat, like to get a map or a sun shade (!). The PREMIUM option was MISSING the auto/memory seat buttons - I think my sales guy mentioned them when he sold it to me.. but then I realized that it seems only FX & g35 sedan has them - will check this out.
The radio display is quite glared, the a/c highest level cannot compare to CL-S's, the seat 'volume' is less and the back window is way lower, so the kids or whomever is riging in the back will get their doze of sun, or 'clustrofobia' ...
However, in my own personal case, I'd never traded the cl-s if the dealer would 'fix' what they promised to fix. As the other main benefactor was... performance. CL-S was best in it's class - still is... quite a few memories shall alwasy be there of 'hers'.
One other 'questionable' aspect and perhaps because I haven't yet gotten used to g35c, it seems cl-s was more 'refined' more controlled. G35c exhibits an awesome power... yet there is a slight 'disconnect' - but I think this shall pass. But some downshits are not happening - either because of speed or else. As cl-s had a 'delay' when switching from 2nd to 3rd - I think g35c has something similar when downshifting way too quickly through speeds...
Without sounding hypocritical - I stand behind every word of exhiliration above ... The thing is the beast... and a very fluid shifting beast to boot. If someone desires raw performance... this is it I tell you ...

darrinb

congrats on the new ride...

and for all of u that love the g coupes exhuast note have to hear a cl/tl with comptech mufflers...

niz181

i will be getting a 05 g35 coupe m/t

Good luck

cusdaddy

The CL/TL with Comptech exhaust sounds pretty good, but IMO, not as nice as the stock G/Z exhaust. Lou and I got together one day a while back (when he had his CL) and compared exhausts in a parking garage. We both agreed the Z exhaust has a more distinctive and sweeter sound higher up in the revs. The problem with the Comptech's is the highway drone which can get grating.

patek007

Just realized 05 g35c/Sport will be bumped to 295hp... Boggles my mind what Ghosn is trying to do, unless Skyline will never see these shores - Acura has a good challenge on it's hands.. if they will ever do anything. At this point, Acura is kind of like Bin Laden... i.e. many believe he is still alive - either he is is doing the best job of hiding... planing the next attack, or he is simply dead. Inasmuch as I desire BL dead... I hope Acura is just 'hiding'.. planning the counterattack .

darrinb

hmm i guess my lil bro choses other wise, me and my friends 350 were riding side by side going fpr like 5 min with my lil bro behind us, he was tellin me the comptechs sound alot deeper and just better...

one thing though is that the comptechs die out at 4.5k rpms as where the z/g stay up till redline

1SICKLEX

That was a great write-up. Good choice.


Whoa. The G35 interior is horrible. Period. Quality and with ergonomics. It's horrible for a luxury named anything. THe CL-S interior is superior.