SiGGy

I was surprised when they had one at the enterprise on dempster and 83. Bare in mind I had the bare bones 3.5l.

It needed an aluminum dash piece around the radio/climate control. It was just plain tacky looking. I have heard you can get the aluminum trim. The orange glowing instrument lights all around the dash reminded me of 1980's sony stereo equipment. There is a pop open door on the dash which reveals a cassette deck?!? how stupid is that? And it's a *large door* on the dash right in the middle. The interior needs to be brought into the 21st century... badly!

It's not a SUV it's more a hybrid between a G35 and a SUV. It's for sure not a truck. It'll seat 4 people really well. Handles awesome. Even the 3.5L accelerates very well. It pulls real smooth through all of the gears. And the exhaust note is awesome! There is however not a lot of "trunk/hatch" space in the rear. I was surprised by the full-size spare though!

It puts Honda/Acuras man-u-matic transmission to shame! It's shifts easily 2-3x faster than the automatic does in manual mode in our CLS. Honda could learn a few things from Nissan here...

The electronic telescopic steering wheel was cool, it moved out of the way when you get in and out of the car. The seats were awesome. A good step above the CLS seats. However the seat controls were not very intuitive. (I still don't know why everyone thinks ours are so comfy, in comparison to my GM,FORD, Chrysler seats yes, but no way in comparison across the board) I took a small ride in a SL55 to the airport to head home and those seats BLOW just about anything I have sat in away. I assume if your the right size person the CLS seats are OK, but the general lack of uppper body support drives me crazy. The CLS headrests are useless unless you want to catch some ZZzzzZZ's. I'm 6' 185lbs.

All in all, Nissan has a long way to come with dashboard design. But the platforms they build off of are top notch! I was real impressed with the little body roll (way less than my CLS). Smooth linear acceleration and nice exhaust note. I bet the v8 sounds awesome. It's like a sports car dune buggy hybrid, I don't know how to explain the FX.

If anyone has a chance to use one for a few hours I'm sure you'll enjoy it too.

And maybe someone out there likes the dashboard design... it leaves a lot to be desired with me though.

Chaptorial

Yeah i drove one when i was shopping for the CL a year ago. I liked the interior a lot. Lots of room in the front. Sounds like your car didn't have the Tech Packages on it, makes the interior look a lot better. All in all a good car. However the CL seats still feel better IMO.

Anyone ever drove one with the 20's on it? How was the ride?

SiGGy

I've heard the ride is pretty harsh, and the 18's are preferred if you want a nicer ride.

cusdaddy

They changed the suspension for 04. It has a softer and more compliant ride, but loses a little performance at the limit. Overall, it's a great tradeoff though

mantis23

you traitor!

Gilgamesh

Now you know first hand that all of us 'converts' aren't bullshitting.

SiGGy

LOL, no I don't need to justify my CLS. I have it because I'm being conservative /w my $$ now. (I want a house) PLENTY of other cars I'd rather have. I just have financial priorities at the moment.

Honda/Acura doesn't seem to be able to create a true sports car in the 30-40k range. Nissan is leaps and bounds ahead of Honda in the sport department. Honda is good at making *economy* cars... but not much else. ya ya ya, I know someone is thinking "what about the NSX dude!" But it's over priced, and outdated at this point. Exotic it is, current it's not.

I'm sure toyota has something up their sleeve though.... we'll have to wait and see.

Sarlacc

Yeah, I've been driving the FX baby brother Nissan murano for the past month while i was out on the tv show.

I really liked it a lot. the 3.5 was nice and smooth. AWD system was awesome. comfy car and plenty of room for 4 people and luggage in one murano and 2 people and all my camera/lighting gear in the other.

Dont know if i like the orange lights or not, not horrible i guess. My only complaints are the seats, they nice and stiff and supportive to a degree. But having driven the car over 7000 miles in a month they arent that wonderful.

Dash for the murano is well layed out, lots of storage everywhere.

This was also rented from enterprise. I tried to get a FX35 from them when I was done with the show before I fly back to LA, but they were out

Good review Sig!

Sarlacc

UMMM S2000, i think fits the bill.

But yes I would agree, I think nissan has come a long way with their new sports cars and cross over SUVs.

Hell, I really the Armada and the Titan, A LOT!

just dont like the maxima all that well.

SiGGy

ya, I forgot about that car when I typed that up. Certainly a sports car, but it lacks any torque to speak of for 0-60 acceleration and or highway passing. Well, without beating the hell out of the clutch for the 0-60. Once again going back to the conservative side using a 4cyl. It probably fits the bill for a lot of folks, but I like to have that low end grunt.

Sarlacc

Understand that, and Nissan certainly does provide plenty of low end. And Low end BE fun.

1SICKLEX

Didn't the Corolla out slalom it? Sporty SUVs are some stupid shit. Just make it a real SUV to tow and haul some shit. U want sport and space, buy a fucking wagon.

Damn 1/2 breed thingie.

Sarlacc

I remember this when lexus finally produces their version and your all over its nuts.

1SICKLEX

I've seen that GS wagon/SUV/ 1/2 breed crossover thingie, no thanks.

03TL-S

Wagons are ugly and the FX isn't. Its a really nice suv and alot of people seem to think so. You seem so hostile against good cars.

mushutofu

I traded in my 03TL-s for an FX35 with the 20's and I love it. These pics were after 2 coats of Zaino.
The ride is harsh but the car handles way way bettern than my TL-s did.

Chaptorial

Very nice.

Did ya get the Tech Package?

mushutofu

Naw...got to get a little too pricey with everything. Just the premium package and sport package

Gilgamesh

No....

http://www.acura-cl.com/forums/showt...5&pagenumber=3