I caught up with a friend of mine who's an Acura salesman this morning while I was at the dealer getting parts for my Integra. I asked for a test drive of the RSX-S. It was fun. Here's my impressions. I've owned a Type R for over a year now, and I get to drive a 2k Celica GTS quite a bit. That's the perspective I'm coming from.

First of all, I'm all about performance. That's all I was interested in. I don't like the interior or exterior styling of the RSX-S at all, and that's all I'll say about that.

The first thing I noticed was that I actually had enough headroom even with a sunroof. I don't fit in the GSR or GTS with a sunroof. The next thing I noticed was the steering. It's much nicer than the Type R. I thought the steering wheel was a tad thin, but I liked the stiffness of the steering response. I hate how overboosted the power steering on Integras are.

Once I got out on the road, the fun started. The 6-speed shifter had a very nice feel to it. It was a little better than the Type R and a good bit better than the GTS. The clutch felt fine, nothing special. I took a few minutes to get used to the clutch, then found a good turn to speed though. This is where the GSR flashbacks began. A little less body roll than the GSR (about the same as the GTS). But it just didn't stick like the R around the same corner 10 minutes before. The steering feedback was better, and I was easily able to control the sliding. I got a little more used to the handling after a few more turns at different speeds. Very fun car to drive.

Then I opened it up a little on the straights. Powering out of the turn, I got some pretty nasty torque steer when the inside tire started to spin. Just like the GTS. I ran it to the redline in second. The power delivery was very GSR-like with a bit of a surge about 6k. Shifting at the redline in second let me land easily above 6k in third. Third pulled pretty good to the redline. That's about as far as I went. The revs just didn't climb like they do on the R. A lighter flywheel would do the RSX-S some good.

Getting to drive the two back to back, I can say that the RSX-S doesn't handle nearly as well as the Type R. It also isn't as fast in a straightline as my R. RSX-S won't be running 14.3 in the quartermile. The power below 6k wasn't as good as I expected either. I was expecting it to be significantly more than my R and it wasn't. It even seemed less. The salesman agreed (since I took him for a spin in my R before our little RSX-S drive).

Now a few notes. My R does have a Comptech Icebox and a DC 4-1 header. The header gave me quite a boost above 6k rpm when I put it on. Likewise, the Icebox is very impressive below 6k rpm. I've seen dyno plots with the Icebox, and it bumps that low end power curve up quite a bit. Both cars had the same passengers and about the same amount of gas (3/4 tank). My R has 8k miles and the RSX-S had 1200 (broken in, sort of, but not all the way).

The RSX-S was fun to drive. I loved the feeling of the steering and the shifter. The steering feel is not as good as the Celica GTS, but the shifter is nicer. It beats the R in both categories. It's handing was better than the GSR, but not as good as the Celica GTS or Type R. Straightline speed follows the handling. Much better than the GSR, but not quite as quick as the GTS or Type R. The interior comfort was better than the GTS, but I like the Type R seats better.

These are just my impressions after a comparison. I have driven the GTS and Type R quite a bit. I had a fun 15 minutes with the RSX-S. If you've driven all three cars, I'd like to hear what your thoughts are too.

 

I test drove the RSX-S a while back.... Shifter is nice.. that's true.. I also don't care about the interior.. so it doesn't matter..
what I want is for Honda to make the Redline to 8400 again.. I just high revving..

I've never really test drive a Celica GTS, but from what you said, it seemed that Celica GTS is better than RSX-S, and almost the same as ITR? for real? hm.. probably a good idea for a beater, eh?

 

hey yakkosmurf....ive never driven the rsx-s, i must say this i see alot of type-r technology..i think it look's pretty nice.it does look kinda jacked up though..
i know someone here that has a base rsx and it's white, everytime i see it i just see the new itr..just without the bell's and whistles.....but hey not everyone has the same opinion's...i will say this , i think honda has been half assing there model's just so they can get them out on time....but what do i know i dont work for them....overall i think the rsx is nice....


[Modified by mugenr#1011, 4:30 AM 11/11/2001]

 

In a straightline, the GTS is pretty close to the Type R, but the R is a tad quicker. My friend and I did numerous tests to figure that out. I could always pull away from him slowly in every gear we tried. The handling is much better on the R. The GTS has a lot of body roll and tends to lurch forward and backward under hard acceleration and braking.

 

Do you drive a Type R? If so, I suggest you give the RSX-S a test drive. Just to see what's now out there.

 

I slid all four tires around a few turns. It was pretty easy to control. I couldn't really get it to drift. I know the salesman. He helped me get my R. He and my brother have been friends for a number of years.

 

Good review
I can tell that you are giving an unbiased review...just telling things like they are

 

Thanks. That's all I was trying to do. I wanted to see if other people had compared these cars and had similar impressions. It's nice to hear other people's take on the same or similar experiences.

 

I test-drove an RSX-S at the dealership where I bought my R, so the salesman was prepared for what I was about to do. I didn't get too wild with it, as it wasn't my car. But I did do a couple of redline 1-2 and 2-3 shifts, and took some corners hot enough to make the salesman pucker up. I maintain that the RSX-S is a superior car to the GS-R in acceleration (and maybe even handling), but I think a stock Type R will come out on top.

I think we'll see a few blown engines due to the 6-speed. Took me a bit to get used to the new pattern. I wish I could remember how the low-end was on the RSX-S. I'm used to low-end with the Spec B's in my car

 

I've driven the RSX-S although not enough to give a good impression of the car. I'm going to be borrowing one for a day in the near future, I'll let you know what my honest opinion is after that.

 

Nice to see someone else feels the same way about the R steering as I do. I've found that a good alignment will help steering feel a bit. The big problem is that the car needs more positive caster, and as you know, it's not adjustable. I find that my caster has been slowly drifting towards 0 over the last 2 years (I do alignments regularly).

The other thing you can do is adjust the steering rack preload. It requires a special tool, but it does make a noticeable difference in on-centre feel and steering effort. In fact, if you check the shop manual, the adjustment of the rack guide screw is the fix for "steering too light" problem.


Good luck.

R748, who STILL thinks the steering is overboosted.

 

[QUOTE]From my own experience, I'd judge that the on-centre feel and preload is perfect <u>only</u> for the stock tyres in the OEM size! Any change at all affects the steering feel.
QUOTE]

This is true, and it explains why I went through two different sets of non-OEM tires before going back to OEM for daily driving.

 

The other thing I notice (stock car, OEM everything) is that the steering feel varies from day to day. Some days the car has a perfectly weighted feel, other days it feels overboosted. Tempreature *may* be a factor, but seems inconsistent. That is, on a cold day following a warm day it feels great. However a 2nd cold day makes the car feel about the same as the warm day, two days prior. Very strange.

 

Thanks for the help. I'll have to get a service manual in a few weeks. That sounds like an adjustment I might like. It's probably just adjusting the hydraulic regulator on the rack. I get underdrive pulleys and it did stiffen the steering a little at lower speeds. My mother's CLK has better steering feel than my R right now.