I was fine with my 5 Speed 300HP Manu-Matic for a little while. Now I'm going through manual tranny withdrawl. So here's what I did to ease the pain. Some were actual candidates for replacement but most were just to get a nice test drive on this awesome 85 degree day.


2004 Maxima SE, Sheer Silver, Loaded, 6 Speed. Felt smooth, but felt too big which it obviously is. Gear box was improved, but I felt the clutch was too deep and not enough of a sporty feel overall. I was way more impressed with the 2K2-2K3 as an overall package. The interior and specifically leather seats felt much better in the previous gen, it also definitely felt faster in terms of acceleration, probably due to the added weight of the 2K4 even with the 10 extra HP.

2002 330CI Orient Blue, 5 Speed, //M Package. Wanted the 540IS 6 Speed but they didnt have any in stock. This car was still very impressive, felt very peppy and really nothing to even pick on. Perfect overall. Handled great, loved the BMW growl, awesome gearbox, great road feel. I guess only thing is its slightly overpriced.

2003 IS 300 Millenium Silver IS300 5 Speed. Awesome car, great clutch feel, great gear box, really like the interior. Felt about as fast as my former 98 SE 5 Spd. Which is obviously a compliment to the 4th gen. Only problem with this car is its slightly too small for a guy my size for everyday use. The pedals are positioned slightly too close together.

2003 WRX Yellow 5 Speed manual. I need my luxury options, didnt really feel at home with all the econo crap. Car drove nice and smooth, felt fast after 3000RPM, but not overall blazing fast. Salesman insisted I come to a full stop and do a 5500 RPM clutch drop. So I did, that was fun, but not even all that. The $28K sticker was outrageous because of some turbo guages and the STS. They were willing to let it go for $25K which is supposedly right at invoice since this was a left over and had 1500 miles. Overall, not very impressed.

2K3 350Z Touring 6 Speed, Blue loaded w/Navi. Awesome car, felt very fast, however, not M3/M5 fast which it supposedly is. Just not something I'd like to have exclusively all year round. Due to only two seats, 18's with all that power for the winter and the price only willing to drop 1000 off MSRP (so far).

Some quick notes of my test drive failures:
2K4 Dodge Neon SRT-4. Wow, the salesman was more than willing but the manager said I had to put down a deposit even if they would give it right back to me after the drive, I still had to do it. So I laughed and left, because to me, its still a neon even if it broke 12's, lol. BTW, asking $4K over sticker.

2K4 Mitsu Evo- Same story, asking $3K over sticker. Deposit to drive it.

2K3 G35C 6 Speed, 2K4 Mazda 6 loaded manual, 2K4 Saab 9-3 Manual, 2K3 Volvo S60 T5. None in stock, about a 2 month wait for everyone of them except the Saab which they should be getting in a few days with manual.

Highlight of the day: Walked in to Acura. Had no idea the TSX was already out. WOW, what a winner. I've really been sour on Acura lately but I must say looks like they have an absolute winner on their hands. The one I saw was Electric Blue with Black Leather. Interior layout is gourgeous, awesome display, just an awesome layout. Exterior styling is agressive, nice dual exhaust, spoiler, gourgeous projectional looking headlights with HID, dual zone climate, 6 speed, awesome black leather. Only negative seems to be the 200HP 4 Cyl but with a few mods, I'm sure it will be flying. Cant wait to take it for a spin. Whoever wrote that they captured the spirit of the 3rd gen, couldnt be more right. Basically if the third gen was designed today, this is what I would expect it to look like. The interior fit and finish of this and a 2K3 Altima cannot even be mentioned in the same breath. Thats all for now.

 

nice write up

Since I trust your judgement and taste as a fellow former 3rd and 4th gen owner, I'm now quite interested in the TSX. I'm going to go check it out one of these days to see what the hype is about. The 4 cyl. engine spoils it for me, but I'd still like to see how it does. They should have thrown the 3.2 in that thing and offered the 4 cyl. in the lower model. What is the invoice on the TSX?

 

Wow, you had a pretty sweet day!

 

I agree with you 110% on the TSX... the exterior is okay (looks exactly like the accords I saw in Europe), but the interior is mind-numbing for a car of this price. I haven't test driven it yet, but the clutch felt just right as did the 6-speed... I've always loved manual hondas. Once my max is paid off in a couple of years I'll definitely be looking at the TSX.