95civicex

All I can say is wow.

For 28k + tax and license I think this is quite possibly the most economical all-in-one car. Now obviously the majority of you reading this are thinking, "He drives a Civic, what does he know?" Well, even though I drive a Civic I am a huge car nut so I've driven and been in most any car you can consider a sports/luxury car. Basically I'll give those of you who haven't had the pleasure of driving one a breakdown of: performance/handling, looks (interior/exterior), creature comforts, comfort, and a summary.

Performance/Handling: While this car won't smoke an E46 M3 it will hold it's own against any car in it's price range. Power is delivered smoothly and remarkably quietly all the way up to redline. The music wasn't loud when I drove it but it didn't sound like there was a 3.0l engine under there, which can be a good and bad thing. If you're aiming for something you can hear and enjoy you'll be disappointed, but if you want something quiet and powerful it's just right. I didn't really pay attention how long it took to get to 60mph, but when I hit 100 before I even thought to look at the speedometer it kinda left me in awe; this car can move. The six-speed transmission shifts smooth as silk, I really do wish that they would put reverse next to first gear like the Germans. I've never driven a 6MT before, but I had no mis-shifting problems even while shifting fast both up and down through the gears. Unfortunately the handling was something I didn't get to push to the envelope, but from what I could tell it was good. The salesman didn't want me to turn the traction control off and neither does the car (it shows a little "!" above the speedometer when you do lol). It stayed pretty glued on the freeway onramps as I gave it full throttle, but you can't fully tell how a car handles on one or two 45 degree turns. I really wanted to push the car to the max, but I kept in mind that someone would probably purchase the car within the next few weeks and it isn't right to semi-devirginize someone else's car. Overall the performance and handling were superb, but that's just my opinion from one test drive.

Looks: Beautiful lines. You can tell Honda took some cues from the S2000 (and arguably some from Mercedes (taillights)). Honestly though, everything looks great in person, especially in black. The taillights look great and so do the exhaust outlets below. The inside looks fantastic as well. The one gripe I had was the speedometer/tachometer. The half-circlesque speedometer is remanescent of a car aimed at an older generation. The tachometer size and placement is also lack-luster. The reasons for this are: it's very small and if you drive with your left hand on the steering wheel like me, you cover up the whole thing with your arm. It was a shame it didn't have the navigation option, but surprisingly the radio display was awesome. It is a white backlit display that shows stations etc and also temperature. I found the temperature display in the dash as a great little feature that Honda implemented. Seat warmers felt nice on my bum also .

Creature Comforts: Temperature display, big storage compartment with, armwrest with two storage compartments and coin holder, garage door opener, seat warmers, dual climate control (girlfriend loves that seeing as how we always fight over hot/cold lol). As you can see these are all things that the European market has had for a while, but the fact that Honda is implementing these into a sub-30k sports coupe is superb. I'm sure there's more that I'm forgetting, but sorry it's late!

Comfort: The seats are very comfortable, backseat space is great, and I actually fit in the car without my head touching the roof (which is a problem for me in the IS300, CL Type-S, 350z, A4, 3 Series and like 20 other cars lol). I'm 6'3" 190lbs and I had more than enough room in there. Everything was very ergonomic and felt great.

To summarize: great car. Not enough good things can be said about this car. Honda has made themselves a serious contender in the luxury/sport coupe market. If I had 50k to spend on a car I would buy an Accord than an Audi or BMW, but that's just my opinion. If any of you are looking to get rid of your old Accord, or old anything for that matter, definitely look into this car, it's a dream for a down-to-earth price that can't be beat. Also, I'd like to give a shout-out to Fladeboe Honda in Irvine AutoCenter. As soon as I stepped onto the lot I was greeted with a smile, handshake, and introduction whereas at the many Lexus/Audi/BMW/Nissan/Acura dealerships I went to in this area seemed oblivious to the fact that they had a customer, either that or they all but disappeared while I was looking at a showroom model.

Sorry if I missed anything, but once again it's late :P

Edit: ahhhhhhhh I almost forgot the most important thing - audio. The bass was sufficient but not enough for an audio afficionado such as myself. The mid-range and highs sounded great and I could tell the system had plenty of power. Maybe an enhanced audio option with dual subs? Still great sound though, and radio control is easy cheese .

98CoupeV6

Yep, it's a great car :thumbup:

BlackChrome

Thanks for the writeup!:thumbup:

I work at a Honda dealership and we have 2 on the lot. I haven't driven one because I know if I drive one, I'd want to ditch my beloved '95 Accord! Haha!

Still working on getting used to the look...

fastball

So, be honest. You work at a Honda dealership. Is your dealer gouging the 6x6 or is there room to work below sticker. I stoped by two dealers in the Cleveland area and drove the six speed at both. They both were not out to gouge the general public on a very nice Honda Accord (that's what it is, it is not a 330Ci). I'm trying to get a gauge on what I can expect to pay for the car.

95civicex

I totally know what you mean. You wouldn't believe how many strings I've tried to pull to be able to get one of these things, but in the end it all comes out the same: 18 year old college student can barely afford to take his girlfriend out a couple times a week, let alone pay 450 a month for this car .

I'm not sure what type of price you have in mind, but I'm almost completely sure that you can get one fully loaded + tax + license for 29k. If you customize one off honda.com it comes out to about 29k including delivery charge. The dealer quoted me 28k plus tax and license for a custom build. The dealer had the markup in there somewhere because when I asked the salesman if they marked them up he kinda paused, looked around, then said, "no not really." The way I see it though, I'd pay 30k or a little more for that car because it's worth it whereas the 330ci isn't. That's just my opinion though .

98CoupeV6

He's asking if your dealership is charging $499 for mudflaps or $10,000 for "Market Adjustment" or some bullshit like that.

95civicex

I didn't see any "markup" or "market adjustment" on the window sticker. Then again Fladeboe is a pretty down to earth dealership in my opinon. The only thing they do is something all dealerships do in saying "Yeah this is a hot car (true) and it won't be on the lot by the end of today (lol) so better get it now!"

JNGold

A much better buy from the perspective of power, looks, and features than the 31K+ people are paying for the 4cyl Acura TSX!

95civicex

Yeah, I forgot to mention I also got to sit in one (didn't test drive because they didn't have a 6spd there) and it felt pretty cheap and not as luxurious as the Accord.

Also, I went for another test drive of the Accord today with my brother and this time paid a little more attention to the engine noise. Radio off with a trip into the wonderful land of VTEC produces a very nice chainsaw like noise. There's such a draw; listen to the music or listen to the engine

Another thing as well while I'm at it. It seems today they added some markup to the only coupe ex v6 6spd they had (5k). Still not that bad, brought the price up to 32300 total for the one they had. I view it as a steal for such a well rounded car.

jschmid

:screwy: 32K for an Accord? Not for me. I'll take that money and buy a one year old 330i.

And when you pay for a $5K mark-up, you aren't getting a "steal", the dealer is.