3.2 CL-S six-speed

[3.2 TL]

just wondering who has tested the CL-S six speed......
is it worth buying?
would it be able to beat the bmw 330 CI 5 speed?
i remember the 330ci 5speed beat the CL-S auto....
just leave a brief description if u have any thoughts about the CL-S six speed.
thanks

[jotan82]

i never knew they made a six speed :confused:

[BoyRacer]

yeah its kinda new. i would imagine its a quick car. prolly low 14's

[HilfigerCelica]

I think the car looks very good. It's elegant, but sporty at the same time. The interior from the photos that I've seen looks like it's been put together right. The engine has a torque curve that's very useful in the real world. As far as speed, it'll keep up with the BMW. And you can't beat the value of the CL-S. With all that said, if I had to pick one, I'd go for the BMW. Every car magazine that does a comparison between luxury sport sedans (I know we're talking about coupes) praises the BMW to no end except for the price. To me and a lot of people (according to sales of both cars), think the BMW is the benchmark of a luxury sport coupe.

[6SPDGTS]

test was just done MT i think. I got it yesterday. I think the cl was 14.6 or 14.7 slower than the 330 also.

[FriedRice]

its pretty dang fast.(theoretically) my friend has one. its smooth. he didnt gun it so i didnt really feel upper RPM power. i agree with hilfiger tho... i'd still rather get a 330i. Its about the same as the older M3's. 260 hp, lotta torque too im sure. BMW also has transmission fluid that u dont ahve to replace to heheh.... BMW handling is tops too.... FR. CL-S is FF..... for some reason rear wheel driven vehicles have my respect more than FF. u cant drift in FF...:gap:

EDIT: cant drift as well as FR... i also heard somewhere that FF drfiting is totally useless, but im not sure.

[daSchtick]

Originally posted by 6SPDGTS
test was just done MT i think. I got it yesterday. I think the cl was 14.6 or 14.7 slower than the 330 also.

Actually, I think you are referring to the article in Car and Driver. The CL was slower, but only by 1/10 second (athough it was faster in the 5-60 street start). In the overall comparison, the BMW came in first, but by only 1 point. Considering the massive price difference, I'd consider the CL a pretty tough competitor.

-Nick

[xi KiNG ix]

I would take the bimmer regardless of speed

[yakkosmurf]

Originally posted by xi KiNG ix
I would take the bimmer regardless of speed
I would rather have the 330ci too. However, the price is a lot more than the CL-S. Btw, the C&D comparison was a while back and used the automatic version of the CL-S, not the newly released 6-speed model that comes with (guess what) an LSD! It's a great package for the price. It will definitely outperform an IS300. I just wish it wasn't FWD.

[Pure Racer]

What do AUTO CL-Type's run??? I remember one of my friends who just turned 16 saying he got a 14.5 (spoiled brat, haha).... So of hard to believe, but I don't remember the mods he put on his car...

[xi KiNG ix]

Originally posted by yakkosmurf

I would rather have the 330ci too. However, the price is a lot more than the CL-S. Btw, the C&D comparison was a while back and used the automatic version of the CL-S, not the newly released 6-speed model that comes with (guess what) an LSD! It's a great package for the price. It will definitely outperform an IS300. I just wish it wasn't FWD. Yeah, I meant ot say if money is not an issue.. but the CL-S is fwd? wtf?

[Camry2000]

The CL-S/TL-S are not all they are cracked up to be. Definitely bargain basement luxury. Speed of a CL-S auto is about the same as a well driven Celica GTS 6 speed. How do I know? I got a CL-S in my garage and raced Static with it. That and so many people are having tranny failures.

The 6 speed however looks promising in terms of performance.

[6SPDGTS]

NO Yakko in this monts Car and Drive they compared the 6 speed. BTW Fried Rice the 330 ci is 225 way off you 260 hp mark. The old M3 was 240 BTW.

[Xracer729]

Ok im confuesed, my dad drives a 02 TLS with AEM intake and been with him countless time and even with the intake the new 6speed CLS kicks ass it is fast as hell. we went for a test drive and i know no numbers but its a hela lot faster the my dads car that damn transmition sucks up almost 60hp! that CLS has some evil tourque steer though on the test run going UP a slight hill that thing wants too take you right off te road i really tat car i say it does close to 14.1-14.3

if you go this... CLS 6speed+AEM intake(+15hp(no lie))+Greddy evo cat back exhaust(5-8hp)+comptech headers (+27hp!!!) = smoke M3, M5 G35, IS300,S-type, and just about anything else you can throw at it btw your would need some serious rubber on that

[6SPDGTS]

iduuno about amoking the m5. That car does 13.0 stock in the 1/4 with a ****ty ragazine driver your way off bro.

[Xracer729]

my bad (well if you wanted to spend that much on a car you could just a custom F/I job theres no messin with that)i mean 69k ahh the things you could do to a car with 40grand umm... i wouldnt know where to start, custom turbo N20 ECU change new rims and tires new cluch some fancy LCD screens inside the cockpit and god knows what else

[supra]

THE SIX SPEED CL TYPE S IS FSTER THAN A 330CI BMW. I THINK ROAD AND TRACK JUST DID A COMPARISON IN THE JULY ISSUE. THE 330CI ISN'T THAT FAST ANWAY. THE SIX SPEED TYPE S IS GOOD FOR LOW 14'S. I AIN'T A FAN OF ACURA BUT HAD TO SPEAK THE TRUTH

[HilfigerCelica]

Originally posted by Xracer729


if you go this... CLS 6speed+AEM intake(+15hp(no lie))+Greddy evo cat back exhaust(5-8hp)+comptech headers (+27hp!!!) = smoke M3, M5 G35, IS300,S-type, and just about anything else you can throw at it btw your would need some serious rubber on that

No way could a CL-s with i/h/e can outrun a M3 or M5.

[Kry]

Originally posted by FriedRice
EDIT: cant drift as well as FR... i also heard somewhere that FF drfiting is totally useless, but im not sure.

well FF drifting is not totally useless, but not for Drifting Races, because u can't acclerate when u drift in a FF, coz the ebrake slows the car down.. in stead FR and AWD can drift well coz they can drift without pulling the e brake.. so it doesn't slow the car down.. and more gas u give in FR/AWD car in a drift .. the faster u go..

Drift races is in Option Videos... :)

FF drift is fun, but slow and not as fast as FR/AWDs.

[daSchtick]

Originally posted by yakkosmurf

I would rather have the 330ci too. However, the price is a lot more than the CL-S. Btw, the C&D comparison was a while back and used the automatic version of the CL-S, not the newly released 6-speed model that comes with (guess what) an LSD! It's a great package for the price. It will definitely outperform an IS300. I just wish it wasn't FWD.

Actually, the comparison is between the 6-speed CL Type S and the 5 speed 330 Coupe, and it is in the LATEST Car and Driver that came in the mail on Tuesday. The CL price (minus navigation) is $31,000, and it performed extremely well. The author commented on how the new helical LSD made it "the best front wheel drive car". He stated that in a track environment, the BMW would win, but what if you don't go to the track.......?

As far as performance, the CL out accelerated the BMW in 5-60, and 0-100 by .3 seconds, but lost the 1/4 mile by .1 second. I'd say both cars are equally quick, just with different power curves and gearing. The CL also pulled a higher skidpad, but lost the slalom and braking. It was commented that the CL needed better tires than what was on the car.

Other notable comments included the author stating that the BMW had more body roll then the CL. And since the expectations for the CL's performance were far less, the CL's outstanding demeanor caught them by surprise.

In the end the BMW still won the comparison, but only by 1 point, and at $40,000. The tested CL, which also had navigation, listed at 33,000. If you lose the nav, it becomes only $31,000. $9000 difference is pretty substantial in my eyes, especially if you figure in the additional taxes ($500) and financing over 5 years ($1800), which now totals $11,300, (or $188 a month for 5 years) - Yikes!

As you can tell, I am biased toward the "value leader". I do prefer to drive a performance car, but I also know that it will be primarily used for driving to work on streets. I'd pocket the $11,000, and finish working on my house instead.

-Nick

[HilfigerCelica]

I do agree that the CL-s is a lot of car for the money. And if my funds were limited, I'd take one and would have no regrets. I think it's a great car with a great build quality. But guess what, according to the latest Motor Trend, due to sales of the CL, Acura is getting ready to drop the car. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have any one of them but the American people have spoken with their wallets.

[Camry2000]

Originally posted by HilfigerCelica
I do agree that the CL-s is a lot of car for the money. And if my funds were limited, I'd take one and would have no regrets. I think it's a great car with a great build quality. But guess what, according to the latest Motor Trend, due to sales of the CL, Acura is getting ready to drop the car. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have any one of them but the American people have spoken with their wallets.

The car is OK but definitely low budget luxury. Acura is going to drop it because they built so many lemons. Sooooo many people are having tranny failures. I believe a recall is coming. Check out the CL-S forums, some people are already on their third trannys. My bro's CL-S seems to be OK for now.

[HilfigerCelica]

There's a nurse at work that just got a 2001 CL-s a few months back, let's see if the tranny holds up. Also, if what Mao is saying is true, I'd disappointed in Acura for building crap. I thought Honda's are one of the best in reliability. I wonder if the Accord's, and TL's are having the same problems since they are all cousins.

[dawgg]

I haven't driven a 330 5spd, but i recently test drove the rsx 6spd and cl-s 6spd in sucession. This is o/t but the rsx was very dissapointing imo. The transmission on it felt great, i like it much better than my celica 6spd trans. I felt much smoother. But the car didn't feel that fast. Maybe it's because i have mods on my gts but supposedly a stock rsx-s can keep up with a modded gts. I chirped 2nd and 3rd gear so i was definitely pushing the car. The car also felt heavier and less tossable than my gts, but that's probably not a fair comparison since i'm used to the feel of the Teins on my car. Maybe the heavier weight of the car gave the impression of less speed. The 2nd cam kickin in was hardly noticable. That can be good or bad based on opinion. Personally, i like the burst of speed that the gts gets at 6krpm.

Anyway, back to the cl-s. It hauled ass compared to the rsx-s and my gts. I didn't like the clutch. Seems like they made it soft to conform to what a majority of the buyers would want. I'd shift hard between gears but it seemed like there was a second delay before the clutch engaged again. The car cornered well. The lsd definitely helps it get traction around hard corners... where as my gts would be doing the one wheel burnout. I didn't really notice that torque steer that someone else mentioned. Maybe a little if at all. The suspension felt slightly floaty around turns, but, again, i'm used to my rock hard Tein setup. Under acceleration and at higher speeds the cl-s felt very composed. The interior is pretty nice imo, it's a shame they got rid of the dark grey wood trim that they had in the 2001 model cars. The exterior styling is boring imo. I think that hurt their sales. They should at least offer an oem kit like the TL has. The 330 has a more sporty image which is what a coupe needs to sell. FF setup is also a negative imo. A car like what with that much power should definitely be FR. Again, that points towards the non-sporty nature of the car. I heard the car is based on the accord chassis... dunno if that's true tho.

But then again, for 30k the car is quite a value. It's easy for people to say "oh, i'd definitely take the 330ci", but if u actually had $40k sitting in front of u and you could get a car of similar (maybe slightly less) luxuary, speed, performance, etc for $10k your decision wouldn't be so easy.

With basic mod the car pushes about 300hp which blows away most cars in its class (price considered). Only the new G35 offers similar hp for the price. Peronally, I liked the G35 better (drove that one too =) ). Felt solid, based on a rwd platform, the engine was very smooth and had good torque, plus it will probably have a decent mod scene since Nissan puts that VQ engine in like half their cars now heh. The coupe version with the 6spd and additional hp is gonna be a really interesting car. Only thing i wasn't impressed with was the interior. Plastics looked cheesy to me.

[Camry2000]

Originally posted by HilfigerCelica
... if what Mao is saying is true, I'd disappointed in Acura for building crap. I thought Honda's are one of the best in reliability. I wonder if the Accord's, and TL's are having the same problems since they are all cousins.

What I sayeth is the truth and as such incontestable. I already talked to the dealer and he claims if we have problems they will fix it no questions asked.

No aftermarket company made a FI kit for the Accord V6s as they only come in auto. HKS did some testing and even with a light 4psi of boost, the tranny cracked. On the flipside there are a handful of auto V6 Camrys hitting the 7psi mark. :)

[yakkosmurf]

Originally posted by 6SPDGTS
NO Yakko in this monts Car and Drive they compared the 6 speed. I didn't get that issue. Thanks. I was thinking of the test they did a while back.

[yakkosmurf]

Originally posted by HilfigerCelica
But guess what, according to the latest Motor Trend, due to sales of the CL, Acura is getting ready to drop the car.
Interesting. I see them everywhere. More than I do the RSX.

[6SPDGTS]

Ya i agree yakko. The new CL is all over the roads I am also confused about this,

[Camry2000]

In Chicago I have not seen too many CL-S/TL-S on the road. Most are the normal CLs/TLs ... What I do know is that their resell value sucks ass. :(