Hello All,
Fist of all I would like to thank Mr. Erickson and Mark from Colorado for being kind and taking time out of their schedule to check out the car for me. True gentlemen and they make me feel proud to be a part of this community. After 15 years of waiting the "Journey has ended", which for some odd reason I now miss. You reach the destination and now you miss the journey. ???? . It was kind of sad. Well anyways, I purchased the 2003 Formula Red w/41k miles from Mike Ward Infiniti in Colorado. They asked 53k and I ended up paying 45k. The BEST car 45k can buy you in my opinion. Now lets talk about my first impressions.
Visibility: Holy crap the view is phenomenal. From the side door windows to the windshield it's all level like the horizon. The hood tapers down so you see the road RIGHT in front of you. I feel like I'm sitting on the car and not in the car.
Ergonomics: The seat bolster is FANTASTIC. It fixes my lower back. I LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT. 10++++. s2k no comparison. I never knew sport cars could be this comfortable. The seating position in this car makes me feel like a professional racer.
Clutch/Gearbox: The gearbox is another plus. The shiftgate is perfect and shifts are precise, better than the s2k. There is NO VIBRATION at the shifter. This is awesome. Every manual car that I have driven in the past, the shifter vibrates. It's like the shifter is not connected to anything. It's weird but I like it a lot. The second gear was kind of notchy if not warmed up. I pushed the shifter down and then over to reverse thinking it was like the s2k, but you just push it all the way to the right after a mini-lock and then put in 6th, another plus. Now the clutch engagement I will have to give it to the s2k. It seems the engagement in the NSX is HIGHER while the s2k engages rather quickly. Nothing major, I just prefer lower engagement.
Power: I received the car on January 1st (nice way to start the new year) so I didn't get a chance to "PUSH IT" but the power was decent. I expected it to be much quicker than the s2k but it wasn't. It's noticeably faster but not by much off the line. Maybe when mid spring comes this might change.
Engine: The v6 sounds nice roaring behind you. Mine gets very warm after I drive it. When I open the targa cover it's a little warm in there. I don't know if this is normal.
Handling: The car handles nice but my s2k always felt "tight". The NSX only feels tight when cornering. The s2k felt more communicative even when just changing lanes. In my opinion the s2k is more rigid/fun to drive and this was the biggest let down for me. I knew power wise it was better than the s2k but I also thought the NSX would be more nimble.
Suspension: The car was not as stiff as I though it would be so that's a plus. It's smoother than my s2k. But you gotta pay attention to road imperfections because the tires are low profile. I bottomed out one time already stupidly thinking it had as much meat as the s2k tires.
Attention: Everybody at work thinks it's a Ferrari. I knew it would attract attention but I didn't expect it to be all the time. I was dining at Chili's with the wife and a total of maybe 25 people flocked to it. I didn't get mad or anything but it made me NERVOUS. One guy said he never saw a ferrari outside a showroom. I had to tell him it was an Acura. Another guy stop traffic just to take a pic, while people are honking, I was a little embarrassed.
Well, that's my impression after one month. I hope I shed some light for the guys thinking of getting into the X from an s2k. I'm definitely keeping this car as long as I can. She's my classic. DREAM CAR COME TRUE.
Fist of all I would like to thank Mr. Erickson and Mark from Colorado for being kind and taking time out of their schedule to check out the car for me. True gentlemen and they make me feel proud to be a part of this community. After 15 years of waiting the "Journey has ended", which for some odd reason I now miss. You reach the destination and now you miss the journey. ???? . It was kind of sad. Well anyways, I purchased the 2003 Formula Red w/41k miles from Mike Ward Infiniti in Colorado. They asked 53k and I ended up paying 45k. The BEST car 45k can buy you in my opinion. Now lets talk about my first impressions.
Visibility: Holy crap the view is phenomenal. From the side door windows to the windshield it's all level like the horizon. The hood tapers down so you see the road RIGHT in front of you. I feel like I'm sitting on the car and not in the car.
Ergonomics: The seat bolster is FANTASTIC. It fixes my lower back. I LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT. 10++++. s2k no comparison. I never knew sport cars could be this comfortable. The seating position in this car makes me feel like a professional racer.
Clutch/Gearbox: The gearbox is another plus. The shiftgate is perfect and shifts are precise, better than the s2k. There is NO VIBRATION at the shifter. This is awesome. Every manual car that I have driven in the past, the shifter vibrates. It's like the shifter is not connected to anything. It's weird but I like it a lot. The second gear was kind of notchy if not warmed up. I pushed the shifter down and then over to reverse thinking it was like the s2k, but you just push it all the way to the right after a mini-lock and then put in 6th, another plus. Now the clutch engagement I will have to give it to the s2k. It seems the engagement in the NSX is HIGHER while the s2k engages rather quickly. Nothing major, I just prefer lower engagement.
Power: I received the car on January 1st (nice way to start the new year) so I didn't get a chance to "PUSH IT" but the power was decent. I expected it to be much quicker than the s2k but it wasn't. It's noticeably faster but not by much off the line. Maybe when mid spring comes this might change.
Engine: The v6 sounds nice roaring behind you. Mine gets very warm after I drive it. When I open the targa cover it's a little warm in there. I don't know if this is normal.
Handling: The car handles nice but my s2k always felt "tight". The NSX only feels tight when cornering. The s2k felt more communicative even when just changing lanes. In my opinion the s2k is more rigid/fun to drive and this was the biggest let down for me. I knew power wise it was better than the s2k but I also thought the NSX would be more nimble.
Suspension: The car was not as stiff as I though it would be so that's a plus. It's smoother than my s2k. But you gotta pay attention to road imperfections because the tires are low profile. I bottomed out one time already stupidly thinking it had as much meat as the s2k tires.
Attention: Everybody at work thinks it's a Ferrari. I knew it would attract attention but I didn't expect it to be all the time. I was dining at Chili's with the wife and a total of maybe 25 people flocked to it. I didn't get mad or anything but it made me NERVOUS. One guy said he never saw a ferrari outside a showroom. I had to tell him it was an Acura. Another guy stop traffic just to take a pic, while people are honking, I was a little embarrassed.
Well, that's my impression after one month. I hope I shed some light for the guys thinking of getting into the X from an s2k. I'm definitely keeping this car as long as I can. She's my classic. DREAM CAR COME TRUE.
Cheers, Jay
