Two days ago I purchased a RSX premium from West Side Acura in Edmonton (If you want to know who the best person to talk to is just e-mail me). For those readers in the states this model comes with everything the Type S comes with except the Bose sound system and the 200 horsepower engine.

Styling
Though most people criticize Acura for rather plain styling of the RSX, I find the car to be extremely attractive. One really needs to spend some time walking around the car and time inside to appreciate the simple yet elegant design of the RSX. At night time this car looks absolutely gorgeous with the round tailights, integrated brake light into the trunk, and excellent headlights. The red backlighting used for the entire instrument panel is absolutely beautiful. Perfect for night driving as the backlighting does not ruin your night vision at all allowing you to quickly glance back and forth between the road and the information provided for you in the dash.

Engine
The engine on the RSX is an absolute beauty. My particular car having the 160 horsepower engine, the torque peaks at lower RPM then the Type S ( I have driven the Type S on many occasions). This is much more useful for people who are going to be using this car as their daily commuter car. If a weekend racer, the Type S is definitely the car you should go for, but the base engine seems much better suited for city driving. One should keep in mind that the base engine with the 5 speed transmission provides the best fuel economy out of all the possible combinations of engine/transmissions. The noise level of the engine is very very low when keeping the revs below the 4000 RPM mark. Get past that and it just howls ! Kind of nice when you want to rev it up at lights, just to get the attention of those next to you to see if they want to engage in a friendly little race. Unlike the more powerful family sedans, the tachometer jerks around quite quickly when pressing the accelerator, unlike other cars where there is a bit of lag.

Transmission

The 5 speed manual transmission is what one should expect of Honda/Acura. In my opinion, the Honda manual transmissions have always been the best ones as they provide the smoothest shifts as well as a nice progressive clutch. It took me a while to get used to just nailing the friction point, but I have absolutely no qualms with the transmission. Despite Acura toting that the Type S has a short throw transmission, one can still cycle through all five gears very very quickly. When coming out of turns in second gear, the gear ratios are perfectly calculated so that you get a very nice burst of speed, and you are taking advantage of the Michelin Pilots that come with the Premium and Type S model. Although these tires are rated as all-season tires, I really think that they are more suited for dry pavement. I had Bridgestone Turanzas on my old car and those handled much better in the snow despite the smaller wheel width and harder rubber compound. Because of the decent amount of torque this car has, it is easy to accidentally spin the tires when driving on icy surfaces sometimes making it a good idea to just shift to third from first when carefully accelerating.

Suspension

As noted on the bottom for the final recommendation the suspension is very stiff. Extremely communicative along with the steering I guarantee you will feel EVERY bump on the road. When driving over snow and ice (seeing as we have so much of it up here) you are in for a bit of a bumpy ride. However when pushing the car through turns and quick lane changes this thing tracks like a Piedmontese Truffle Hog. It goes where you point it and does not roll all over the place. Not suited for people who are looking for a sporty 'cruiser'. The RSX definitely shows its race heritage in the suspension along with all of the other components of the car.

*July 11,2002*

End of May early June I had the opportunity to take this car down to Calgary with the BMW Club for the BMW Advanced Driving School. Being my first time with the group I was with the yellow group but we were still reaching speeds of almost 200kph on the straights. The RSX handled beautifully, driver skill being the emphasis at this school rather then raw power, I was on the tails or BMW M3's, M5's, Lexus IS300's, and much much more powerful cars on the track. The RSX can hold its own with different class cars and provided that you are driving in a straight line, can easily outhandle a lot of the higher end cars on the market. I should note that again, the emphasis is on driver skill, but when looking at the numbers, this thing can go through cones almost as fast as some porsches, whatever they did at Acura, they did it right.

Interior
I love the interior of my car. I did opt for the titanium panel kit (the outside of my car is the desert silver metallic with the factory spoiler) and it looks absolutely gorgeous. Simple clean design with every within easy reach. Two cupholders in the front along with three in the back. Seat heaters, climate control, 6 speaker CD system, heated mirrors, moonroof with cover, as well as cruise control and lots of places to store everything. I should mention that the higher end RSX's also come with a micron air filter. I am very thankful for this option because when driving through the mountains in my old car, my eyes would just swell up because of allergies. Now people who have such problems won't have to worry about it. I have set the climate control to the temperature I am comfortable with and have not touched it since.

Safety Features
The RSX premium and the Type S are equiped with ABS brakes. Very good sensors on the brakes as it always senses what you are doing with the brake pedal and allows you to still steer the car in whichever direction you need it to go (again, in snow and ice this helps quite a bit). I've finally broken in the car (albeit as difficult as it was exhibiting that kind of patience up to a 1000km) and the ABS truly is only activated when on slick surfaces. Kudos to Acura/Honda for an ABS system that works, on our 93MPV the ABS would kick in when in reverse sometimes for no reason at all. The ABS is quite noticeable and when first experienced by people they may think that they are doing something wrong with the car (I myself thought this). Just keep in mind that under hard braking that the noise you are hearing is indeed the brakes pulsating and not the clutch.

All RSX models are equiped with driver and passenger front and side airbags. Seat sensors are built in to allow the car to determine when to disable the side airbags as well as control the front airbags (car seats in the front, or when carrying small passengers).

My car has to have a part changed since on possession of the car it had the side airbags disabled. They said they will get the part in in a day and have the problem fixed in a week. A minor inconvenience but with the hours and hours of driving pleasure the car has already provided for me, I can live with it. *Actually took them over a week to get me in their service schedule, but I'll let you know how the car is working after tomorrow's appointment*

December 28, 2001
The car has finally had the SRS controller replaced. It took them a little longer then I expected, as a result I was a little late for work, but two of my keys still do not work with my car. They have told me that they will give me a call once the proper equipment has been fixed. If you are picking up a car from any dealer, try every key that is given to you as this is a bit of a headache to deal with. The second remote works, but the valet, and the second key are completely the wrong ones.

Summary
Compared to other cars in this price range I still believe the RSX to be the best buy out all of them. I also looked at competitor cars like the mustang, celica, Impreza 2.5 RS, as well as a few others. Despite the criticism of the lower horsepower then some similarly priced sport cars, the RSX has beaten quite a few of them off the start as well as when accelerating to high speeds. Don't let the number fool you, take one out and you will realize just how much this car is capable of as well as its potential for future modifications. Being the successor to the Integra the market will soon be saturated with hundreds if not thousands of aftermarket parts.

A quick note about the after purchase service. As of yet they have been very good about returning phone calls, follow ups, etc.... Just two nights ago I went to what Acura calls a customer care clinic at which they go over your vehicle with you letting you know about the technology that is stuffed under the hood as well as useful maintenance tips to extend the longevity of your vehicle. All in all a very informative clinic. My friend didn't bother going but if any of you are thinking of going with an Acura vehicle I strongly encourage you to take the time to go. On average they are anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half long and they have some nice little prizes at the end as well. I learned things about my vehicle that I did not read about on the net, nor was that information found in the vehicle manual. There is an actual mechanic with each vehicle who you can ask from the most mundane to the most technical questions too.

You are also guaranteed excellent Acura customer service, as well as (at least when comparing to other import cars) a lot of features for your money. The RSX premium and Type S basically come fully loaded with a few small things that can be added on (e.g. Titanium Panel Kit, rear trunk liner, etc....) I have not regretted buying this car at all. One thing I am rather curious about though, is that in the manual it indicates that the heated seats have two temperaturs settings, on my car there is only one setting. My car payments are definitely going to be higher then if I had gone with different models but all factors taken into consideration I made the right choice ! Any questions please feel free to e-mail me =) Please take the time to rate my review and if useful add me to your web of trust as well as read some of my others if you are interested in digital photography or cellular phones. Enjoy the car !

I will continue to update this review as my experience with the car progresses. Many of the other reviewers also have excellent points but keep in mind that most are based only on a test drive of the Type S (not both models which I have driven).


Amount Paid (US$): 21000
Condition: New
Model Year: 2002
Model and Options: Five-Speed, Titanium Panel Kit, Rear spoiler